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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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