Early 2025 WWE Mock Draft for Raw and SmackDown After WrestleMania 41

Each year, WWE uses the post-WrestleMania period to "shake things up" with its annual draft.

A reshuffling of the Raw and SmackDown rosters, the WWE draft allows the company's creative team to set the table for the stars and stories that will captivate fans, dominate headlines and lead back to the next Showcase of the Immortals.

There are rules, including these from 2024: Each brand's champions are safe and the women's tag team titleholders are eligible for selection.

Keeping those rules in mind, as well as the possibility that factions can be selected as one, NXT stars are fair game and Roman Reigns is again a free agent, this is a way-too-early look at what the 2025 WWE draft might look like.

Raw: Seth Rollins and Rhea Ripley

No surprise here.

Rollins and Ripley are elite performers in WWE and central figures of Raw. They are consistent title contenders, have established fanbases and factor heavily into how the red brand will be defined for the rest of 2025.

Rollins is a heel now, alongside Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker, but still one of the country's most trusted workhorses and in-ring performers. Ripley generates a pop comparable to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and is fresh off one of the greatest matches in recent WrestleMania history.

This is a no-brainer for Raw general manager Adam Pearce.

SmackDown selects: Cody Rhodes and Charlotte Flair

The children of legendary stars whose reach in professional wrestling is long and undeniable, Rhodes and Flair are obvious first selections for SmackDown.

Rhodes is the top star in the game, the franchise player and QB1 of this era of WWE. He is fresh off a WrestleMania 41 loss to John Cena, which cost him the Undisputed WWE Championship, but he figures to be in the hunt for the gold for the rest of the year and his enormous fanbase makes him invaluable to a general manager.

Flair is the standard-bearer for women's wrestling and arguably the best the business has seen in her field.

The Queen badly needs a character reboot, but there is no denying her value and how she gets fans talking about whatever it is she is involved in.

Raw selects: Stephanie Vaquer and Bron Breakker

The first big surprise of the draft comes early in the second round as Raw selects NXT women's champion Stephanie Vaquer.

La Primera has been all over WWE television recently, including consecutive appearances on Raw. She is one of the best wrestlers in the world, is organically over and has already proved she can excel at the next level. Pearce makes it official by picking her early.

Speaking of the Raw GM, he faces pressure (i.e. threats) from Rollins and Heyman to make Breakker his second pick of Round 2, but The Badass is deserving of the spot.

The former intercontinental champion has proved himself at every level of competition to this point, and it's only a matter of time before he is hoisting the world heavyweight or WWE title to close out a WrestleMania.

SmackDown selects: Drew McIntyre and Bianca Belair

The Scottish Warrior and The EST of WWE stay put, and it's no surprise why.

McIntyre is a two-time WWE champion, a social media phenomenon and one of the best wrestlers on the planet.

Ensuring he remains on SmackDown not only bolsters the blue brand, but it also keeps a championship contender around a roster that is thinner for legitimate main event competitors than one would expect.

It also keeps a potential McIntyre vs. Rhodes feud alive.

Belair is one of the best big-match performers in WWE, routinely showing up and out when the lights are brightest.

A historic champion and headliner, The EST is the blue brand's answer to Ripley, a generational talent who can main-event any show she appears on. Retaining her is a most logical move.

Raw selects: Penta, Becky Lynch

Penta wasted little time establishing himself as a breakout star in WWE and a potential headliner of the future.

A luchador with mass appeal worldwide, his unique look and high-flying arsenal have made him incredibly popular early in his run and even landed him on the WrestleMania card just three months into his run with the company.

Pearce selecting him is a logical move, especially if his brother, Rey Fenix, is available later on.

Lynch is a future Hall of Famer, a trailblazer and history-maker. She is one of the best to do it and is still competing at a high level, with a shot at Lyra Valkyria's Women's Intercontinental Championship upcoming on May 10 at Backlash.

Keeping her home and happy on Raw is an obvious choice for the general manager.

SmackDown selects: Damian Priest and Logan Paul

Priest is a former world champion and an incredibly over competitor capable of headlining any show and doing so believably.

He can float in and out of the main event, working with talent of all styles and backgrounds. He has been a quality heel and babyface, and he proved himself as a central figure of a brand with his work on Raw in 2024.

Priest is a quality pick in the third round, even with bigger stars still available.

Paul is a social media megstar, a face recognized beyond WWE. He has proved himself between the ropes, competed in world title matches and is valuable to the company in its attempts to further establish its footprint in the mainstream media.

He can realistically jump between Raw and SmackDown, but for the sake of switching things up, he heads to Friday nights in this year's draft.

Raw selects: LA Knight and Roxanne Perez

Knight has done everything he can realistically do on SmackDown, so it's time for a change of scenery, which takes him to Monday nights.

A main event-worthy babyface with undeniable popularity, he will fit right in on a brand that will need quality good guys to combat Rollins and Breakker at the top of the card.

Perez has already made her presence felt on Raw, most recently against Rhea Ripley. The Prodigy is the future face of women's wrestling and debuting with the flagship show is an easy decision creatively.

SmackDown selects: Gunther and Jade Cargill

Gunther has squared off with, and beaten, the majority of Raw's top stars.

And with the red brand featuring the Rollins/Heyman/Breakker trio at the top of the card, it is best to get The Ring General off of that show and onto one where he can still be a top heel and potentially have a main event run against Rhodes, with whom he has had memorable Royal Rumble battles.

Cargill stays put on SmackDown and gears up for what feels like an inevitable battle with Belair, with the opportunity to chase championship gold easier than it would be on the otherwise stacked Raw roster.

Raw selects: CM Punk and Bayley

Punk turns perceived disrespect with a fifth-round draft selection into the drive and motivation to continue his pursuit of the world heavyweight title.

Up first, though, is revenge against Rollins and Co. for the hell they have put him through recently.

The Chicago native is one of those foundational pieces of Raw and someone Netflix officials will want to promote as one of the top stars on the show. No doubt Pearce thinks the same.

Bayley has unfinished business with Lynch following the backstage assault that forced her to miss WrestleMania 41.

Keeping her on Raw and letting the two revolutionaries tear it up for the foreseeable future seems like a logical creative step if nothing else.

SmackDown selects: Randy Orton and Trick Williams

Whereas Punk uses the later draft spot as motivation for good, Orton will ultimately seethe over the disrespect of his placement and take it out on the SmackDown roster, turning heel and feuding with Rhodes in one of the most anticipated rivalries of the year.

A heel Viper provides The American Nightmare with a deep, layered story that does not necessarily rely on the Undisputed WWE Championship but keeps fans invested thanks to the rich history between them.

Williams is the second surprise of the draft, heading to the blue brand where he can (and likely will) meet up with former friend and mentor Carmelo Hayes.

Whether they do so as enemies or reunite out of convenience is another question.