2009 WWE draft

Montel Vontavious Porter was the first overall pick in the 2009 WWE draft.

The 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft was the seventh draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment. The draft took place over two days: the first day was televised live for three hours on April 13; the second part, the "supplemental draft", was held on April 13. The first day was broadcast on WWE's program Raw on the USA Network in the United States,[A1] 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.

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;[1] the ECW brand was later added in 2006.[2] With the exception of 2003, WWE has held the draft annually since its inception.[3]

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.[4][5] A supplemental draft was announced for April 15.[6][7] 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 superstars were to switch brands.[8] 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.[9]

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[B1] selected a member from the two opposing brands' rosters for the winning brand.

Matches

# Match Stipulation Winner
1 ECW: Evan Bourne vs. Raw: Rey Mysterio Singles match for 1 draft pick Raw: Rey Mysterio
2 SmackDown: The Brian Kendrick vs. Raw: Kane Singles match for 1 draft pick Raw: Kane
3 SmackDown: Maryse, Michelle McCool, and Natalya vs. Raw: Melina, Mickie James, and Kelly Kelly 6-Diva tag team match for 1 draft pick SmackDown: Maryse, Michelle McCool, and Natalya
4 Raw: World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs. ECW: ECW Champion Jack Swagger Singles match for 2 draft picks Raw: John Cena
5 SmackDown: The Great Khali vs. Raw: Santino Marella Singles match for 1 draft pick SmackDown: The Great Khali
7 Raw: Big Show, Cryme Tyme, MVP, and Mike Knox vs. SmackDown: Carlito, Chavo Guerrero, Primo, R- Truth, and Edge vs. ECW: Finlay, Mark Henry, Tyson Kidd, Paul Burchill, and Ricky Ortiz Tri-branded 15-man Battle royal for 2 draft picks SmackDown: Edge
8 ECW: Christian vs. SmackDown: Shelton Benjamin Singles match for 1 draft pick ECW: Christian
9 SmackDown: CM Punk[C1] vs. Raw: Matt Hardy[D1] Singles match for 1 draft pick Raw: Matt Hardy
10 ECW: Tommy Dreamer vs. SmackDown: Chris Jericho[C2] Singles match for 1 draft pick SmackDown: Chris Jericho

Selections

Pick # Brand (to) Employee
(Real name)		 Role Brand (from) Notes
1 Raw Montel Vontavious Porter
(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 due a part of tri-divas 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 at WrestleMania XXV
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

Mr. Kennedy was the 13th pick in the 2009 WWE draft.
Pick # Brand (to) Employee
(Real name)		 Role Brand (from) Notes
13 Raw Mr. Kennedy
(Kenneth Anderson)		 Male wrestler SmackDown Was released his contract after his short returned 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 before was traded to Raw on June 29
16 Raw Primo
(Eddie Colón)		 Male wrestler SmackDown Member of The Colóns

WWE World Tag Team Champions

WWE Tag Team Champions

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 tri-divas 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

WWE World Tag Team Champions

WWE Tag Team Champions

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 Sprit 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
35 ECW Hurricane Helms
(Gregory Helms)		 Male wrestler SmackDown Released his contract on February 26
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 tri-divas 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.[10] Seven of the wrestlers were champions with their original brand,[6][11] 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),[11] 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.[6] Since Triple H was drafted to Raw, it left SmackDown without a top contested title, as Raw now featured two of the three top contested championships in WWE: the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships (although Edge would later brought the World Heavyweight Championship title back to SmackDown as its exclusive-top title following his win against John Cena at Backlash). When Mysterio and Porter switched brands, the two secondary championships switched brands for the first time in WWE's history. This also occurred when Melina and Maryse switched brands, as the two female contested titles also switched brands for the first time. Though the Unified Tag Team Champions were both drafted over 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,[12] 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.[E1][13] 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.[14] Later that week, ECW on Sci Fi earned a 1.2 television rating, while Friday Night SmackDown earned a 2.0.[13]

As stated by WWE commentator Jim Ross, the draft would not come into effect until after Backlash; the final inter-brand match took place on the April 24 episode of SmackDown.[15]

See also

Footnotes

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ "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.
  2. ↑ "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.
  3. ↑ Dee, Louie (2007-06-07). "Picks of the past". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 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
  6. 1 2 3 Sitterson, Aubrey (2009-04-13). "Rough Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  7. ↑ "2009 WWE Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. 1 2 "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
  10. ↑ "Post Draft Videos". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  11. 1 2 "Supplemental Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  12. ↑ "List of top 15 cable shows in Nielsen ratings". Seattle Times. 2009-04-10. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  13. 1 2 "2009 Nielsen Television Ratings". Nielson Ratings. Gerweck.net. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  14. ↑ "Nielsens ratings for April 13–19". USA Today. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ "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.

External links

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