2004 WWE Draft Lottery

WWE's intra-brand draft January 2025 2004 WWE draft lottery TripleH WrestlemaniaRevenge2.JPG Triple H, who was drafted to SmackDown! and traded back to Raw in the draft lottery. Professional wrestling March 22, 2004 Detroit World Wrestling Entertainment RawSmackDown! 2002 2005 The 2004 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft lottery, the second WWE draft, took place at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on March 22. The draft took place live for two hours on WWE's television program, Raw on Spike TV.http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2004/03/23/392732.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150704221436/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2004/03/23/392732.html dead July 4, 2015 RAW: Draft day an unpredictable night Tylwalk Nick SLAM! Wrestling March 23, 2004 May 25, 2008 Post-draft trades were announced on WWE's official website, WWE.com, until midnight on March 22.http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/archive/draftlottery live https://web.archive.org/web/20220517051649/https://www.wwe.com/inside/news/archive/draftlottery May 17, 2022 The 2004 WWE Draft Lottery World Wrestling Entertainment April 25, 2004 May 25, 2008 There were twelve draft picks, with nineteen wrestlers overall switching between the promotion's two main brands: Raw and SmackDown!. During the draft lottery, the General manager of Raw, Eric Bischoff, and the General manager of SmackDown!, Paul Heyman, stood on opposite ends of the stage on the Raw set, where they drafted six wrestlers randomly via two machines. At the conclusion of the draft, the two GMs would then be allowed to trade anyone on the roster until Midnight EST, which was later extended until Tuesday night after Heyman resigned. Every WWE star was eligible to be drafted, including injured wrestlers, commentators, champions, and general managers. The main event was a SmackDown! exclusive match, in which Eddie Guerrero defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Championship by disqualification after Christian attacked Guerrero resulting in a brawl between SmackDown! and Velocity wrestlers against Raw and Heat wrestlers. Background The tagline for WrestleMania XX (that year's WrestleMania), was Where it all begins again.http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/2004/03/15/382633.html https://web.archive.org/web/20160115155203/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/2004/03/15/382633.html dead January 15, 2016 WrestleMania XX bombs Powell John SLAM! Wrestling May 25, 2008 To remain with the tagline, on the March 15, 2004 episode of Raw, the chairman of WWE, Vince McMahon, announced that it was time "for a new WWE" and that a draft lottery would take place the following week on Raw.http://raw.wwe.com/results/031504/results.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20040326000844/http://raw.wwe.com/results/031504/results.html March 26, 2004 Mr. McMahon Drops a Bombshell! World Wrestling Entertainment March 15, 2004 10 February 2023 Both Raw and SmackDown! Wrestlers would be present for the draft lottery, as McMahon announced that every wrestler was eligible to be drafted, including commentators, ring announcers, referees, injured wrestlers, champions and even general managers.http://raw.wwe.com/results/032204/results.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20040411032539/http://raw.wwe.com/results/032204/results.html April 11, 2004 A Career Changing Night World Wrestling Entertainment March 24, 2004 May 25, 2008 Selections Draft lottery Pick No. Brand (to) Wrestler Role Brand (from)1SmackDown!René DupréeMale wrestlerRaw2RawShelton BenjaminMale wrestlerSmackDown!3SmackDown!Mark JindrakMale wrestlerRaw4RawNidiaFemale wrestlerSmackDown!5SmackDown!Triple H1Male wrestlerRaw 6RawRhynoMale wrestlerSmackDown!7SmackDown!Rob Van DamMale wrestlerRaw8RawTajiriMale wrestlerSmackDown!9SmackDown!Teddy LongManagerRaw10RawEdgeMale wrestlerSmackDown!11SmackDown!Spike DudleyMale wrestlerRaw12RawPaul Heyman2General managerSmackDown! Post-draft trades Pick No. Brand (to) Wrestler Role Brand (from)1SmackDown! Booker T Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley Rico Miss JackieMale/female wrestlersRaw2Raw A-Train Chuck Palumbo Triple HMale wrestlersSmackDown! 1 – Triple H was traded back to Raw prior to his redebut on the SmackDown! brand. 2 – Heyman resigned prior to his first appearance on the Raw brand. Aftermath After Paul Heyman was drafted from the SmackDown! brand to the Raw brand, he (kayfabe) quit the WWE, thus leaving the SmackDown! brand without a general manager. Shortly after the draft, the WWE chairman, Vince McMahon announced that a new general manager had been appointed to the SmackDown! brand, and that he would conduct the supplemental trades with Raw general manager, Eric Bischoff. On the March 25, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Kurt Angle came down to the ring and announced that he was the new SmackDown! General manager.http://smackdown.wwe.com/results/032504/results.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20040416114652/http://smackdown.wwe.com/results/032504/results.html April 16, 2004 The More Things Change... World Wrestling Entertainment March 25, 2004 10 February 2023 References Wwe Draft Lottery, 2004 Category:WWE Draft Category:Professional wrestling in Detroit Category:Organized events in Detroit Category:March 2004 in the United States Category:2004 in Detroit