WWE Rumors: Next Raw, SmackDown Draft Date, Locations Revealed

To paraphrase WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, it's apparently time to shake things up again. 

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer reported Wednesday the promotion will hold a two-night draft to reshuffle the rosters for Raw and SmackDown Live.

According to Meltzer, the draft will begin Oct. 11 on SmackDown in Las Vegas, which is one week after the show's move from USA Network to Fox. The event would then conclude Oct. 14 on Raw in Denver.

WWE's last traditional draft was in 2016 to re-establish Raw and SmackDown Live as separate entities once again. The company then had Superstar Shake-ups over the following three years to freshen up the rosters a bit.

The wall between Raw and SmackDown Live effectively came down in May when McMahon seemingly at random decided to institute a "Wild Card Rule," which allowed a set number of wrestlers to switch between shows each week.

With the Fox deal looming on the horizon, holding another draft makes sense.

SmackDown's transition to a major network almost feels like a soft reset for WWE programming as a whole and will potentially alter the hierarchy for the promotion's TV slate. Whereas Raw has historically been viewed as the top priority for WWE, that title may soon belong to SmackDown.

In addition to possibly cementing SmackDown Live as the new "A show," the draft could indicate whether the red and blue brands will have distinct identities under executive directors Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman.