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The WWE Draft begins tonight on Friday Night SmackDown. There is a big change reportedly coming to the Draft format this year, which we'll take a look at later.
WWE have also announced a big match that will open the show to determine the #1 Draft pick. A number of celebrities have also been confirmed to be in attendance tonight including Alex Rodriguez, Colin Che and Michael Jost.
Let's take a look at what we can expect from SmackDown tonight as the WWE Draft inches closer.
Celebrity appearances announced by WWE
The WWE Draft episode of SmackDown looks set to be a star-studded affair. WWE have already announced a number of celebrity appearances for tonight's show including Alex Rodriguez as well as Colin Che and Michael Jost of SNL.
WWE released the following statement confirming the full list of celebrities expected on tonight's show:
Star-studded celebrity lineup, including Alex Rodriguez, Michael Che and Colin Jost, to take part in WWE Draft
Fourteen-time MLB All-Star and FOX analyst Alex Rodriguez, "Saturday Night Live's" Michael Che and Colin Jost of "Weekend Update" segments, "Mr. Robot's" Christian Slater, "NFL on FOX's" Joe Buck and Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, and "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer are among the celebrities set to take part.
The WWE Draft will determine the rosters of Raw and SmackDown. It begins tomorrow on Friday Night SmackDown at 8 ET/5 PT on FOX and continues Monday on Raw at 8/7 C on USA Network.
Additional personalities scheduled to appear include:
* Kevin Burkhardt and Frank Thomas — FOX MLB analysts
* Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson and Tony Gonzalez — FOX NFL Sunday
* Ronde Barber, Charles Davis, Chris Spielman and Daryl Johnston — FOX NFL analysts
* Charissa Thompson, Michael Vick and Peter Schrager — FOX NFL Kickoff
* Rob Stone, Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Urban Meyer — Big Noon Kickoff
* Joel Klatt — FOX College Football analyst
* Dulé Hill of USA's "Psych" and "Suits"
* James Roday of "Psych"
* Marcus Lemonis of "The Profit"
* Margaret Josephs and Melissa Gorga of "Real Housewives of New Jersey"
* Rodney Harrison and Chris Simms — Football Night in America
* Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Mustoe and Kyle Martino — Premier League Live
Below is the full list of WWE Draft rules:
* Over 70 Superstars, as well as tag teams, are eligible for selection in this year's WWE Draft
* SmackDown will draft 30 Superstars, and Raw will select another 41 Superstars
* Since SmackDown is a two-hour show and Raw is a three-hour show, for every two picks SmackDown makes, Raw will receive three
* Tag teams will count as one pick unless FOX or USA Network specifically wants to pick only one Superstar from the team
* Any undrafted Superstars will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choosing.
Everything you need to know about the WWE Draft
The WWE Draft this year could be very different from anything we’ve seen before. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE are changing the format of the draft this year to make it look like something more akin to that of a pro football draft.
WWE have also announced the preliminary draft pools which you can check out HERE.
According to reports, two names Paul Heyman is looking to work with on RAW are ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt (who is already on the red brand) and former NXT Champion Aleister Black who is currently on SmackDown. Another SmackDown Superstar Heyman wants on RAW is reported to be Buddy Murphy.
A few names are surprisingly missing from the preliminary draft pool. The most notable of these are Ember Moon and The Usos. Also missing from the list are The Ascension, Matt Hardy, Naomi and Mike Kanellis.
As far as the involvement of NXT is concerned, it looks like the black and yellow brand will not be playing a big role in tonight’s draft. A few NXT Superstars have already been confirmed to be moving to the main roster, but more on that later.
Notable NXT stars confirmed to be moving to the main roster ahead of the WWE Draft
The WWE Draft tonight will give a number of Superstars the chance to move to the main roster, including some former 205 Live Superstars. WWE announced earlier today that 5 NXT Superstars are set to be called up to the main roster tonight and have been made eligible for the WWE Draft.
These 5 Superstars are former Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak, Akira Tozawa, Humberto Carrillo and both members of the Street Profits – Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins. All 5 men have been added to the preliminary WWE Draft pool and they will find out what the future holds for them on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
The Street Profits were sort of called up to RAW earlier this year but they’ve only made backstage appearances since then, appearing in segments where they act as the narrators of Monday Night RAW. Gulak, Tozawa and Carrillo are all former members of the 205 Live roster.
Which of these 5 men will have the biggest impact on the main roster? Sound off in the comments below.
Seth Rollins battles Roman Reigns for the right to be the #1 pick
Two of the biggest stars of the current era of WWE are former Shield brothers Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. Rollins may be the current face of RAW as the WWE Universal Champion but he has already been announced for tonight's episode of SmackDown.
The WWE Draft episode of Friday Night SmackDown tonight will kick-off with WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins facing Roman Reigns for the right to be the #1 draft pick. Rollins will be representing RAW tonight while Reigns will be representing the blue brand.
It has been reported in the lead up to the draft that FOX Executives are keen on keeping Reigns on SmackDown. If that is that case, and with Lesnar also seemingly on SmackDown, Rollins will most likely remain on RAW at the end of the night.
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One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
