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WWE Draft 2016 rules revealed for Raw, Smackdown

By Matt Couden

Jul 13, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; WWE wrestlers of The New Day known as Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (left) and Ettore Ewen (center) and Austin Watson (right) arrive on the red carpet for the 2016 ESPY Awards at Microsoft Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 13, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; WWE wrestlers of The New Day known as Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (left) and Ettore Ewen (center) and Austin Watson (right) arrive on the red carpet for the 2016 ESPY Awards at Microsoft Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 2016 WWE Draft rules have been released which will divide up superstars between Raw and Smackdown rosters this coming Monday night.

With the WWE Draft 2016 scheduled for Monday’s episode of Raw, the rules for how it will all go down were recently unveiled. On Sunday, a report was released by the professional wrestling company to inform fans just what to expect from the divvying up of superstars between Raw and Smackdown.

With the show taking place on Raw, it seems only fitting that the show’s roster will get the first pick. Some of the speculated choices for that pick have included Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, John Cena and Kevin Owens. Cena is the obvious draw for TV ratings, so it would be surprising to see him go anywhere besides Raw, but whether he goes first or not still remains to be seen.

According to WWE, another rule will be that Smackdown’s show gets two picks for every three picks that Raw gets. The reasoning behind this rule is due to the fact that Raw runs three hours, while the new “Smackdown Live” show will run for two hours. This rule makes perfect sense in terms of providing more talent to appear on the show that’s on for a longer time slot.

Also mentioned is a rule that tag teams are drafted as one pick, unless a show’s General Manager or Commissioner specifies that they only want to draft one member of the team. This rule brings up the interesting possibility that some teams might get broken apart. Will New Day see one of the members shipped off to Smackdown while two stay on Raw?

The final rule mentioned is that there will be a total of six selections made from the NXT roster. Obviously, WWE knows which stars will fill those six slots. The smart money seems to be on wrestlers including Finn Balor, Bayley, Nya Jax, Austin Aries, Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura, although anything is possible. Of all the rules that were outlined, this one certainly brings the most interest as it could help in bolstering both shows with brand new stars added into the mix.

The special WWE Draft episode of Raw will be shown at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday Night, with Raw and Smackdown rosters getting their respective draft picks. Stephanie McMahon was appointed Raw Commissioner last week by Vince McMahon, while Shane McMahon was put in place as Commissioner of SmackDown.

Two other big reveals that will come with the show will be who Stephanie and Shane will choose to fill the General Manager positions for Raw and Smackdown, as they will also play a part in making selections and running the shows. Rumors have Daniel Bryan on Smackdown, but the Raw GM seems to be a mystery, so it could possibly mean the surprise return of a major star to the show.

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