WWE Draft won’t take effect until October 22

WWE has released the following video explaining the rules for this year’s Draft, which begins tonight (October 1, 2021) Friday night SmackDown and conclude on Monday evening gross next week:

What is clear in the video:

• Half of the roster is eligible to be drafted tonight, the other half will be drafted next week
• Anyone who is not drafted will become a free agent who can sign with either brand.
• The changes won’t take effect until October 22, just one night after Crown Jewel hits Saudi Arabia.

This means the two brands will maintain the rosters they currently have for the next three weeks, giving them time to wrap up storylines, such as SmackDown’s female title photo Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar’s battle for The Universal Championship, The New Day and The Hurt Business The Ox on Raw, And so on.

It begs the question of why they didn’t just wait and do the draft on October 22, but, hey, it’s WWE.

See you tonight!