The first night of the WWE Draft took place on SmackDown and there are a plethora of stars for General Managers Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce to choose from. As the first round got underway, one of the biggest stars in the women’s division in Bianca Belair and NXT stand out Carmelo Hayes were both drafted to SmackDown. Hayes has been competing on the blue brand for quite some time, but things have now been made official. For the first round Raw picks, “Main Event” Jey Uso and former World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins.
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The former World Heavyweight Champion Rollins will remain on Raw where he’s been for the last year carrying the red brand with his title defenses amidst Reigns being largely absent. Rollins lost the championship at WrestleMania to Drew McIntyre who lost it to MITB winner Damian Priest. Rollins is currently out injured as he recently underwent surgery on his knee following his two huge WrestleMania matches. Heading into the show, Rollins had gotten injured in a title defense against Jinder Mahal, suffering from a grade 2 tear on his MCL and a partially torn medial meniscus. He was cleared in February and returned to the ring in March.
Although Punk is not available in the SmackDown draft pool and will instead be part of Monday’s picks, if Punk remains on Raw it would be a natural fit for the feud between Rollins and Punk to be revisited. When Punk returned at Survivor Series all signs pointed to a title match between himself and Rollins which he later confirmed, but with Punk being injured WWE was forced to pivot to the McIntyre feud.
WWE Draft 2024 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.
- Friday’s SmackDown will feature four rounds of draft picks being announced. Each round will consist of the brands making two picks apiece for a total of 16 picks being announced (8 for SmackDown and 8 for Raw).
- 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.
