Is NXT Involved in the 2020 WWE Draft?

WWE confirmed during Sunday's Clash of Champions pay-per-view that the annual WWE Draft is on the horizon. The announcement booked the event for the Oct. 9 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and the Oct. 12 episode of Monday Night Raw. But, as many fans were quick to point out, there was no mention of NXT despite the brand being on the USA Network and WWE's insistence that it's the promotion's third brand and not the developmental territory any longer. Previous installments of the Draft (as well as the Superstar Shake-up) have seen a number of NXT wrestlers get moved to either the Raw or SmackDown brands, while the Black and Gold Brand receives nothing in return.

Leading up to Sunday's NXT TakeOver 31 event, Triple H hosted a media conference call on Wednesday afternoon. Midway through the call "The Game" was asked about NXT's role in the Draft, but he had no answer.

"I wish I did (have an update), but I don't," he said. "I don't know. The Draft is coming, I'm unsure. You, like myself, will have to stay tuned and wait and see."

NXT stayed most absent from the 2019 WWE Draft, which was used to re-establish the brand split between Raw and SmackDown following the Blue Brand's jump to Friday nights on FOX. The Street Profits were drafted to Raw, and the since-released Lio Rush was moved to NXT as a free agent.

During the same call Hunter was asked about the reports of NXT moving off Wednesday nights and onto a different night on the USA Network.

"I'm happy with where we are. There's conversations around all of our product at all times, the best for it to sit, best place for it to work, all of that. Funny thing, I don't hear anybody else asking about people moving on Wednesdays since we were always on Wednesdays. ... It's not like every other channel has free air. It comes down to a question of where the show best sits, not only for us but for our partners and wherever they want to go to.

"We're open to doing the best business we can, but it's not just a simple a decision as 'It's our decision and we just put the show where we want to put it.' Those decisions are made by partners and everything else along the way," he added.

Here's the full card for NXT TakeOver 31:

• NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly
• NXT Women's Championship: Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae
• NXT North American Championship: Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano
• NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Santos Escobar vs. Swerve Scott
• Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream