WWE announces Draft pools
The 2023 WWE Draft will kick off this tonight during the live SmackDown from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX, and will then wrap up on the Monday’s RAW from the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX.
WWE has announced the pools of Superstars for both nights of the Draft, which can be seen below. The pools confirm that several Superstars in factions and tag teams are being drafted together, such as Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, while some are being drafted separately, such as Riddick Moss an Emma.
Some of the top stars eligible to be drafted on SmackDown include Becky Lynch, RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, Cody Rhodes, Damage CTRL, WWE Hall of Famer Edge, Imperium, The O.C., and The Bloodline, among others. It’s very interesting to note that Solo Sikoa and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns are being drafted together on SmackDown, while The Usos are kept together on RAW.
Just some of the top stars eligible to be drafted on RAW include WWE United States Champion Austin Theory, Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, Seth Rollins, The LWO, The Brawling Brutes, The New Day, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus, and Rousey and Baszler, among others. It’s interesting that The Judgment Day is being drafted as Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest but without SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. All four are eligible to be drafted on Monday. The New Day is listed as Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston. Big E has been rumored to return in the Draft, and while not listed, it’s still possible that he is a surprise.
One surprise member to the pool list is Stratus, who was not included in the original list released this past week. Maryse was included on the original list, but not the pool list.
It was also confirmed that WWE NXT Superstars will be eligible to be picked. While no names were specified in the pools, WWE has listed “Select NXT Superstars” for each night.
Below are the full announced Draft pools for RAW and SmackDown:
POOL FOR NIGHT 1 ON SMACKDOWN:
* Becky Lynch
* RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair
* Bobby Lashley
* Candice LeRae
* Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville
* Cody Rhodes
* Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY, Dakota Kai)
* Dexter Lumis
* Dolph Ziggler
* Drew McIntyre
* Edge
* Hit Row (Top Dolla, Ashante “Thee” Adonis with B-Fab)
* Imperium (WWE Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci)
* Lacey Evans
* Matt Riddle
* Maximum Male Models (ma.cé, mån.sôör, Maxxine Dupri)
* Mustafa Ali
* Natalya
* Omos (with MVP)
* Shinsuke Nakamura
* The Bloodline (Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa)
* The Miz
* The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Mia Yim)
* The Street Profits (Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins)
* The Viking Raiders (Erik, Ivar with Valhalla)
* Select NXT Superstars
POOL FOR NIGHT 2 ON RAW:
* Akira Tozawa
* Alpha Academy (Otis, Chad Gable)
* Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo
* Asuka
* WWE United States Champion Austin Theory
* Baron Corbin
* Braun Strowman and Ricochet
* Brock Lesnar
* Bronson Reed
* Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin
* Charlotte Flair
* Dana Brooke
* Elias
* Emma
* Johnny Gargano
* Karrion Kross (with Scarlett)
* Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
* LA Knight
* WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
* Nikki Cross
* Piper Niven
* SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley
* Rick Boogs
* Riddick Moss
* Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler
* Seth Rollins
* Shotzi
* Tamina Snuka
* Tegan Nox
* The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, Butch)
* The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio)
* The LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, Zelina Vega)
* The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods)
* The Usos (Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso)
* Trish Stratus
* Xia Li
* Select NXT Superstars