2023 WWE Draft
2023 WWE Draft | |
---|---|
General information | |
Sport | Professional wrestling |
Date(s) | April 28 – May 1, 2023 |
Location | American Bank Center (April 28, 2023) Dickies Arena (May 1, 2023) |
Overview | |
League | WWE |
Teams | Raw SmackDown NXT (outgoing only) |
The 2023 WWE Draft was the 17th
Production
Background
The WWE Draft is a process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE while a brand extension, or brand split, is in effect. The original brand extension occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the second and current brand split began in 2016. During a brand extension, the company divides its roster into what they call brands and wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand's respective television show, albeit with some exceptions. The draft is used to refresh the rosters of the brand divisions, typically between the Raw and SmackDown brands, which are regarded as the main roster. Since 2016, wrestlers from WWE's developmental brand, NXT, have been eligible to be drafted to either Raw or SmackDown.[1]
A draft was not held in 2022 and brand division enforcement became increasingly laxed, but on the April 7, 2023, episode of
Selections
Night 1: SmackDown (April 28)
There were four rounds of draft picks on Night 1 with each brand receiving two picks each round; SmackDown went first due to Night 1 taking place as that night's episode of SmackDown. Draft selections were announced by various WWE Hall of Famers, including Triple H, who announced the first-round picks. The second round picks were announced by Rob Van Dam and Michael Hayes, the third round by John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Teddy Long, and the fourth by D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and "Road Dogg" Jesse James).[6][7]
Round | Brand pick # | Overall pick # | Wrestler(s) | Pre-draft brand | Post-draft brand | Role |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | The Bloodline (Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa with Paul Heyman) |
SmackDown | SmackDown | Male tag team and male manager Undisputed WWE Universal Champion (Reigns)
|
1 | 1 | 2 | Cody Rhodes | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
1 | 2 | 3 | Bianca Belair | Raw | SmackDown | Female wrestler Raw Women's Champion
|
1 | 2 | 4 | Becky Lynch | Raw | Raw | Female wrestler |
2 | 3 | 5 | Montez Ford )
|
Raw | SmackDown | Male tag team |
2 | 3 | 6 | Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, and Giovanni Vinci) |
SmackDown | Raw | Male stable Intercontinental Champion (Gunther) |
2 | 4 | 7 | Edge | Raw | SmackDown | Male wrestler WWE Hall of Famer |
2 | 4 | 8 | Matt Riddle | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
3 | 5 | 9 | Bobby Lashley | Raw | SmackDown | Male wrestler |
3 | 5 | 10 | Drew McIntyre | SmackDown | Raw | Male wrestler |
3 | 6 | 11 | The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and "Michin" Mia Yim) |
Raw | SmackDown | Mixed stable |
3 | 6 | 12 | The Miz | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
4 | 7 | 13 | Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky) |
Raw | SmackDown | Female stable |
4 | 7 | 14 | Shinsuke Nakamura | SmackDown | Raw | Male wrestler |
4 | 8 | 15 | Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn | NXT | SmackDown | Female tag team NXT Women's Tag Team Champions |
4 | 8 | 16 | Indi Hartwell | NXT | Raw | Female wrestler NXT Women's Champion |
Night 1 supplemental picks: SmackDown LowDown (April 29)
These wrestlers were included in the Night 1 draft pool, but were not drafted on SmackDown. Their draft selections were revealed on SmackDown's post-show, SmackDown LowDown, the next day on WWE's social media and streaming platforms.[7][8]
Wrestler(s) | Pre-draft brand | Post-draft brand | Role |
---|---|---|---|
Apollo Crews | NXT | Raw | Male wrestler |
Candice LeRae | Raw | Raw | Female wrestler |
Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville | Raw (Green) SmackDown (Deville) |
Raw | Female tag team |
Dexter Lumis | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
Hit Row (Ashante "Thee" Adonis, B-Fab, and Top Dolla) |
SmackDown | SmackDown | Mixed stable |
JD McDonagh | NXT | Raw | Male wrestler |
Lacey Evans | SmackDown | SmackDown | Female wrestler |
Maximum Male Models (ma.çé and mån.sôör with Maxxine Dupri) |
Raw | Raw | Male tag team and female manager |
Natalya | SmackDown | Raw | Female wrestler |
The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar with Valhalla) |
SmackDown | Raw | Male tag team and female manager |
Zoey Stark | NXT | Raw | Female wrestler |
Night 2: Raw (May 1)
There were six rounds of draft picks on Night 2 with each brand receiving two picks each round; Raw went first due to Night 2 taking place as that night's episode of Raw. Draft selections were again announced by various WWE Hall of Famers, including Triple H, who again announced the first round picks; several others from Night 1 returned to announce Night 2's selections. Booker T and his wife Queen Sharmell announced the round two picks, Shawn Michaels returned to announce the round three picks, round four were by Eric Bischoff and the returning Rob Van Dam, round five by Molly Holly and the returning "Road Dogg" Jesse James, and the sixth and final round were announced by the returning John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Teddy Long. WWE official Adam Pearce was supposed to announce the round three picks with Michaels but instead had to help break up a fight between Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes.[7][9]
Round | Brand pick # | Overall pick # | Wrestler(s) | Pre-draft brand | Post-draft brand | Role |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | Rhea Ripley[a] | Raw | Raw | Female wrestler SmackDown Women's Champion
|
1 | 1 | 2 | Austin Theory | Raw | SmackDown | Male wrestler United States Champion |
1 | 2 | 3 | Seth "Freakin" Rollins | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
1 | 2 | 4 | Charlotte Flair | SmackDown | SmackDown | Female wrestler |
2 | 3 | 5 | Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn | Raw (Owens) SmackDown (Zayn) |
Raw | Male tag team Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions[b]
|
2 | 3 | 6 | The Usos[c] (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) |
SmackDown | SmackDown | Male tag team |
2 | 4 | 7 | The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio) |
Raw | Raw | Male stable |
2 | 4 | 8 | Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Zelina Vega) |
SmackDown | SmackDown | Mixed stable |
3 | 5 | 9 | Raquel Rodríguez
|
SmackDown | Raw | Female tag team WWE Women's Tag Team Champions[d]
|
3 | 5 | 10 | Asuka | Raw | SmackDown | Female wrestler |
3 | 6 | 11 | The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) |
SmackDown | Raw | Male tag team |
3 | 6 | 12 | The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch) |
SmackDown | SmackDown | Male stable |
4 | 7 | 13 | Trish Stratus | Raw | Raw | Female wrestler WWE Hall of Famer |
4 | 7 | 14 | Karrion Kross with Scarlett | SmackDown | SmackDown | Male wrestler and female manager |
4 | 8 | 15 | Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler | SmackDown | Raw | Female tag team |
4 | 8 | 16 | LA Knight | SmackDown | SmackDown | Male wrestler |
5 | 9 | 17 | Braun Strowman and Ricochet | SmackDown | Raw | Male tag team |
5 | 9 | 18 | Shotzi | SmackDown | SmackDown | Female wrestler |
5 | 10 | 19 | Bronson Reed | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
5 | 10 | 20 | Kit Wilson )
|
NXT | SmackDown | Male tag team |
6 | 11 | 21 | Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) |
Raw | Raw | Male tag team |
6 | 11 | 22 | Rick Boogs | Raw | SmackDown | Male wrestler |
6 | 12 | 23 | Katana Chance and Kayden Carter | NXT | Raw | Female tag team |
6 | 12 | 24 | Cameron Grimes | NXT | SmackDown | Male wrestler |
Night 2 supplemental picks: Raw Talk (May 1)
These wrestlers were included in the Night 2 draft pool, but were not drafted on Raw. Their draft selections were revealed on Raw's post-show, Raw Talk, which aired immediately after Raw on WWE's social media and streaming platforms.[7][10]
Wrestler(s) | Pre-draft brand | Post-draft brand | Role |
---|---|---|---|
Akira Tozawa | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
Dana Brooke | Raw | Raw | Female wrestler |
Emma | SmackDown | Raw | Female wrestler |
Grayson Waller | NXT | SmackDown | Male wrestler |
Indus Sher (Jinder Mahal, Sanga, and Veer Mahaan) |
NXT | Raw | Male stable |
Johnny Gargano | Raw | Raw | Male wrestler |
Los Lotharios (Angel and Humberto) |
SmackDown | Raw | Male tag team |
Nikki Cross | Raw | Raw | Female wrestler |
Odyssey Jones | NXT | Raw | Male wrestler |
Piper Niven | Raw | Raw | Female wrestler |
Riddick Moss | SmackDown | Raw | Male wrestler |
Tamina | Raw | SmackDown | Female wrestler |
Tegan Nox | SmackDown | Raw | Female wrestler |
Xia Li | SmackDown | Raw | Female wrestler |
Free agents
Within WWE's storylines, a "free agent" refers to a contracted wrestler who has not been assigned to one of the company's three brands—Raw, SmackDown, or NXT—and can in turn appear on any brand. The following wrestlers were included in the draft pools but ultimately became free agents, either through contractual negotiations or going undrafted. Their status as free agents were announced via the post-shows, SmackDown LowDown and Raw Talk.[7]
Wrestler(s) | Pre-draft brand | Date | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Baron Corbin | Raw | May 1, 2023 | Male wrestler | Went undrafted during Night 2. Declared as a free agent during Night 2's supplemental draft, but would later be assigned to NXT in August. |
Brock Lesnar | Free agent[e] | May 1, 2023 | Male wrestler | During Night 2 of the draft, Triple H announced that Lesnar, who was initially included in the Night 2 draft pool, renegotiated his free agent status so that he could continue to appear for both brands. |
Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin | Raw | May 1, 2023 | Male tag team | Went undrafted during Night 2. Declared as free agents during Night 2's supplemental draft. Benjamin, however, was released from his WWE contract on September 21, 2023. After several months as a free agent, Alexander was assigned to SmackDown in November 2023.[11] |
Dolph Ziggler | Raw | April 29, 2023 | Male wrestler | Went undrafted during Night 1. Declared as a free agent during Night 1's supplemental draft; however, he was released from his WWE contract on September 21, 2023. Now wrestles in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) as Nic Nemeth.
|
Elias | Raw | May 1, 2023 | Male wrestler | Went undrafted during Night 2. Declared as a free agent during Night 2's supplemental draft; however, he was released from his WWE contract on September 21, 2023. |
Mustafa Ali | Raw | April 29, 2023 | Male wrestler | Went undrafted during Night 1. Declared as a free agent during Night 1's supplemental draft. He was later assigned to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
|
Omos with MVP | Raw | April 29, 2023 | Male wrestler and male manager | During Night 1's supplemental draft, it was revealed that MVP negotiated their free agent status to maximize Omos' visibility on both brands. |
Von Wagner | NXT | April 29, 2023 | Male wrestler | Though not initially included in the Night 1 draft pool, Wagner was revealed as one of the select NXT wrestlers available to be drafted on SmackDown LowDown. He was declared as a free agent during Night 1's supplemental draft. However Wagner still remains in NXT. Wagner was released from his WWE contract on April 19, 2024. |
Xyon Quinn
|
NXT | May 1, 2023 | Male wrestler | Though not initially included in the Night 2 draft pool, Quinn was revealed as one of the select NXT wrestlers available to be drafted on Raw Talk. He was declared as a free agent during Night 2's supplemental draft. Quinn was released from his WWE contract on April 19, 2024. |
Wrestlers not included in either draft pool
The following are wrestlers who were not included in either draft pool, as they had been inactive for extended periods leading up to the draft (largely due to injury).
Wrestler(s) | Pre-draft brand | Reason for omission (if any) |
Subsequent status | Date | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Logan Paul | Free agent | Part-time contract | Free agent | April 29, 2023 | Male wrestler | Paul makes limited appearances per year. His last appearance before the draft was at WrestleMania 39 Night 1 on April 1, 2023. On April 29, Fightful confirmed that Paul would continue as a free agent.[12] |
Tommaso Ciampa | Raw | Inactive due to a hip injury | Raw | June 19, 2023 | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the September 19, 2022, episode of Raw. Returned on the June 19, 2023, episode in a match against The Miz. |
Gable Steveson | Raw | Inactive due to training for the 2024 Olympics
|
NXT | July 25, 2023 | Male wrestler | Steveson was drafted to Raw in the 2021 draft, but was still training at the WWE Performance Center. In addition to training, he had made a couple of appearances on WWE TV programs, with his last appearance before the draft occurring on the December 9, 2022, episode of SmackDown for Kurt Angle's birthday celebration. He then returned on the June 20, 2023, episode of NXT and began making occasional appearances before deciding he would join NXT on the July 25 episode. |
Robert Roode | Raw | Inactive due to neck surgery | Producer | August 5, 2023 | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the June 6, 2022, episode of Raw. In August 2023, he began working behind the scenes as a producer with his first official show being that year's SummerSlam.[13] |
Bray Wyatt | SmackDown | Was inactive due to contracting COVID-19, which exacerbated an existing heart issue | Deceased | August 24, 2023 | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the February 24, 2023, episode of heart attack.[14]
|
Aliyah | SmackDown | Inactive due to unknown reasons | Released | September 21, 2023 | Female wrestler | Last appeared on the September 12, 2022, episode of Raw. Released from her WWE contract on September 21, 2023. |
Shanky
|
SmackDown | Inactive due to unknown reasons | Released | September 21, 2023 | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the July 22, 2022, episode of SmackDown. Returned at the Superstar Spectacle event in India on September 8, 2023, but no brand designation was assigned; however, he was released from his WWE contract on September 21, 2023. |
Randy Orton | Raw | Inactive due to a back injury | SmackDown
|
November 25, 2023 | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the May 20, 2022, episode of SmackDown. Returned at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 25, 2023, as part of Cody Rhodes' team in the men's WarGames match, but no brand designation was assigned.[15] On the December 1 episode of SmackDown, he was revealed as a free agent prior to a contract signing that happened that night, where he signed with SmackDown.[16] |
R-Truth | Raw | Inactive due to a torn quadricep | Raw | November 27, 2023 | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the November 1, 2022, episode of NXT. Returned at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 25, 2023, during a cross-branded backstage segment but no brand designation was assigned.[17] |
Alexa Bliss | Raw | Inactive due to skin cancer treatment and maternity leave[18] | Female wrestler | Last appeared at the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023. | ||
Big E | SmackDown | Inactive due to a neck injury | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the March 11, 2022, episode of SmackDown. | ||
Carmella | Raw | Inactive due to maternity leave[19] | Female wrestler | Last appeared on March 31, 2023, for the WrestleMania 39 set reveal. | ||
Uncle Howdy | SmackDown | Was originally inactive due to Bray Wyatt's absence, but following Wyatt's death, Howdy's status is unknown. | Male wrestler | Last appeared on the March 3, 2023, episode of SmackDown. |
Aftermath
Post-draft moves
The day after the draft on May 2, it was revealed that ring announcers
Despite being drafted to Raw, Dana Brooke appeared on the June 6 episode of NXT to compete in a battle royal to determine the next challenger for the NXT Women's Championship. During her entrance, she was referred to as a Raw roster member, but during the battle royal itself, the commentators referred to her as a free agent. An official change to her status was not announced and her WWE.com profile still listed her as a member of Raw.[22] Furthermore, although Los Lotharios (Angel and Humberto) were drafted to Raw, they would also appear in NXT on the June 13 episode, stating they would be going after the NXT Tag Team Championship (their individual ring names would also revert to Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo, respectively, in July), they later returned to the main roster on the December 22 episode of SmackDown.[23] Other main roster wrestlers would appear in NXT, and hold championships, with WWE president Nick Khan stating this cross-over of talent from Raw and SmackDown to NXT was intentional, as he said there was potential for NXT to become WWE's third brand again while still developing younger wrestlers.[24]
On August 5, WWE announced a change to the on-air commentary teams that would begin with the August 7 episode of Raw. Raw's team of Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick moved to SmackDown while SmackDown commentator Wade Barrett moved to Raw, with Michael Cole, who was on SmackDown with Barrett, doing commentary for both shows.[25]
At Payback on September 2, 2023, Jey Uso, who had "quit" WWE a month prior after a fallout with his brother Jimmy Uso and The Bloodline as a whole, was reinstated but as a member of Raw.[26] On the following episode of Raw, WWE official Adam Pearce revealed that a member of the Raw roster was traded to SmackDown so that Jey could join Raw.[27] The following month on the October 13 episode of SmackDown, after Triple H announced that Pearce—who had officiated for both Raw and SmackDown since January 2020—would now just be the general manager of Raw with former National Wrestling Alliance wrestler Nick Aldis introduced as SmackDown's general manager,[28] Aldis revealed that Kevin Owens had been traded to SmackDown for Jey,[29] in turn splitting the team of Owens and Sami Zayn.[30]
Shortly after the draft, NXT's
At
Championships
Prior to the draft on the April 24 episode of Raw, Triple H unveiled a new
On Night 1 of the draft, reigning
As a result of the draft, Raw and SmackDown's secondary championships switched brands, as
Other post-draft changes
Although Maxxine Dupri was drafted to Raw as the manager of Maximum Male Models (ma.çé and mån.sôör), she would leave the team and join with Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis), who were also drafted to Raw. The two teams had been at odds before the draft where Dupri tried to get Otis to join Maximum Male Models.[40]
In August 2023, Lacey Evans left WWE due to the expiration of her contract.[41] Edge would also leave WWE upon the expiration of his contract at the end of September and subsequently joined rival promotion All Elite Wrestling under his real name of Adam Copeland.[42] During the summer, Shayna Baszler turned on Ronda Rousey, splitting their team, and after Rousey lost a match to Baszler at SummerSlam in August, it was reported that Rousey had left WWE, which was later confirmed in late October when her WWE.com profile was moved to the alumni section.[43] She subsequently had a few matches on the indies, including a match in Ring of Honor.[44]
Bray Wyatt was not included in either draft pool and had been off WWE programming since February 2023 due to an undisclosed illness. On August 24, 2023, Wyatt unexpectedly died of a heart attack, with the illness revealed as COVID-19 which exacerbated an existing heart issue. Just prior to his passing, it was reported that he was making positive progress towards a return.[14] His accomplice Uncle Howdy had been inactive due to Wyatt's medical hiatus, but following Wyatt's death, Howdy's status is unknown.[45]
Following WWE's acquisition by
Notes
- ^ Although a member of The Judgment Day stable, Ripley was listed separately in the drafting pool, but The Judgment Day would stay together as they were all drafted to Raw.
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championshipare allowed to appear on both brands for as long as they are champions.
- ^ Although members of The Bloodline stable, The Usos were listed separately in the drafting pool, but The Bloodline would stay together as they were all drafted to SmackDown.
- ^ The holders of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship are allowed to appear on both brands for as long as they are champions.
- ^ During the 2021 draft, Lesnar was made a free agent, allowing him to appear on either brand, although he had primarily appeared on Raw since October 2022.
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