This past Friday night on SmackDown, WWE Draft 2023 started as picks for both the SmackDown and Raw brands were made. There were some surprising picks, including Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair being drafted to SmackDown and the reigning Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER moving to Raw from Smackdown.
Some NXT Superstars like Indi Hartwell, Alba Fyre, and Isla Dawn were recruited to Smackdown while some of the names were left to pick following WWE Draft 2023. Following Smackdown, fans didn’t actually have to wait until tonight’s Raw for further proceedings on the WWE Draft 2023. On the latest SmackDown LowDown episode more picks were made for the red and blue brands.
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In the non-televised edition, some of the Raw picks were announced as part of the WWE Draft 2023. The trio of The Viking Raiders and Valhalla, Dexter Lumis, Candice LeRae, Natalya, the team of Sonya DeVille and Chelsea Green, and the Maximum Male Models with Maxxine Dupri from the main roster and WWE NXT call-ups like Zoey Stark and JD McDonagh, Apollo Crews are amongst those names.
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Heading to SmackDown during WWE Draft 2023 are the Hit Row trio of Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, and B-Fab alongside female superstar Lacey Evans. Interestingly, no more picks for the blue brand were made despite a number of superstars remaining in the pool as free agents.
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As stated on SmackDown Lowdown, a few WWE stars in the first draft pool are set to be free agents who are still able to appear on any of the shows for now. Omos with his manager MVP, Mustafa Ali, Dolph Ziggler, and NXT call-up Von Wagner remain the undrafted names during WWE Draft 2023. From a storyline perspective, Omos’ explanation for his free agency is that MVP negotiated him into that position while there’s no update on why Ali, Ziggler, and Wagner weren’t assigned to a specific brand.
Additional picks for Raw and Smackdown during WWE Draft 2023
Raw
The Viking Raiders
Maximum Male Models (ma.cé, mån.sôör & Maxxine Dupri)
Dexter Lumis
Candice LeRae
Natalya
Apollo Crews (called up from NXT)
Chelsea Green
Sonya Deville
Zoey Stark (called up from NXT)
JD McDonagh (called up from NXT)
SmackDown
Hit Row (Top Dolla, Ashante “Thee” Adonis & B-Fab)
Lacey Evans
Free Agents
Omos
Dolph Ziggler
Mustafa Ali
Von Wagner (from NXT)
