Both shows were broadcast from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, with SmackDown airing on FOX and Raw on USA.

[5] Over 60 male and female wrestlers, as well as individual tag teams and stables, including current champions, were placed into the 2020 drafting pools.

Several wrestlers were made free agents due to injury, inactivity, or simply not being drafted despite being an active member of the rosters.

During Night 1 of the draft, The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

[8] The feud continued over the following month, which also saw Rey's daughter Aalyah get involved romantically with Murphy, who turned on Rollins to join with the Mysterios.

His first post-draft appearance came during Night 2 of WrestleMania 37 on April 11, 2021, where he helped Apollo Crews win the Intercontinental Championship.

[27] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in less work for wrestlers as WWE was now only doing television and pay-per-view and ceased touring, many talent took to third-party platforms such as Twitch, Cameo, and YouTube to earn supplemental income.

Vega was then released by WWE on November 13, allegedly because of her opposition to the company's policy on using third-party platforms and her support of unionization.

[30] In mid-2021, however, Vega was rehired, making her return as an in-ring competitor on the July 2 episode of SmackDown where she was entered into the women's Money in the Bank ladder match.

These included Samoa Joe, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Mickie James, Chelsea Green, Tucker, Kalisto, Mojo Rawley, Bo Dallas, and Wesley Blake.

[39] On June 2, further releases were made, which included Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Lana, Murphy, Ruby Riott, and NXT's Santana Garrett.

[41] Further NXT and 205 Live names were released on June 25, including Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), Ever-Rise (Chase Parker and Matt Martel), August Grey, The Bollywood Boyz (Samir Singh and Sunil Singh), Arturo Ruas, Curt Stallion, Marina Shafir, and Killian Dain.

A mysterious masked figure named Uncle Howdy also started appearing with Wyatt, which has been reported to be Bo Dallas, thus making his return.