The WWE Draft continued on tonight’s episode of WWE Raw. Several top superstars were up for grabs, including CM Punk, Drew McIntyre Imperium (Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser) as well as Giovanni Vinci, Jade Cargill, New Catch Republic, Damage CTRL and Kevin Owens, among many others. Unlike CM Punk who was drafted in the second round, McIntyre was drafted to Raw in the third round. After the announcement was made he came out to address the crowd about how much it doesn’t make sense. As the crowd chants for CM Punk he says Punk’s the furthest thing from ant-establishment, instead he’s a “corporate arse kisser.”
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McIntyre being drafted to Raw feels the most natural for his character arc at this time as he is in the midst of battling it out with CM Punk. With Cody Rhodes now on SmackDown, Raw needs that big babyface to help balance things out so it makes perfect sense for that to be Punk when he returns. WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque has also made it clear that it’s just as important retaining the talent you already have on your rosters, and there’s definitely more brewing for him in Raw. Those stories include Sheamus who was drafted to Raw on night one.
McIntyre’s status in WWE has been one of the most talked contracts within WWE in a long time as he had yet to sign a new contract despite it expiring shortly after WrestleMania 40. The Rock took to his Instagram to announce that McIntyre had re-signed with the promotion with a sweet video of him gifting “The Scottish Warrior” with a sword. McIntyre has been a key player on Raw since his heel turn, terrorizing the entire locker room with his new attitude. At WrestleMania he won the World Heavyweight Championship, his first WWE title win in front of the fans. That was taken away shortly after as Punk attacking him led to Damian Priest cashing in his Money in the Bank contract and secure his first WWE singles title.
WWE Draft Rules
- Champions on each brand will be protected and are not eligible to be drafted. As a result, Damian Priest, Becky Lynch, Awesome Truth and Sami Zayn will remain on Raw. Cody Rhodes, Bayley, A-Town Down Under and Logan Paul will remain on SmackDown.
- Even though their status as champions allows them to go to both brands, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane are eligible to be drafted. They will be assigned to that brand if they lose the titles.
- Monday’s Raw will feature six rounds of draft picks being announced. Each round will consist of the brands making two picks apiece for a total of 24 picks (12 for Raw and 12 for SmackDown).
- SmackDown will have the first pick on Friday, and Raw will have first pick on Monday.
- Rosters will go into effect on Monday, May 6, two days after Backlash France.
