2007 WWE Draft

Last updated
2007 WWE draft
WWE Draft logo 2007-2011.jpg
The WWE Draft logo used from 2007 to 2011.
General information
Sport Professional wrestling
Date(s)June 11 and 17, 2007
Location Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Overview
League World Wrestling Entertainment
Teams Raw
SmackDown!
ECW
←  2006
2008  →

The 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft, the fifth WWE Draft, took place at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on June 11. The first half of the draft was televised live for three hours on World Wrestling Entertainment's program, Raw on USA Network. [1] [2] [3] The second half of the draft, or the "supplemental draft", was conducted over WWE's website, WWE.com, for four hours on June 17, 2007, as draft picks were announced at twenty-minute intervals. [4] There were twenty-three draft picks, with twenty-seven wrestlers drafted overall, between the promotion's three main brands: Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW. [1] [5] For the televised half of the draft, each brand's draft pick was determined by nine matches, one being a battle royal for two draft picks, where wrestlers from their respective brands wrestled to earn a draft pick. [6] [7] The supplemental draft, however, was conducted randomly, with each brand receiving random draft selections. Raw and SmackDown! received five random draft picks, while ECW received three random draft picks. [4] The televised draft picks were randomly selected by a computer that was shown on the Raw titantron. [8] [9] Every WWE wrestler from Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW was eligible to be drafted. [10]

Contents

Background

The draft was announced by Shane McMahon on the May 28, 2007, episode of Raw from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, and was promoted as the "first ever tri-branded draft". [10] [11] [12] Besides the promoted draft, the show was billed as "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night", a tribute of appreciation to the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, [13] [14] who was blown up in his limousine later that night.

The draft lottery is a concept used by WWE to improve its weekly television ratings of Raw, SmackDown! and ECW'. [15] The WWE yet again used the concept in 2007, to improve its television ratings. [15] The 2007 WWE draft was the first official draft lottery to take place in WWE since the 2005 WWE draft lottery. [16]

Selections

Televised draft

Matches

During the program, representatives from the Raw, ECW, and SmackDown! brands were involved in matches that determined which brand received a draft pick. Overall, there were 9 matches, of which SmackDown! got four, Raw got three and ECW got two.

No.ResultsStipulations
1 Edge (SmackDown!) defeated John Cena (Raw) Singles match for 1 draft pick
2 CM Punk (ECW) defeated Carlito (Raw)Singles match for 1 draft pick
3 Umaga (Raw) defeated Balls Mahoney (ECW)Singles match for 1 draft pick
4 Bobby Lashley (ECW) defeated Chris Benoit (SmackDown!)Singles match for 1 draft pick
5 MVP (SmackDown!) defeated Santino Marella (Raw)Singles match for 1 draft pick
6 The Miz (SmackDown!) defeated Snitsky (ECW)1Singles match for 1 draft pick
7 Candice Michelle (Raw) defeated Kristal Marshall (SmackDown!)Singles match for 1 draft pick
8 Batista (SmackDown!) defeated Elijah Burke (ECW) and Jeff Hardy (Raw) Triple Threat match for 1 draft pick
9 Randy Orton (Raw) won by last eliminating Matt Hardy (SmackDown!)8Tri-branded 15-man Battle royal for 2 draft picks

Selections

Pick No.Brand (to)EmployeeRoleBrand (from)
1SmackDown! The Great Khali Male wrestlerRaw
2ECW The Boogeyman Male wrestlerSmackDown!
3Raw King Booker and Queen Sharmell 2Male/female wrestlerSmackDown!
4ECW Chris Benoit Male wrestlerSmackDown!
5SmackDown! Torrie Wilson Female wrestlerRaw
6SmackDown! Chris Masters Male wrestlerRaw
7Raw Bobby Lashley 3Male wrestlerECW
8SmackDown! Ric Flair Male wrestlerRaw
9Raw Snitsky Male wrestlerECW
10Raw Mr. Kennedy Male wrestlerSmackDown!

Supplemental draft

Pick No.Brand (to)EmployeeRoleBrand (from)
11Raw Paul London and Brian Kendrick 4Male tag teamSmackDown!
12SmackDown! Kenny Dykstra Male wrestlerRaw
13ECW Viscera 5Male wrestlerRaw
14Raw The Sandman Male wrestlerECW
15SmackDown! Hardcore Holly 6Male wrestlerECW
16ECW The Miz Male wrestlerSmackDown!
17Raw Daivari Male wrestlerSmackDown!
18SmackDown! Bret Major and Brian Major 4Male tag teamECW
19Raw William Regal Male wrestlerSmackDown!
20SmackDown! Victoria Female wrestlerRaw
21Raw Jillian Female wrestlerSmackDown!
22SmackDown! Eugene Male wrestlerRaw
23ECW Johnny Nitro 7Male wrestlerRaw

Aftermath

The 2007 draft lottery provided WWE's three brands with new wrestlers, allowing for new storylines and rivalries. Television ratings for WWE increased, as Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW became the most watched programs on their respective television networks in the summer of 2007. [17] Four months after the draft, on October 16, 2007, it was announced that ECW and SmackDown! would have a talent exchange that would allow wrestlers from their respective brands to compete on either brand. [18]

References

  1. 1 2 McAvennie, Mike (June 11, 2007). "One wild night". WWE. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Media Advisory – WWE(R) to Hold Historic Draft". WWE Corporate. June 7, 2007. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Raw Recap: Draft night rocks the WWE". USA Network. June 11, 2007. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  4. 1 2 Dee, Louie (June 17, 2007). "2007 Supplemental draft results". WWE. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  5. ↑ "2007 Full Draft Results". Online World of Wrestling. June 17, 2007. Archived from the original on January 9, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2007.
  6. ↑ "OWoW's Live Coverage of the WWE Draft". Online World of Wrestling. June 7, 2007. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Cena vs. Edge to kick off WWE Draft night". WWE. 2007-06-11. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Raw Results (June 11, 2007)". WWE. June 11, 2007. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  9. ↑ Martin, Todd (June 12, 2007). "WWE Raw report:Draft results". Wrestling Observer. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2007.
  10. 1 2 Difino, Lennie (May 28, 2007). "Drafting Change". WWE. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  11. ↑ Starr, Noah (May 28, 2007). "The last stand before One Night Stand". WWE. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  12. ↑ Khan, Steven (May 29, 2007). "Raw Report from Toronto". Wrestling Observer. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2007.
  13. ↑ Clayton, Carl (June 4, 2007). "Crazy like a fox". WWE. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Appreciating Mr.McMahon". WWE. June 11, 2007. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  15. 1 2 Sabinsack, Joe. "Joe Babisack looks at the WWE Draft". The Wrestling Observer. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  16. ↑ Ashish (May 27, 2007). "2007 WWE Draft Lottery Set for Three Hour Raw". 411Mania.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
  17. ↑ "WWE Corporate 2007 News releases". WWE Corporate. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Partnership Forming?". WWE. August 16, 2007. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2008.
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