2007 WWE Draft Lottery

The 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Draft Lottery took place at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on June 11, 2007. The first half of the draft was televised live for three hours on WWE's flagship program, Raw on USA Network. 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. There were twenty-three draft picks, with twenty-seven superstars drafted overall, between the promotion's three brands: Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW. 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 superstars from their respective brands wrestled to earn a draft pick. 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. The televised draft picks were randomly selected by a computer that was shown on the Raw titantron. Every WWE superstar and diva from Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW was eligible to be drafted.
==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". Besides the promoted draft, the show was billed as "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night", a tribute of appreciation to the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon.
The Draft Lottery is a concept used by WWE to improve its weekly television ratings of Raw, SmackDown! and ECW'. The WWE yet again used the concept in 2007, to improve its television ratings. The 2007 WWE Draft was the first official draft lottery to take place in WWE since the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery.
==Superstar 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, Both SmackDown! and Raw got four while ECW got two.
Pick #	Match 	Stipulation 	Winner
1 	Raw: John Cena vs. SmackDown!: Edge 	Singles match for 1 draft pick 	SmackDown!: Edge
2 	ECW: CM Punk vs. Raw: Carlito 	Singles match for 1 draft pick 	ECW: CM Punk
3 	Raw: Umaga vs. ECW: Balls Mahoney 	Singles match for 1 draft pick 	Raw: Umaga
4 	ECW: Bobby Lashley vs. SmackDown!: Chris Benoit 	Singles match for 1 draft pick 	ECW: Bobby Lashley
5 	SmackDown!: Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Raw: Santino Marella 	Singles match for 1 draft pick 	SmackDown!: Montel Vontavious Porter
6 	ECW: Snitsky vs. SmackDown!: The Miz 	Singles match for 1 draft pick 	SmackDown!: The Miz1
7 	SmackDown!: Kristal Marshall vs. Raw: Candice Michelle 	Singles match for 1 draft pick 	Raw: Candice Michelle
8 	SmackDown!: Batista vs. ECW: Elijah Burke vs. Raw: Jeff Hardy 	Triple Threat match for 1 draft pick 	SmackDown!: Batista
9 	Raw: Randy Orton, Johnny Nitro, Eugene, Kenny Dykstra, and Viscera vs. SmackDown: Chris Masters, Mark Henry, Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and William Regal vs. ECW: Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, Marcus Cor Von, Kevin Thorn, and Matt Striker	Tri-branded 15-man Battle royal for 2 draft picks	Raw: Randy Orton
====Selections====
Pick #	Brand (to)	Superstar(s) 	Role 	From
1 	SmackDown!	The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh2	Male wrestler 	Raw
2 	ECW 	The Boogeyman 	Male wrestler 	SmackDown!
3 	Raw 	King Booker and Queen Sharmell2 	Male wrestler and Diva	SmackDown!
4 	ECW 	Chris Benoit 	Male wrestler 	SmackDown!
5 	SmackDown!	Torrie Wilson 	Diva 	Raw
6 	SmackDown!	Chris Masters</sup> 	Male wrestler 	Raw
7 	Raw 	Bobby Lashley3 	Male wrestler 	ECW
8 	SmackDown!	Ric Flair 	Male wrestler 	Raw
9 	Raw 	Snitsky 	Male wrestler 	ECW
10 	Raw 	Mr. Kennedy 	Male wrestler 	SmackDown!
===Supplemental draft===
Pick #	Brand (to)	Superstar(s) 	Role 	From
11 	Raw 	Paul London and Brian Kendrick4	Male tag team	SmackDown!
12 	SmackDown!	Kenny Dykstra 	Male wrestler	Raw
13 	ECW 	Viscera5 	Male wrestler	Raw
14 	Raw 	The Sandman 	Male wrestler	ECW
15 	Raw 	Hardcore Holly6 	Male wrestler	ECW
16 	ECW 	The Miz 	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
17 	Raw 	Daivari 	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
18 	SmackDown!	Brett and Brian Major4 	Male tag team	ECW
19 	Raw 	William Regal 	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
20 	SmackDown!	Victoria 	Diva 	Raw
21 	Raw 	Jillian Hall 	Diva 	SmackDown!
22 	SmackDown!	Eugene 	Male wrestler	Raw
23 	ECW 	Johnny Nitro7 	Male wrestler	Raw
* 1 - The referee reversed his decision to give The Miz the win due to Snitsky ignoring the referee whilst attacking The Miz.
* 2 - This person was drafted alongside the drafted wrestler.
* 3 - Bobby Lashley was stripped of the ECW title after being drafted to Raw, rendering the title vacant.
* 4 - Both members of the tag team were drafted in unison.
* 5 - Viscera would debut on the July 10 episode of ECW repackaged as Big Daddy V.
* 6 - Hardcore Holly made his redebut on Raw rather than SmackDown!.
* 7 - Weeks after his ECW debut, Johnny Nitro would repackage himself as John Morrison.
==Aftermath==
The 2007 Draft Lottery provided WWE's three brands with new superstars, 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.
Four months after the draft, on [[October 16]], 2007, it was announced that ECW and SmackDown! would have a talent exchange that would allow superstars from their respective brands to compete on either brand.
==See also==
*WWE Brand Extension
*WWE Draft
==External links==
*WWE Draft 2007 Results at WWE.com
*WWE Supplemental Draft 2007 Results at WWE.com
Category:WWE Draft