Report: Latest Update On Future Of WWE Draft
Is it once again going to be time to shake things up a bit in the near future?
Once an annual tradition, the WWE Draft was missing from the company in 2022, and its future remains up in the air.
The draft has been a way of mixing up the superstars and talent assigned to each brand, ostensibly producing new matchups and rivalries, in theory keeping the product fresh. It took place every year except one during the first brand extension from 2002-11, then dropped off when the rosters were combined. When WWE split the rosters again in 2016, the draft returned.
Fightful Select reports that the draft was set to happen late last year, but it got moved, with talent told it had been punted to "an undetermined time in 2023." However, Fightful spoke to more than a dozen talent on the WWE roster, and none of them have been told that a draft is coming, or when it could even take place.
Several talent have just assumed that it would happen after WrestleMania, which has happened several times in the past. As of Friday afternoon, talent hadn't been told about a draft. The other popular time of year for a draft has been the fall, which then has led into "season premieres" for Raw and SmackDown.
It's worth noting that both FOX and USA Network sources have told Fightful previously that they prefer distinct and separate rosters for each show. But ever since Triple H took over operations, those comments have diminished. At the same time, we've seen more bleed-over between the brands.