On the October 11 edition ofSmackdown, WWE began their draft in which superstars would be either drafted to Raw or Smackdown. As mentioned on the broadcast, there will be no more wild card rule meaning that each superstar will air exclusively on one show.

A day before the draft began, WWE posted all of the individuals who would be draft-eligible.

Smackdown began with a match to decide who would get the first pick. Former Shield members Seth Rollins (representing Raw) faced off against Roman Reigns (representing Smackdown) with Rollins picking up the win via disqualification due to being attacked by Bray Wyatt.

The first four rounds took place on Friday with five selections made in each round. Raw received three of the five picks each round due to it being an hour longer than Smackdown.

Here are the results from Friday’s draft. The draft will continue on Monday’s edition of Raw.

Friday’s draft results

  • First round

Raw (1) - Becky Lynch

Smackdown (2) - Roman Reigns

Raw (3) - The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson)

Smackdown (4) - Bray Wyatt

Raw (5) - Drew McIntyre

  • Second round

Raw (6) - Randy Orton

Smackdown (7) - Sasha Banks

Raw (8) - Ricochet

Smackdown (9) - Braun Strowman

Raw (10) - Bobby Lashley

  • Third round

Raw (11) - Alexa Bliss

Smackdown (12) - Lacey Evans

Raw (13) - Kevin Owens

Smackdown (14) - The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder)

Raw (15) - Natalya

  • Fourth round

Raw (16) - The Viking Raiders (Ivar and Erik)

Smackdown (17) - Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado)

Raw (18) - Nikki Cross

Smackdown (19) - Heavy Machinery (Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic)

Raw (20) - The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford)

Takeaways after the first day of the draft

With the meteoric rise that current Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch has encountered over the past year, it is no surprise that she was taken with the first overall selection by Raw.

Bleacher Report predicted her to be the second overall choice only behind the guy who was actually taken second in Roman Reigns.

While WWE has talked about on their recent shows how teams could be split up in the draft, that wasn’t the case at all on Friday. Six tag teams were drafted on Friday (including the threesomes of the O.C.

and the Lucha House Party) while both Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were drafted by Raw.

The strangest draft choice had to be by Smackdown in taking the Lucha House Party. They rarely are on television, and when they are, they are usually utilized to make their opponent look strong.

It is quite the shame that Cesaro has mostly been used as a jobber in recent months, and just as much of a shame that he didn’t get drafted. WWE listed him (among others) who are now free agents, and they will later be announced as to what show they will take part in.
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