WWE Draft Night 2: SmackDown Picks Up One of Raw’s Champions in Round 1

This week’s Monday Night Raw kicked off with Round 1 of Night 2 of the WWE Draft. Both brands came out firing as Raw took SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley with its first pick, ensuring that the Red Brand’s Women’s Division would still have a champion. SmackDown responded by taking United States Champion Austin Theory, providing Friday nights with a new midcard champion now that Gunther has brought the Intercontinental Championship to Raw. The round finished out with Seth Rollins remaining on Raw and Charlotte Flair sticking with SmackDown. 

Triple H also confirmed prior to the picks that the Draft’s results won’t go into effect until the March 8 episode of Raw, taking place two nights after the Backlash pay-per-view in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also confirmed that Brock Lesnar will remain a free agent as he negotiated that status earlier in the day. 

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