The 2020 WWE Draft was the 15th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began on the October 9 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and concluded on the October 12 episode of Monday Night Raw. Both shows were broadcast from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, with SmackDown airing on FOX and Raw on USA.
Production Background The WWE Draft is an annual process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE while a brand extension, or brand split, is in effect. The original brand extension occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the second and current brand split began in 2016. During a brand extension, the company divides its roster into brands where the wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand's respective television show, and the draft is used to refresh the rosters of the brand divisions, typically between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
In 2019, the promotion held two drafts, the first in April and the second in October. The one in April, also known as the Superstar Shake-up, had an untraditional drafting format where drafting decisions were made behind the scenes and drafted wrestlers simply appeared on the brand without a major reveal, while the one in October returned to a traditional format, where draft picks were announced on the shows by a WWE official. The 2020 draft was officially announced during the Clash of Champions pay-per-view on September 27 and was scheduled to occur on the October 9 and October 12 episodes of SmackDown and Raw, respectively.
On August 19 during the NXT TakeOver XXX media call, WWE executive and NXT head Triple H said that the 2020 draft would also involve the NXT brand, but the official announcement that occurred during Clash of Champions stated that this draft would only be between Raw and SmackDown. During the NXT TakeOver 31 media call on September 30, a now unsure Triple H stated that he did not know if NXT would be involved. WWE's advertising just a couple days later affirmed that the draft would only be between Raw and SmackDown without NXT involvement. Like previous drafts, wrestlers, including all champions, were eligible to be drafted to either Raw or SmackDown. Due to the stipulations of the titles, holders of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship and the 24/7 Championship could appear on either show, regardless of the brand they were drafted to, until they lost their respective title.
2020 draft rules The rules for the 2020 WWE draft were revealed by Fox Sports on October 8, which were the same as the previous draft in October 2019. Over 60 male and female wrestlers, as well as individual tag teams and stables, including current champions, were placed into the 2020 drafting pools. Over 20 wrestlers were announced as being eligible to be drafted on the October 9 episode of SmackDown and more than 30 wrestlers were eligible to be drafted on the October 12 episode of Raw. The rules of the draft were as follows: Due to the length of each show, for every two picks made by SmackDown, Raw received three (as SmackDown is two hours and Raw is three). Tag teams and stables counted as one pick unless either broadcast partner (Fox and NBCUniversal), in conjunction with WWE, wanted to specifically pick one wrestler from the group. Any undrafted wrestlers were immediately (in kayfabe) declared free agents and were able to sign with the brand of their choosing.
Selections Night 1: SmackDown (October 9) There were four rounds of draft picks during Night One of the 2020 draft. WWE Chief Brand Officer (CBO) Stephanie McMahon announced the draft picks for each. Rnd.Pick #Wrestler(s)Pre-draft brandPost-draft brandRoleBrand pick #11Drew McIntyreRawRawMale wrestlerWWE Champion112Roman Reigns with Paul HeymanSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestler and managerUniversal Champion113AsukaRawRawFemale wrestlerRaw Women's Champion214Seth RollinsRawSmackDownMale wrestler215The Hurt BusinessRawRawMale stableUnited States Champion (Lashley)326AJ StylesSmackDownRawMale wrestler427Sasha BanksSmackDownSmackDownFemale wrestler328NaomiSmackDownRawFemale wrestler529Bianca BelairRawSmackDownFemale wrestler4210Nia Jax and Shayna BaszlerRawRawFemale tag teamWomen's Tag Team Champions6311RicochetRawRawMale wrestler7312Jey UsoSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestler5313Mandy RoseRawRawFemale wrestler8314Rey Mysterio and Dominik MysterioRawSmackDownMale tag team6315John Morrison and the MizSmackDownRawMale tag team9416Kofi Kingston and Xavier WoodsSmackDownRawMale tag teamSmackDown Tag Team Champions10417Big ESmackDownSmackDownMale wrestler7418Dana BrookeRawRawFemale wrestler11419OtisSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestlerMen's Money in the Bank contract holder8420Angel GarzaRawRawMale wrestler12
Notes One stable was split up as a result of the first night: Big E remained on SmackDown while his New Day stablemates, Kofi Kingston and the returning Xavier Woods, were drafted to Raw, temporarily taking the SmackDown Tag Team Championships with them (they would later trade the titles over to The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) moments after the then-Raw Tag Team Champions were drafted to SmackDown during Night Two to resolve any confusions). One tag team was split up as a result of the draft: Otis remained on SmackDown while his Heavy Machinery tag team partner, Tucker, was drafted to Raw during the supplemental draft on Talking Smack the following day.
Supplemental picks: Talking Smack (October 10) A supplemental draft took place on Talking Smack with wrestlers who were not drafted on Night 1. Rnd.Pick #Wrestler(s)Pre-draft brandPost-draft brandRoleBrand pick #521Humberto CarrilloRawRawMale wrestler13522MurphyRawSmackDownMale wrestler9523Drew GulakSmackDownRawMale wrestler14524KalistoSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestler10525TuckerSmackDownRaw Male wrestler15 Notes One stable was split up as a result of the supplemental draft: Kalisto remained on SmackDown while his Lucha House Party stablemates, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado, were drafted to Raw.
Night 2: Raw (October 12) There were six rounds of draft picks during Night Two of the 2020 draft. WWE's CBO Stephanie McMahon again announced the draft picks for each. Rnd.Pick #Wrestler(s)Pre-draft brandPost-draft brandRoleBrand pick #11"The Fiend" Bray WyattSmackDownRaw Male wrestler112BayleySmackDownSmackDownFemale wrestlerSmackDown Women's Champion113Randy OrtonRawRawMale wrestler214The Street ProfitsRawSmackDownMale tag teamRaw Tag Team Champions215Charlotte FlairRawRawFemale wrestler326Braun StrowmanSmackDownRaw Male wrestler427Daniel BryanSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestler328Matt RiddleSmackDownRawMale wrestler529Kevin OwensRawSmackDownMale wrestler4210Jeff HardySmackDownRawMale wrestler6311RetributionRawRawMixed gender stable7312Lars SullivanSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestler5313Keith LeeRawRawMale wrestler8314King CorbinSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestler6315Alexa BlissSmackDownRawFemale wrestler9416EliasSmackDownRawMale wrestler10417Sami ZaynSmackDownSmackDownMale wrestlerIntercontinental Champion7418Lacey EvansSmackDownRawFemale wrestler11419Cesaro and Shinsuke NakamuraSmackDownSmackDownMale tag team8420SheamusSmackDownRawMale wrestler12521Nikki CrossSmackDownRawFemale wrestler13522Dolph Ziggler and Robert RoodeRawSmackDownMale tag team9523R-TruthRawRawMale wrestler24/7 Champion14524Apollo CrewsRawSmackDownMale wrestler10525Dabba-KatoFree agentRawMale wrestler15626Titus O'NeilRawRawMale wrestler16627CarmellaSmackDownSmackDownFemale wrestler11628Peyton RoyceRawRaw (was later released, signed with Impact Wrestling)Female wrestler17629Aleister BlackRawSmackDown (was later released, signed with All Elite Wrestling)Male wrestler12630Akira TozawaRawRawMale wrestler18
Supplemental picks: Raw Talk (October 12) A supplemental draft took place on Raw Talk with wrestlers who were not drafted on Night 2. Rnd.Pick #Wrestler(s)Pre-draft brandPost-draft brandRoleBrand pick #731LanaRawRaw Female wrestler19732NatalyaRawSmackDownFemale wrestler13733Riddick MossRawRawMale wrestler20734The Riott SquadRawSmackDownFemale tag team14735Arturo RuasNXTRaw Male wrestler21
Post-draft trades
Trade # Brand (from) Wrestler(s) Role Brand (to) Date Notes1RawDabba-KatoMale wrestlerSmackDownApril 16, 2021During Night 2 of WrestleMania 37 on April 11, 2021, Dabba-Kato to help Apollo Crews win the Intercontinental Championship from Big E. Crews would then introduce Dabba-Kato as Commander Azeez the following Friday on SmackDown, with no mention made of his previous time as Dabba-Kato on Raw, thus transferring to the SmackDown brand.2RawMandy RoseFemale wrestlerNXTJuly 13, 2021Separated from her tag team partner, Dana Brooke. Rose made a surprise return to the NXT brand, observing a match between Sarray and Gigi Dolin.3RawNaomiFemale wrestlerSmackDownAugust 27, 20214SmackDownBig EMale wrestlerRawSeptember 13, 2021SmackDown's Big E is the 2021's Mr. Money in the Bank. Cashed in the contract on the September 13, 2021 episode of Raw and defeated Raw's Bobby Lashley to win the WWE Championship after Lashley had successfully defended the title against Randy Orton, thus transferring to the Raw brand.5RawRiddick MossMale wrestlerSmackDownSeptember 24, 2021Moss made a surprise return by aligning with Happy Corbin and attacking Kevin Owens, thus transferring to the SmackDown brand, The following week, Moss was re-introduced as Corbin's associate, Madcap Moss.
Free agents Within WWE storyline, a "free agent" referred to a contracted wrestler who had not been assigned to one of the company's five brands at the time—Raw, SmackDown, NXT, NXT UK, or 205 Live (the latter two were subdivisions of NXT). Several wrestlers were made free agents due to injury, inactivity, or simply not being drafted despite being an active member of the rosters. Wrestlers who became free agents could (kayfabe) sign with the brand of their choosing. The chart is organized by date.