2005 WWE Draft Lottery

The 2005 World Wrestling Entertainment (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 two brands: Raw and SmackDown!, where twenty-two superstars were drafted and traded overall. The draft took place on WWE's two hour television programs, Raw, which aired on Spike TV, and SmackDown!, which aired on UPN. 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, announcers, commentators, and general managers.
==Report==
===Background===
On the April 18, 2005 episode of Raw, Mr.McMahon, 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.
===Superstar selections===
====Draft lottery====
Pick #	Brand (to)	Employee 	Role 	Brand (from)
1 	Raw 	John Cena 	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
2 	SmackDown!	Chris Benoit 	Male wrestler	Raw
3 	Raw 	Kurt Angle 	Male wrestler	SmackDown!
4 	SmackDown!	Randy Orton 	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 Jindrak1René DupréeDanny BashamKenzo Suzuki2Hiroko2Chavo Guerrero3	Male wrestlers/Diva	SmackDown!
 	SmackDown!	William RegalCandice MichelleSylvain GrenierSimon DeanStevie Richards 	Male wrestlers/Diva	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 Guerrero.
===Aftermath===
After John Cena was drafted to Raw, along with the WWE Championship, 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, 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, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Chris Benoit, 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, Batista, had been drafted to SmackDown!.
==See also==
*WWE Draft Lottery
*WWE Brand Extension
*WWE Roster
Category:WWE Draft