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Backstage Update On Plans For The 2025 WWE Draft

Will the annual WWE Draft still be taking place this year?
Rick Ucchino|
Cody Rhodes & Triple H at WWE Draft 2024
Cody Rhodes & Triple H at WWE Draft 2024 | WWE.com

Even though 2025 is nearly half over, plans are still being worked out to hold the WWE Draft later this year.

The annual reshuffling of the Raw, SmackDown and NXT rosters has taken place during the last week in April for the past two years, coinciding with the NFL Draft and offering a post-WrestleMania pallet cleanser for all three brands.

This year, however, April came and went without any official mention of the draft taking place on WWE programming.

The latest update from Cory Hays of BodySlam, is that the WWE creative team has discussed holding off this year's edition of the draft until late in the summer. Although, no date has been finalized at this time.

“The last I heard about the WWE Draft was that they have been considering doing it post-SummerSlam, most likely as a tie-in to the season premiere episodes in September,” Hays noted in his report.

Waiting until closer to fall to reshape the rosters would allow the creative department more time to wrap up long-term story arcs and provide more of a clean slate to reorganize the talent as needed.

WWE has also spent much of this year retooling the roster already, via the transfer window and a slew of recent NXT call-ups. Which Hays indicated has not created a pressing need to rush right into the WWE Draft this year.

There's also the matter of the SmackDown runtime. The current three hour format requires a deeper roster to adequately fill weekly programming than it would for a two hour show.

After it was announced to be happening earlier this year, there has been no official update on if the Blue Brand is still going to drop the third hour or if an extension has been worked out with the USA Network.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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