2023 WWE Draft

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 relaxed, but on the April 7, 2023, episode of SmackDown, WWE executive Triple H announced the 2023 draft and stated that every WWE wrestler from Raw and SmackDown would be eligible for the draft, as well as select wrestlers from NXT.[2] The following week, the dates for WWE's 17th draft were confirmed, with it beginning with the April 28 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and concluding with the May 1 episode of Monday Night Raw, with SmackDown airing on Fox and Raw on the USA Network. This subsequently repositioned the draft back in its traditional post-WrestleMania slot, after the last three drafts were held in October.[3][4] The drafting pools for which wrestlers were eligible to be drafted each night were revealed on April 27.[5] On Night 1 of the draft, Triple H announced that draft results would go into effect beginning with the May 8 episode of Raw, two days after the Backlash pay-per-view and livestreaming event.[6]

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]

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, the SmackDown LowDown, the next day on WWE's social media and streaming platforms.[7][8]

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]

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]

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]

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).

The day after the draft on May 2, it was revealed that ring announcers Mike Rome and Samantha Irvin, who announced for Raw and SmackDown, respectively, would switch brands beginning May 8.[16] This switch was made because Irvin is engaged to Ricochet, who was drafted to Raw, as WWE tries to keep real-life couples on the same brand.[17]

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.[18] 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).[19] 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.[20]

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.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23] 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,[24] Aldis revealed that Kevin Owens had been traded to SmackDown for Jey,[25] in turn splitting the team of Owens and Sami Zayn.[26]

Prior to the draft on the April 24 episode of Raw, Triple H unveiled a new World Heavyweight Championship for the brand that did not select Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, as he and his titles would become exclusive to the brand that drafted him. As a result of SmackDown drafting Reigns, the World Heavyweight Championship became exclusive to Raw.[6] Despite the title becoming exclusive to Raw, SmackDown wrestlers competed in the tournament to crown the inaugural champion (which was reportedly due to WWE's attempt to retain viewership for the May 12 episode of SmackDown, which went head-to-head with the 2023 NBA playoffs). At Night of Champions, Raw's Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated SmackDown's AJ Styles to become the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion.[27]

On Night 1 of the draft, reigning NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre were drafted to SmackDown. That same night, they were scheduled to defend the championship against Kayden Carter and Katana Chance on the May 2 episode of NXT, but during Night 2 of the draft, Carter and Chance were drafted to Raw. On NXT, Dawn and Fyre retained the title and they claimed they would defend the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship across all three brands. On that same episode, reigning NXT Women's Champion Indi Hartwell relinquished her title due to being drafted to Raw and also due to a leg injury.[28] On the June 9 episode of SmackDown, the issue of the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship being on SmackDown would be addressed as reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler challenged Dawn and Fyre to a championship unification match, which was accepted and scheduled for the June 23 episode.[29] Rousey and Baszler won to become the unified WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, thus making the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship available to NXT again. The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was subsequently retired in the process, with Dawn and Fyre recognized as the final champions.[30]

As a result of the draft, Raw and SmackDown's secondary championships switched brands, as Intercontinental Champion Gunther was drafted to Raw while United States Champion Austin Theory was drafted to SmackDown, and there were no title changes by the time draft results went into effect on May 8. Despite their namesakes, the women's championships would also switch brands, with Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair drafted to SmackDown and SmackDown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley drafted to Raw.[7] This same incident occurred during the 2021 draft, but the night that draft's results went into effect, the women's champions swapped titles to keep the branded championships on their respective brands.[31] This did not happen between Belair and Ripley when the 2023 draft results went into effect on May 8.[32] The issue of the Raw and SmackDown women's championships being on the opposite brands would be resolved a month after the draft following the Night of Champions event. On the June 9 episode of SmackDown, reigning Raw Women's Champion Asuka was presented with a new championship belt and the title reverted to its original name of WWE Women's Championship,[29] while on the June 12 episode of Raw, reigning SmackDown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley was also presented with a new championship belt and the title was renamed as the Women's World Championship.[33]

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.[34]

In August 2023, Lacey Evans left WWE due to the expiration of her contract.[35] 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.[36]

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.[13] His accomplice Uncle Howdy, portrayed by Wyatt's real-life brother Bo Dallas, had been inactive due to Wyatt's medical hiatus, but following Wyatt's death, Howdy's status is unknown.[37]

Following WWE's acquisition by Endeavor, which was finalized on September 12 and saw WWE merge with Ultimate Fighting Championship to become divisions of a new company called TKO Group Holdings, WWE announced a new broadcasting deal that would move SmackDown back to the USA Network in October 2024. As a result of the merger and broadcasting deal, WWE released a number of wrestlers from all three brands, including some WWE Performance Center recruits, on September 21, 2023, with other cuts revealed over the next couple of days.[38] These included Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Elias, Mustafa Ali, Emma, Riddick Moss, Aliyah, Top Dolla, Rick Boogs, Dabba-Kato, Shanky, Maximum Male Models (ma.çé and mån.sôör), Quincy Elliot, Dana Brooke, Yulisa León, Ikemen Jiro, Matt Riddle, Bryson Montana, Daniel McArthur, Kevin Ventura-Cortez, Alexis Gray, Brooklyn Barlow, Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald, and Melanie Brzezinski.[39]