The WWE Draft is back, and like all prior years, the event serves to shake the roster up between "WWERaw" and "WWE SmackDown," potentially changing the horizon of the promotion for the year. Now, WWE has revealed a set of rules the draft will follow this year.
Based on the social media post shared by WWE on X (formerly known as Twitter), the rules are as follows:
- On the April 26 "SmackDown", there will be four rounds, with 16 total picks. On the April 19 "Raw," there will be six rounds with 24 total picks.
- Apart from the Women's Tag Team Champions, champions on each brand are protected they cannot be drafted.
- "SmackDown" will have the first pick on April 26; "Raw" will have the first pick on April 29.
- Rosters lock on Monday, May 6 two days after WWE Backlash.
The rules presented mean that singles champions CodyRhodes, Damian Priest, Becky Lynch, Bayley, SamiZayn, and Logan Paul as well as the men's tag team champions Awesome Truth and A-Town DownUnder will all remain on their respective brands. Damage CTRL could be split up, however,since women's tag champs Asuka and KairiSane are eligible to be drafted.
Interestingly, the official rules don't mention "WWE NXT," which WWE was reportedly eying as a viable third option for stars from the main roster to be drafted to, and vice versa. However, this could still be implemented as a surprise during the actual drafts on both "SmackDown" and "Raw."
