A WWE draft between the Raw and SmackDown rosters is looking increasingly less likely for the remainder of 2022, and will in fact likely be shelved until after WrestleMania 39 at the earliest.
This is according to Dave Meltzer, who noted that the April switch-up could be there in place of a planned date earlier this year. Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, he said;
"There’s been some talk of waiting until after WrestleMania to do it..there was talk at one point for October, but I guess they didn’t do it. There was a date that was talked about at one point, but they just didn’t pull the trigger on it."
WWE held its last draft in October 2021 ahead of Survivor Series, as had been bizarrely the tradition dating back to 2019 despite the fact that November's Survivor Series had been rooted in a Raw Vs SmackDown "brand supremacy" theme since 2016.
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Prior the Autumnal shift, the various drafts and shake-ups since 2002's inaugural edition had occurred between March and June, seemingly to reset things after the dust had settled on in-house season finale WrestleMania. This could be the thinking for 2023. Though nothing has been reported as confirmed yet, both USA Network and Fox like having exclusive rosters per multiple outlets, suggesting that the tradition will eventually pick back up.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years.
As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
