The WWE Draft is an annual event highly anticipated by fans of professional wrestling, as it is when top WWE stars are selected to compete for their respective brands. In addition to the obvious and predictable choices, there are some interesting facts about the Draft that many fans are unaware of.
The first WWE Draft took place in 2002, following the purchase of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) by WWE. The goal was to create two distinct brands, Raw and SmackDown, to prevent WCW wrestlers from mixing with WWE wrestlers.
In the first edition of the Draft, Raw's first pick was The Rock, while SmackDown chose the then WWE Champion, Triple H.
In 2004, WWE held a Draft Lottery, where wrestlers' names were randomly drawn to be selected for each brand. That year, Raw's first pick was Chris Benoit, while SmackDown chose Eddie Guerrero.
In 2005, the WWE Draft was held during the three-hour Monday Night Raw special, which was also the 700th episode in the show's history.
In 2008, WWE held the Supplemental Draft, where picks were made online and included wrestlers who were not selected in the main draft.
In 2011, WWE aired the Draft on television over two consecutive nights, with the first night being held on Raw and the second on SmackDown.
In 2016, the WWE Draft was held again after a five-year break. On that edition, the picks were made by Raw and SmackDown managers Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon, respectively.
Since the beginning of the Draft, several wrestlers have switched brands more than once, including John Cena, Randy Orton, Big Show, Chris Jericho, Edge, Rey Mysterio, among others.
In 2019, WWE held an exclusive Draft for the NXT program, which is the company's third brand. The NXT Draft was held over two consecutive nights and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands.
Over the years, several wrestlers debuted in WWE during the Draft, including Batista, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair, among others.
