WWE Draft 2016: Full Rules Announced for Raw, SmackDown Brand Split

On Sunday, WWE.com's Ryan Pappolla shared the rules and structure for WWE's draft ahead of the official brand split on Tuesday's live edition of SmackDown.

Raw will have the No. 1 pick, and since it runs for an hour more every week, WWE's flagship program will receive three draft picks for every two selections SmackDown makes.

The last two rules are arguably the most interesting. Any recognized tag team will be drafted together unless a show's commissioner or general manager explicitly says otherwise. Some tag teams are bound to be broken up, but WWE will ensure the tag division retains some continuity.

Six wrestlers from NXT will also be included in the draft.

The promotion of six wrestlers from NXT adds an additional layer of intrigue to what was already one of the most heavily anticipated episodes of SmackDown ever. Fans have come to expect a few NXT stars to make the jump after big TakeOver events, but never have so many marquee names come up to the main roster at one time.

Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bayley, Nia Jax and American Alpha are among the likeliest candidates to be wrestling on Raw or SmackDown in the near future.

Following the rules revelation, a major question is still to be answered before draft night. On Monday's edition of Raw, WWE chairman Vince McMahon announced Shane McMahon will be SmackDown's commissioner, while Stephanie McMahon will run Raw.

The commissioners will handpick their own general managers:

In the past, WWE has used more convoluted methods to conduct the draft. Picks were awarded based on match results on the night of the draft in some years, while the 2004 edition included randomized selections for each show.

It would appear the 2016 draft resembles how major American sports structure their annual drafts. That's a step in the right direction, since it allows fans to more easily speculate over who's selected and how each show will build its roster.