The 2019 WWE draft is the fourteenth WWE draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Simply called the draft and returning to a traditional format, it was the second draft of 2019, following April's Superstar Shake-up. The draft occurred on the October 11 and 14 episodes of Friday Night SmackDown and Monday Night Raw, respectively, with SmackDown airing on Fox – its second episode on the network – and Raw airing on the USA Network.
Background
In April 2019, the WWE held the Superstar Shake-up, a draft between WWE's brands with an untraditional format in which drafting decisions were made behind the scenes. Shortly after the Shake-up, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon introduced a Wild Card Rule, in which up to four wrestlers would be allowed to appear on the opposing brand's show by invitation for one night only with unsanctioned appearances penalized. Following this, however, the Wild Card Rule's stipulations were not enforced, with numerous wrestlers freely appearing on both shows weekly without any penalties, blurring the lines between the Raw and SmackDown brands. With SmackDown' s move to FOX in October and Raw remaining on the USA Network (part of Comcast's NBCUniversal), the WWE decided to hold a second draft for 2019, simply called the draft, to definitively split the two brands. The draft was announced to occur on the October 11 and 14 episodes of SmackDown and Raw, respectively. Returning to a traditional draft format, personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal are scheduled to appear to make the drafting decisions. It was also confirmed that the Wild Card Rule would end with this new draft.
Because Raw was a three hour show while SmackDown was a two hour show, for every two draft picks SmackDown had Raw would get three.
For the October 11th SmackDown Seth Rollins representing Raw defeated Roman Reigns representing SmackDown by DQ which earned Raw the first pick in each round.
For the October 14th Raw Becky Lynch representing Raw defeated Charlotte Flair representing SmackDown which earned Raw the first pick in each round.
On October 15th it was announced on WWE Backstage that Raw had traded Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross to SmackDown for future considerations.
Selection
SmackDown
The following is the list of wrestlers and other personnel who were selected on the October 11th SmackDown.
Round 1 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Raw | Becky Lynch | Female Superstar | Then reigning WWE Raw Women's Champion |
SmackDown | Roman Reigns | Male Superstar | |
Raw | The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) | Stable | AJ Styles was then reigning WWE United States Champion |
SmackDown | Bray Wyatt | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Drew McIntyre | Male Superstar | |
Round 2 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | Randy Orton | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Sasha Banks | Female Superstar | |
Raw | Ricochet | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Braun Strowman | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Bobby Lashley | Male Superstar | |
Round 3 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | Alexa Bliss | Female Superstar | |
SmackDown | Lacey Evans | Female Superstar | |
Raw | Kevin Owens | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) | Tag Team | Then reigning WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champions |
Raw | Natalya | Female Superstar | |
Round 4 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) | Tag Team | |
SmackDown | Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) | Stable | |
Raw | Nikki Cross | Female Superstar | |
SmackDown | Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis) | Tag Team | |
Raw | Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) | Tag Team |
October 13th
Additional draft picks announced on WWE.com on October 13th.
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Raw | EC3 | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Eric Young | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Sin Cara | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Apollo Crews | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Drew Gulak | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Heath Slater | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Tamina | Female Superstar | |
SmackDown | The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) | Tag Team |
Raw
The following is the list of wrestlers and other personnel who were selected on the October 14th Raw.
Round 1 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Raw | Seth Rollins | Male Superstar | Then reigning WWE Universal Champion |
SmackDown | Brock Lesnar | Male Superstar | Then reigning WWE Champion |
Raw | Charlotte Flair | Female Superstar | |
SmackDown | The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods) | Stable | |
Raw | Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega) | Male Superstar | Drafted as a superstar/manager combo. |
Round 2 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) | Tag Team | Then reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions |
SmackDown | Daniel Bryan | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Rusev | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Bayley | Female Superstar | |
Raw | Aleister Black | Male Superstar | |
Round 3 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | Cedric Alexander | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Shinsuke Nakamura | Male Superstar | Then reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion |
Raw | Humberto Carrillo | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Ali | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Erick Rowan | Male Superstar | |
Round 4 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | Buddy Murphy | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler | Tag Team | |
Raw | Jinder Mahal | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Carmella | Female Superstar | |
Raw | R-Truth | Male Superstar | Then reigning WWE 24-7 Champion |
Round 5 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | Samoa Joe | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | The Miz | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Akira Tozawa | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | King Corbin | Male Superstar | Then reigning King of the Ring |
Raw | Shelton Benjamin | Male Superstar | |
Round 6 | |||
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
Raw | Rey Mysterio | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Shorty Gable | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Titus O'Neil | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Elias | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Liv Morgan | Female Superstar |
October 16th
Additional draft picks announced on The Bump on October 16th.
Selected by | Employee | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Raw | No Way Jose | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Mojo Rawley | Male Superstar | |
Raw | Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder | Tag Team | |
Raw | The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay) | Tag Team | |
Raw | Sarah Logan | Female Superstar | |
SmackDown | Luke Harper | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Cesaro | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Drake Maverick | Male Superstar | |
SmackDown | Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville | Tag Team | |
SmackDown | Dana Brooke | Female Superstar |
See also
External links
WWE Draft |
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