WWE Draft

The current WWE Draft logo used since 2007The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Draft, (formerly known as the WWE Draft Lottery) is a process used by said professional wrestling promotion to provide new brand competition and to refreshen its rosters. The Draft was first used during the brand extension of 2002, though it was officially incepted and used in 2004. Since the inception of the process, it has been referred to as the Draft Lottery (2004-2005) and the Draft (2007–present). Since 2005, the draft has taken place during the month of June; however, the 2009 WWE Draft is currently scheduled to take place during the month of April.

History Year Brands Notes 2002 Raw SmackDown! After acquiring World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the WWF split its roster into two distinctive wrestling brands, Raw and SmackDown!. WWE CEO Linda McMahon announced that WWE co-owners Ric Flair and Vince McMahon would draft superstars to Raw and SmackDown! respectively. The Rock was acquired by SmackDown! as the first overall pick, and The Undertaker was acquired by RAW as its first pick in the draft. 2004 Raw SmackDown! To remain active with the WrestleMania XX tagline of "Where it all begins again", WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced a draft lottery, as he stated it was time for a "new WWE" and "it's time to shake things up again". Each general manager received six picks. 2005 Raw SmackDown! Unlike previous draft lotteries which occurred on one night, this draft lottery took place over the month of June. Each general manager received five random picks. During the draft, SmackDown! was left without a world champion after Raw drafted John Cena, who at the time held the WWE Championship. SmackDown! announced plans to create their own world championship, but abandoned them when they acquired Batista from Raw, who at the time held the World Heavyweight Championship. 2006 ECW As part of the launch of the Extreme Championship Wrestling brand, WWE allowed ECW representative Paul Heyman to draft one superstar from each of the Raw and SmackDown! brands. 2007 Raw SmackDown! ECW Was the first ever tri-branded draft lottery, where all three of WWE's brands took part in the draft. Unlike previous drafts where the general managers were able to randomly select their draftee, matches took place between representatives of each brand and the winner received a draft pick. The draft was announced by Shane McMahon on May 28, and took place on June 11 on a special three-hour episode of Raw. 2008 Raw SmackDown ECW Was the second consecutive draft where draft picks were determined by matches. During the draft, three championships switched brands due to the champions switching brands. The draft was announced by Vince McMahon on May 26, and took place on June 23 on a special three-hour episode of Raw. 2009 Raw SmackDown ECW On February 11, 2009, WWE announced via their website that the 2009 Draft would take place on the April 13, 2009 edition of WWE Raw.

Impact on championships Whether a champion keeps their championship after being drafted is unpredictable:

During the 2005 Draft, the WWE Champion John Cena was drafted from SmackDown! to Raw and kept his championship. General Manager Theodore Long announced that a new SmackDown! Championship was to be created but the idea was abandoned when the World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown! from Raw, bringing the title with him. During the 2007 Draft, the ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was stripped of the title after being drafted to Raw. During the 2008 Draft, Matt Hardy was drafted to ECW with his WWE United States Championship, Triple H was drafted to SmackDown with his WWE Championship, and Kane was drafted to Raw with his ECW Championship.