The 2016 WWE draft was a professional wrestling event and the tenth WWE draft, the first since 2011, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on July 19 during the live premiere of SmackDown on the USA Network in the United States broadcasting from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Background In 2002, following the acquisition of the remains of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) introduced the brand split, dividing its roster among two brands, Raw and SmackDown, represented by the shows of the same name. The brand split would continue until 2011, with a draft held every year (except 2003) to refresh the brands' rosters. In August 2011, the brand split ended, allowing all WWE wrestlers to appear on both shows.
In mid-2016, with a larger roster of wrestlers, in part thanks to WWE's developmental brand NXT, WWE decided to reintroduce the brand split with a draft to be held on the July 19 episode of SmackDown – the show's debut broadcast on the USA Network, as well as its renaming to SmackDown Live (with the show now broadcasting live as it was previously aired on tape delay). On the July 11 episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon appointed Shane McMahon as the commissioner of SmackDown and Stephanie McMahon as the commissioner of Raw. The following week, the commissioners introduced Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan as the general managers of Raw and SmackDown, respectively.
The rules of the draft were posted to WWE's website on July 17. They were the following: Raw received the first overall draft pick. For every two draft picks for SmackDown, Raw received three picks (due to Raw being a three-hour show, while SmackDown is two hours). Tag teams counted as one pick unless a commissioner/general manager specifically only wanted a single member from the team as their pick. Six draft picks had to be made from the NXT roster; title holders could not be picked.
Results In addition to the televised draft, the live episode of SmackDown also featured several matches.
Selections
SmackDown Live The following is the list of wrestlers who were drafted on SmackDown Live. Rnd.Pick # BrandBrand pick #EmployeeNotes11Raw1Seth Rollins12SmackDown1Dean AmbroseWWE Champion13Raw2CharlotteWWE Women's Champion14SmackDown2AJ Styles15Raw3Finn BálorDrafted from NXT26Raw4Roman Reigns27SmackDown3John Cena28Raw5Brock Lesnar29SmackDown4Randy Orton210Raw6The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods)WWE Tag Team Champions311Raw7Sami Zayn312SmackDown5Bray Wyatt313Raw8Sasha Banks314SmackDown6Becky Lynch315Raw9Chris Jericho416Raw10Rusev with LanaWWE United States Champion417SmackDown7The Miz with MaryseWWE Intercontinental Champion418Raw11Kevin Owens419SmackDown8Baron Corbin420Raw12Enzo and Cass (Enzo Amore and Big Cass)521Raw13Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson522SmackDown9American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable)Drafted from NXT523Raw14Big Show524SmackDown10Dolph Ziggler525Raw15Nia JaxDrafted from NXT626Raw16Neville627SmackDown11Natalya628Raw17Cesaro629SmackDown12Alberto Del Rio630Raw18Sheamus
WWE Draft Center Live The following is the list of wrestlers who were drafted on the WWE Draft Center Live special on the WWE Network. Rnd.Pick # BrandBrand pick #EmployeeNotes731Raw19Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth)732SmackDown13The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso)733Raw20Titus O'Neil734SmackDown14Kane735Raw21Paige836Raw22Darren Young with Bob Backlund837SmackDown15Kalisto838Raw23Sin Cara839SmackDown16Naomi840Raw24Jack Swagger841SmackDown17The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor)942Raw25Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley)943SmackDown18Zack Ryder944Raw26Summer Rae945SmackDown19Apollo Crews946Raw27Mark Henry947SmackDown20Alexa BlissDrafted from NXT1048Raw28Braun Strowman1049SmackDown21Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango)1050Raw29Bo Dallas1051SmackDown22Eva Marie1052Raw30The Shining Stars (Primo and Epico)1053SmackDown23Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch)1154Raw31Alicia Fox1155SmackDown24Erick Rowan1156Raw32Dana Brooke1157SmackDown25Mojo RawleyDrafted from NXT1158Raw33Curtis Axel1159SmackDown26CarmellaDrafted from NXT
Undrafted Several wrestlers remained undrafted mainly due to injury or inactivity, some of which eventually were assigned to a brand. The chart is organized by date. EmployeeReason for not being draftedSubsequent statusDateNotesRybackContract disputeReleasedAugust 8, 2016Ryback was released from WWE due to a contract dispute.Nikki BellaNeck injurySmackDownAugust 21, 2016Returned at SummerSlam, replacing the suspended Eva Marie, in a SmackDown match teaming with Natalya and Alexa Bliss to defeat Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Carmella.Triple HSemi-activeUnaffilliatedAugust 29, 2016Returned on Raw and attacked Seth Rollins, and subsequently only appeared on Raw but never declared an affiliation to any brand.Heath SlaterOnly active wrestler not to be draftedSmackDownSeptember 13, 2016Earned a SmackDown contract after winning the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship tournament with Rhyno at Backlash.Luke HarperKnee injurySmackDownOctober 9, 2016Returned at No Mercy to help Bray Wyatt defeat Randy Orton.Rosa MendesMaternity leaveRetiredFebruary 13, 2017Announced retirement on February 13, 2017.EmmaBack injuryRawFebruary 13, 2017Returned to the Raw brand as "Emmalina", then announced her makeover back to "Emma".She was off television until April 3, 2017, where she returned as her evil-Emma character.The UndertakerSemi-activeUnaffiliatedJanuary 9, 2017Returned at SmackDowns 900th episode on November 15, 2016.Subsequently, appeared on the January 9, 2017 episode of Raw, where he declared his unaffiliation to any brand.TaminaKnee injurySmackDownApril 11, 2017Returned as part of the Superstar Shake-up.Tyson KiddNeck injuryRetiredJune 29, 2017Suffered a life-threatening spinal injury on June 8, 2015.On June 29, 2017, Kidd officially retired from in-ring competition and became a producer.The RockSemi-activeRetiredAugust 2, 2019Announced he had quietly retired on August 2, 2019. Even after coming out of retirement and returning to WWE on a part-time basis on 2024, The Rock did not affiliate with any brand.
Notes Tag teams/stables broken up as a result of the draft were The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan to SmackDown, Braun Strowman to Raw; Luke Harper went undrafted due to having suffered a knee injury before the draft, but was signed by SmackDown), The Club (AJ Styles to SmackDown, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to Raw), and The Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel to Raw; Heath Slater went undrafted but was eventually signed by SmackDown). Lana, Maryse, and Bob Backlund were each drafted in the same pick as their respective clients. Dana Brooke was drafted separately from her client Charlotte, but continued to manage her for several months afterwards. Of the six NXT draft picks, two were made by Raw (Finn Bálor and Nia Jax), the other four were made by SmackDown (American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable), Alexa Bliss, Mojo Rawley, and Carmella). After the results at Battleground, Raw was the home of three WWE titles (WWE Women's Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship, and United States Championship), while SmackDown was the home of two WWE titles (WWE Championship and Intercontinental Championship). The WWE Universal Championship was introduced for Raw on July 25, 2016; the WWE Championship was subsequently renamed to WWE World Championship (it was reverted to WWE Championship in December 2016). The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship and WWE SmackDown Women's Championship were unveiled on August 23, 2016; Raw's Women's and Tag Team titles were subsequently renamed to reflect their exclusivity to Raw. A new WWE Cruiserweight Championship was then unveiled for the cruiserweight division on September 14, 2016 (originally part of Raw, but made exclusive to the 205 Live brand in 2018).
Response and aftermath Following the brand extension draft, former WWE wrestlers made their return to WWE and sided with either Raw or SmackDown. Within the next month, Jinder Mahal and Brian Kendrick returned on Raw, while Rhyno and Curt Hawkins joined SmackDown. Shelton Benjamin was announced to return on SmackDown, but his return was put on hiatus due to a torn rotator cuff, which required surgery. In September, Raw draftee Jack Swagger moved to SmackDown. Various competitors from the Cruiserweight Classic also signed contracts with Raw due to being a part of the cruiserweight division. Former NXT Women's Champion Bayley joined Raw after her final match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II.
On November 29, 2016, a new show called 205 Live premiered. The new show exclusively features WWE's cruiserweight division. The division was formerly exclusive to Monday Night Raw, but became shared between Raw and 205 Live until 205 Live became its own brand in 2018.HHH discusses 205 Live...and more - 411 Mania.com
As a result of the reintroduction of the brand extension, the July 19 Draft episode (and the first live episode) of SmackDown on Tuesdays gained a viewership by 2.2 rating with 3.17 million viewers (compare to Raws rating with 3.04 million viewers on the previous night), and was SmackDowns highest rated episode since December 2010.WWE’s Live ‘SmackDown’ Debut Locks Up Show’s Top Rating Since 2010WWE Draft Scores Highest WWE SmackDown Rating In Years, When Was The Last Time SmackDown Beat RAW?WWE Raw ratings (July 18, 2016): Viewers down the night before the draft
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