The WWE Draft will continue on tonight's episode of Monday Night Raw as new members of the roster become eligible to change brands.
WWE's draft began on a Friday, October 1, episode of SmackDown. During the two-hour show, WWE officials Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce announced sixteen draft picks over the course of four rounds. Additional picks were announced on Talking Smack the following morning.
On night one of the draft, Deville announced the picks for SmackDown, while Pearce announced Raw's selections. By the end of Friday's show, SmackDown had acquired the current Universal Champion Roman Reigns, the current Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, Drew McIntyre, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss, Hit Row (Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Top Dolla, Ashante "Thee" Adonis, B-Fab, Naomi, and Jeff Hardy. Raw received the current WWE Champion Big E, Bianca Belair, the current Raw Tag Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle), Edge, the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H., Keith "Bearcat" Lee, Rey and Dominik Mysterio, and Austin Theory.
Talking Smack revealed a few more draft picks. SmackDown also gained Aliyah, Drew Gulak, MACE, Mansoor, Mustafa Ali, and Toni Storm. Raw gained Akira Tozawa, the Alpha Academy (Otis and Chad Gable), Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez, Doudrop, Drake Maverick, John Morrison, Nia Jax, the 24/7 Champion Reggie, R-Truth, T-BAR, and Zelina Vega. As the draft continues on tonight's Monday Night Raw, there are still huge stars available. Among them are the current SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch, the current Intercontinental Champion King Shinsuke Nakamura, the current United States Champion Damian Priest, the current SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, AJ Styles and Omos, Alexa Bliss, Bobby Lashley, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Liv Morgan, the Street Profits, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, WWE star Shayna Baszler, and a number of others, including upcoming talent in NXT.
The rules of the draft were announced on day one of the drafts. Draft picks were explained to have been a combination of accounts from Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and television networks USA and Fox. On night one, only half of WWE's roster was eligible to be drafted, while the other half would become eligible tonight. Following the conclusion of the draft, anyone who was undrafted will enter free agency, where they will be free to sign with the brand of their choosing. The draft picks will officially change brands on October 22, following WWE's Crown Jewel pay-per-view.
With the draft happening three weeks before the changes will take effect, many wonder how the shows will carry forward. So many stars are wrapped up in current WWE feuds that stack them against people now on another brand. The three-week time period gives them enough time to wrap up these storylines and potentially create new ones. It also poses a question for champions like Flair and Lynch. As the current Raw Women's Champion, Charlotte can't take the title to SmackDown. This means she will either lose the title prior to the brand switch or she and the SmackDown champion will switch titles. A similar thing happened in 2020, where the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Champions were sent to the opposite brands, prompting a title exchange. While Lynch hasn't been drafted yet, if she does end up going to Raw, there's no telling what may happen with the championships on the wrong brand.
The WWE Draft will continue tonight on USA at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
Source: WWE