WWE Draft
Wrestlers from the promotion's developmental brand NXT (2016–present) are also eligible to be drafted to Raw and SmackDown.
[1] With SmackDown moving to Tuesdays and to a live broadcast starting July 19, 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand split[2] with a draft held that same episode.
The first half of the 2002 draft was televised live on TNN for two hours, as part of the WWF's flagship program, Monday Night Raw.
During the draft lottery, the General manager of Raw, Eric Bischoff, and the General manager of SmackDown!, Paul Heyman, stood on opposite ends of the stage on the Raw set, where they drafted six wrestlers randomly via two machines.
At the conclusion of the draft, the two GMs would then be allowed to trade anyone on the roster until Midnight EST, which was later extended until Tuesday night after Heyman resigned.
[11] Every on-screen WWE employee was eligible to be drafted, including injured wrestlers, commentators, champions, and general managers.
[20] The televised draft picks were randomly selected by a computer that was shown on the Raw titantron.
[26] ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was stripped of the title after being drafted to Raw.
The World Heavyweight Championship moved to Raw after Raw's CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Edge to win the title on an episode of Raw, the ECW Championship moved back to ECW after ECW's Mark Henry won the title at Night of Champions, and the United States Championship moved back to SmackDown after SmackDown's Shelton Benjamin defeated Hardy to win the title.
For the televised half, matches determined which brand received a random draft selection.
The 2010 draft took place over two days: the first day was televised live on April 26 on Raw at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, and the second part, the supplemental draft, was held on April 27 on WWE's website.
The draft aired live on Raw, for two hours in Raleigh, North Carolina from the RBC Center.
[33] A continuation of the draft took place on WWE's official website at 12:00pm Eastern Time on the following afternoon.
In early 2012, WWE established a developmental brand called NXT with its own set of championships.
Raw drafted Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose and SmackDown drafted United States Champion Kevin Owens; Owens then lost the title to Raw's Chris Jericho, but instead of the title switching brands, Jericho moved to SmackDown.
On the April 16 episode of Raw, reigning champion Jinder Mahal moved to the Raw brand and lost the title to Jeff Hardy that same night, who then took the title back to SmackDown as he moved to that brand the following night on SmackDown.
The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was later established and shared between the Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands.
The 2019 Superstar Shake-up began on the April 15 and 16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown, respectively, with more draft moves confirmed over the next few weeks.
Just like the 2016 draft, tag teams counted as one pick unless a brand specifically only wanted a single member of the team, and for every two draft picks made by SmackDown, Raw received three (as Raw is three hours and SmackDown is two).
[46] While no championships switched brands during the draft, the Universal Championship was moved to SmackDown later that same month after "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, a SmackDown wrestler, defeated Seth Rollins for the title at Crown Jewel.
In May 2020, WWE initiated the Brand-to-Brand Invitation, allowing wrestlers to appear and wrestle on an opposing brand four times a year, or once every quarter.
[48] During a media call for NXT TakeOver XXX on August 19, Triple H had said that this draft would also involve the NXT brand,[49] but the official announcement that occurred during the Clash of Champions pay-per-view on September 27 stated that this draft would only be between Raw and SmackDown.
At WrestleMania 38 in 2022, Roman Reigns won both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship, allowing him to appear on both brands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, although both titles retained their individual lineages.
These undisputed titles allowed all members of The Bloodline stable to appear on both brands, which extended to other wrestlers who became involved in their storylines, and even some who were not.
On the April 7, 2023, episode of SmackDown, with unclear roster division, WWE executive Triple H announced the 2023 draft.
SmackDown also drafted NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, while Raw drafted NXT Women's Champion Indi Hartwell; Hartwell relinquished her title while Dawn and Fyre's title was unified into the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship in June, which made the latter available to NXT again.
Draft selections on both nights were announced by various WWE Hall of Famers, including Triple H. Most draft selections were made on the shows, while supplemental picks were announced on the post-shows, SmackDown LowDown and Raw Talk, respectively.
This designation of free agency was previously only reserved for part-time performers like John Cena and Brock Lesnar.
Draft selections on both nights were announced by various WWE Hall of Famers and veterans, including Triple H. Most draft selections were made on the shows, while supplemental picks were announced on WWE's social media platforms after the broadcasts.
Draft results will go into effect beginning with the May 6 episode of Raw, two days after the Backlash France pay-per-view and livestreaming event.
