2021 WWE Draft

The 2021 WWE Draft was the 16th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the October 1 episode of Friday Night SmackDown. It concluded with the October 4 episode of Monday Night Raw, with SmackDown airing on Fox and Raw on the USA Network. 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 promotion WWE while a brand extension, 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.

2021 draft rules

The rules of the 2021 draft were revealed by WWE correspondent Megan Morant on Twitter during the day before the first night of the draft on October 1. Over 60 wrestlers 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 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 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 and livestreaming 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.

Rnd.	Pick #	Wrestler	Pre-draft brand	Post-draft brand	Role	Brand pick #
1	1	Roman Reigns with Paul Heyman	SmackDown	SmackDown	Male wrestler and manager Universal Champion	1
1	2	Big E	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler WWE Champion	1
1	3	Charlotte Flair	Raw	SmackDown	Female wrestler Raw Women's Champion	2
1	4	Bianca Belair	SmackDown	Raw	Female wrestler	2
2	5	Drew McIntyre	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler	3
2	6	RK-Bro	Raw	Raw	Male tag team Raw Tag Team Champions	3
2	7	The New Day	Raw	SmackDown	Male tag team	4
2	8	Edge	SmackDown	Raw	Male wrestler Hall of Famer	4
3	9	Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss	SmackDown	SmackDown	Male tag team	5
3	10	Nikki A. S. H. and Rhea Ripley	Raw	Raw	Female tag team Women's Tag Team Champions	5
3	11	Hit Row	NXT	SmackDown	Intergender stable	6
3	12	Keith "Bearcat" Lee	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler	6
4	13	Naomi	Raw	SmackDown	Female wrestler	7
4	14	Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio	SmackDown	Raw	Male tag team	7
4	15	Jeff Hardy	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler	8
4	16	Austin Theory	NXT	Raw	Male wrestler	8

;Notes

One stable was split up as a result of the first night: Austin Theory 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.

Wrestler	Pre-draft brand	Post-draft brand	Role
Akira Tozawa	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler
Aliyah	NXT	SmackDown	Female wrestler
Alpha Academy	SmackDown	Raw	Male tag team
Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez	SmackDown	Raw	Male tag team
Doudrop	Raw	Raw	Female wrestler
Drake Maverick	NXT	Raw	Male wrestler
Drew Gulak	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler
John Morrison	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler
Mace	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler
Mansoor	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler
Mustafa Ali	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler
Nia Jax	Raw	Raw	Female wrestler
R-Truth	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler
Reggie	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler 24/7 Champion
T-Bar	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler
Toni Storm	SmackDown	SmackDown	Female wrestler
Zelina Vega	SmackDown	Raw	Female wrestler

;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.

Rnd.	Pick #	Wrestler	Pre-draft brand	Post-draft brand	Role	Brand pick #
1	1	Becky Lynch	SmackDown	Raw	Female wrestler SmackDown Women's Champion	1
1	2	The Usos	SmackDown	SmackDown	Male tag team SmackDown Tag Team Champions	1
1	3	The Hurt Business	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler and manager	2
1	4	Sasha Banks	SmackDown	SmackDown	Female wrestler	2
2	5	Seth Rollins	SmackDown	Raw	Male wrestler	3
2	6	King Nakamura and Rick Boogs	SmackDown	SmackDown	Male tag team Intercontinental Champion	3
2	7	Damian Priest	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler United States Champion	4
2	8	Sheamus	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler	4
3	9	AJ Styles and Omos	Raw	Raw	Male tag team	5
3	10	Shayna Baszler	Raw	SmackDown	Female Wrestler
3	11	Kevin Owens	SmackDown	Raw	Male wrestler	6
3	12	Xia Li	NXT	SmackDown	Female wrestler	6
4	13	The Street Profits	SmackDown	Raw	Male tag team	7
4	14	The Viking Raiders	Raw	SmackDown	Male tag team	7
4	15	Finn Bálor	SmackDown	Raw	Male wrestler	8
4	16	Ricochet	Raw	SmackDown	Male wrestler	8
5	17	Karrion Kross	Raw	Raw	Male wrestler	9
5	18	Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo	Raw	SmackDown	Male tag team	9
5	19	Alexa Bliss	Raw	Raw	Female wrestler	10
5	20	Cesaro	SmackDown	SmackDown	Male wrestler	10
6	21	Carmella	SmackDown	Raw	Female wrestler	11
6	22	Ridge Holland	NXT	SmackDown	Male wrestler	11
6	23	Gable Steveson	Free agent	Raw	Male wrestler	12
6	24	Sami Zayn	SmackDown	SmackDown	Male wrestler	12

;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.

2021 WWE Draft

Production

Background

2021 draft rules

Selections

Night 1: ''SmackDown'' (October 1)

Night 1 supplemental picks (October 1–2)

Night 2: ''Raw'' (October 4)