2016 WWE Draft
The 2016 WWE draft was the tenth draft, and first since 2011, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It took place on July 19 during the live premiere of SmackDown on the USA Network in the United States broadcasting from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Background
On the July 11 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon appointed Shane McMahon as the commissioner of SmackDown and Stephanie McMahon as the commissioner of Raw.[1] The following week on the July 18 episode of Raw, the commissioners introduced Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan as the general managers of Raw and SmackDown, respectively.[2]
The rules of the draft were posted to WWE's website on July 17.[3][4] They were the following:
- Raw received the first overall draft pick.
- For every two draft picks for SmackDown, Raw received three picks.
- Tag teams counted as one pick (unless a commissioner/general manager wanted only a single member from a tag team in their pick)
- Six draft picks were made from the NXT roster. The draftees from NXT could not be champions on the brand.
Selection
SmackDown Live
The following is the list of wrestlers who were drafted on SmackDown Live.[5]
| Rnd. | Pick # | Brand | Brand pick # | Superstar (Real name) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Raw | 1 | Seth Rollins (Colby Lopez) |
|
| 1 | 2 | SmackDown | 1 | Dean Ambrose (Jonathan Good) |
WWE World Champion |
| 1 | 3 | Raw | 2 | Charlotte (Ashley Fliehr) |
WWE Women's Champion |
| 1 | 4 | SmackDown | 2 | AJ Styles (Allen Jones) |
|
| 1 | 5 | Raw | 3 | Finn Bálor (Fergal Devitt) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 2 | 6 | Raw | 4 | Roman Reigns (Leati Anoa'i) |
|
| 2 | 7 | SmackDown | 3 | John Cena | |
| 2 | 8 | Raw | 5 | Brock Lesnar | |
| 2 | 9 | SmackDown | 4 | Randy Orton | |
| 2 | 10 | Raw | 6 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (Ettore Ewen, Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah and Austin Watson) |
WWE Tag Team Champions |
| 3 | 11 | Raw | 7 | Sami Zayn (Rami Sebei) |
|
| 3 | 12 | SmackDown | 5 | Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda) |
|
| 3 | 13 | Raw | 8 | Sasha Banks (Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado) |
|
| 3 | 14 | SmackDown | 6 | Becky Lynch (Rebecca Quin) |
|
| 3 | 15 | Raw | 9 | Chris Jericho (Christopher Irvine) |
|
| 4 | 16 | Raw | 10 | Rusev with Lana (Miroslav Barnyashev with Catherine Perry) |
United States Champion |
| 4 | 17 | SmackDown | 7 | The Miz with Maryse (Michael Mizanin with Maryse Mizanin) |
Intercontinental Champion |
| 4 | 18 | Raw | 11 | Kevin Owens (Kevin Steen) |
|
| 4 | 19 | SmackDown | 8 | Baron Corbin (Thomas Pestock) |
|
| 4 | 20 | Raw | 12 | Enzo & Cass (Enzo Amore and Big Cass) (Eric Ardnt and William Morrissey) |
|
| 5 | 21 | Raw | 13 | Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (Andrew Hankinson and Chad Allegra) |
|
| 5 | 22 | SmackDown | 9 | American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) (Nathan Everhart and Charles Betts) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 5 | 23 | Raw | 14 | Big Show (Paul Wight, Jr.) |
|
| 5 | 24 | SmackDown | 10 | Dolph Ziggler (Nicholas Nemeth) |
|
| 5 | 25 | Raw | 15 | Nia Jax (Savelina Fanene) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 6 | 26 | Raw | 16 | Neville (Benjamin Satterley) |
|
| 6 | 27 | SmackDown | 11 | Natalya (Natalie Neidhart) |
|
| 6 | 28 | Raw | 17 | Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) |
|
| 6 | 29 | SmackDown | 12 | Alberto Del Rio (José Rodriguez) |
|
| 6 | 30 | Raw | 18 | Sheamus (Stephen Farrelly) |
Later drafts were aired on the WWE Network |
WWE Network
The following is the list of wrestlers who were drafted on the "DraftCenter Live" special on the WWE Network.[5]
| Rnd. | Pick # | Brand | Brand pick # | Employee (Real name) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 31 | Raw | 19 | Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth) (Dustin Runnels and Ronnie Killings) |
|
| 7 | 32 | SmackDown | 13 | The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) (Jonathan Fatu and Joshua Fatu) |
|
| 7 | 33 | Raw | 20 | Titus O'Neil (Thaddeus Bullard Sr.) |
|
| 7 | 34 | SmackDown | 14 | Kane (Glenn Jacobs) |
|
| 7 | 35 | Raw | 21 | Paige (Saraya-Jade Bevis) |
|
| 8 | 36 | Raw | 22 | Darren Young with Bob Backlund (Frederick Rosser III with Robert Backlund) |
|
| 8 | 37 | Smackdown | 15 | Kalisto (Emanuel Rodriguez) |
|
| 8 | 38 | Raw | 23 | Sin Cara (Jorge Arias) |
|
| 8 | 39 | SmackDown | 16 | Naomi (Trinity Fatu) |
|
| 8 | 40 | Raw | 24 | Jack Swagger (Donald Hager Jr.) |
|
| 8 | 41 | SmackDown | 17 | The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) (Ryan Parmeter and Eric Thompson) |
|
| 9 | 42 | Raw | 25 | The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) (Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes) |
|
| 9 | 43 | SmackDown | 18 | Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona) |
|
| 9 | 44 | Raw | 26 | Summer Rae (Danielle Moinet) |
|
| 9 | 45 | SmackDown | 19 | Apollo Crews (Sesugh Uhaa) |
|
| 9 | 46 | Raw | 27 | Mark Henry | |
| 9 | 47 | SmackDown | 20 | Alexa Bliss (Alexis Kaufman) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 10 | 48 | Raw | 28 | Braun Strowman (Adam Scherr) |
|
| 10 | 49 | SmackDown | 21 | Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) (Matt Clement and Curtis Hussey) |
|
| 10 | 50 | Raw | 29 | Bo Dallas (Taylor Rotunda) |
|
| 10 | 51 | SmackDown | 22 | Eva Marie (Natalie Coyle) |
|
| 10 | 52 | Raw | 30 | The Shining Stars (Primo and Epico) (Eddie Colón and Orlando Colón) |
|
| 10 | 53 | SmackDown | 23 | The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) (Matt Rehwoldt and John Smith) |
|
| 11 | 54 | Raw | 31 | Alicia Fox (Victoria Crawford) |
|
| 11 | 55 | SmackDown | 24 | Erick Rowan (Joseph Ruud) |
|
| 11 | 56 | Raw | 32 | Dana Brooke (Ashley Sebera) |
|
| 11 | 57 | SmackDown | 25 | Mojo Rawley (Dean Muhtadi) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 11 | 58 | Raw | 33 | Curtis Axel (Joe Hennig) |
|
| 11 | 59 | SmackDown | 26 | Carmella (Leah Van Dale) |
Drafted from NXT |
Notes
- Heath Slater was the only active talent listed by WWE as eligible for the draft who was not picked by either brand.[6]
- Various injured and inactive superstars went un-drafted and were considered ineligible which included: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Emma, Luke Harper, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Tamina, Triple H, Tyson Kidd and The Undertaker.
- Tag teams/stables broken up as a result of the draft were The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan to SmackDown, Braun Strowman to Raw, Luke Harper was undrafted due to injury), The Club (AJ Styles to SmackDown, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to Raw), and The Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel to Raw, Heath Slater who went undrafted). The Wyatt Family were previously exempted from being drafted as one unit, while Styles stated (through his Twitter account) that The Club wasn't disbanded but instead getting "expanded".[7]
- Of the six NXT draft picks, two were made by Raw (Finn Bálor and Nia Jax), the other four were made by SmackDown (American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable), Alexa Bliss, Mojo Rawley and Carmella).
- After the results of Battleground, Raw is the exclusive home of 4 WWE titles (WWE Universal Championship, WWE Women's Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship, United States Championship). SmackDown holds only 2 championships (WWE World Championship, and Intercontinental Championship). WWE Women's Champion Charlotte and WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day were drafted into Raw, therefore leaving SmackDown Live without a women's championship and tag Team championship. SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan annouced SmackDown will create two new titles for this brand, possibly after SummerSlam. [8].
- Following the draft, it was announced that both Main Event & WWE Superstars would feature superstars exclusive to the Smackdown & Raw brand, making their the official "B" Show of the brand similar to WWE Velocity & WWE Heat respectively.
- Following the draft, the returning Shelton Benjamin[a] and Rhyno were added to the SmackDown roster. Jinder Mahal later was added to the Raw roster.
- ^ Benjamin's return has been put on hiatus as he recovers from rotator cuff surgery
References
- ^ Caldwell, James. "7/11 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James (July 18, 2016). "7/18 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ Pappolla, Ryan. "Draft rules revealed: Everything you need to know about the WWE Draft". WWE. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James. "WWE Draft Details – Draft process, NXT call-ups, Brock & other part-timers, Ryback not included, Reigns's status, injured stars left off, Tag Teams". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ a b "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ WWE Universe [@WWEUniverse] (July 19, 2016). "Hey, did #RAW and #SmackDownLIVE forget about @HeathSlaterOMRB? #WWEDraft" (Tweet). Retrieved July 20, 2016 – via Twitter.
- ^ AJStyles.Org [@AjStylesOrg] (July 21, 2016). "Ha! Some may think The Club has split up. We've expanded, no one is safe!" (Tweet). Retrieved July 25, 2016 – via Twitter.
- ^ Template:Http://www.inquisitr.com/3375921/wwe-news-daniel-bryan-confirms-a-new-wwe-womens-championship-is-coming-to-smackdown/ Daniel Bryan confirms a new womens championship is coming to SmackDown