WWE 2019 Draft Rules Explained

Ahead of the WWE Draft commencing tomorrow night, Paul E. has his sights on two big-name players.

by Andrew Pollard
Aleister Black
WWE.com

In an update from WWE.com, here's the set rules for the WWE draft that kicks off tomorrow night on SmackDown;

    More than 70 Superstars, including Tag Teams, have been placed into this year’s WWE Draft pool.
    30 Superstars will be eligible to be drafted tomorrow night while 41 Superstars will be eligible on Monday Night.
    Since Friday Night SmackDown is a two-hour show and Monday Night Raw is a three-hour show, for every two SmackDown picks, Raw will get three.
    Tag Teams will count as one pick unless FOX or USA Network specifically wants to pick one Superstar from the team.
    Any undrafted Superstars will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choosing.

With the WWE Draft due to take place on tomorrow night’s SmackDown and Monday’s Raw, WWE fans are eagerly awaiting to see which superstars end up on which brand. And now, there’s an update on a couple of names that Paul Heyman is eager to have on Monday nights.

Via the usually reliable @WrestleVotes, Heyman is doing his best to bring Aleister Black to Raw from the SmackDown brand. The wheels seem to be already in motion on this one, with Black appearing on this week’s Raw in a winning effort over The Bollywood Boys.

Advertisement

In other Raw roster news, Heyman is rightfully desperate to keep ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt on Raw – although it remains to be seen how things unfold for Wyatt after the face-palm-inducing ending of last weekend’s Hell in a Cell PPV.

On the other side of the fence, FOX is calling the shots on who they want on the SmackDown roster – with Roman Reigns and current SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair two major names that the network wants to keep on the blue brand.

Advertisement

Tomorrow night’s SmackDown will open with Raw’s Seth Rollins vs. SmackDown’s Roman Reigns in a match that will determine which brand gets the first pick of the Draft. As for the WWE Draft itself, the picks will actually be announced by officials from FOX and the USA Network in a move to bring some authenticity to proceedings.

Advertisement

If WWE is to be believed, the WWE Draft will put a hard, strict roster split in place that sees Raw and SmackDown exist as two completely separate entities with their own exclusive roster. But then again, we’ve kinda heard that spiel before… only to see the roster split made a mockery off mere weeks later.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.