WWE could be shaking up more than just its rosters next year — it might be reworking the timing of the entire Draft.

According to a new report from Bodyslam.net’s Cory Hays, WWE is seriously considering moving the 2025 Draft from its usual spring slot to a post-SummerSlam timeframe, with internal discussions suggesting a September date is now the frontrunner.

For years, the WWE Draft has been a spring staple, traditionally following WrestleMania to reset the playing field for RAW and SmackDown. But that long-standing format may be on its way out. If the shift happens, the Draft would instead align with WWE’s season premiere episodes in the fall — a strategic move that could serve both creative and business goals.

Sources indicate that one of the main reasons behind the potential change is WWE’s intent to let summer storylines breathe, rather than forcing sudden roster shakeups that could cut arcs short. With SummerSlam 2025 scheduled for the weekend of August 2–3, the company reportedly sees the major summer event as a natural point to hit the reset button before heading into the critical fall TV season.

There’s also the matter of roster flexibility. Recent NXT call-ups and ongoing long-term narratives have made a spring Draft feel less essential than in previous years, giving WWE the leeway to reevaluate the timing.

While nothing is official just yet, the signs are clear: WWE seems ready to break tradition and reposition the Draft as a fall feature — a notable shift that could have ripple effects across the creative calendar.

If this happens, fans can expect fresh rivalries and brand switches just in time for the buildup to Survivor Series and the year-end push. Stay tuned — WWE’s calendar might be evolving, and the 2025 Draft could lead the way.

WWE’s annual Draft is still on the calendar for 2025 — and it looks like it could be coming sooner rather than later.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez reports that WWE is likely planning to hold this year’s Draft during its packed Memorial Day weekend in Tampa, Florida. That weekend already features Saturday Night’s Main Event, NXT: Battleground, Monday Night RAW, and NXT TV — all running out of the Yuengling Center. Slotting the Draft into that schedule would give WWE a high-energy backdrop to shake up its rosters.

While the date isn’t officially confirmed, Alvarez said it’s “very likely” the Draft could take place “on that weekend or that week,” suggesting WWE may finally be ready to reshuffle its roster and pull the trigger on some long-anticipated call-ups.

Chief among those expected to be moved up are NXT standouts Roxanne Perez and Giulia. Despite her frequent appearances on the main roster since the Royal Rumble, Perez is still technically listed as an NXT talent. “She should be petitioning for main roster back pay,” Alvarez joked, referencing how often she’s already been involved with RAW and SmackDown.

Giulia, the high-profile signing from Japan, has yet to officially debut in-ring, but buzz around her has remained high — and the Draft would be a natural time to transition her into a featured role on the main stage. Stephanie Vaquer and Kelani Jordan were also named as strong candidates for a call-up, though Alvarez noted WWE won’t be promoting everyone at once.

“There’s a reason that a lot of women were cut in the last couple of weeks,” Alvarez said, pointing to recent roster trimming. “They are making room on the roster for a lot of other women to get called up.”

If the Draft does land at the end of May, it will mark the first major reshuffle of WWE’s roster in 2025, and potentially the start of a new era for several NXT favorites. With Memorial Day weekend already shaping up to be a big one for WWE programming, fans might want to keep their eyes on Tampa — the future of RAW and SmackDown could be decided there.

Round 1:

1. RAW – Imperium (GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser)
2. SmackDown – Jade Cargill
3. RAW – Damage CTRL (Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, Asuka, Kairi Sane)
4. SmackDown – Kevin Owens

Round 2:

1. RAW – CM Punk
2. SmackDown – The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, B-Fab)
3. RAW – Braun Strowman
4. SmackDown – Tiffany Stratton

Round 3:

1. RAW – LWO (Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, Zelina Vega, Carlito)
2. SmackDown – Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Angel, Berto, Elektra Lopez)
3. RAW – Drew McIntyre
4. SmackDown – Shinsuke Nakamura

Round 4:

1. RAW – The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh)
2. SmackDown – Naomi
3. RAW – Ilja Dragunov from NXT
4. SmackDown – Chelsea Green & Piper Niven

Round 5:

1. RAW – The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods)
2. SmackDown – Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince, Kit Wilson)
3. RAW – Lyra Valkyria from NXT
4. SmackDown – Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell

Round 6:

1. RAW – The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Scarlett, AOP[Akam and Rezar], Paul Ellering)
2. SmackDown – #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa)
3. RAW – Bronson Reed
4. SmackDown – Blair Davenport from NXT

No different than the first night of the 2024 WWE Draft, there was a pool of wrestlers still remaining from those eligible to be selected on night two who were not chosen on television. This time around, the promotion made clear those picks would be coming via social media after Monday Night Raw.

RAW:

• The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed) and Ivy Nile
• New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate)
• Dijak from NXT
• Kayden Carter and Katana Chance
• Natalya
• Odyssey Jones from NXT

SmackDown:

• Giovanni Vinci
• Tegan Nox
• Apollo Crews

Current champions will remain on their brands (with the exception of Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane)

Paul Heyman announced that Reigns has voluntarily withdrawn his name from the eligible pool of talent from the WWE Draft because he will not be returning in the immediate future.

Round 1:

1. SmackDown – Bianca Belair
2. RAW – Jey Uso
3. SmackDown – Carmelo Hayes from NXT
4. RAW – Seth Rollins

Round 2:

1. SmackDown – Randy Orton
2. RAW – Bron Breakker
3. SmackDown – Nia Jax
4. RAW – Liv Morgan 

Round 3:

1. SmackDown – LA Knight
2. RAW – Ricochet
3. SmackDown – The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Paul Heyman)
4. RAW – Sheamus

Round 4:

1. SmackDown – AJ Styles 
2. RAW – Alpha Academy (Chad Gable, Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Maxxine Dupri)
3. SmackDown – Andrade
4. RAW – Kiana James from NXT

Some additional WWE Draft picks took place on the “SmackDown LowDown” after Smackdown went off the air.

Round 5:

SmackDown:

• The OC (Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Michin)
• Ashante “Thee” Adonis and Cedric Alexander
• Baron Corbin

RAW:

• Ivar
• Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre
• Zoey Stark
• Shayna Baszler

Following this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, CM Punk came out to address the fans at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH.

During his post-show promo, Punk revealed that while his triceps injury isn’t healed just yet, he said he’d be back “soon” to compete with all “the big tough badasses backstage.” He also went on to say that Pete Rose belongs in the MLB Hall of Fame.

Chad Gable and Alpha Academy interrupted the promo, with Gable calling Pete Rose a cheater/fraud.

You can check out some highlights from the post-show promo below:

CM Punk on his thank you to the fans and his injury update: “Big things going on here in the WWE. The Draft was today. The Draft continues Monday. I felt compelled to come out here and speak to my friends in Cincinnati. I have missed you. And take a moment to look around at this place. Y’all packed this house. We couldn’t do this without each and every single one of you, so on behalf of everybody backstage, in front of and behind the camera, we humbly thank you very, very much. I want to give a little update. My tricep is not 100% yet, but I am on track, and I promise, soon, I will be back, and I will be competing with all of the big, tough badasses backstage.”

On Pete Rose belonging in the Baseball Hall of Fame: “For me, it’s fun watching a lot of the young superstars mixing with the Hall of Famers out here to announce draft picks, but ladies and gentlemen, I am in Cincinnati. If we’re gonna talk about the Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, we’re gonna talk about Pete Rose! I’m going to use my platform to stump this. It’s not really a hot take. Pete Rose belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame!”

https://twitter.com/BWAMatt/status/1784044018667598180

The dust around WWE WrestleMania 40 has finally settled, and the company is now set to turn its attention to freshening up the roster with the annual WWE Draft. Beginning on April 26 on “WWE Smackdown” and concluding on April 29 on “WWE Raw,” it seems as if all three of WWE’s brands will be getting some shake-up in this year’s draft, with a reported renewed focus on “WWE NXT” in particular.

Sources close to “NXT’s” creative process told Fightful Select that there is a push to make it more of a third main roster brand, similar to how things were before the COVID-19 pandemic when “NXT” was also included in the brand warfare storyline at Survivor Series 2019. This means that there is a strong chance that main roster talent can be drafted to “NXT” in the upcoming draft, with Fightful reporting that appearances from Ivar and The Final Testament are examples of how stars from “Raw” and “Smackdown” are likely to make Tuesday nights their new home.

“NXT” names that have been thrown around as those who will be leaving the brand include Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes, who are reportedly seen as locks for a main roster call-up. Roxanne Perez, Baron Corbin, and Tony D’Angleo’s Family have also been discussed as potential draftees. However, Shawn Michaels has apparently told several talents he doesn’t know who will be called up. “NXT” will reportedly have a draft-heavy focus on the upcoming “Spring Breakin'” episodes of the show on April 23 and 30, with the roster being more or less finalized by Battleground, which takes place on June 9.

This year’s draft will take place on April 26 and 29, as WWE is looking to capitalize on the 2024 NFL Draft, which will take place between April 25 and 27. Fightful Select confirmed this, and the outlet also noted that this year’s draft could potentially have input from WWE’s upcoming media partners, Netflix and The CW.

“Smackdown” will move from FOX to the USA Network, and “NXT” will move from USA to The CW in October 2024, while “Raw” will begin its new era on Netflix at the beginning of 2025. While USA will also be able to have some input on who appears on “Smackdown,” the CW and Netflix have the chance to try and secure some big stars for their launch dates if they choose to. However, Fightful was told by one WWE source that “Raw’s” debut on Netflix is closer to the 2025 draft than the 2024 one, meaning that they won’t be worrying about what the rosters look like for a little while. 

“Smackdown” and “NXT” will both be moving to Netflix in 2025 for fans in the United Kingdom, Latin America, Canada, and various other markets at the same time as “Raw’s” move. Still, there has been no word on whether that will impact any of the movement in this year’s draft or whether the rules may become relaxed at the turn of the new year.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Last night on WWE RAW after Mania, Michael Cole announced that the WWE Draft would begin on the April 26, 2024 episode of “WWE SmackDown” and conclude on the following episode of “Raw” on April 29, 2024.

Cole also announced that NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov would be participating in the draft, implying a main-roster call-up for “The Czar of NXT.” Dragunov made his RAW debut last night.