2005 WWE Draft Lottery

2005 WWE draft lottery
2005 WWE draft lottery
	John Cena, the first draftee in the 2005 WWE draft.
General information
Sport	Professional wrestling
Date(s)	June 6–30, 2005
Overview
League	World Wrestling Entertainment
Teams	Raw; SmackDown!
	← 2004 2006 →

The 2005 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft lottery, the third WWE draft, took place over a four-week period from June 6–30.

Every wrestler from Raw and SmackDown! was eligible to be drafted, including announcers, commentators, and general managers.^[1] There were ten draft picks and an eleven-person trade conducted between the promotion's two main brands: Raw and SmackDown!, where twenty-two wrestlers were drafted and traded overall.^[2] Draft picks were drawn at (kayfabe) random on WWE's two-hour main television programs, each Monday on Raw (on Spike TV) and each Thursday on SmackDown! (on UPN).^[1] Post-draft trades were revealed on WWE's official website, wwe.com.^[2]^[3]

Background

On the April 18, 2005, episode of Raw, WWE chairman Mr. McMahon scheduled a draft lottery for the following month in May.^[4] However, on the May 16 episode of Raw, McMahon postponed the draft to June.^[5] He noted that there were no exceptions from the draft, including the injured and the champions.^[5]

Selections

Draft lottery

Pick No.	Brand (to)	Wrestler	Role	Brand (from)	Day of selection
1	Raw	John Cena (then-WWE Champion)	Male wrestler	SmackDown!	June 6 (Raw)
2	SmackDown!	Chris Benoit	Male wrestler	Raw	June 9 (SmackDown!)
3	Raw	Kurt Angle	Male wrestler	SmackDown!	June 13 (Raw)
4	SmackDown!	Randy Orton	Male wrestler	Raw	June 16 (SmackDown!)
5	Raw	Carlito	Male wrestler	SmackDown!	June 20 (Raw)
6	SmackDown!	Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari	Male wrestlers	Raw	June 23 (SmackDown!)
7	Raw	Big Show	Male wrestler	SmackDown!	June 27 (Raw)
8	Raw	Rob Van Dam	Male wrestler	SmackDown!	June 27 (Raw)
9	SmackDown!	Christian	Male wrestler	Raw	June 30 (SmackDown!)
10	SmackDown!	Batista (then-World Heavyweight Champion)	Male wrestler	Raw	June 30 (SmackDown!)

Post-draft trades

Pick No.	Brand (to)	Wrestler	Role	Brand (from)
1	Raw	Mark Jindrak¹ René Duprée Danny Basham Kenzo Suzuki² Hiroko² Chavo Guerrero³	Male/female wrestlers	SmackDown!
1	SmackDown!	William Regal Candice Michelle Sylvain Grenier Simon Dean Stevie Richards	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 4 edition of Raw repackaged as Kerwin White. The gimmick was later abandoned in November 2005 after the death of Eddie Guerrero.

Later-on (and other) supplementals & later-on (and other) trades

Pick No.	Brand (to)	Wrestler	Role	Brand (from)	Notes
1	Raw	Torrie Wilson	Female wrestler	SmackDown!	Was traded to Raw for the first time in her career after the release of her long time Smackdown brand rivals Dawn Marie and then Raw branded Nidia (Nidia was released before Torrie was traded to Raw.). Also while on SmackDown Torrie and Candice Michelle feuded with Melina and Jillian Hall.
2	SmackDown!	Christy Hemme	Female wrestler	Raw	Feuded on-and-off with Melina (with Jillian Hall as Melina's ally and Stacy Keibler as Hemme's ally) after traded and after Stacy along with her was traded and was later on released after.
3	Raw	Johnny Nitro	Male wrestler	SmackDown!	Was later on traded to Raw early 2006 after he and Joey Mercury lost the WWE Tag Team Championships as MNM to Londrick at Judgement Day of year 2006.
4	SmackDown!	Stacy Keibler	Female wrestler	Raw	She and Christy Hemme were traded to SmackDown in exchange for Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle. She was later on released after losing to Jillian Hall on an episode of WWE Velocity in a singles match.
5	Raw	Melina	Female wrestler	SmackDown!	Was traded to Raw early 2006 after losing to longtime SmackDown Diva ally Jillian Hall at WWE Judgement Day of year 2006 and the fall apart of MNM. Also won the WWE Women's Championship against Mickie James after traded to Raw.
6	SmackDown!	Ashley Massaro	Female wrestler	Raw	Was traded to SmackDown early 2006 after losing to Mickie James at WWE Royal Rumble of year 2006 as Trish Stratus was Special Guest Referee, she and Trish Stratus also feuded against Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle and Victoria while on Raw. Also while on SmackDown was a part of and managed tag team stable Londrick and also stepped in the ring with the lights of Kristal Marshall, Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall and 2006 Diva Search winner Layla El.
7	Raw	Candice Michelle	Female wrestler	SmackDown!	She was traded back to Raw to feud against Trish Stratus & Ashley Massaro alongside her buddies Torrie Wilson and Victoria, Vince's Devils. Also won the WWE Women's Championship against Melina at Vengeance: Night of Champions of year 2007 after traded back to Raw.

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 title for the remainder of the month of June.^[6] As a result, on the June 23, 2005 episode, General Manager, Theodore Long, announced the creation of new world title, 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 (JBL) and Chris Benoit, which JBL won on the June 30, 2005 episode of SmackDown!.^[8]^[9] After JBL won the match, Long declared that the SmackDown! Championship was not needed because the then-World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, had been drafted to SmackDown!.^[8]^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b "2005 WWE Draft Lottery". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2005-06-13. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
^ ^a ^b Waldman, Jon. "WWE announces trade to finish Draft Lottery". Canoe: SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
^ "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.
^ "WWE Raw (April 18, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
^ ^a ^b "WWE Raw (May 16, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
^ ^a ^b "WWE SmackDown! (June 23, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
^ "SmackDown!". PWWEW.net. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
^ ^a ^b "WWE SmackDown! (June 30, 2005) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
^ ^a ^b "6 Man Elimination match for the vacant WWE Championship". PWWEW.net. Retrieved 2008-02-24.