Tag: WWE Draft

WWE Reveals Rules For The Draft; NXT Stars Eligible, Undertaker & Triple H’s Status

Source: WrestlingINC

With the WWE Draft taking place Tuesday on the premiere of SmackDown Live on the USA Network, WWE has revealed its official rules, regulations and procedures.

According to WWE.com, the rules for the WWE Draft are as follows:

RAW has the first overall pickSince SmackDown Live is a two-hour show and RAW is three hours, for every two picks SmackDown Live receives, RAW will receive three picks

Tag Teams count as one pick unless a Commissioner/General Manager specifically only wants one member of the team

Six draft picks will be made off the NXT roster

The list of current WWE Superstars eligible for the WWE Draft are as follows:

Male Superstars
AJ Styles
Alberto Del Rio
Apollo Crews
Baron Corbin
Big Show
Braun Strowman
Bray Wyatt
Brock Lesnar
Cesaro
Chris Jericho
Darren Young (w/ Bob Backlund)
Dean Ambrose – WWE Champion
Demon Kane
Dolph Ziggler
Erick Rowan
Jack Swagger
John Cena
Kalisto
Kevin Owens
Mark Henry
Neville
Randy Orton
Roman Reigns
Rusev (w/ Lana) – United States Champion
Sami Zayn
Seth Rollins
Sheamus
Sin Cara
The Miz (w/ Maryse) – Intercontinental Champion
Titus O’Neil
Zack Ryder

Tag Teams
Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze)
Enzo and Cass (Enzo Amore and Big Cass)
Gallows and Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson)
Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth)
Shining Stars (Epico and Primo)
Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Heath Slater)
The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor)
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) – Tag Team Champions
The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso)
The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch)

Female Superstars
Alicia Fox
Becky Lynch
Charlotte – WWE Women’s Champion
Dana Brooke
Eva Marie
Naomi
Natalya
Paige
Sasha Banks
Summer Rae

The two biggest names not on the list are The Undertaker and Triple H. It’s also worth noting that while Brock Lesnar is eligible to drafted, Paul Heyman wasn’t included like other talent attached to a Superstar.

Other omissions from the list of eligible Superstars include injured wrestlers Emma, Luke Harper, Nikki Bella, Tamina and Tyson Kidd. Ryback and Rosa Mendes are also not listed.

Finn Balor Teases Being A Part Of The WWE Draft

Source: WrestlingINC

Saturday night in Louisville was the final NXT live event before the WWE draft this Tuesday. As noted, in the main event, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, American Alpha & Bayley teamed up to defeat Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, The Revival, Alexa Bliss.

After the five celebrated and did Nakamura’s post, Finn Balor took the mic and asked if someone left a door open because he feels a “draft”. He then says he has no idea what will be happening with the upcoming draft.

Balor went on to say that we will see everybody that performed here tonight at Wrestlemania at some point in the future. He goes around the ring and names himself, Nakamura, Bayley, Gable and Jordan, and says that they are NXT.

Note On WWE Tag Teams & The WWE Draft

Even though WWE doesn’t have a whole lot of depth in their tag team division (in my opinion), Dave Meltzer reported in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has plans to split up a few established tag-teams with the WWE draft this Tuesday on the premiere episode of SmackDown Live.

I can see them splitting up the Lucha Dragons, Breezango or The Golden Truth, but I think it would be a mistake to split up teams like The New Day, The Wyatt Family, The Club, The Dudley Boyz & The Usos.

WWE Network To Present WWE Draft Center Live Simultaneously With SmackDown Live’s WWE Draft

Source: WWE.com

WWE issued the following today:

As if the WWE Draft on SmackDown Live’s Tuesday night premiere on USA Network July 19 wasn’t big enough, the WWE Universe will also be able to watch a special WWE Draft Center Live second screen experience at 8/7 C — exclusively on WWE Network — as well as a SmackDown Live Pre-Show at 7/6 C across all digital platforms. Then, following all the exciting Draft action, there will be a Network exclusive SmackDown Post-Show at 10/9 C to break down all the events of the evening.

While Superstars like Seth Rollins, John Cena, Charlotte and the rest of the roster anxiously anticipate their fate with the clock ticking toward one of the most critical nights in WWE history, the action will begin with the SmackDown Live Pre-Show, featuring expert analysis on what may unfold throughout the evening.

Then, as the WWE Universe tunes in to the WWE Draft on SmackDown Live, fans will also have the opportunity to enhance their experience with the WWE Draft Center Live, a special supplemental show airing exclusively on WWE Network during the SmackDown broadcast. The revolutionary telecast will allow the WWE Universe to get inside the Draft in a way unlike any other as the lives of Superstars change forever – exclusively for WWE Network subscribers. Subscribe to WWE Network today to be part of this incredible experience!

The night will then conclude with the SmackDown Post-Show, exclusively on WWE Network, where reaction and analysis will surely be at a premium following all the memorable moments that the Draft will surely cause.

Watch it all unfold on Tuesday, July 19 beginning at 7/6 C, when SmackDown goes LIVE with the SmackDown Pre-Show, the WWE Draft Center and of course, the WWE Draft itself!

Brock Lesnar Returning For WWE Draft

Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Brock Lesnar is currently scheduled to return to WWE TV for the July 19th WWE Draft live SmackDown episode in Worcester, MA. Lesnar was originally supposed to return a few weeks later but the Brand Extension apparently changed those plans.

WWE NXT Superstars Moving To Main Roster, NXT & The WWE Draft

Source:  PWInsider Elite  via WrestlingINC 

It was recently reported that WWE would be keeping the women’s division on both rosters for the upcoming brand extension, despite original plans to keep the WWE Women’s Champion on one brand.

In regards to WWE NXT and the brand extension, we originally noted that as many as 6 NXT Superstars were being looked at for the WWE Draft but now we’re hearing there could be as many as 10-12 NXT stars called up for the main roster.

With that said, PWInsider notes that there’s talk of Carmella, Nia Jax and Bayley being called up to the main roster soon.