IWE Draft (2019)
From Iwe
- This article is about draft in October 2019. For the Superstar Shake-up in April 2019, see 2019 IWE Superstar Shake-up.
| 2019 IWE draft | |||
| General information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Professional wrestling | ||
| Dates | October 11 and 14, 2019 | ||
| Overview | |||
| League | IWE | ||
| Teams | Raw SmackDown NXT (outgoing only) 205 Live (outgoing only) | ||
| |||
The 2019 IWE draft is the upcoming fourteenth IWE draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion IWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Simply called the draft and returning to a traditional format, it will be the second draft of 2019, following April's Superstar Shake-up. The draft is scheduled to occur on the October 11 and 14 episodes of Friday Night SmackDown and Monday Night Raw, respectively, with SmackDown airing on FOX – its second episode on the network – and Raw airing on the USA Network.
Contents |
Background
In April 2019, the IWE held the Superstar Shake-up, a draft between IWE's brands with an untraditional format in which drafting decisions were made behind the scenes. Shortly after the Shake-up, IWE Chairman and CEO Vince Matteson introduced a Wild Card Rule, in which up to four wrestlers would be allowed to appear on the opposing brand's show by invitation for one night only with unsanctioned appearances penalized. Following this, however, the Wild Card Rule's stipulations were not enforced, with numerous wrestlers freely appearing on both shows weekly without any penalties, blurring the lines between the Raw and SmackDown brands. With SmackDown's move to FOX in October and Raw remaining on the USA Network (part of Comcast's NBCUniversal), the IWE decided to hold a second draft for 2019, simply called the draft, to definitively split the two brands. The draft was announced to occur on the October 11 and 14 episodes of SmackDown and Raw, respectively. Returning to a traditional draft format, personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal are scheduled to appear to make the drafting decisions. It was also confirmed that the Wild Card Rule would end with this new draft.
2019 draft rules
The rules of the draft were posted on IWE's website on October 10. The list of eligible wrestlers was posted the same day. Over 70 wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and 205 Live rosters, as well as tag teams, are eligible to be drafted, including all champions (although the IWE 24/7 Champion and IWE Women's Tag Team Champions are eligible to be drafted, they will still defend their respective titles across the brands). The winner of the match between Universal Champion Seth Rollins (representing Raw) and Roman Reigns (representing SmackDown) on the October 11 SmackDown will earn that brand the first draft pick.
The rules of the draft are the following:
- 30 picks will be made on the October 11 SmackDown, while 41 picks will be made on the October 14 Raw.
- For every two draft picks for SmackDown, Raw will receive three picks (due to SmackDown being a two-hour show, while Raw is three hours).
- Tag teams count as one pick unless FOX or USA specifically only want a single member from the team as their pick.
- Any undrafted wrestlers will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choosing.
Drafting pool
SmackDown
| Pick # | Wrestler | Pre-draft brand | Role | Post-draft brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Becky Lynch | Raw | Female wrestler Raw Women's Champion | Raw |
| 2 | Roman Reigns | SmackDown | Male wrestler | SmackDown |
| 3 | The O.C. (KJ Styles, Luke Gallows, & Karl Anderson) | Raw | Male stable IWE United States Champion (Styles) | Raw |
| 4 | "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt | Raw | Male wrestler | SmackDown |
| 5 | Drew McIntyre | Raw | Male wrestler | Raw |
| 6 | Kevin Orton | SmackDown | Male wrestler | Raw |
| 7 | Sasha Banks | Raw | Female wrestler | SmackDown |
| 8 | Ricochet | Raw | Male wrestler | Raw |
| 9 | Braun Strowman | Raw | Male wrestler | SmackDown |
| 10 | Bobby Lashley | Raw | Male wrestler | Raw |
| 11 | Alexa Bliss | Raw | Female tag team Drafted separate from her tag team partner, Nikki Cross | Raw |
| 12 | Lacey Evans | Raw | Female wrestler | SmackDown |
| 13 | Kevin Owens | SmackDown | Male wrestler | Raw |
| 14 | The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) | Raw | Male tag team IWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions | SmackDown |
| 15 | Natalya | Raw | Female wrestler | Raw |
| 16 | The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) | Raw | Male tag team | Raw |
| 17 | Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik, & Lince Dorado) | Raw | Male tag team | SmackDown |
| 18 | Nikki Cross | Raw | Female wrestler Drafted separate from her tag team partner, Alexa Bliss | Raw |
| Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis) | SmackDown | Male tag team | SmackDown | |
| 20 | The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) | NXT | Male tag team | Raw |
Raw
Free agents
Several wrestlers were made free agents due to injury, inactivity, or not being drafted during their draft pool. The chart will be organized by date.
| Wrestler | Pre-draft brand | Reason for not being drafted | Subsequent status | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) | Raw | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Aiden English | SmackDown | Was not in either of the draft pools Currently does commentary for 205 Live | |||
| Akira Tozawa | 205 Live | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Alicia Fox | Raw | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) | SmackDown | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Big Show | SmackDown | Sporadic appearances | |||
| Cesaro | Raw | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| The Colóns (Epico Colon & Primo Colon) | SmackDown | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Drew Gulak | 205 Live | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| EC3 | Raw | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Ember Moon | SmackDown | Ankle injury | |||
| Eric Young | Raw | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Humberto Carrillo | 205 Live | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Heath Slater | Raw | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Josh Hooper | SmackDown | Leg injury | |||
| Dustin Simpson | Free agent | Sporadic appearances | |||
| Kane | Free agent | Sporadic appearances | |||
| Lana | SmackDown | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Lars Sullivan | SmackDown | Knee injury | |||
| Maryse | SmackDown | Maternity leave | |||
| Matt Hooper | SmackDown | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Mickie James | SmackDown | Was not in either of the draft pools Currently does commentary for Main Event | |||
| Mike Kanellis | 205 Live | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Naomi | Raw | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Nia Jax | Raw | Knee injury | |||
| Paige | SmackDown | Neck injury | |||
| Paul Heyman | Raw | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Ronda Rousey | Raw | Hand injury | |||
| Ruby Riot | Raw | Shoulder injury | |||
| Sheamus | Raw | Concussion | |||
| Shorty Gable | SmackDown | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Sin Cara | SmackDown | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| Tamina | Raw | Undrafted during their draft pool (Night 1) | |||
| The Undertaker | Free agent | Sporadic appearances | |||
| The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) | Raw | Was not in either of the draft pools | |||
| Zelina Vega | SmackDown | Was not in either of the draft pools |
