2007 WWE Draft

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, 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'''. 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.

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.

Selections

Supplemental draft

• 1 – The referee reversed his decision to give The Miz the win due to Snitsky ignoring the referee whilst attacking Miz.
• 2 – This person was drafted alongside the drafted wrestler.
• 3 – Bobby Lashley was stripped of the ECW World Championship after being drafted to Raw, vacating the title as a result.
• 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 re-debut on Raw rather than SmackDown!.
• 7 – Weeks after his ECW debut, Johnny Nitro would repackage himself as John Morrison.
• 8 - Other match participants: Raw; Johnny Nitro, Eugene, Kenny Dykstra, and Viscera. SmackDown!; Chris Masters, Mark Henry, Chavo Guerrero, and William Regal. ECW; Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, Marcus Cor Von, Kevin Thorn, and Matt Striker.

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. 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.

References

References

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