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Night 1 of the 2024 WWE draft is complete, and there's a host of storylines and highlights to discuss, including Bianca Belair going No. 1 overall, Roman Reigns withdrawing his name from the draft, Carmelo Hayes getting the call-up from NXT to SmackDown and Bron Breakker shifting from SmackDown to Raw.
But first, here's a look at the draft results from Friday's edition of SmackDown and the most up-to-date rosters.
SmackDown Roster
- Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Universal Champion)
- Bayley (WWE SmackDown Women's Champion)
- A-Town Down Under: Austin Theory and Grayson Waller (WWE Tag Team Champions)
- Logan Paul (WWE United States Champion)
- Bianca Belair (Round 1, Pick 1)
- Carmelo Hayes (Round 1, Pick 3)
- Randy Orton (Round 2, Pick 1)
- Nia Jax (Round 2, Pick 3)
- LA Knight (Round 3, Pick 1)
- The Bloodline: Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Paul Heyman (Round 3, Pick 3)
- AJ Styles (Round 4, Pick 1)
- Andrade (Round 4, Pick 3)
- Cedric Alexander and Ashante "Thee" Adonis (pick revealed afterSmackDownended)
- Baron Corbin (pick revealed afterSmackDownended)
- The O.C.: Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and "Michin" Mia Yim (pick revealed afterSmackDownended)
Raw Roster
- Damian Priest (World Heavyweight Champion)
- Becky Lynch (Women's World Champion)
- Awesome Truth: R-Truth and The Miz (World Tag Team Champions)
- Sami Zayn (Intercontinental Champion)
- Jey Uso (Round 1, Pick 2)
- Seth Rollins (Round 1, Pick 4)
- Bron Breakker (Round 2, Pick 2)
- Liv Morgan (Round 2, Pick 4)
- Ricochet (Round 3, Pick 2)
- Sheamus (Round 3, Pick 4)
- Alpha Academy (Chad Gable, Otis, Akira Tozawa and Maxxine Dupri)(Round 4, Pick 2)
- Kiana James (Round 4, Pick 4)
- Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn (pick revealed after SmackDown ended)
- Ivar (pick revealed afterSmackDownended)
- Shayna Baszler (pick revealed after SmackDown ended)
- Zoey Stark (pick revealed after SmackDown ended)
Draft Logistics
The draft is a two-day affair, with the conclusion occurring on Monday at Raw.
SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis and Raw GM Adam Pearce can choose from an eligible draft pool consisting of stables, tag teams and solo wrestlers.
Night 1 included four televised rounds with Aldis and Pearce making two choices apiece. The order of operations in each round was SmackDown-Raw-SmackDown-Raw.
After SmackDown ended, WWE revealed Raw and SmackDown placements for remaining Friday pool free agents who were not picked during the show.
On Monday, there will be six rounds (two picks apiece), with Raw leading off each time. The new rosters will begin on Monday, May 6, two days following Backlash France.
Each night has a specific draft pool of current WWE talent, with unpicked superstars remaining as free agents. Those pools can be found on WWE.com.
Belair, a three-time women's champion who held the RAW Women's Championship belt for 419 days, led off the night's festivities. Given her track record, it wasn't a surprise to see SmackDown retain her on the blue brand.
Belair and Jade Cargill later got into a confrontation with the Kabuki Warriors in advance of their tag team title match at Backlash France on May 4.
Hayes was SmackDown's second pick, and he literally wasted no time in challenging Universal champion Cody Rhodes, who was announcing the selections, to a match.
WWE @WWEWHAT! FIRST ROUND <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEDRAFT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEDRAFT</a> PICK <a href="https://twitter.com/Carmelo_WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Carmelo_WWE</a> just challenged <a href="https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CodyRhodes</a> to a match... TONIGHT! 🔥🔥🔥<br><br>Don't miss it later tonight! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmackDown</a> <a href="https://t.co/GjuPpqJF2O">pic.twitter.com/GjuPpqJF2O</a>
Rhodes accepted the challenge, and WWE NXT Champion Trick Williams provided his thoughts afterward.
WWE @WWEEXCLUSIVE: Despite all of their history together, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWENXT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWENXT</a> Champion <a href="https://twitter.com/_trickwilliams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_trickwilliams</a> is happy for <a href="https://twitter.com/Carmelo_WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Carmelo_WWE</a> on getting drafted to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmackDown</a>. <a href="https://t.co/b3F6xcpYd0">pic.twitter.com/b3F6xcpYd0</a>
Hayes and Rhodes closed SmackDown in the main event.
WWE @WWEFIRST ROUND <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEDraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEDraft</a> pick <a href="https://twitter.com/Carmelo_WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Carmelo_WWE</a> makes his first entrance as a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmackDown</a> Superstar! <br><br>He's about to have the biggest match of his career tonight against the Undisputed WWE Champion, <a href="https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CodyRhodes</a>!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmackDown</a> <a href="https://t.co/HQu5U0ykgi">pic.twitter.com/HQu5U0ykgi</a>
Hayes put up a good effort, but Rhodes ultimately finished him off clean with the Cross Rhodes.
Hayes has a bright future in WWE, and it'll be interesting to follow his path on SmackDown. That won't be the case for another recent NXT call-up in Bron Breakker, whose time there has ended after just two-plus months.
Breakker didn't waste much time to end his SmackDown tenure, squashing Cedric Alexander with a spear for a very quick win.
As for Reigns, he's now a free agent after Paul Heyman announced the Tribal Chief's withdrawal from the draft.
WWE on FOX @WWEonFOXBREAKING NEWS!<br><br>Our Tribal Chief has withdrawn his eligibility from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEDraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEDraft</a> 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/HeymanHustle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HeymanHustle</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KaylaBraxtonWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KaylaBraxtonWWE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmackDown</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ho9fKawsIr">pic.twitter.com/Ho9fKawsIr</a>
To quote Heyman, Reigns is not returning "in the immediate future," which is not a surprise after WrestleVotes (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats) reported that he'll be off television "for an indefinite period of time." However, he'll still have "creative input" on the direction of the Bloodline.
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