The WWE Draft, alternatively called the WWE Superstar Shake-up from 2017 to 2019, is a process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE to refresh its rosters between the Raw and SmackDown brands when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers from the promotion's developmental brand NXT (2016–present) are also eligible to be drafted to Raw and SmackDown. Two of WWE's former brands, ECW (2006–2009) and 205 Live (2019), have also taken part in the draft during the promotion's various brand split periods.
The brand extension, also referred to as the brand split, is the separation of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE's roster of wrestlers into distinct divisions, or "brands". The promotion's wrestlers are assigned to a brand via the annual WWE Draft and exclusively perform on that brand's weekly television show, with some exceptions. Throughout its history, WWE has utilized the brand extension twice. The first brand split occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the ongoing second began in 2016.
The World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown. The current champions are Awesome Truth, who are in their first reign as a team; individually, it is the second for Truth and fifth for Miz. They won the title from previous champions The Judgment Day in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match on Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on April 6, 2024; they won the title as the Raw Tag Team Championship and it was renamed as World Tag Team Championship on April 15, 2024.
Gzim Selmani is a Dutch professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist of Kosovo Albanian descent currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Rezar as a member of Authors of Pain, a subgroup of The Final Testament stable.
Sunny Dhinsa is a Canadian professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to the WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Akam as a member of Authors of Pain, as a subgroup of The Final Testament stable.
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the World Tag Team Championship on Raw. The current champions are A-Town Down Under, who are in their first reign, both as a team and individually. They won the title from previous champions The Judgment Day in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match on Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on April 6, 2024; they won the title as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and it was renamed as WWE Tag Team Championship on April 19, 2024.
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's and women's tag team championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The first men's tag team title, the Northeast version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, preceded the company's creation, as it was established in 1957 for CWC as a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, while the first women's tag team title, the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship, was established in 1983. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate tag team championships have been created or allocated for each brand.
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several women's championships since 1983, when the World Wrestling Federation established the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship. One year later, the WWF bought the NWA Women's Championship and renamed it the WWF Women's Championship, establishing their first women's world championship. Although the title preceded the company's creation, the WWF claimed a lineage that began in 1956. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate women's championships have been created or allocated for each brand.
The Authors of Pain (AOP) are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Akam and Rezar, with Paul Ellering as their manager. They are currently signed to WWE, where they perform on the NXT and SmackDown brands as members of The Final Testament stable. In WWE, they are former one-time Raw Tag Team Champions and one-time NXT Tag Team Champions.
Macey Estrella-Kadlec is an American professional wrestler and former U.S. Marine. She is best known for her career in WWE from 2016 to 2023, where she performed under the ring name Lacey Evans.
Raw is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to Raw primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Monday Night Raw, also referred to simply as Raw. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with SmackDown, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.
The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the thirteenth WWE draft – and the last to be branded as the Superstar Shake-up – produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. Instead of a traditional draft, changes between the brands were made behind the scenes, with moving wrestlers simply appearing on a brand's show or announced via WWE's website or social medias. The event began on the April 15 and 16 episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network. The April 15 and 16 episodes were initially the only episodes advertised for the Superstar Shake-up, but more draft moves were confirmed throughout the remainder of the month and into early May.
The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling women's tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is the only women's tag team championship in WWE, thus is defended across both main roster brand divisions, Raw and SmackDown, and the developmental brand, NXT. The current champions are The Kabuki Warriors from SmackDown, who are in their record-tying second reign as a team. Individually, this is the record-setting fourth reign for Asuka and the second for Sane. They won the title by defeating Katana Chance and Kayden Carter on the January 26, 2024, episode of SmackDown.
The 2019 WWE Draft was the fourteenth WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brands. Returning to its original name and a traditional draft format, it was the second draft of 2019, following April's Superstar Shake-up. The draft began on the October 11 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and concluded on the October 14 episode of Monday Night Raw, with SmackDown airing on Fox and Raw on the USA Network. It was the first draft in which the brand's television networks were presented as having an influence over WWE's drafting decisions.
The Street Profits are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford. The team is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand as a part of The Pride stable, which also includes Bobby Lashley and B-Fab.
The 2020 WWE Draft was the 15th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began on the October 9 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and concluded on the October 12 episode of Monday Night Raw. Both shows were broadcast from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, with SmackDown airing on FOX and Raw on USA.
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.
The 2023 WWE Draft was the 17th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the April 28 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and concluded with the May 1 episode of Monday Night Raw, with SmackDown airing on Fox and Raw on the USA Network. This was the first draft held since 2021 and the first under the creative direction of Triple H. In addition, this was the last draft before the TKO Group Holdings acquisition. Draft results went into effect beginning with the May 8 episode of Raw.
