WWE Draft 2024 Rules Revealed: Latest on Cody Rhodes, Champions, Draft Order and More
April 24, 2024
Ahead of the WWE's two-night draft, the official rules and Superstars eligible for this year's event have been unveiled.
The main details include a total of 40 picks made between the two shows—16 over four rounds on SmackDown, and 24 over six rounds on Raw—and the champions on each brand are protected, with the exception of women's tag team titleholders Asuka and Kairi Sane.
WWE @WWE🚨BREAKING NEWS 🚨<br><br>The official <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEDraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEDraft</a> rules are here!<br><br>NIGHT 1 THIS FRIDAY on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmackDown</a>!<br>NIGHT 2 MONDAY, APRIL 29 on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a>! <a href="https://t.co/ROLIad5XGF">pic.twitter.com/ROLIad5XGF</a>
Each brand will get the first overall pick on the night of the show, so SmackDown will draft No. 1 on Friday and Raw will draft No. 1 on Monday night.
Protecting the champions means as things stand Cody Rhodes (undisputed WWE champion) will lead SmackDown, along with with Bayley (WWE women's champion), Logan Paul (United States champion), and Austin Theory and Grayson Waller (WWE tag team champions).
Raw's current titleholders include Damian Priest (world heavyweight champion), Becky Lynch (women's world champion), Sami Zayn (intercontinental champion), and The Miz and R-Truth (world tag team champions).
Since the drafted rosters won't go into effect until May 6, the list of champions could change at Backlash France two days earlier. The only matches that have been officially announced for the premium live event are Rhodes defending the undisputed WWE title against AJ Styles and Priest putting the world heavyweight title on the line against Jey Uso.
Considering Rhodes just won the title at WrestleMania 40 and basically gave a goodbye speech to the red brand on the April 15 episode of Raw, it's probably safe to assume he's not losing to Styles.
Priest shouldn't lose the title after his Money in the Bank cash in on Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, but Jey Uso has been getting a strong push since branching out on his own as a singles star.
The 2024 WWE draft will begin on Friday's SmackDown and conclude three days later on Raw.
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