A bit of a back-story…
The WWE Draft was held on June 23rd on Raw, and saw a number of superstars move to new brands. Night of Champions followed this on June 29th, a night that saw Mark Henry capture the ECW Championship, Kofi Kingston capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship and Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase capture the World Tag Team Championships. The following night on Raw wasn’t anything special except for Mr. Money in the Bank CM Punk cashing in his briefcase against a visiting Edge and thereby becoming the next World Heavyweight Champion!
ECW passed on Tuesday and later that week on Friday it was time for Smackdown and it was a fairly standard show until the Chairman of the WWE Mr. McMahon walked out onto the stage at the end of the show and announced that ECW was closing. The world was shocked. He announced that there would be a total re-draft between the three brands with inter-branded matches determining who goes where. If a Raw superstar would win, then Raw would get a draft pick and it would also work this way with Smackdown. However, if an ECW Superstar were to win then they would be able to choose whether they go to Raw or Smackdown. Also, for each superstar that gets pinned in their match, someone from their brand will be fired. This draft would take place over Raw and Smackdown the next week, with anybody up for trading.
The 7th of July eventually came around and the WWE draft officially began. The first match took place with Smackdown’s Big Show squashing The Boogeyman from ECW. Smackdown gained Rey Mysterio as a pick, and from ECW, The Boogeyman himself was fired. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder then defeated The Highlanders, leading to Lance Cade and Deuce going to Smackdown and two veterans in Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Hardcore Holly being given pink slips. We saw a backstage snippet of Lance Cade going to Trevor Murdoch and apologizing and asking for their team to be reformed, and Murdoch gleefully accepted.
The next match was a tri-branded triple threat where The Miz defeated Jamie Noble and Val Venis, giving himself the right to choose what brand to go to and he boldly chose Raw, the flagship show. Val was pinned and someone from Raw was fired, that person being Snitsky. In the next match WWE Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Smackdown’s Shelton Benjamin and it meant that Carlito was going to Raw and The Big Show was fired. The entire arena was shocked as Show came out protesting, before going on a rampage and having to be taken away by security.
The main event was next and it as a 5 on 5 on 5 match, which saw the Raw team of World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, Batista, William Regal, JBL and new superstar Carlito defeat teams from Smackdown (Rey Mysterio, MVP, Mr. Kennedy, Vladimir Kozlov and WWE Champion Triple H) and ECW (John Morrison, Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Matt Hardy and ECW Champion Mark Henry). Raw earned 5 draft picks, those being Super Crazy, Kenny Dykstra, Tommy Dreamer, Mr. Kennedy and Vladimir Kozlov. However, it also meant that 5 ECW stars would be released, and those were Nunzio, Colin Delaney, Stevie Richards, Hornswoggle and General Manager Theodore Long! The show concluded with Dreamer and Richards in a teary embrace and Dreamer dedicating his upcoming run on Raw to his great friend.
Smackdown came around with the WWE draft continuing and the ECW team of John Morrison and Chavo Guerrero defeating the Raw team of former ECW stars in Tommy Dreamer and Super Crazy after some dirty tactics from Morrison. Chavo and JoMo both chose to go to Smackdown, Chavo to get closer to his aunt Vickie and Morrison to get a fresh start. From Raw, Val Venis and Chuck Palumbo were sent packing. The next match was a tri-branded diva’s triple threat match, where WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James defeated Cherry and Kelly Kelly, with Raw gaining Finlay as a draft pick. Cherry was pinned and the person from Smackdown that was fired was The Great Khali!
The third match of the night was a confusing battle with superstars from different brands teaming together. The Smackdown/ECW team was the Hardy Boys, and they reunited to defeat the Raw/ECW team of Kenny Dykstra and Bam Neely and the Smackdown/Raw team of Santino Marella and Chavo Guerrero, who walked out on the match allowing Santino to be pinned. Matt Hardy’s victory allowed him to choose to go to Smackdown with his brother and because Jeff also won Smackdown gained another pick in the Big Red Machine Kane! The Raw superstar fired was Jillian Hall while from Smackdown, none other than the General Manager Vickie Guerrero was fired! She and her hubby Edge came out to protest but Mr. McMahon came out and said that although he wasn’t happy, she would have to leave the WWE. The crowd was ecstatic.
Only a handful of ECW superstars remained, including the trio of Elijah Burke, Mike Knox and ECW Champion Mark Henry. They went to Mr. McMahon demanding a match to gain their choice to moving brands and McMahon pitted them in the only other ECW Superstar he could think of that had not competed tonight, Matt Striker. Striker was squashed and dreaded the fact that he would probably be fired due to being pretty much the only ECW Superstar left. Burke, Knox and Henry all chose to go to Raw while the ECW Superstar that was fired was Bam Neely, leaving Matt Striker a very lucky man.
The main event saw WWE Champion Triple H and Rey Mysterio defeat World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Shawn Michaels, after Chris Jericho came out and distracted HBK, allowing Mysterio to pick up the pin. As Jericho and Shawn brawled after the match, Smackdown’s draft picks came up. The first was Paul London and the second was none other than Chris Jericho! Shocked, he paused to look at the screen in disbelief before being knocked down with a Sweet Chin Music, effectively marking the last time the two rivals would be on the same brand. However, two Raw superstars still needed to be fired. The first turned out to be JBL and the self-made millionaire made his final entrance onto the Raw stage and he was shocked speechless. The second person fired was General Manager Mike Adamle, which left the crowd shocked and neither brand with a General Manager for the time being.
Mr. McMahon came out to clear any confusion. He said that he would act as interim General Manager for both shows until he decided on suitable replacements. He also announced that all the divas in the WWE would be moving to Raw, making the WWE Women’s Championship Raw exclusive. He also announced that all tag teams would be moving to Smackdown, making the World Tag Team Championships Smackdown exclusive. He also vacated the WWE Tag Team Championships due to Miz and Morrison being on separate brands. Finally, he canceled the nearing Great American Bash and announced Summerslam to be the next pay-per-view event. He then left the stage as the crowd wondered what could happen next on Raw and Smackdown with so many questions to still be answered in the weeks leading up to Summerslam.
List of Roster Changes:
Rey Mysterio to Smackdown
Deuce to Smackdown
Lance Cade to Smackdown
The Miz to Raw
Carlito to Raw
Super Crazy to Raw
Kenny Dykstra to Raw
Tommy Dreamer to Raw
Mr. Kennedy to Raw
Vladimir Kozlov to Raw
John Morrison to Smackdown
Chavo Guerrero to Smackdown
Finlay to Raw
Matt Hardy to Smackdown
Kane to Smackdown
Elijah Burke to Raw
Mike Knox to Raw
Mark Henry to Raw
Paul London to Smackdown
Chris Jericho to Smackdown
List of Fired Superstars: Nunzio, Colin Delaney, Val Venis, Bam Neely, Jim Duggan, Jillian Hall, Stevie Richards, Hardcore Holly, The Boogeyman, Snitsky, Chuck Palumbo, Hornswoggle, The Great Khali, The Big Show, JBL, Mike Adamle, Theodore Long, Vickie Guerrero
Expect a proper roster and PPV Schedule in the next post. Shows will be in a recapped form until I find the time and motivation to write anything longer.
The WWE Draft was held on June 23rd on Raw, and saw a number of superstars move to new brands. Night of Champions followed this on June 29th, a night that saw Mark Henry capture the ECW Championship, Kofi Kingston capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship and Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase capture the World Tag Team Championships. The following night on Raw wasn’t anything special except for Mr. Money in the Bank CM Punk cashing in his briefcase against a visiting Edge and thereby becoming the next World Heavyweight Champion!
ECW passed on Tuesday and later that week on Friday it was time for Smackdown and it was a fairly standard show until the Chairman of the WWE Mr. McMahon walked out onto the stage at the end of the show and announced that ECW was closing. The world was shocked. He announced that there would be a total re-draft between the three brands with inter-branded matches determining who goes where. If a Raw superstar would win, then Raw would get a draft pick and it would also work this way with Smackdown. However, if an ECW Superstar were to win then they would be able to choose whether they go to Raw or Smackdown. Also, for each superstar that gets pinned in their match, someone from their brand will be fired. This draft would take place over Raw and Smackdown the next week, with anybody up for trading.
The 7th of July eventually came around and the WWE draft officially began. The first match took place with Smackdown’s Big Show squashing The Boogeyman from ECW. Smackdown gained Rey Mysterio as a pick, and from ECW, The Boogeyman himself was fired. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder then defeated The Highlanders, leading to Lance Cade and Deuce going to Smackdown and two veterans in Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Hardcore Holly being given pink slips. We saw a backstage snippet of Lance Cade going to Trevor Murdoch and apologizing and asking for their team to be reformed, and Murdoch gleefully accepted.
The next match was a tri-branded triple threat where The Miz defeated Jamie Noble and Val Venis, giving himself the right to choose what brand to go to and he boldly chose Raw, the flagship show. Val was pinned and someone from Raw was fired, that person being Snitsky. In the next match WWE Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Smackdown’s Shelton Benjamin and it meant that Carlito was going to Raw and The Big Show was fired. The entire arena was shocked as Show came out protesting, before going on a rampage and having to be taken away by security.
The main event was next and it as a 5 on 5 on 5 match, which saw the Raw team of World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, Batista, William Regal, JBL and new superstar Carlito defeat teams from Smackdown (Rey Mysterio, MVP, Mr. Kennedy, Vladimir Kozlov and WWE Champion Triple H) and ECW (John Morrison, Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Matt Hardy and ECW Champion Mark Henry). Raw earned 5 draft picks, those being Super Crazy, Kenny Dykstra, Tommy Dreamer, Mr. Kennedy and Vladimir Kozlov. However, it also meant that 5 ECW stars would be released, and those were Nunzio, Colin Delaney, Stevie Richards, Hornswoggle and General Manager Theodore Long! The show concluded with Dreamer and Richards in a teary embrace and Dreamer dedicating his upcoming run on Raw to his great friend.
Smackdown came around with the WWE draft continuing and the ECW team of John Morrison and Chavo Guerrero defeating the Raw team of former ECW stars in Tommy Dreamer and Super Crazy after some dirty tactics from Morrison. Chavo and JoMo both chose to go to Smackdown, Chavo to get closer to his aunt Vickie and Morrison to get a fresh start. From Raw, Val Venis and Chuck Palumbo were sent packing. The next match was a tri-branded diva’s triple threat match, where WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James defeated Cherry and Kelly Kelly, with Raw gaining Finlay as a draft pick. Cherry was pinned and the person from Smackdown that was fired was The Great Khali!
The third match of the night was a confusing battle with superstars from different brands teaming together. The Smackdown/ECW team was the Hardy Boys, and they reunited to defeat the Raw/ECW team of Kenny Dykstra and Bam Neely and the Smackdown/Raw team of Santino Marella and Chavo Guerrero, who walked out on the match allowing Santino to be pinned. Matt Hardy’s victory allowed him to choose to go to Smackdown with his brother and because Jeff also won Smackdown gained another pick in the Big Red Machine Kane! The Raw superstar fired was Jillian Hall while from Smackdown, none other than the General Manager Vickie Guerrero was fired! She and her hubby Edge came out to protest but Mr. McMahon came out and said that although he wasn’t happy, she would have to leave the WWE. The crowd was ecstatic.
Only a handful of ECW superstars remained, including the trio of Elijah Burke, Mike Knox and ECW Champion Mark Henry. They went to Mr. McMahon demanding a match to gain their choice to moving brands and McMahon pitted them in the only other ECW Superstar he could think of that had not competed tonight, Matt Striker. Striker was squashed and dreaded the fact that he would probably be fired due to being pretty much the only ECW Superstar left. Burke, Knox and Henry all chose to go to Raw while the ECW Superstar that was fired was Bam Neely, leaving Matt Striker a very lucky man.
The main event saw WWE Champion Triple H and Rey Mysterio defeat World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Shawn Michaels, after Chris Jericho came out and distracted HBK, allowing Mysterio to pick up the pin. As Jericho and Shawn brawled after the match, Smackdown’s draft picks came up. The first was Paul London and the second was none other than Chris Jericho! Shocked, he paused to look at the screen in disbelief before being knocked down with a Sweet Chin Music, effectively marking the last time the two rivals would be on the same brand. However, two Raw superstars still needed to be fired. The first turned out to be JBL and the self-made millionaire made his final entrance onto the Raw stage and he was shocked speechless. The second person fired was General Manager Mike Adamle, which left the crowd shocked and neither brand with a General Manager for the time being.
Mr. McMahon came out to clear any confusion. He said that he would act as interim General Manager for both shows until he decided on suitable replacements. He also announced that all the divas in the WWE would be moving to Raw, making the WWE Women’s Championship Raw exclusive. He also announced that all tag teams would be moving to Smackdown, making the World Tag Team Championships Smackdown exclusive. He also vacated the WWE Tag Team Championships due to Miz and Morrison being on separate brands. Finally, he canceled the nearing Great American Bash and announced Summerslam to be the next pay-per-view event. He then left the stage as the crowd wondered what could happen next on Raw and Smackdown with so many questions to still be answered in the weeks leading up to Summerslam.
List of Roster Changes:
Rey Mysterio to Smackdown
Deuce to Smackdown
Lance Cade to Smackdown
The Miz to Raw
Carlito to Raw
Super Crazy to Raw
Kenny Dykstra to Raw
Tommy Dreamer to Raw
Mr. Kennedy to Raw
Vladimir Kozlov to Raw
John Morrison to Smackdown
Chavo Guerrero to Smackdown
Finlay to Raw
Matt Hardy to Smackdown
Kane to Smackdown
Elijah Burke to Raw
Mike Knox to Raw
Mark Henry to Raw
Paul London to Smackdown
Chris Jericho to Smackdown
List of Fired Superstars: Nunzio, Colin Delaney, Val Venis, Bam Neely, Jim Duggan, Jillian Hall, Stevie Richards, Hardcore Holly, The Boogeyman, Snitsky, Chuck Palumbo, Hornswoggle, The Great Khali, The Big Show, JBL, Mike Adamle, Theodore Long, Vickie Guerrero
Expect a proper roster and PPV Schedule in the next post. Shows will be in a recapped form until I find the time and motivation to write anything longer.