2009 WWE draft
The 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft was the seventh WWE draft, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment. The draft had two parts: the first part was televised live for three hours on April 13; the second part, the "supplemental draft", was held the same day immediately following the televised portion. The first part was broadcast on WWE's program Raw on the USA Network in the United States,[lower-alpha 1] and the supplemental draft was available on the Internet, at WWE's official website. The televised portion was held in Atlanta, Georgia at Philips Arena. The 2009 WWE draft marked the third time that the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands were featured in the draft; wrestlers, general managers and commentators were all eligible to be drafted from the company's roster. For the televised half, matches determined which brand received a random draft selection. During the supplemental draft, brand and employee selections were made at random. Due to draft regulations, drafted champions took their titles to their new brands, and tag teams were not exempt from being selected. As a result, the draft impacted championships and split tag teams.
| 2009 WWE draft | |
|---|---|
 The WWE Draft logo used from 2007–2011. | |
| General information | |
| Sport | Professional wrestling |
| Date(s) | April 13, 2009 |
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Overview | |
| League | World Wrestling Entertainment |
| Teams | Raw SmackDown ECW |
Overall, 36 draft selections were made, the most since the original draft in 2002 (which featured 57 selections). Twelve selections were made on television; six were made by Raw, five by SmackDown, and one by ECW. All of the draftees were wrestlers: 28 males (10 drafted on television) and 8 females (2 drafted on television). Raw obtained the first overall pick in the draft by winning the first match, which resulted in the acquisition of United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter from SmackDown. Women's Champion Melina from Raw was SmackDown's first selection. ECW's sole televised draft pick was Vladimir Kozlov from SmackDown. Additionally, SmackDown's WWE Champion Triple H was drafted by Raw, resulting in SmackDown's loss of its prime championship. At the end of the televised portion, the final draft choices were Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio of Raw by SmackDown, replacing the loss of the U.S. Champion, and SmackDown's Divas Champion Maryse by Raw, replacing the loss of the Women's Champion.
In the supplemental draft, Mr. Kennedy, who was sidelined with a non-scripted shoulder injury, was drafted from SmackDown to Raw as the first (13th overall) supplemental pick. SmackDown obtained Shad Gaspard from Raw as their first (14th overall) supplemental selection. Ezekiel Jackson was ECW's first supplemental pick. Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) were drafted from SmackDown to Raw; this left SmackDown without a tag team championship (although the tag team champions can appear on all 3 brands). Brie Bella (from SmackDown to Raw), Charlie Haas (from Raw to SmackDown), and Hurricane Helms (from SmackDown to ECW) were the final supplemental picks.
Background
In March 2002, the Brand Extension storyline was initiated. WWE's Raw and SmackDown! television programs were made into brands that employees were assigned to work;[2] the ECW brand was later added in 2006.[3] With the exception of 2003, WWE has held the draft annually since its inception.[4]
Via its website on February 11, WWE announced that the 2009 Draft was to take place on April 13 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. All wrestlers, general managers, and commentators were eligible to be drafted.[5][6] A supplemental draft was announced for April 15.[7][8] It was announced on the day of the televised draft that for the third consecutive year, matches would determine which brand received a draft pick, and that 12 wrestlers were to switch brands.[9] As in previous drafts, the purpose of the 2009 WWE draft was to increase television ratings of WWE programming and to refresh the roster with new storylines for each brand.[10]
Roster selections
Televised draft
During Raw, 10 matches were held among representatives of the three brands to determine which would receive a draft pick; two of the matches were for two selections. Each match featured a wrestler representing their brand; if a wrestler was drafted earlier in the program, they would represent their new brand. After the matches, a computerized system, which appeared on the Raw stage TitanTron, randomly[lower-alpha 2] selected a member from the two opposing brands' rosters for the winning brand.
Matches
| No. | Results | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rey Mysterio (Raw) defeated Evan Bourne (ECW) | Singles match for 1 draft pick |
| 2 | Kane (Raw) defeated The Brian Kendrick (SmackDown) | Singles match for 1 draft pick |
| 3 | Maryse, Michelle McCool, and Natalya (SmackDown) defeated Melina, Mickie James, and Kelly Kelly (Raw) | Six-woman tag team match for 1 draft pick |
| 4 | John Cena (Raw) defeated Jack Swagger (ECW) | Singles match for 2 draft picks |
| 5 | The Great Khali (SmackDown) defeated Santino Marella (Raw) | Singles match for 1 draft pick |
| 6 | Kofi Kingston (Raw) defeated The Miz (ECW) | Singles match for 1 draft pick |
| 7 | Edge (SmackDown) won by last eliminating Big Show (Raw)[lower-alpha 3] | Tri-branded 15-man Battle royal for 2 draft picks |
| 8 | Christian (ECW) defeated Shelton Benjamin (SmackDown) | Singles match for 1 draft pick |
| 9 | Matt Hardy[lower-alpha 4] (Raw) defeated CM Punk[lower-alpha 5] (SmackDown) | Singles match for 1 draft pick |
| 10 | Chris Jericho[lower-alpha 5] (SmackDown) defeated Tommy Dreamer (ECW) | Singles match for 1 draft pick |
Selections
| Pick No. | Brand (to) | Superstar (Real name) |
Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raw | MVP (Hassan Assad) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | WWE United States Champion |
| 2 | Raw | Big Show (Paul Wight) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Also appeared on SmackDown as part of Jeri-Show |
| 3 | SmackDown | Melina (Melina Perez) |
Female wrestler | Raw | WWE Women's Champion Returned to Raw brand as part of a trade on October 12 |
| 4 | Raw | Matt Hardy | Male wrestler | SmackDown | Appeared on this brand before was traded back to SmackDown on June 29 |
| 5 | Raw | Triple H (Paul Levesque) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | WWE Champion |
| 6 | SmackDown | CM Punk (Phil Brooks) |
Male wrestler | Raw | Money in the Bank contract holder |
| 7 | Raw | The Miz (Mike Mizanin) |
Male wrestler | ECW | Split of John Morrison and The Miz |
| 8 | SmackDown | Kane (Glenn Jacobs) |
Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 9 | SmackDown | Chris Jericho (Christopher Irvine) |
Male wrestler | Raw | Also appeared on Raw as part of Jeri-Show |
| 10 | ECW | Vladimir Kozlov (Oleg Prudius) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Moved to Raw after ECW was discontinued |
| 11 | Raw | Maryse (Maryse Ouellet) |
Female wrestler | SmackDown | WWE Divas Champion |
| 12 | SmackDown | Rey Mysterio (Oscar Gutierrez) |
Male wrestler | Raw | WWE Intercontinental Champion |
Supplemental draft
| Pick No. | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) |
Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Raw | Mr. Kennedy (Kenneth Anderson) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Was released from his contract shortly after his return to Raw |
| 14 | SmackDown | Shad Gaspard | Male wrestler | Raw | Member of Cryme Tyme |
| 15 | SmackDown | Alicia Fox (Victoria Crawford) |
Female wrestler | ECW | Appeared on this brand prior to being traded to Raw on June 29 |
| 16 | Raw | Primo (Eddie Colón) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Member of The Colóns World Tag Team Champion WWE Tag Team Champion |
| 17 | SmackDown | Mike Knox (Michael Hettinga) |
Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 18 | ECW | Ezekiel Jackson (Rycklon Stephens) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Moved back to SmackDown after ECW was discontinued |
| 19 | Raw | Nikki Bella (Nicole Garcia) |
Female wrestler | SmackDown | Member of The Bella Twins Appeared on this brand before was traded to ECW on June 29. Returned to Raw brand due a part of a trade on October 12. |
| 20 | SmackDown | Candice Michelle (Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich) |
Female wrestler | Raw | Never appeared on this brand as her contract was released |
| 21 | ECW | Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Split of Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder Moved to Raw after ECW was discontinued |
| 22 | Raw | Chavo Guerrero (Salvador Guerrero IV) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 23 | SmackDown | Ricky Ortiz (Richard Young) |
Male wrestler | ECW | Appeared short-time on this brand before his contract was released |
| 24 | SmackDown | Layla (Layla El) |
Female wrestler | Raw | |
| 25 | Raw | Hornswoggle (Dylan Postl) |
Male wrestler | ECW | Split from Finlay |
| 26 | ECW | DH Smith (Harry Smith) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | He never appeared on SmackDown before he was drafted. Appeared on this brand before was traded to SmackDown on June 29 |
| 27 | SmackDown | John Morrison (John Hennigan) |
Male wrestler | ECW | Split of John Morrison and The Miz |
| 28 | Raw | Carlito (Carly Colón) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Member of The Colóns World Tag Team Champion WWE Tag Team Champion |
| 29 | ECW | Natalya (Nattie Neidhart) |
Female wrestler | SmackDown | Appeared on this brand before was traded back to SmackDown on June 29 |
| 30 | Raw | Festus (Drew Hankinson) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Split of Jesse and Festus Appeared short-time on this brand. Later he repackaged his ring name Luke Gallows and became a member of SmackDown roster |
| 31 | SmackDown | JTG (Jayson Paul) |
Male wrestler | Raw | Member of Cryme Tyme |
| 32 | SmackDown | Dolph Ziggler (Nick Nemeth) |
Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 33 | Raw | The Brian Kendrick | Male wrestler | SmackDown | Appeared short-time on this brand before contract was released |
| 34 | SmackDown | Charlie Haas | Male wrestler | Raw | Released his contract on February 28, 2010 |
| 35 | ECW | Hurricane Helms (Gregory Helms) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Released his contract on February 26, 2010 |
| 36 | Raw | Brie Bella (Brianna Garcia) |
Female wrestler | SmackDown | Member of The Bella Twins Appeared on this brand before was traded to ECW on June 29. Returned to Raw brand due a part of trade on October 12 |
Aftermath
After the televised draft, Joey Styles, the Director of Digital Media Content for WWE's official website, interviewed the draftees on their reactions. The drafted wrestlers generally expressed approval of the draft and described what they hoped their experiences would be with their new brand.[11] Seven of the wrestlers were champions with their original brand,[7][12] and as outlined in the draft regulations, they carried their titles over to their new brand; this affected seven of nine championships. Champion draft selections included: Unified Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo),[12] United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter, WWE Champion Triple H, and Divas Champion Maryse from SmackDown to Raw; Women's Champion Melina and Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio from Raw to SmackDown.[7] Since Triple H was drafted to Raw, it left SmackDown without a world championship, as Raw now featured two of the three primary championships in WWE, the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships. Edge would bring the World Heavyweight Championship back to SmackDown two weeks later at Backlash when he defeated John Cena in a Last Man Standing Match. When MVP and Mysterio switched brands, the two secondary championships switched brands for the first time in WWE's history. Similarly, after Maryse and Melina switched brands, WWE's two female championships also switched brands for the first time. Though the Unified Tag Team Champions were both drafted to Raw from SmackDown, the titles were able to be defended on all three brands due to being unified.
Numerous tag teams were affected by the Draft overall. During the televised portion of the draft, ECW tag team John Morrison and The Miz was split up. The Miz was drafted to Raw and Morrison to SmackDown (during the supplemental draft). The Bella Twins (Brie and Nikki), Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG), and The Colóns were split up during the supplemental draft, although the duos went to the same brands afterward. SmackDown tag teams Jesse and Festus and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder were also split up, with Festus drafted to Raw and Ryder to ECW.
The draft had little effect on the television ratings for WWE's programming. Generally, the ratings of the three shows during the week of the draft were consistent with the ratings of each from the previous week. The ratings for WWE programming the week before the draft were the following: the April 6 episode of Raw was watched by 5.7 million viewers in its first hour and by 6.1 million viewers in its second hour for an average 3.9 rating,[13] the April 7 episode of ECW on Sci Fi earned a 1.3 television rating, and Friday Night SmackDown earned a 2.0 television rating.[lower-alpha 6][15] The draft episode of Raw was watched by 4.7 million viewers in its first hour, 5.7 in its second hour, and 6.1 in the final hour for an average 3.7 television rating.[16] Later that week, ECW on Sci Fi earned a 1.2 television rating, while Friday Night SmackDown earned a 2.0.[15]
As stated by WWE commentator Jim Ross, the draft would not come into effect until after Backlash, when the final inter-brand matches took place.[17]
See also
Footnotes
- In addition to the United States, Raw is held in various countries which have different channels.[1]
- Although WWE claimed the draft was conducted randomly, the results were predetermined since the Draft is a storyline.[10]
- Other match participants: Raw; Cryme Tyme, MVP, and Mike Knox. SmackDown; Carlito, Chavo Guerrero, Primo, R- Truth, and Edge. ECW; Finlay, Mark Henry, Tyson Kidd, Paul Burchill, and Ricky Ortiz.
- Matt Hardy, originally a member of the SmackDown brand, was drafted to Raw before this match took place.
- CM Punk and Chris Jericho, originally members of the Raw brand, were drafted to SmackDown before this match took place.
- Viewership details are not available for ECW on Sci Fi and Friday Night SmackDown because they are not top-rated programs; as a result, Nielsen Media Research does not publish that information.[14]
References
- General
- Sitterson, Aubrey (2009-04-13). "Rough Draft (Televised draft results)". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- "WWE Supplemental Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2009-04-15. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- Specific
- "WWE Television". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25. Note: Reader must click drop down menu to see the different countries.
- "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SmackDown Distinct Television Brands". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2002-03-27. Archived from the original on 22 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- "WWE Launches ECW As Third Brand". WWE Corporate. World Wrestling Entertainment. 2006-05-26. Archived from the original on 22 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- Dee, Louie (2007-06-07). "Picks of the past". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- McAvennie, Mike. "2009 WWE Draft announced for Raw April 13". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- Sitterson, Aubrey. "WWE Draft Biggest Moments". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
WWE Drafts affect all Superstars, Divas, announcers and even General Managers
- Sitterson, Aubrey (2009-04-13). "Rough Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- "2009 WWE Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- Martin, Adam (2009-04-13). "2009 WWE draft tonight during Raw". WrestleView.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- "WWE's Monday Night RAW Scores Huge Ratings Jump". WWE Corporate. World Wrestling Entertainment. 2005-06-25. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
'RAW is building ratings momentum,' said Kurt Schneider, Executive Vice President, Marketing. Our fans are now connecting in a big way with some of our newer Superstars, and we continue to feature classic storylines, unpredictable plot twists, such as through our WWE Draft Lottery
- "Post Draft Videos". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- "Supplemental Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- "List of top 15 cable shows in Nielsen ratings". Seattle Times. 2009-04-10. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
- "Top TV Ratings". Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
Source: The Nielsen Company. Viewing estimates on this page include Live viewing and DVR playback on the Same Day, defined as 3am-3am. Ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television. Please note: Syndication data requires an additional week of processing.
- "2009 Nielsen Television Ratings". Nielson Ratings. Gerweck.net. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- "Nielsens ratings for April 13–19". USA Today. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- Ross, Jim (2009-04-24). "Post U.K. Smackdown Random Thoughts, Backlash Predictions, BBQ is Life..." J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-03.