Tag: WWE Draft

WWE Announces Draft Pools For RAW And SmackDown

WWE has announced the preliminary Draft Pool for the 2019 WWE Draft that kicks off on Friday’s SmackDown from Las Vegas, then wraps on Monday’s RAW in Denver.

WWE earlier announced the rules for the 2019 Draft, including why RAW will receive more picks than SmackDown. They also announced which celebrities will be involved with announcing the picks. You can read that announcement by clicking here.

Regarding the WWE Draft Pools, several top Superstars will be eligible for selection on Friday night and Monday night. Stars like RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, The OC, Sasha Banks, The Street Profits, and others will be eligible on Friday. Stars like WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, The New Day, Daniel Bryan, AOP, Aleister Black, and others will be eligible on Monday night.

Preliminary WWE Draft Pools announcedSmackDown and Raw are officially on the clock.

The preliminary WWE Draft Pools have been determined and designate which WWE Superstars are available for selection on each night.

Below is the full list of draft-eligible Superstars organized by assigned night:

Friday Night SmackDown – Oct. 11
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch
Roman Reigns
The O.C. (United States Champion AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson)
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
Drew McIntyre
Randy Orton
Sasha Banks
Ricochet
Braun Strowman
Bobby Lashley
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
Lacey Evans
The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder)
Natalya
The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)
Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado)
Cesaro
Kevin Owens
Humberto Carrillo
Akira Tozawa
Sin Cara
Eric Young
EC3
Chad Gable
Heath Slater
Drew Gulak
The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel)
Tamina

Raw – Oct. 14
Universal Champion Seth Rollins
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair
Titus O’Neil
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (with Sami Zayn)
Aleister Black
The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods)
Daniel Bryan
Bayley
Luke Harper
Erick Rowan
The Miz
Ali
King Corbin
Elias
Raw Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode
Samoa Joe
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)
Rusev
Cedric Alexander
Rey Mysterio
R-Truth
Carmella
AOP (Akam & Rezar)
Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis)
Apollo Crews
Andrade
Liv Morgan
Jinder Mahal
Buddy Murphy
Mojo Rawley
No Way José
Dana Brooke
Shelton Benjamin
Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce)
Sarah Logan
Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville)
Drake Maverick

The WWE Draft begins with the Friday, Oct. 11 episode of SmackDown on FOX at 8/7 C. Catch the final picks on the Monday, Oct. 14 episode of Raw on USA Network at 8/7C.

WWE Clarifies Rules Regarding Draft

WWE has clarified the rules for its upcoming draft beginning tonight on Friday Night SmackDown.

The WWE draft rules are as follows:

  • More than seventy Superstars, including Tag Teams, have been placed into this year’s Draft pool
  • Thirty Superstars will be eligible to be drafted tomorrow night, while fourty-one Superstars will be eligible on Monday Night
  • For every two SmackDown picks, Raw will get three (since Friday Night SmackDown is a two-hour show and Monday Night Raw is a three-hour show)
  • Tag Teams will count as one pick unless FOX or USA Network specifically wants to pick one Superstar from the team
  • Any undrafted Superstars will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choosing

WWE also confirmed FOX and NBCUniversal personalities who will Draft make appearances.

This includes FOX personalities like Alex Rodriguez, Troy Aikman, Jim Cramer, Joe Buck, Frank Thomas, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart , Charissa Thompson, Michael Vick, and more. Repping NBCUniversal will be Michael Che and Colin Jost, Christian Slater, Dulé Hill and James Roday from Psych, Marcus Lemonis from The Profit, Margaret Josephs and Melissa Gorga  from Real Housewives of New Jersey and more.

The press release also explains that “For the first time, executives from FOX and USA Network have direct influence over the WWE Draft as it will determine the Superstars competing for either Raw or SmackDown.”

The WWE Draft begins tonight at 8pm ET on Friday Night SmackDown, then continues Monday on RAW.

Backstage News On The Format For The WWE Draft

The WWE Draft begins this Friday with SmackDown on FOX. Superstars will be legitimately finding out which brands they will be going to on Friday, and the event will continue on Monday’s Raw.

According to the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, the WWE Draft will be different from previous years as it will be ran similar to the NFL Draft. Representatives from FOX and the USA Network will be announcing the picks.

The idea is to make the WWE Draft as authentic as possible thanks to the companies new TV deals. It was previously reported that various personalities from USA and FOX would be appearing, but WWE didn’t state if celebrities would be included.

Additionally, Dave Meltzer pointed out that WWE does not want authority figures involved in programming for now. It is unknown when WWE will be bringing them back.

It was also noted that all the major decisions regarding which stars will be drafted are complete, however WWE is keeping the moves very quiet.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Draft Officially Announced

Reports began surfacing earlier this month of a WWE Draft taking place in October as SmackDown makes its way to FOX on Friday, October 4.

Earlier today, during the 1 pm ET NFL game on FOX it was announced the WWE Draft will begin on the October 11 episode of SmackDown and will then continue the following Monday (October 14) on RAW on the USA Network.

The 2019 WWE  Draft has been confirmed to begin on the October 11 SmackDown episode, then wrap on the October 14 RAW episode.

WWE has announced that Superstars will be appearing on RAW and SmackDown along with personalities from Fox and NBCUniversal programming, who will announce the picks.

WWE issued the following press release to us this afternoon to confirm the Draft:

WWE® DRAFT SET FOR FOX AND USA NETWORK ON OCTOBER 11 AND 14

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 15, 2019 – The destiny of WWE’s Superstars will be determined during a two-night draft taking place live on Friday Night SmackDown® on October 11 at 8 pm ET on the FOX broadcast network and Monday Night Raw® on October 14 at 8 pm ET on USA Network.

On both nights of the draft, Superstars from Raw and SmackDown will appear along with personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming who will announce select picks from each brand. The draft will determine the Superstars that compete for Raw and SmackDown, which feature distinct casts, unique storylines and dedicated writing teams.

Friday Night SmackDown on October 11 will emanate from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas while Monday Night Raw on October 14 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Raw and SmackDown are the #1 and #2 longest-running weekly episodic television shows in U.S. primetime history. The programs have aired more original episodes than The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.

Raw will continue airing on USA Network while SmackDown moves to FOX beginning Friday, October 4.

WWE Draft Scores Highest SmackDown TV Rating In Over Three Years

Source: WrestlingINC

The draft episode of WWE SmackDown this past Tuesday gave the program its highest rating in three-and-a-half years. The show registered a 2.20 rating, according to PWTorch.com, and was watched by 3,170,000 viewers in the United States, according to Showbuzzdaily.com.

You’d have to go back to January 11, 2013, when SmackDown was airing on Friday nights on Syfy to find the last time SmackDown did a rating this high.

The rating and viewership (which are two related but distinct metrics) for SmackDown were very similar to that of the RAW on the previous night. RAW’s rating was a 2.22, while viewership for each of the three hours was 3,204,000 for the first hour, 3,236,000 for the second and 2,960,000 for the final hour. So, on a minute-by-minute average, SmackDown was viewed by more people than the final hour of RAW, but didn’t have higher viewership than the first two hours of RAW.

This was the first time SmackDown came this close to equating RAW in ratings within the same week since around Christmas in 2012, when RAW was stuck on Christmas Eve, and its rating suffered to a 2.20. SmackDown the Friday before beat that episode of RAW, with a 2.29.

Before that, on the week of New Years, going into 2008, New Years Eve fell on a Monday, so RAW did a 2.6. SmackDown, which was on Friday at the time, did a 2.9.

The last time SmackDown outdid RAW when a holiday wasn’t involved, was in 2007. RAW on July 30, 2007, did a 2.51 while SmackDown on August 3, 2007, beat it with a 2.62.

It’ll be interesting to watch how much of this audience SmackDown can retain going forward. The impetus for SmackDown moving to Tuesday nights, going live and having its own roster, was to improve that program’s ratings and better satisfy NBCUniversal, the parent of USA Network: the channel RAW and SmackDown are both broadcast on in the U.S.

Heath Slater Statement In Response To Not Being Selected In WWE Draft

After being left out of the WWE Draft, Heath Slater posted the following on his Twitter account in response to WWE’s storyline article on the forgotten Draft pick:

“I hear all the whispers and all those lies people are spewing. Guess what? They are nothing but angry pleas from other guys who WISH they were free like me. You say I’m “optimistic and delusional”? You say I’ve “caught the bug”? I’ve had the bug for a long time now. I’ve been more than ready – since I was a little boy even – to get my time to shine. I know this company has taken down so many others but I’m not going to let them do the same to me. You’ll know my name and you’ll see that I’m stronger still. I’ll rise up from these ashes and you’ll learn to fear my pain, the pain of all the missed opportunities and all the backhanded comments I’ve endured all these years. Yeah you will. I won’t disappear, I definitely won’t be hanging up my boots anytime soon. I’ve got too much to prove before I would ever do that. You’ll be seeing me. You’ll be seeing a lot of me. Where you might ask? Only time will tell…”

Speculation On Bayley & The WWE Draft, Heath Slater

Source: WrestlingINC

There’s a lot of speculation that Bayley will end up on the main roster before the month is over, perhaps as Sasha Banks’ mystery partner against Dana Brooke and WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte at Sunday’s Battleground pay-per-view.

RAW only received two WWE NXT picks in the Draft, Finn Balor and Nia Jax, and with Charlotte, Dana and Sasha going to RAW, Bayley would be a good fit. We noted yesterday that WWE had “Hugger Section” signs placed in ringside seats at SmackDown but we’ve heard from one fan that those signs were created and placed by another fan. As noted, only 59 of 60 Draft picks were announced with Heath Slater being “left out” as an apparent comedy bit.

WWE Draft Results

Round No. 1
1. Seth Rollins – Raw
2. WWE Champion Dean Ambrose – SmackDown Live
3. WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte – Raw
4. AJ Styles – SmackDown Live
5. Finn Bálor – Raw from NXT

Round No. 2
6. Roman Reigns – Raw
7. John Cena – SmackDown Live
8. Brock Lesnar – Raw
9. Randy Orton – SmackDown Live
10. WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day – Raw

Round No. 3
11. Sami Zayn – Raw
12. Bray Wyatt – SmackDown Live
13. Sasha Banks – Raw
14. Becky Lynch – SmackDown Live
15. Chris Jericho – Raw

Round No. 4
16. United States Champion Rusev (with Lana) – Raw
17. Intercontinental Champion The Miz (with Maryse) – SmackDown Live
18. Kevin Owens – Raw
19. Baron Corbin – SmackDown Live
20. Enzo & Big Cass – Raw

Round No. 5
21. Gallows and Anderson – Raw
22. American Alpha – SmackDown Live from NXT
23. Big Show – Raw
24. Dolph Ziggler – SmackDown Live
25. Nia Jax – Raw from NXT

Round No. 6
26. Neville – Raw
27. Natalya – SmackDown Live
28. Cesaro – Raw
29. Alberto Del Rio – SmackDown Live
30. Sheamus – Raw

Round No. 7 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
31. Golden Truth – Raw
32. The Usos – SmackDown Live
33. Titus O’Neil – Raw
34. Demon Kane – SmackDown Live
35. Paige – Raw

Round No. 8 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
36. Darren Young (with Bob Backlund) – Raw
37. Kalisto – SmackDown Live
38. Sin Cara – Raw
39. Naomi – SmackDown Live
40. Jack Swagger – Raw
41. The Ascension – SmackDown Live

Round No. 9 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
42. The Dudley Boyz – Raw
43. Zack Ryder – SmackDown Live
44. Summer Rae – Raw
45. Apollo Crews – SmackDown Live
46. Mark Henry – Raw
47. Alexa Bliss – SmackDown Live from NXT

Round No. 10 Picks (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
48. Braun Strowman – Raw
49. Breezango – SmackDown Live
50. Bo Dallas – Raw
51. Eva Marie – SmackDown Live
52. Shining Stars – Raw
53. The Vaudevillains – SmackDown Live

Round No. 11 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
54. Alicia Fox – Raw
55. Erick Rowan – SmackDown Live
56. Dana Brooke – Raw
57. Mojo Rawley – SmackDown Live from NXT
58. Curtis Axel – Raw
59. Carmella – SmackDown Live from NXT

Undrafted
Heath Slater

WWE Draft Extended To 3 Hours

Source: WrestlingINC

Tonight’s WWE superstar draft on SmackDown is one of the biggest events of the year and it deserves some extra time. WWE has now confirmed that the first live SmackDown is going to be extended to three hours instead of the typical two.

There is a bit of a catch though and the third hour will take place on the WWE Network beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

This is not going to be a weekly occurrence and SmackDown will go back to the two-hour format after this week. That is the main reason that Monday Night Raw is getting three picks for every two that SmackDown gets, and that is due to it being a longer show.

Tonight’s extended episode will begin at 8 p.m. ET with the first two hours airing on USA Network.

– WWE is making sure that both shows are represented well at tonight’s draft and the announce team has now been revealed.

The Wrestling Observer has revealed that Mauro Ranallo will be joined by Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, and Byron Saxton for a four-man team. Cole is going to remain exclusive for Monday Night Raw from this point forward.

SmackDown Live Preview: WWE Draft 7/19/16

Source: WWE.com

WWE Draft

WWE SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon has announced the main event for tonight’s live SmackDown on the USA Network – Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE Title in a rematch from RAW.

As noted, their RAW main event ended with Rollins apparently winning the title. After RAW went off the air, the referee ruled that the match ended in a draw as both men had their shoulders down.

Can Cena get on the same page with Enzo & Big Cass?

Who will possibly want to team with Sasha Banks?

Will Ryder use United States Champion Rusev’s anger against him?