Next WWE Draft confirmed, FOX and NBCU personalities to appear

The next WWE Draft is officially set for October.

WWE confirmed today that the draft will take place across two shows next month. It will begin on SmackDown on Friday, October 11 and then will continue on Raw on Monday, October 14.

Dave Meltzer reported earlier this month that those were the expected dates for the draft. The SmackDown episode is taking place in Las Vegas, while Denver will host the Raw episode.

October 11 is the second episode of SmackDown on FOX. WWE announced that “On both nights of the Draft, Superstars from Raw and SmackDown will appear along with personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming to announce select picks that will determine the rosters of each distinct brand.”

Raw airs on the USA Network, which is part of NBCUniversal.

The last time a full WWE Draft took place was in 2016. WWE has done Superstar Shake-ups since then, with the most recent one being held in April. The “Wild Card rule” was introduced in May, allowing wrestlers to make appearances on both brands.

Meltzer noted that next month’s draft is part of a series of moves that will be made to freshen up Raw and SmackDown both with talent and in other ways.

SmackDown will air live on Friday nights when it moves to FOX. The first episode is on October 4, and the theme of it is SmackDown’s 20th anniversary celebration.

Next month’s draft was advertised during the NFL on FOX today.