The 2004 World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 (WWE) Draft Lottery took place at the Joe Louis Arena

Joe Louis Arena

Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed The Joe and JLA is a hockey arena located at 600 Civic Center Drive in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, Joe Louis Arena is named after boxer and former heavyweight...

 in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 on March 22, 2004. The draft took place live

Live television

Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...

 for two hours on WWE's flagship television program, Raw

WWE RAW

WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

on Spike TV. Post-draft trades were announced on WWE's official website, WWE.com, until midnight on March 22, 2004. There were twelve draft picks, with nineteen superstars overall switching between the promotion

Professional wrestling promotion

A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...

's two brands

WWE Brand Extension

WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...

: Raw and SmackDown!. During the draft lottery, the General manager of Raw, Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff

Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...

, and the General manager of SmackDown!, Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....

, stood on opposite ends of the stage on the Raw set, where they drafted six superstars randomly via two machines. At the conclusion of the draft, the two GMs would then be allowed to trade anyone on the roster until Midnight EST, which was later extended until Tuesday night after Heyman resigned. Every WWE employee was eligible to be drafted, including injured superstars, commentators

Sportscaster

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

, champions, and general managers.

Background

The tagline for WrestleMania XX

WrestleMania XX

WrestleMania XX was the twentieth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 14, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York....

 (that year's WrestleMania

WrestleMania

WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually in late March or early April by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut...

), was Where it all begins again. To remain with the tagline, on the March 15, 2004 episode of Raw

WWE RAW

WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

, the chairman of WWE, Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon

Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...

, announced that it was time "for a new WWE" and that a Draft Lottery

WWE Draft Lottery

The WWE Draft, is a process used by WWE 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...

 would take place the following week on Raw. Both Raw and SmackDown! superstars would be present for the Draft Lottery, as McMahon announced that every superstar was eligible to be drafted, including commentators

Sportscaster

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

, ring announcer

Ring announcer

A ring announcer is a paid in-ring employee for a boxing, professional wrestling, or mixed martial arts event or promotion...

s, referee

Referee (professional wrestling)

A professional wrestling referee is the official figure that makes sure that wrestling matches move smoothly in an attempt to maintain kayfabe. The referee also has the ultimate power in the ring...

s, injured superstars, and champions.

Draft lottery

Pick #		Brand (to)		Employee		Role		Brand (from)
1	Smackdown!	René Duprée	Male wrestler	Raw
2	Raw	Shelton Benjamin Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted...	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
3	SmackDown!	Mark Jindrak Mark Jindrak Mark Robert Jindrak is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...	Male wrestler	Raw
4	Raw	Nidia	Diva WWE Diva Diva is a term used by World Wrestling Entertainment , an American professional wrestling promotion, to refer to its female talent. The term is applied to women who appear as wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, or ring announcers....	SmackDown!
5	SmackDown!	Triple H1	Male Wrestler	Raw
6	Raw	Rhyno	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
7	SmackDown!	Rob Van Dam	Male wrestler	Raw
8	Raw	Tajiri	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
9	SmackDown!	Theodore Long Theodore Long Theodore R. "Teddy" Long is an American professional wrestling manager and former referee who currently works for WWE on its SmackDown brand as its General Manager.-National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling:...	Manager Manager (professional wrestling) In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...	Raw
10	Raw	Edge	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
11	SmackDown!	Spike Dudley	Male wrestler	Raw
12	Raw	Paul Heyman Paul Heyman Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film.... 2	General manager	SmackDown!

Post-draft trades

Pick #		Brand (to)		Employee		Role		Brand (from)
	Raw	Triple H1	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
	SmackDown!	Booker T Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley Dudley Boyz Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...	Male wrestlers	Raw
	Raw	A-Train Chuck Palumbo Chuck Palumbo Charles "Chuck" Palumbo is an American professional wrestler, currently working for Nu-Wrestling Evolution . Palumbo is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment...	Male wrestlers	SmackDown!
	SmackDown!	Rico Miss Jackie	Male wrestler and Diva WWE Diva Diva is a term used by World Wrestling Entertainment , an American professional wrestling promotion, to refer to its female talent. The term is applied to women who appear as wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, or ring announcers....	Raw

• 1 - Triple H was traded back to Raw prior to his redebut on the SmackDown! brand.
• 2 - Heyman resigned prior to his first appearance on the Raw brand.

Aftermath

After Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....

 was drafted from the SmackDown! brand

WWE Brand Extension

WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...

 to the Raw

WWE RAW

WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

 brand, he kayfabe

Kayfabe

In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...

 quit the WWE, thus leaving the SmackDown! brand without a General manager. Shortly after the draft, the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon

Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...

 announced that a new General manager had been appointed to the SmackDown! brand, and that he would conduct the supplemental trades with Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff

Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...

. On the March 25, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle

Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...

came down to the ring and announced that he was the new SmackDown! General manager.