It’s time to play the game, the game of drafting new rosters for the WWE brands! This past Friday night on Smackdown, Paul “Triple H” Levesque made his way to the ring to announce that “in a few weeks” the WWE Draft will return. On top of that, it was noted that all Superstars are eligible and that the results will truly “change the game.”
The last WWE Draft was held in 2021, on the October 1 and 4 episodes of Raw and Smackdown, respectively. While it is not clear whether NXT will be included as part of this year’s WWE Draft, the yellow brand’s wrestlers were eligible last time around, although only Raw and Smackdown were allowed to make picks. At the time, Raw was allowed three picks and Smackdown two per drafting round. Again, it’s unclear if WWE will go by the same rules this time around.
In recent months, the WWE brands have become less defined as multiple stars from opposite shows have popped up to appear on each other’s shows. The Bloodline has been a perfect example of this as all the members are technically Smackdown stars but have been on Raw regularly to progress their storylines with Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. With the big WrestleMania storylines having come to a close, now seems like a good time to reset the table and hopefully create more distinctive rosters.
The impending WWE Draft comes at a very pivotal time for the company. Having recently been acquired by Endeavor, the upcoming TV rights negotiations could have a big impact on the way new ownership shops their content around. A stacked Raw or Smackdown roster with names like Roman Reigns, Ronda Rousey, and Cody Rhodes would definitely create value for one brand over the other.
It is also worth mentioning the renewed power that Vince McMahon wields backstage at WWE. His influence on how WWE is booked has already been noticeable, with McMahon reportedly making multiple changes to last week’s Raw. While Levesque may already have had his ideal rosters in mind to move forward with, it’s possible McMahon could throw those plans into disarray.
Stay with Haus of Wrestling for all the latest regarding the WWE Draft.