The 2021 WWE Draft was the 16th
WWE Draft produced by the
American professional wrestling promotion
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
between their
Raw and
SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the October 1 episode of ''
Friday Night SmackDown'' (in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
). It concluded with the October 4 episode of ''
Monday Night Raw
''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show features character ...
'' (in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
), with ''SmackDown'' airing on
Fox and ''Raw'' on the
USA Network
USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
. Unlike previous drafts, in which results took effect immediately, the results of the 2021 draft went into effect in the October 22 episode of ''SmackDown''. This was also the last draft with Vince McMahon as head of WWE creative.
Production
Background
The
WWE Draft is an annual process used by the American
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
promotion
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
while a
brand extension
Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off.
Organizations use this ...
, 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. The 2021 draft was WWE's 16th draft and was officially announced during the September 13 episode of ''
Raw''. It was scheduled to occur during the October 1 and October 4 episodes of ''
SmackDown'' and ''Raw'', respectively, with ''SmackDown'' airing on
Fox and ''Raw'' on the
USA Network
USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
.
2021 draft rules
The rules of the 2021 draft were revealed by WWE correspondent Megan Morant on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
during the day before the first night of the draft on October 1. Over 60 wrestlers (including tag teams) were eligible to be drafted across the two nights, with half being eligible the first night and the other half eligible the second night; however, no draft pools were revealed for which wrestlers were eligible for each night. Tag teams were counted as one pick unless Fox or USA Network officials (who were promoted as draft decision makers) specifically only wanted one member of the team. Wrestlers from
NXT were also eligible to be drafted to either Raw or SmackDown, while any non-NXT wrestlers who were not drafted became (
kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...
) free agents and could sign with the brand of their choice. Unlike previous drafts, in which results took effect immediately, results of the 2021 draft did not become effective until the October 22 episode of ''SmackDown'', the night after the
Crown Jewel pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
and
livestreaming
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- liv ...
event.
Selections
Night 1: ''SmackDown'' (October 1)
There were four rounds of draft picks during night 1 of the 2021 draft. Unlike previous drafts in which Raw received three picks and SmackDown only received two, both brands had two picks each round. WWE officials
Adam Pearce and
Sonya Deville announced the draft picks.
;Notes
#One stable was split up as a result of the first night:
Austin Theory
Austin Tyler White (born August 2, 1997) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Bodybuilding, bodybuilder. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring nam ...
was drafted to Raw while his
Way stablemates,
Johnny Gargano,
Dexter Lumis,
Candice LeRae, and
Indi Hartwell, remained on NXT.
Night 1 supplemental picks (October 1–2)
These picks were announced on October 1 via WWE's social media accounts and on the October 2 episode of ''Talking Smack''.
;Notes
#One tag team was split up as a result of the supplemental draft:
Mace was drafted to SmackDown while his tag team partner
T-Bar remained on Raw.
Night 2: ''Raw'' (October 4)
There were six rounds of draft picks during night 2 of the 2021 draft. Like the first night, both brands had two picks each round. WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville again announced the draft picks.
;Notes
#One stable was split up as a result of the second night:
Xia Li was drafted to SmackDown while her Tian Sha stablemates,
Boa and
Mei Ying, remained on NXT.
#One tag team was split up as a result of the second night:
Ridge Holland was drafted to SmackDown while his tag team partner
Pete Dunne remained on NXT.
Night 2 supplemental picks (October 4)
These picks were announced on the October 4 episode of ''Raw Talk''.
;Notes
#One stable was split up as a result of the supplemental draft:
Veer
The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the College football, collegiate level by Bill Yeoman's Houston Cougars football, Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily at Hi ...
stayed on Raw while his stablemates,
Jinder Mahal and
Shanky, were drafted to SmackDown.
#Two tag teams were split up as a result of the supplemental draft:
Tegan Nox was drafted to Raw while her tag team partner
Shotzi
Ashley Louise Alfaro (Birth name, née Urbanski; born March 14, 1992), better known by the ring name Shotzi Blackheart, is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Shotzi ...
stayed on SmackDown, and
Tamina was drafted to Raw while her tag team partner
Natalya stayed on SmackDown.
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
''NXT UK'' was a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, the ...
, 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
In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...
) sign with the brand of their choosing. The chart is organized by date.
Aftermath
During the draft, Raw drafted
SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch
Rebecca Quin (born 30 January 1987), better known by the ring name Becky Lynch, is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand and is the current WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion in her ...
while SmackDown drafted
Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair
Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr (born April 5, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Charlotte Flair.
Flair is a second-generation professional wrestler, being t ...
. Neither lost their respective championship before the October 22 episode of ''SmackDown'', the night that the draft results went into effect. The day of the show, WWE announced that Flair and Lynch would exchange titles to keep the championships on their respective brands while going off script. In turn, Lynch became the Raw Women's Champion while Flair became the SmackDown Women's Champion.
Also during the draft, SmackDown drafted
NXT North American Champion Isaiah "Swerve" Scott as part of his stable,
Hit Row. Swerve claimed he would be taking the title to SmackDown, however, on the October 12 episode of ''
NXT 2.0'', Swerve lost the championship to
Carmelo Hayes
Christian Brigham (born August 1, 1994) is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Carmelo Hayes. He ...
, thus keeping the North American Championship on NXT before the draft results went into effect on October 22.
In November, vignettes began airing to hype
Veer
The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the College football, collegiate level by Bill Yeoman's Houston Cougars football, Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily at Hi ...
's post-draft appearance on Raw. His ring name was changed to Veer Mahaan. He finally debuted in April 2022, but in October, he was moved to NXT.
On November 4, 2021, WWE released several wrestlers due to budget cuts.
Mia Yim, Hit Row's B-Fab,
Nia Jax,
Karrion Kross, and
Keith Lee were among those who were released, without a single appearance post-draft. Among those not drafted who were released included
Eva Marie and
Lucha House Party (
Gran Metalik and
Lince Dorado). Several NXT wrestlers were also released, including
Franky Monet,
Oney Lorcan,
Ember Moon,
Jeet Rama, Katrina Cortez,
Trey Baxter, Zayda Ramier, Jessi Kamea,
Harry Smith, and Kross' real-life fiancé,
Scarlett, who served as Kross' on-screen manager when Kross was still in NXT and she was expected to eventually join Kross on Raw. On November 18, the remainder of Hit Row,
John Morrison,
Tegan Nox,
Shane Thorne,
Drake Maverick, and
Jaxson Ryker were also released. Not long after,
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and also appears on partner promotion WWE on its NXT (WWE brand), NXT brand.
He is re ...
would be released on December 9 after being sent home from a live event tour and refusing rehab. On December 29,
Toni Storm requested and was immediately granted a release from her contract. On February 24, 2022, it was reported that
Cesaro and WWE had failed to agree on new contract terms and that he had quietly left WWE when his contract expired, ending his 11-year tenure in the company.
At
WrestleMania 38
WrestleMania 38 was a 2022 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 38th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturda ...
in April 2022, SmackDown's
Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Leati Joseph Anoaʻi ( ; born May 25, 1985), better known by his ring name Roman Reigns, is an American professional wrestler and former gridiron football, football player. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he performs on the Sm ...
defeated Raw's
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...
to win both championships, thus allowing Reigns to appear on both brands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion,
then in May 2022,
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos
The Usos were a Samoan-American professional wrestling tag team which consisted of twin brothers Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They are signed to WWE, where Jey performs on the WWE Raw, Raw brand while Jimmy performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), Sma ...
(Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defeated
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (
Randy Orton
Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...
and
Riddle
A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...
) to win both championships, thus allowing The Usos to appear on both brands as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.
By proxy, this allowed other members of
The Bloodline stable (
Sami Zayn,
Solo Sikoa, who was promoted from NXT to SmackDown in September, and the group's manager
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former executive, promoter, and commentator. He is signed to WWE as the on-screen manager of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed, and is widely regard ...
) to appear on both brands. This subsequently increased cross-brand rivalries, with other wrestlers, like
Kevin Owens, appearing on both shows, making brand division increasingly unclear.
Also in April 2022,
Mustafa Ali
Adeel Alam (born March 28, 1986) better known by his ring name Mustafa Ali ( ), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former TNA X Division Champion. He also makes appearances ...
was moved back to Raw, then in June,
Apollo Crews and
Commander Azeez were moved to NXT. Azeez returned to his previous ring name of Dabba-Kato after he turned on Crews at
NXT Vengeance Day in February 2023. In March 2022, Pete Dunne was promoted to SmackDown from NXT and repackaged under the nickname Butch. At
Money in the Bank in July,
Liv Morgan won the women's
Money in the Bank ladder match
The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First performed at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate WWE Money in the Bank, Money in the Bank event w ...
, and later that same night, she cashed in the contract and won the SmackDown Women's Championship, subsequently transferring her to SmackDown.
Later in October,
Rey Mysterio was transferred to the SmackDown brand, and in turn, Happy Corbin, who returned to his Baron Corbin name, was moved to Raw.
Also in October,
Zelina Vega
Thea Megan Trinidad Büdgen (born December 27, 1990) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Zelina Vega and is the current Women's United States Champion in he ...
was moved back to SmackDown to be the manager of
Legado Del Fantasma (
Santos Escobar,
Joaquin Wilde
Michael Paris (born October 5, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, under the ring name Joaquin Wilde. He is a member of the Latino World Order. He was a former founding member o ...
, and
Cruz Del Toro), who were promoted to SmackDown from NXT. After taking time off in mid-2022, Reggie returned on NXT under a new gimmick and ring name of Scrypts. Shortly after, T-Bar returned to NXT as Dijak. Upon his return from an injury in January 2023,
Rick Boogs was transferred to the Raw brand. Doudrop also returned to her previous name Piper Niven, which she used in NXT UK.
The Judgment Day (
Finn Bálor,
Damian Priest,
Dominik Mysterio, and
Rhea Ripley
Demi Bennett (born 11 October 1996) is an Australian professional wrestler. As of July 2017, she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Rhea Ripley. She is a List of Women ...
), a stable formed on Raw after WrestleMania 38, began appearing on SmackDown after Ripley won the 2023 women's
Royal Rumble match and chose to challenge for the SmackDown Women's Championship, which she subsequently won at
WrestleMania 39.
After
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer.
Levesque began his wres ...
took over creative control of WWE in July 2022, several released wrestlers who were part of the 2021 draft were rehired. These included Mia Yim returning on Raw (aligning with the recently reunited O.C. stable in their feud with The Judgment Day), and Hit Row (Ashante Adonis, Top Dolla, and B-Fab), Tegan Nox, and Karrion Kross and his real-life fiancé, Scarlett, returning on SmackDown. Nia Jax made a one-night return at the
2023 Royal Rumble, where she was the #30 entrant in the women's Royal Rumble match, being eliminated by all other women in the ring.
A draft was not held in 2022, and with multiple wrestlers appearing on both shows almost weekly, some sources believed that the brand split was coming to an end. Additionally, both of NXT's sub-brands, 205 Live and NXT UK, ceased operations in February and September, respectively, with most of those wrestlers moving over to NXT. However, in April 2023, Triple H announced the
2023 draft to bring back a definitive roster division between Raw and SmackDown.
Notes
References
{{WWE
WWE Draft
WWE Draft
Professional wrestling shows in Baltimore
Professional wrestling shows in Nashville, Tennessee
October 2021 in the United States
2021 in Baltimore
2021 in Nashville, Tennessee