WWE Draft Results: Every Raw and SmackDown Championship That Changed Brands
The WWE Draft has kicked off. This year's edition of the roster reset began on WWE SmackDown with a limited pool of available superstars, ranging from top champions to NXT prospects. Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was selected with the first overall pick, landing on WWE SmackDown alongside enforcer Solo Sikoa and special counsel Paul Heyman. Notably enough, The Usos were not part of The Bloodline as a package deal and could find themselves on Monday Night Raw if the red brand selects them next week. Reigns remaining on WWE SmackDown meant that his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship will also be a permanent prize on Friday nights.
As a result, Monday Night Raw receives the recently announced WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This brand new title will be competed for by Raw superstars and an inaugural champion will be crowned next month at WWE Night of Champions.
Championships continued to float in the first round when Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair was selected by WWE SmackDown. This all but confirms that SmackDown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley will head to Monday Night Raw during the second night of the WWE Draft. From there, WWE will either run back what happened in 2021, when then-Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair swapped championships with then-SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch when the two were drafted to opposite brands, or new titles will be introduced. It has been rumored that WWE is planning on retiring the "Raw" and "SmackDown" labels for its titles, meaning the women's division prizes could be rebranded as the "WWE Women's World Championship" and the "WWE Women's Universal Championship."
This trend impacted the midcard men's titles as well. WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Imperium were drafted to Monday Night Raw, making it extremely likely that WWE United States Champion Austin Theory will head to WWE SmackDown on Monday. WWE has long flip-flopped the Intercontinental and United States Titles during past drafts and "superstar shake-ups."
Even NXT titleholders felt the change. NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn were called up to WWE SmackDown while the recently-injured NXT Women's Champion Indi Hartwell was selected by Monday Night Raw. What happens to their championships remains to be seen, as they will likely either be stripped of their titles or lose them before heading to the main roster.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for continuing coverage of the WWE Draft.
