This year’s draft will take place on April 26 and 29, as WWE is looking to capitalize on the 2024 NFL Draft, which will take place between April 25 and 27. Fightful Select confirmed this, and the outlet also noted that this year’s draft could potentially have input from WWE’s upcoming media partners, Netflix and The CW.

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“Smackdown” will move from FOX to the USA Network, and “NXT” will move from USA to The CW in October 2024, while “Raw” will begin its new era on Netflix at the beginning of 2025. While USA will also be able to have some input on who appears on “Smackdown,” the CW and Netflix have the chance to try and secure some big stars for their launch dates if they choose to. However, Fightful was told by one WWE source that “Raw’s” debut on Netflix is closer to the 2025 draft than the 2024 one, meaning that they won’t be worrying about what the rosters look like for a little while. 

“Smackdown” and “NXT” will both be moving to Netflix in 2025 for fans in the United Kingdom, Latin America, Canada, and various other markets at the same time as “Raw’s” move. Still, there has been no word on whether that will impact any of the movement in this year’s draft or whether the rules may become relaxed at the turn of the new year.

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