WWE's First Draft - A Look Back

Y2J The King Of The World

I was reading some historical stuff online tonight, and I found it interesting to see who originally was drafted to Raw & Smackdown back on March 25, 2002 as compared to where they are currently. Wrestlers in bold are still on their original brand, italicized wrestlers are no longer with WWE or have retired from the active roster. Observe:

Raw Roster
Ric Flair: then-GM, now wrestler, but still on Raw
The Undertaker: traded to Smackdown
Kevin Nash: gone from WWE, now in TNA
Scott Hall: gone from WWE, recently unemployed
X-Pac: gone from WWE, recently re-employed in TNA
Kane: still on Raw
Booker T: traded to Smackdown
Big Show: traded to Smackdown
Bubba Ray Dudley: traded to Smackdown
Brock Lesnar: traded to Smackdown, then quit
William Regal: still on Raw
Rob Van Dam: traded to Smackdown
Lita: still on Raw
Bradshaw: traded to Smackdown
Stevie Richards: still on Raw
Matt Hardy: traded to Smackdown, then back to Raw
Raven: gone from WWE, now in TNA
Jeff Hardy: gone from WWE, now in TNA
Mr. Perfect: deceased
Spike Dudley: now on Smackdown
D-Lo Brown: gone from WWE
Shawn Stasiak: gone from WWE
Terri: gone from WWE
Jacqueline: gone from WWE, now in TNA (I believe she's still there, at least)
Goldust: gone from WWE, now in TNA
Trish Stratus: still on Raw
Justn Credible: gone from WWE
Big Boss Man: retired, working backsage (I think)
Tommy Dreamer: retired, working backstage (I think)
Crash Holly: deceased
Mighty Molly: still on Raw (without the cheesy gimmick)
Eddie Guerrero: traded to Smackdown

Smackdown Roster
Vince McMahon: not on TV full-time
The Rock: recently retired
Kurt Angle: still on Smackdown
Chris Benoit: now on Raw
Hulk Hogan: gone from WWE
Billy Gunn: gone from WWE, now on TNA
Chuck Palumbo: gone from WWE
Edge: traded to Raw
Rikishi: gone from WWE
D-Von Dudley: traded to Raw, then back to Smackdown
Mark Henry: traded to Raw
Maven: traded to Raw
Billy Kidman: still on Smackdown
Tajiri: traded to Raw
Chris Jericho: traded to Raw
Ivory: traded to Raw, now an announcer
Albert: gone from WWE
Hurricane: traded to Raw
Al Snow: retired, announcing on Velocity
Lance Storm: retired, now working in OVW as a trainer
Torrie Wilson: still on Smackdown
Diamond Dallas Page: retired from WWE, now in TNA
Scotty 2 Hotty: still on Smackdown
Stacy Keibler: now on Raw
Christian: now on Raw
Test: traded to Raw, then released
Faarooq: retired, working backstage
Tazz: retired, announcing on Smackdown
Hardcore Holly: still on Smackdown
Val Venis: traded to Raw
Perry Saturn: gone from WWE
Randy Orton: now on Raw
Funaki: still on Smackdown
Triple H: now on Raw

Maybe this has something to do with the Brand Extension not being as successful as it could have been. Of the 32 who were originally picked for Raw, only 8 remain, 16 are gone from WWE's active roster completely, and 8 have been moved to Smackdown. Of the 34 who were originally picked for Smackdown, only 7 remain, 15 are gone from WWE's active roster completely, and 12 are now on Raw. The interesting part is who the "cornerstone" guys for each brand are (e.g. haven't been traded once). Those are:

Raw: Ric Flair, William Regal, Lita, Stevie Richards, Trish Stratus, Molly Holly
Smackdown: Kurt Angle, Billy Kidman, Torrie Wilson, Scotty 2 Hotty, Hardcore Holly, Funaki

Only one active main eventer among the group (and Flair, who is the greatest of all time, but way past his heyday). Now, I'm a supporter of the brand extension in concept, but this is more telling than anything - too much talent has traded hands or been released in the last 3 years to make the brand extension's "dream match" concept truly work.

Crocker

The guy died a few months ago

Narc

Wow, thats some crazy stats. I hate the brand expansion. I think its the reason why the product is not pulling high numbers today. I hope they end it soon.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

This is an excellent topic.

Y2J, although you have many valid points, perhaps there is a deeper look into the actual original draft and how it has evolved.

When Smackdown and Raw first became its own brand it had plenty of talent. But for many of the reasons that you show above, there HAD to be changes made. Otherwise you could have been left with a Nitro/Thunder fiasco on your hands.

The transitions were a little absurd at first. Plus the rules stated that the champ could switch back and forth etc etc. This made for poor main event programs. So that changed.

I can't honestly remember HHH ever being on Smackdown. I am interested to hear how he actually made the switch over to Raw. It must have been during one of his Title Reigns.

One of the major reasons why there had to be adjustments was the loss of Brock, Rock and Taker for long periods of time. Plus Hogans act was stale, there needed to be a change.

All in all, after six months time the brands settled down and there has been very little change since. I only wish the WWE Writers could come up with some more original reasons for swaps.

I say the different brands are a sucess.

Blitzkrieg

I think Triple H was the champion at the time of the draft and could appear on any show. Then Vince chose the opponent for HHH because he won a coin toss with Flair and it was Hogan. Hogan beat HHH at Backlash of that year to win the Undisputed Title and because Hogan was from Smackdown!, HHH went to Raw. I think that's how it went. Anyway, Hogan lost to Taker who lost to Rock in a triple threat match. Rock lost to Lesnar at SummerSlam and Brock declined to give HHH a shot. Brock went to Smackdown! as the WWE champ and wrestled there exclusively. Meanwhile, Eric was now the GM of RAW and declared HHH the World Champion on RAW because he had beaten The Undertaker the week before to become the #1 contender for Brock's title (For those who think HHH was just handed the title).

I think The Brand Extention has been a success for RAW but not Smackdown!. To me there isn't enough talent to spread around. If you take talent off of Raw and give it to Smackdown! you will have two mediocre shows instead of one good show and one bad show. I don't know what would be worse, cuz I really like watching RAW every week the way it is. To me, this will eventually die out because of the ability of zero for Smackdown! to create interest in a mainstream audiance. Then they will have to fire many people to fit eveyone on one roster, but it would be worth it.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

Uuuugh, my brain hurts from reading that.

Your correct on all accounts I believe. Just terrible booking at first.

Lou

I am enjoying the brand extension, though I am more casual a fan now than ever (I catch about 3 or 4 shows a month) so I am liking any bit of WWE I can get.

And yeah, I find Raw more enjoyable than Smackdown! as well, but with the people they have on Smackdown, I believe they can still have quite a bit of success. This is never going to happen, but I think Raw and Smackdown should switch time slots - Raw just has so many more big name that people don't watch wrestling have probably heard about (Triple H, HBK, Rock, Foley). And its woman's division is more likely to catch channel surfers' attention. As things are currently, I think it's easier to introduce a new viewer to wrestling through Raw.

As for Smackdown, I think there's a set number of people out there who will continue to watch Smackdown whereever it goes. It will be a nice show for people who cannot get enough of wrestling from the more mainstream Raw.

Crocker

Actually Triple H went on Smackdown when he lost the titl, then when Steph and Uncle Eric took over the brands they had a battle over his services. At Vengence 2002 with the help of HBK Triple H choose Raw then he turned on Shan the Night after

Blitzkrieg

Thanks Crock, I had trouble remembering exactly how it all happend.