2005 WWE draft lottery

2005 WWE draft lottery
John Cena, the first draftee in the 2005 WWE draft.
Sport Professional wrestling
Dates June 6–30, 2005
League World Wrestling Entertainment
Teams Raw
SmackDown!

The 2005 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft lottery, the third WWE draft, took place over a three-week period in June. There were ten draft picks and an eleven-person trade conducted between the promotion's two brands: Raw and SmackDown!, where twenty-two wrestlers were drafted and traded overall.[1] The draft took place on WWE's two-hour television programs, Raw, which aired on Spike TV, and SmackDown!, which aired on UPN.[2] Post-draft trades were announced on WWE's official website, WWE.com.[1][3] The draft picks were announced each Monday on Raw and each Thursday on SmackDown! from June 6 to June 30.[2] Each draftee was drafted at random.[2] Every wrestler from Raw and SmackDown! was eligible to be drafted, including announcers, commentators, and general managers.[2]

Background

On the April 18, 2005, episode of Raw, WWE chairman Mr. McMahon announced that a draft lottery would take place the following month in May.[4] However, on the May 16 episode of Raw, McMahon announced that the draft would take place in June, over a one-month period.[5] Following the announcement, he made note that there were no exceptions from the draft, including the injured and the champions.[5]

Selections

Draft lottery

Pick No. Brand (to) Employee
(Real name)		 Role Brand (from)
1 Raw John Cena Male wrestler SmackDown!
2 SmackDown! Chris Benoit Male wrestler Raw
3 Raw Kurt Angle Male wrestler SmackDown!
4 SmackDown! Randy Orton Male wrestler Raw
5 Raw Carlito
(Carlos Colón, Jr.)		 Male wrestler SmackDown!
6 SmackDown! Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari
(Mark Copani and Shawn Daivari)		 Male wrestler Raw
7 Raw Big Show
(Paul Wight)		 Male wrestler SmackDown!
8 Raw Rob Van Dam
(Robert Szatkowski)		 Male wrestler SmackDown!
9 SmackDown! Christian
(William Reso)		 Male wrestler Raw
10 SmackDown! Batista
(David Bautista)		 Male wrestler Raw

Post-draft trades

Pick No. Brand (to) Employee
(Real name)		 Role Brand (from)
1 Raw Male/female wrestlers SmackDown!
SmackDown! Male/female wrestlers Raw
  • 1 – Jindrak made only one appearance on Raw.
  • 2 – These people were released from their contracts prior to their debut on Raw.
  • 3 – Guerrero made his return on the July 7 edition of Raw repackaged as Kerwin White. The gimmick was later abandoned in November 2005 after the death of Eddie Guerrero.

Aftermath

This was the first draft in which champions brought their titles to their new show if they were selected. After John Cena was drafted to Raw, along with the WWE Championship, SmackDown! was left without a World Heavyweight Championship for the remainder of the month of June.[6] On the June 23, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, General Manager, Theodore Long, announced a new World Championship for the SmackDown brand, called the SmackDown! Championship.[6][7] The new champion would have been determined in a six-man elimination match between The Undertaker, Muhammad Hassan, Christian, Booker T, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Chris Benoit, which Layfield won on the June 30, 2005 episode of SmackDown!.[8][9] After Layfield won the match, Long announced that the SmackDown! Championship was not needed because the then-World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, had been drafted to SmackDown!.[8][9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Waldman, Jon. "WWE announces trade to finish Draft Lottery". Canoe: SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "2005 WWE Draft Lottery". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2005-06-13. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  3. ↑ "RAW and SmackDown! agree to a 11-person deal". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2005-06-30. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  4. ↑ "WWE Raw (April 18, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  5. 1 2 "WWE Raw (May 16, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  6. 1 2 "WWE SmackDown! (June 23, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  7. ↑ "SmackDown!". PWWEW.net. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  8. 1 2 "WWE SmackDown! (June 30, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  9. 1 2 "6 Man Elimination match for the vacant WWE Championship". PWWEW.net. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
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