Backstage News On When WWE Stars Found Out They'd Been Drafted
Did WWE keep Raw-SmackDown (and vice versa) switches a surprise during Friday's Draft?
PWInsider Elite are reporting that WWE informed wrestlers switching brands in the 2021 Draft that they'd be be doing so "shortly before" announcements were made on-air.
The company were apparently keen to avoid any nasty surprises, presumably because they're aware that this isn't the ThunderDome era anymore - Raw, SmackDown and NXT 2.0 hold very different schedules, so it's important that talent are made aware of what's happening ahead of time.
Most who were flown in for SmackDown likely knew what the script was with brand changes anyway.
Put it this way: Drew McIntyre was backstage for last night's show, and it seems unlikely that he was kept in the dark about a permanent move to Friday nights before being announced as the fifth overall pick in the Draft.
WWE hasn't always been so considerate. Jim Ross once revealed that he was caught totally off-guard when the promotion switched he and Michael Cole in 2008. The iconic announcer was almost lost for words when that particular trade was announced live.
Perhaps that sort of thing was never going to happen in 2021. To reiterate, WWE made sure everybody knew what was going on ahead of time.