WWE Draft: Difference between revisions

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*<small>As a result of this Draft Lottery, Smackdown! was left without a world championship for most of June, after John Cena was drafted to RAW taking the WWE Championship with him. Theodore Long was in the process of crowning a new ''SmackDown!'' Champion, for a newly created title that was yet to debut, but deemed it unnecessary after Batista was drafted to ''SmackDown!''.</small>
*<small>As a result of this Draft Lottery, Smackdown! was left without a world championship for most of June, after John Cena was drafted to RAW taking the WWE Championship with him. Theodore Long was in the process of crowning a new ''SmackDown!'' Champion, for a newly created title that was yet to debut, but deemed it unnecessary after Batista was drafted to ''SmackDown!''.</small>

The RAW and Smackdown! General Managers agreed to a 11 superstar trade as part of the 2005 Draft Lottery.

{| class="wikitable"
!''RAW''<br>([[Eric Bischoff]])
!''SmackDown!''<br>([[Theodore Long]])
|-
|style="background: #FFEEEE;"|[[Mark Jindrak]]
|style="background: #EEEEFF;"|[[Darren Matthews|William Regal]]

|-
|style="background: #FFEEEE;"|[[René Goguen|René Dupreé]]
|style="background: #EEEEFF;"|[[Candice Beckman|Candice Michelle]]
|-
|style="background: #FFEEEE;"|[[Danny Hollie|Danny Basham]]
|style="background: #EEEEFF;"|[[Sylvain Grenier]]
|-
|style="background: #FFEEEE;"|[[Kenzo Suzuki]] w/ [[Hiroko]]
|style="background: #EEEEFF;"|[[Mike Bucci|Simon Dean]]
|-
|style="background: #FFEEEE;"|[[Salvador Guerrero III|Chavo Guerrero]]
|style="background: #EEEEFF;"|[[Michael Manna|Steven Richards]]
|-
|}


===2006 (Brand Extension: ECW)===
===2006 (Brand Extension: ECW)===

Revision as of 22:02, 12 November 2007

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Draft Lottery, also known the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Draft, is a device used to provide new brand competition and to refreshen its rosters. The Draft was first used during the brand extension of 2002 and the ECW brand extension of 2006, but was officially created and used in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

History

On June 102002, McMahon became the sole owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (after the WWF was court ordered to change their name) when he defeated Flair in a No-Holds-Barred match. The following month, he appointed general managers (Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon) to lead each brand. Since then, there have been three further drafts:

  • In March 2004, with the theme of WrestleMania XX being "Where it all begins again," Mr. McMahon announced a draft lottery, stating "it's time to shake things up again." Each general manager received six picks.
  • In June 2005, Mr. McMahon announced a second draft lottery which would take place throughout the entire month of June. Both general managers received five random picks.
  • In May 2006, WWE added a third brand; the revived version of Extreme Championship Wrestling.[1] "ECW Representative" Paul Heyman was allowed one pick from RAW and one pick from SmackDown!.
  • On May 28 2007, Shane McMahon announced a new draft which featured all three brands. The Draft took place on June 11 2007 on a special three-hour episode of RAW.

2002 (Brand Extension: RAW and SmackDown!)

The initial draft was held live on the March 252002 edition of RAW in State College, Pennsylvania. It was set up like a normal sports draft, in that each brand would take turns selecting wrestlers from the WWF roster. After the initial ten picks for each brand, the rest of roster was randomly assigned via a lottery, with each brand receiving a grand total of 30 wrestlers.

There were numerous exceptions, however. Triple H (Men's Champion), Jazz (Women's Champion), Chris Jericho (competing in a championship match), Stephanie McMahon (also competing in a championship match), and Steve Austin (contractual clause) could not be drafted. Billy and Chuck (the then Tag Team Champions) and the New World Order (McMahon request) could each be drafted as a group.[2]

Draft Results:[2]

SmackDown!
(Vince McMahon)
RAW
(Ric Flair)
The Rock The Undertaker
Kurt Angle nWo (New World Order)
(Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, X-Pac)
Chris Benoit Kane
Hollywood Hulk Hogan Rob Van Dam
Billy & Chuck Booker T
Edge Big Show
Rikishi Bubba Ray Dudley
D-Von Dudley Brock Lesnar
Mark Henry William Regal
Maven Lita
Billy Kidman Bradshaw
Tajiri Steven Richards
Chris Jericho Matt Hardy
Ivory Raven
Albert Jeff Hardy
The Hurricane Mr. Perfect
Al Snow Spike Dudley
Lance Storm D'Lo Brown
Diamond Dallas Page Shawn Stasiak
Torrie Wilson Terri
Scotty 2 Hotty Jacqueline
Stacy Keibler Goldust
Christian Trish Stratus
Test Justin Credible
Faarooq Big Boss Man
Tazz Tommy Dreamer
Hardcore Holly Crash Holly
Val Venis Mighty Molly
Perry Saturn


2004 (Draft Lottery: RAW and SmackDown!)

Wanting to "shake things up," Vince McMahon announced that a second draft was to occur on the March 22, 2004 edition of RAW in Detroit. In this draft, each general manager got six random lottery picks. Everyone was eligible for the lottery, including referees, announcers, and even the general managers.[3][4]

SmackDown!
(Paul Heyman)
RAW
(Eric Bischoff)
René Duprée Shelton Benjamin
Mark Jindrak Nidia
Triple H Rhyno
Rob Van Dam Tajiri
Theodore Long Edge
Spike Dudley Paul Heyman
  • Triple H was immediately traded back to RAW by the SmackDown! General Manager Kurt Angle in exchange for Booker T and The Dudley Boyz.
  • Paul Heyman immediately quit after being drafted to RAW.[5]

2005 (Draft Lottery: RAW and SmackDown!)

On the April 18, 2005 edition of Monday Night Raw Mr. McMahon announced another draft lottery,where unlike other draft's taking place in one night, this draft lottery would take place from June 6 to June 30, a three-week period, on editions of RAW and SmackDown!.[6] In this draft, divas were eligible to be drafted.[7]

RAW
(Eric Bischoff)
SmackDown!
(Theodore Long)
John Cena (June 6)[8] Chris Benoit (June 9)[9]
Kurt Angle (June 13)[10] Randy Orton (June 16)[11]
Carlito (June 20)[12] Muhammad Hassan w/ Daivari (June 23)[13]
Big Show and Rob Van Dam (June 27)[14] Christian and Batista (July 1)[15]
  • As a result of this Draft Lottery, Smackdown! was left without a world championship for most of June, after John Cena was drafted to RAW taking the WWE Championship with him. Theodore Long was in the process of crowning a new SmackDown! Champion, for a newly created title that was yet to debut, but deemed it unnecessary after Batista was drafted to SmackDown!.

The RAW and Smackdown! General Managers agreed to a 11 superstar trade as part of the 2005 Draft Lottery.

RAW
(Eric Bischoff)
SmackDown!
(Theodore Long)
Mark Jindrak William Regal
René Dupreé Candice Michelle
Danny Basham Sylvain Grenier
Kenzo Suzuki w/ Hiroko Simon Dean
Chavo Guerrero Steven Richards

2006 (Brand Extension: ECW)

World Wrestling Entertainment expanded again with a new brand, ECW, a revival of the old Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. ECW representative Paul Heyman was allowed to draft one wrestler from RAW and one wrestler from SmackDown!

Results
Rob Van Dam (RAW)
Kurt Angle (SmackDown!)

2007 (Draft Lottery: RAW, SmackDown!, and ECW)

On the May 28, 2007 edition of RAW, Shane McMahon announced that there would be another Draft Lottery on June 11, 2007 on a special 3 hour edition of RAW held in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. For the first time in WWE history, the Draft Lottery occurred across all three brands. Superstars from all three brands competed in a series of interpromotional matches. The winner of each match won their brand a random draft pick.[16]

Superstar(s)[16] From To
The Great Khali w/ Runjin Singh RAW SD!
The Boogeyman SD! ECW
King Booker w/ Queen Sharmell SD! RAW
Chris Benoit SD! ECW
Torrie Wilson RAW SD!
Chris Masters RAW SD!
Bobby Lashley ECW RAW
Ric Flair RAW SD!
Snitsky ECW RAW
Mr. Kennedy SD! RAW
  • As a result of being drafted to RAW, being ECW World Champion at the time, Lashley was stripped of his title having been removed from ECW.

Supplemental Draft

A supplemental draft took place on WWE.com on June 17, 2007, and lasted for four hours. A draft pick was announced at twenty minute intervals.[17]

Superstar(s) From To
Paul London and Brian Kendrick SD! RAW
Kenny Dykstra RAW SD!
Viscera RAW ECW
The Sandman ECW RAW
Hardcore Holly ECW SD!
The Miz SD! ECW
Daivari SD! RAW
The Major Brothers ECW SD!
William Regal SD! RAW
Victoria RAW SD!
Jillian Hall SD! RAW
Eugene RAW SD!
Johnny Nitro RAW ECW
  • Despite being drafted to SmackDown! during the Supplemental Draft, Hardcore Holly actually made his return to WWE as part of the RAW roster, facing Cody Rhodes in September.[18]

Impact

Championships

Whether a champion keeps their championship after being drafted is unpredictable. During the 2005 Draft, John Cena, the WWE Champion, was drafted from SmackDown! to RAW and kept his championship. General Manager Theodore Long announced that a new SmackDown! World Championship was to be created but the idea was abandoned when Batista, the World Heavyweight Champion, was drafted to SmackDown! from RAW, bringing the title with him. During the 2007 Draft, however, the ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was stripped of the title after being drafted to RAW.

See Also

References

  1. ^ "WWE Launches ECW As Third Brand".
  2. ^ a b "WWF Draft Results".
  3. ^ "Raw/Draft Results March 22, 2004". A career changing night. March 22, 2004.
  4. ^ "The 2004 Draft Lottery". WWE. April 24, 2005.
  5. ^ "A Career Changing Night: RAW Results March 22, 2004".
  6. ^ "Raw Results 4/18/05". Lords of Pain. April 18th, 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "The Rush Is On". WWE. May 9. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Raw results 6/18/05". WWE. June 6, 2005.
  9. ^ "Another shocker, Another Invasion". WWE. June 9, 2005.
  10. ^ "Angle to RAW". WWE. June 13, 2005.
  11. ^ "Legendary Returns". WWE. June 16, 2005.
  12. ^ "No one Get's up from the Pedigree". WWE. June 20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Final Chapter, New Chapter". WWE. June 23, 2005.
  14. ^ "An immortal moment". WWE. June 27, 2005.
  15. ^ "Jackpot". WWE. June 30, 2005.
  16. ^ a b "Draft brings surprises, ECW Champion to Raw". WWE. June 11, 2007.
  17. ^ Dee, Louie (June 17, 2007). "2007 Supplemental Draft results". WWE.com. Retrieved August 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Raw gets Hardcore, with Hardcore Holly's return". WWE. September 24, 2007.

External Links