2005 WWE Draft Lottery
Encyclopedia
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 over a three week period in June. There were ten draft picks and an eleven-person trade conducted between the promotion's
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...
two brands: Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
and SmackDown!, where twenty-two superstars were drafted and traded overall. The draft took place on WWE
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...
's two hour television programs, Raw, which aired on Spike TV, and SmackDown!, which aired on UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
. Post-draft trades were announced on WWE's official website, WWE.com. The draft picks were announced each Monday on Raw and each Thursday on SmackDown! from June 6 to June 30. Each draftee was drafted at random. Every superstar from Raw and SmackDown! was eligible to be drafted, including divas
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....
, announcers
Ring announcer
A ring announcer is a paid in-ring employee for a boxing, professional wrestling, or mixed martial arts event or promotion...
, commentators
Sports commentator
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...
, and general managers.
Background
On the April 18, 2005 episode of Raw, Mr.McMahonVince 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...
, the WWE Chairman, announced that a Draft Lottery would take place the following month in May. On the May 16, 2005 episode of Raw however, McMahon announced that the draft would take place in June over a one month period. Following the announcement, he made note that there were no exceptions from the draft, including the injured and the champions.
Draft lottery
| Pick # | Brand (to) | Employee |
Role | Brand (from) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raw | John Cena John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand.... |
Male wrestler | SmackDown! | ||||
| 2 | SmackDown! | Chris Benoit Chris Benoit Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide... |
Male wrestler | Raw | ||||
| 3 | Raw | 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... |
Male wrestler | SmackDown! | ||||
| 4 | SmackDown! | Randy Orton Randy Orton Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand... |
Male wrestler | Raw | ||||
| 5 | Raw | Carlito |
Male Wrestler | SmackDown! | ||||
| 6 | SmackDown! | Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari |
Male wrestler | Raw | ||||
| 7 | Raw | The Big Show |
Male wrestler | SmackDown! | ||||
| 8 | Raw | Rob Van Dam |
Male wrestler | SmackDown! | ||||
| 9 | SmackDown! | Christian |
Male wrestler | Raw | ||||
| 10 | SmackDown! | Batista |
Male wrestler | Raw | ||||
Post-draft trades
| Pick # | Brand (to) | Employee |
Role | Brand (from) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw | 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... 1 René Duprée Danny Basham Kenzo Suzuki Kenzo Suzuki Kenzo Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with New Japan Pro Wrestling and in the United States with World Wrestling Entertainment... 2 Hiroko2 Chavo Guerrero3 |
Male wrestlers/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! | |||||
| SmackDown! | William Regal Candice Michelle Sylvain Grenier Sylvain Grenier Sylvain Grenier is a Canadian professional wrestler, who is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment in the La Résistance tag team. He is currently a French language announcer for TNA Impact! on RDS.... Simon Dean Stevie Richards Stevie Richards Michael Manna is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Stevie Richards. Also known by his ring names, Steven Richards and Dr... |
Male wrestlers/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 - Jindrak made only one appearance on Raw.
- 2 - These people were released from their contracts prior to their return to 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 GuerreroEddie GuerreroEduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...
.
Aftermath
After John CenaJohn Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
was drafted to Raw, along with the WWE Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
, SmackDown! was left without a World Heavyweight Championship for the remainder of the month of June. On the June 23, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, General Manager, 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:...
, announced a new World Championship for the SmackDown brand, called the SmackDown! Championship. The new champion would have been determined in a six-man elimination match between The Undertaker, Muhammad Hassan, Christian, Booker T
Booker Huffman
Robert Booker Tio Huffman , better known by his ring name Booker T, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE, on its SmackDown brand, as part of the announcing team. Booker is best known for his time in both the World Wrestling Entertainment and World...
, John "Bradshaw" Layfield
John Layfield
John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News...
and Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
, which Layfield won on the June 30, 2005 episode of SmackDown!. After Layfield won the match, Long announced that the SmackDown! Championship was not needed because the then-World Heavyweight Champion
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
, Batista, had been drafted to SmackDown!.
See also
- WWE Draft Lottery
- WWE Brand ExtensionWWE Brand ExtensionWWE, 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...
- WWE Roster