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WWE Draft Lottery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Draft Lottery, also known as the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Draft, is a device used to provide new brand competition and to refreshen the promotion's 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.
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On June 10, 2002, 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.
The initial draft was held live on the March 25, 2002 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 (WWE 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]
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]
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 |
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!) |
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 |
- ECW Champion Bobby Lashley was stripped of the Championship after being drafted to Raw.
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]
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.
- ^ WWE Launches ECW As Third Brand.
- ^ a b WWF Draft Results.
- ^ Raw/Draft Results March 22, 2004. A career changing night (March 22, 2004).
- ^ The 2004 Draft Lottery. WWE (April 24, 2005).
- ^ A Career Changing Night: RAW Results March 22, 2004.
- ^ Raw Results 4/18/05. Lords of Pain (April 18th, 2007).
- ^ The Rush Is On. WWE (May 9).
- ^ Raw results 6/18/05. WWE (June 6, 2005).
- ^ Another shocker, Another Invasion. WWE (June 9, 2005).
- ^ Angle to RAW. WWE (June 13, 2005).
- ^ Legendary Returns. WWE (June 16, 2005).
- ^ No one Get's up from the Pedigree. WWE (June 20).
- ^ Final Chapter, New Chapter. WWE (June 23, 2005).
- ^ An immortal moment. WWE (June 27, 2005).
- ^ Jackpot. WWE (June 30, 2005).
- ^ a b Draft brings surprises, ECW Champion to Raw. WWE (June 11, 2007).
- ^ Dee, Louie (June 17, 2007). 2007 Supplemental Draft results. WWE.com. Retrieved on August 21, 2007.
- ^ Raw gets Hardcore, with Hardcore Holly's return. WWE (September 24, 2007).
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