2016 WWE draft

The 2016 WWE draft was the tenth draft, and first since 2011, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It took place on July 19 during the live premiere of SmackDown on the USA Network in the United States broadcasting from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.

On the July 11 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon appointed Shane McMahon as the commissioner of SmackDown and Stephanie McMahon as the commissioner of Raw. The following week on the July 18 episode of Raw, the commissioners introduced Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan as the general managers of Raw and SmackDown, respectively.

The rules of the draft were posted to WWE's website on July 17. They were the following:

The following is the list of wrestlers who were drafted on SmackDown Live.

The following is the list of wrestlers who were drafted on the "WWE Draft Center Live" special on the WWE Network.

Several wrestlers remained undrafted mainly due to injury or inactivity, most of which eventually went to a brand. The chart is organized by date.

Following the brand extension draft, former WWE wrestlers made their return to WWE and sided with either Raw or SmackDown. Shelton Benjamin was supposed to return to SmackDown, but his return was put on hiatus due to a torn rotator cuff, which required surgery.Jinder Mahal and Brian Kendrick (a part of Cruiserweight Classic) joined Raw, while Rhyno & Curt Hawkins joined SmackDown. Raw draftee Jack Swagger moved to SmackDown after his "Raw contract" was about to expire. SmackDown draftee Alberto Del Rio was released by WWE during his suspension. Raw tag team draftees The Dudley Boyz left WWE. Various competitors from the Cruiserweight Classic signed contracts with Raw due to being a part of the cruiserweight division. Former NXT Women's Champion Bayley joined Raw after her final match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II. Kenny and Mikey of The Spirit Squad joined SmackDown before No Mercy feuding with former member Nicky (Dolph Ziggler). Former WCW & WWE wrestler Goldberg returned to Raw to answer Paul Heyman's challenge to wrestle Brock Lesnar in a rematch from WrestleMania XX. In early 2017, Tajiri returned to 205 Live and Mickie James initally returned to NXT facing Asuka, then she made her debut on SmackDown Live. Former NXT Champion Samoa Joe joined Raw after Royal Rumble.

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