WWE Draft 2016

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The 2016 WWE Draft took place on July 19, 2016 at the DCU Center in Worcester , Massachusetts and was hosted by the WWE Wrestling League . The event was the tenth draft in WWE history and the first since April 25, 2011.

background

On May 25, 2016, the WWE announced on its homepage that from July 19, 2016 , its weekly show SmackDown will be broadcast live on Tuesdays instead of recorded on Thursdays. She also explained that in the course of the first permanent live broadcast of SmackDown, which was introduced in 2002 after the acquisition of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling and discontinued at the end of 2011 as a Rostersplit or Brand Extension , the division of the WWE roster between the shows Raw and SmackDown just like the WWE Draft will return.

On July 11, 2016, Vince McMahon announced on Raw that his children Stephanie (Raw) and Shane (SmackDown) should each take over a show as commissioner and each should appoint a general manager for their show. It did so again on Raw a week later when Mick Foley (Raw) and Daniel Bryan (SmackDown) were appointed general managers.

One day later, the draft took place as part of the first live edition of SmackDown (officially renamed SmackDown Live ). The following rules for the draft had already been announced on the WWE homepage:

  • Raw receives the first draft pick.
  • Raw receives three for every two draft picks from SmackDown Live, since Raw is three and SmackDown Live is only two hours.
  • Tag teams always count as a draft pick, unless a commissioner / general manager only wants a specific member of a tag team in the roster.
  • Six draft picks are taken from the NXT roster.

A list of eligible superstars and tag teams was also published.

Draft results

SmackDown Live

The first six draft rounds were held during the premiere of SmackDown Live .

round #
Total 		fire #
Brand 		Superstar / Tag Team
(real names) 		Remarks
01 01 Raw 01 Seth Rollins
(Colby Lopez)
02 SmackDown 01 Dean Ambrose
(Jonathan Good) 		WWE Champion
03 Raw 02 Charlotte
(Ashley Fliehr) 		WWE Women's Champion
04th SmackDown 02 AJ Styles
(Allen Jones)
05 Raw 03 Finn Bálor
(Fergal Devitt) 		Drafted from NXT
02 06th Raw 04th Roman Reigns
(Leati Anoa'i) 		1
07th SmackDown 03 John Cena
(John Cena)
08th Raw 05 Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman
(Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman) 		2
09 SmackDown 04th Randy Orton
(Randall Orton) 		3
10 Raw 06th Big E , Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ( The New Day )
(Ettore Ewen, Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah and Austin Watson) 		WWE Tag Team Champions
03 11 Raw 07th Sami Zayn
(Rami Sebei)
12 SmackDown 05 Bray Wyatt
(Windham Rotunda)
13 Raw 08th Sasha Banks
(Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado)
14th SmackDown 06th Becky Lynch
(Rebecca Quin)
15th Raw 09 Chris Jericho
(Christopher Irvine)
04th 16 Raw 10 Rusev with Lana
(Miroslaw Barnjaschew with Catherine Perry) 		WWE United States Champion
17th SmackDown 07th The Miz with Maryse
(Michael Mizanin with Maryse Mizanin) 		WWE Intercontinental Champion
18th Raw 11 Kevin Owens
(Kevin Steen)
19th SmackDown 08th Baron Corbin
(Thomas Pestock)
20th Raw 12 Big Cass and Enzo Amore
(William Morrissey and Eric Arndt)
05 21st Raw 13 Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
(Chad Allegra and Andrew Hankinson)
22nd SmackDown 09 Chad Gable and Jason Jordan (American Alpha)
(Charles Betts and Nathan Everhart) 		Drafted from NXT
23 Raw 14th Big Show
(Paul Wight, Jr.)
24 SmackDown 10 Dolph Ziggler
(Nicholas Nemeth)
25th Raw 15th Nia Jax
(Savelina Fanene) 		Drafted from NXT
06th 26th Raw 16 Neville
(Benjamin Satterley) 		4th
27 SmackDown 11 Natalya
(Natalie Neidhart-Wilson)
28 Raw 17th Cesaro
(Claudio Castagnoli)
29 SmackDown 12 Alberto Del Rio
(José Rodriguez)
30th Raw 18th Sheamus
(Stephen Farrelly)
1 0Roman Reigns was not active at the time of drafting, as he was suspended for 30 days on June 21, 2016 for violating WWE's internal Wellness Policy .
2 0Brock Lesnar and his manager Paul Heyman were inactive at the time of the draft as Lesnar had taken a break from the WWE due to his fight at UFC 200 .
3 0Randy Orton was not active again at the time of the draft due to a shoulder injury that had just healed.
4th 0Neville was not active again at the time of the draft due to a newly recovered ankle injury.

WWE Network

The remainder of the draft was then broadcast live on the WWE Network .

round #
Total 		fire #
Brand 		Superstar / Tag Team
(real names) 		Remarks
07th 31 Raw 19th Goldust and R-Truth (The Golden Truth)
(Dustin Runnels and Ronald Killings)
32 SmackDown 13 Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso (The Usos)
(Joshua Fatu and Jonathan Fatu)
33 Raw 20th Titus O'Neil
(Thaddeus Bullard)
34 SmackDown 14th Kane
(Glenn Jacobs)
35 Raw 21st Paige
(Saraya-Jade Bevis)
08th 36 Raw 22nd Darren Young with Bob Backlund
(Frederick Rosser with Robert Backlund)
37 SmackDown 15th Kalisto
(Emanuel Rodriguez)
38 Raw 23 Sin Cara
(Jorge Arias)
39 SmackDown 16 Naomi
(Trinity Fatu) 		5
40 Raw 24 Jack Swagger
(Donald Hager)
41 SmackDown 17th Konnor and Viktor (The Ascension)
(Ryan Parmeter and Eric Thompson)
09 42 Raw 25th Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley (The Dudley Boyz)
(Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes)
43 SmackDown 18th Zack Ryder
(Matthew Cardona)
44 Raw 26th Summer Rae
(Danielle Moinet)
45 SmackDown 19th Apollo Crews
(Sesugh Uhaa)
46 Raw 27 Mark Henry
(Mark Henry)
47 SmackDown 20th Alexa Bliss
(Alexis Kaufman) 		Drafted from NXT
10 48 Raw 28 Braun Strowman
(Adam Scherr)
49 SmackDown 21st Fandango and Tyler Breeze (Breezango)
(Curtis Hussey and Mattias Clement)
50 Raw 29 Bo Dallas
(Taylor Rotunda)
51 SmackDown 22nd Eva Marie
(Natalie Coyle)
52 Raw 30th Epico and Primo (The Shining Stars)
(Orlando Colón and Edwin Colón)
53 SmackDown 23 Aiden English and Simon Gotch (The Vaudevillains)
(Matthew Rehwoldt and John Smith)
11 54 Raw 31 Alicia Fox
(Victoria Crawford)
55 SmackDown 24 Erick Rowan
(Joseph Rudd)
56 Raw 32 Dana Brooke
(Ashley Sebera)
57 SmackDown 25th Mojo Rawley
(Dean Muhtadi) 		Drafted from NXT
58 Raw 33 Curtis Axel
(Joseph Hennig)
59 SmackDown 26th Carmella
(Leah Van Dale) 		Drafted from NXT
5 0At the time of the draft, Naomi was not yet active again due to a recently recovered ankle injury.

Undrafted superstars

The following superstars were not selected in the draft:

Superstar
(real name) 		Reason for non-selection Later fire Date of grant Remarks
Ryback
(Ryan Reeves) 		Contract disputes Dismiss August 8, 2016 6th
Nikki Bella
(Nicole Garcia-Colace) 		injury SmackDown August 21, 2016 7th
Triple H
(Paul Levesque) 		semi-active Raw 29th August 2016 8th
Heath Slater
(Heath Miller) 		Storyline SmackDown 13th September 2016 9
Luke Harper
(Jon Huber) 		injury SmackDown October 9, 2016 10
Undertaker
(Mark Calaway) 		semi-active Free agent November 15, 2016
January 9, 2017 		11
Emma
(Tenille Dashwood) 		injury Raw NN
Rosa Mendes
(Milena Roucka) 		Maternity leave Dismiss NN
Tamina
(Sarona Snuka-Polamalu) 		injury SmackDown NN
The Rock
(Dwayne Johnson) 		semi-active NN NN
Tyson Kidd
(Theodore Wilson) 		injury NN NN
6th 0Ryback was fired from the WWE due to contractual disputes.
7th 0Nikki Bella returned at SummerSlam to work with Alexa Bliss and Natalya Becky to defeat Lynch , Carmella and Naomi , and then became part of SmackDown Live.
8th 0Triple H returned to Raw to help Kevin Owens win the WWE Universal Championship .
9 0Heath Slater won the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Rhyno at Backlash and joined SmackDown Live two days later.
10 Luke Harper returned to No Mercy to help Bray Wyatt win his match against Randy Orton and subsequently joined SmackDown Live.
11 Undertaker performed on SmackDown Live on November 15, 2016 and on Raw on January 9, 2017.

Notes on the draft

  • Although it was announced in advance of the draft that Raw would receive three for every two draft picks from SmackDown Live, both shows were allowed to choose three draft picks from the eighth draft round.
  • The day before the draft, the tag team The Lucha Dragons ( Kalisto and Sin Cara ) announced with a video message on the WWE homepage that they would go into the draft as a singles wrestler, in which they were then separated ( Sin Cara after Raw , Kalisto after SmackDown Live).
  • The following tag teams and stables were separated by the draft:

After the draft

Coming and going of the superstars in the second half of 2016

In the weeks following the draft, some former Superstars signed a new deal with the WWE. Shelton Benjamin was supposed to return to SmackDown Live, but injured his shoulder and had to take a break for several months. In contrast, Jinder Mahal and The Brian Kendrick (as part of the Cruiserweight Division) returned to WWE in the weeks that followed, and Curt Hawkins and Rhyno returned to WWE on SmackDown Live.

Jack Swagger , who was originally drafted by Raw, switched to SmackDown Live for the September 13, 2016 edition after his contract with Raw expired. On October 4, 2016, former Stable The Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey returned to WWE on SmackDown Live to support The Miz in their feud against their former partner Nicky ( Dolph Ziggler ). At Raw, Bayley moved into the main WWE on August 22, 2016 . In addition, Goldberg made his WWE comeback on October 17, 2016 on Raw after twelve years to accept a challenge from Brock Lesnar to a match at the Survivor Series on November 20, 2016.

The Dudley Boyz Bubba Ray and D-Von (Raw) and Alberto Del Rio (SmackDown Live) left WWE in August and September 2016, respectively.

Distribution of titles

Since SmackDown Live drafted the winner of the WWE Championship Dean Ambrose and he successfully defended the title on July 24, 2016 at WWE Battleground against the Raw superstars Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins , Raw remained without a world heavyweight title. For this reason, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley announced the following day on Raw that there would be a match between the # 1 draft pick Seth Rollins and a yet to be determined opponent, the new one at SummerSlam on August 21, 2016 WWE Universal Championship . Finn Bálor was then able to qualify for this and then win the title at SummerSlam .

Since the carriers of the WWE Tag Team Championship The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ) and the WWE Women's Championship Charlotte to Raw had been drafted, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan presented at the SmackDown Live edition on August 23, 2016 the title belts of the newly created WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship and WWE SmackDown Women's Championship . These were allowed to win on September 11, 2016 at Backlash Heath Slater and Rhyno or Becky Lynch .

On July 18, 2016, Stephanie McMahon announced on Raw that there would be a cruiserweight division for wrestlers with a weight limit of 93 kilograms again exclusively on Raw . A 32-man tournament for such wrestlers, known as the Cruiserweight Classic , has been broadcast on the WWE Network since mid-July 2016 . On September 14, 2016 the final between TJ Perkins and Gran Metalik took place. Prior to this, Triple H, in his role as WWE's Chief Operating Officer , stated that the winner of the final would be the first title holder of the newly created WWE Cruiserweight Championship . Victory in the final as well as in the Cruiserweight Classic and thus the WWE Cruiserweight Championship was then achieved by TJ Perkins.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BREAKING NEWS: WWE announces Rostersplit & SmackDown slot change: From July 19th on Tuesday & Live! - SD will run against TNA! wrestling-infos.de, May 25, 2016, accessed on January 1, 2017
  2. ↑ WWE Monday Night Raw # 1207 results + report from Detroit, Michigan from July 11, 2016 (including videos) wrestling-infos.de, July 12, 2016, accessed on January 1, 2017
  3. ↑ a b WWE Monday Night Raw # 1208 results + report from Providence, Rhode Island from July 18, 2016 (including videos) wrestling-infos.de, July 19, 2016, accessed on January 1, 2017
  4. ↑ a b c d e WWE SmackDown Live # 882 (WWE Draft 2016) Results & Report from Worcester, Massachusetts from July 19, 2016 (including videos) wrestling-infos.de, July 20, 2016, accessed on January 1, 2017
  5. ↑ Draft rules published: Everything you need to know about the WWE Draft wwe.com, July 17, 2016, accessed on January 1, 2017
  6. ↑ Puzzling doping hammer at WWE sport1.de, June 22, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  7. ↑ WWE: Ryback and Joey Styles fire cagematch.de, August 9, 2016, accessed January 14, 2017
  8. ↑ a b WWE “SummerSlam 2016” results + report from Brooklyn, New York ( August 21, 2016 ) wrestling-infos.de, August 21, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  9. ↑ WWE Monday Night Raw # 1214 Results + Report from Houston, Texas from August 29, 2016 (including videos) wrestling-infos.de, August 30, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  10. ↑ a b WWE "Backlash 2016" PPV report + results from Richmond, Virginia ( September 11, 2016 ) (incl. Videos + complete pre-show) wrestling-infos.de, September 12, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  11. ↑ WWE SmackDown Live # 890 results & report from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from September 13, 2016 (incl. Videos + complete pre-show) wrestling-infos.de, September 14, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  12. ↑ WWE “No Mercy 2016” results + short report from Sacramento, California from October 9 , 2016 (incl. Videos + complete kickoff show) wrestling-infos.de, October 10, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  13. ↑ WWE SmackDown Live # 900 report + results from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania from November 15 , 2016 (incl. Videos + complete pre-show) wrestling-infos.de, November 16, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  14. ↑ WWE Monday Night RAW # 1233 report + results from New Orleans, Louisiana from January 9th , 2017 (including videos) wrestling-infos.de, January 10th, 2017, accessed on January 14th, 2017
  15. ↑ Kalisto and Sin Cara go their separate ways (video) wwe.com, July 18, 2016, accessed January 14, 2017
  16. ↑ Shelton Benjamin returns to SmackDown Live: SmackDown Live, July 26, 2016 (video) wwe.com, July 26, 2016, accessed January 14, 2016
  17. ↑ WWE: SHELTON BENJAMIN IS NOT RETURNING TO WWE! wrestlingfever.de, August 7, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  18. ↑ WWE SmackDown Live # 890 results & report from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from September 13, 2016 (incl. Videos + complete pre-show) wrestling-infos.de, September 14, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  19. ↑ WWE: SmackDown Report of October 4, 2016 moonsault.de, October 5, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  20. ↑ Bayley makes her official Raw debut: Raw, Aug 22, 2016 (video) wwe.com, August 22, 2016, accessed January 14, 2017
  21. ↑ Raw: Goldberg is back spox.com, October 18, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  22. ↑ The Dudley Boyz are leaving WWE! (...) wrestling-infos.de, 23 August 2016, accessed on 14 January 2017
  23. ↑ Alberto Del Rio Leaves WWE! (...) wrestling-infos.de, August 31, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  24. ↑ WWE “Battleground 2016” results + report from Washington, DC (July 24, 2016) (incl. Videos + complete kickoff show) wrestling-infos.de, July 25, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  25. ↑ WWE Monday Night Raw # 1209 results + report from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from July 25, 2016 (including videos) wrestling-infos.de, July 25, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  26. ↑ WWE SmackDown Live # 887 results & report from Uncasville, Connecticut from August 23, 2016 (incl. Videos + complete pre-show) wrestling-infos.de, August 24, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017
  27. ↑ WWE Cruiserweight Classic Final Results & Report from Winter Park, Florida from September 14, 2016 (including videos) wrestling-infos.de, September 15, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017

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