RVD, Teddy Long, And Others Make Surprise Appearances On WWE SmackDown

The 2023 WWE Draft saw some surprises as AJ Styles made a return to programming after several months of being ruled out through injury, in addition to the shocking switch of the Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair to WWE SmackDown. However, the surprises weren’t just confined to the draft picks though, as those announcing the picks this year were made up of surprise special guests and Hall of Famers.

Triple H made the first round of draft pick announcements, whilst also laying down the rules for the night, though he didn’t stick around after the first batch, instead freeing up the podium for an array of former stars.

These names included Rob Van Dam, Michael Hayes, JBL, Teddy Long, Road Dogg, and Shawn Michaels. The latter pair were used to announce NXT’s draft picks, with Michaels in particular looking vexed at losing some of the top stars of his women’s division. It isn’t known whether these names will reappear on Raw or whether there will be a new batch of special guests.