The True Story Of The First-Ever WWE Draft

Having won the Monday Night Wars, the World Wrestling Federation found themselves with a bloated roster and decided to split their talented group of wrestlers in half. With the exception of a multi-year stretch in the 2010s, this has been the status quo on WWE TV for the past two decades with different talents working on Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. 

The idea for splitting the rosters stretches back to 2001 when WWE picked up 24 contracts from the purchase of World Championship Wrestling, including the likes of Lance Storm, Shane Helms, Stacy Keibler, and Chavo Guerrero Jr. Bigger names like Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Torrie Wilson, and Buff Bagwell, meanwhile, joined the company on different deals.

WWE vs. WCW Flounders

The intention was for WCW (in storyline) to take over the Monday night time slot that Raw, while WWE would control SmackDown on network TV. On the fateful Raw in which Bagwell and Booker had their much-maligned main event showdown, a night-long threading angle took place in which McMahon was seduced by Torrie and concluded with the WCW valet leaving McMahon stranded in a state of undress, allowing wife Linda to walk in on Vince quite literally with his pants down.

This was to facilitate the next part of the angle, in which Linda would use this compromising portion of "irreconcilable differences" in the McMahons' kayfabe divorce, leveraging her way to winning some major concessions from her soon-to-be ex-husband. 

One of those concessions would be control of the Raw TV program, which she would give to her son, WCW owner Shane, who would then kick out all of the WWF talent in favour of his own stars. The idea was likely for the divided rosters to cross-pollinate from time to time, sending stars back and forth in interpromotional warfare until the WWF finally conquered WCW, at which time the two shows would already be fleshed out with distinct rosters.

However, the divorce angle was dropped after Booker vs. Bagwell was a complete dud, with Vince McMahon determining that WCW wrestlers "didn't know how to work", and didn't want to entrust the two-hour Monday show to what he seemed to think were a bunch of rank amateurs. 

So, if WWF were going to split their bloated roster, they decided to do it another way. For months beginning in the latter third of 2001, newsletters and websites reported on the WWF's intention to split their roster some time in the near future, and Linda even brought it up at investors calls at the time. The first Raw of 2002 at Madison Square Garden was considered as the location for the split, as well as subsequent dates.

The split kept getting pushed back and pushed back, however, while the Invasion angle withered to its uninspired end at Survivor Series 2001. By October of that year, though, the WWF began splitting its massive roster into two groups for house show purposes, so the company had clear designs on going through with the changes.

Ric Flair Returns

Following Survivor Series, WWE needed a different storyline conduit to explain why a split was happening, which led to the return of Ric Flair, who signed with WWE just one day after Survivor Series. With Shane and Stephanie McMahon banished as a result of the Invasion's end, the story was that Flair purchased their ownership shares, making he and Vince 50-50 owners of WWF.

The McMahon-Flair dynamic did have its moments, from a Royal Rumble street fight that was better than it had any right to be, to a surly Vince bringing back the nWo out of spite, to McMahon exploiting Flair's deteriorating mental state when the latter found himself embroiled in a heated feud with The Undertaker. McMahon and Flair were constantly at odds, and Vince tried to leverage Flair out by any and all means. 

This also led to some dreadfully dull skits with the WWF Board of Directors where Flair's ownership position was reviewed in light of his attacks on Undertaker. In partial deference to McMahon and Flair's ongoing animosity, however, Linda McMahon announced a “brand extension” on the night after WrestleMania X8 in which Flair would control Raw and McMahon secured SmackDown. To fulfill this split, a draft would take place on the following week's Raw, an unprecedented event in the show's nine-year history.

Where is Steve Austin?

The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin remained WWE’s biggest stars heading into the draft, with the plan being for The Rock to be featured on SmackDown, while Austin would lead Monday Night Raw. While that was the plan, Austin wasn't going to be present for the draft as after more than five years of starring in WWF as one of the promotion's top guys, Austin wasn't thrilled with his current position in the company. Existing a notch below the main event picture and feuding with the nWo, particularly Scott Hall whom Austin didn't care to work with for a number of reasons, Stone Cold was questioning his booking more than ever. This meant the day after beating Hall cleanly at WrestleMania X8, Austin walked out of the company.

To explain Austin's absence during the draft in kayfabe, WWF claimed that Stone Cold had this oddly-prescient clause in his contract stating that if the WWF were ever to split into two entities, Austin could claim free agency and sign with whichever show he preferred. This made him immune to the draft and meant he would be able to appear on Raw whenever his self-imposed hiatus ended.

The WWE Draft

Austin or no Austin, many months of split chatter finally culminated on Monday, March 25, 2002 when WWF held their draft at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University. The only other immune talents in the draft were Undisputed Champion Triple H and Women's champion Jazz, with the idea being for the top champions to float between both brands.

Vince McMahon earned the first pick via coin flip and selected The Rock, as expected. Flair picked next, selecting arch-rival The Undertaker, who responded from the talent pool room with one of the all-time great looks of disgust.

From there, McMahon picked Kurt Angle, while Flair chose the nWo triumvirate of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac. Vince then picked the injured and absent Chris Benoit, while Flair went with Kane.

McMahon added Hulk Hogan with the seventh overall pick, leaving Flair to counter with reigning Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam. WWE Tag Team Champions Billy and Chuck (along with new stylist Rico Constantino) went ninth to the blue brand, while Booker T went 10th to Raw. Rising star Edge then went 11th to SmackDown, and Big Show went 12th to Raw.

After the first six rounds, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Hulk Hogan, Billy and Chuck, and Edge were on SmackDown while Raw consisted of The Undertaker, the nWo, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and The Big Show. From there, though, things took a turn. 

SmackDown added Rikishi to kick off the seventh round, while Raw selected Bubba Ray Dudley, something which instantly turned heads, especially when McMahon selected D-Von for SmackDown just seconds later, ending the Dudley Boyz as a tag team in the process. The Dudleys’ on-screen response to being separated mirrored that of most of the people watching at home.

The focus quickly shifted to incoming curiosity Brock Lesnar, who brutalised Rikishi moments before a scheduled match. An impressed McMahon breathlessly tried to select Lesnar for SmackDown, only to be reminded that it wasn't his turn. Instead, Flair picked the blue-chip beast for his show.

The next pick was a curious one, as Mark Henry went to SmackDown. What made it curious was that Henry had spent the previous two years retooling in developmental, and was now being reintroduced to the WWF audience through a gimmick that accentuated his inhuman strength.

From there, William Regal went to Raw, while Hardcore Champion Maven went to SmackDown, and Lita was drafted to Raw with the final televised pick.

Following the show, it was time for the unreleased portion of the draft and many were wondering what was going to happen to the likes of Chris Jericho, Trish Stratus, The Hardy Boyz, Stacy Keibler, Christian, and others. The talent were, remarkably, left wondering the same thing as WWF would not divulge any draft info to these performers, and they had to learn their brand designations by going onto the WWF website and occasionally refreshing their browser.

The logic behind the move was that WWF wanted to max out web traffic, and didn't want spoilers to be available anywhere else. Jericho couldn't even get his friend, lead WWF writer Brian Gewirtz, to spill the beans on where he was going. So he, along with Christian and Lance Storm, found out from the most unlikely of sources, by phoning Jericho’s friend Lenny Olsen (AKA AEW’s Luther) in Vancouver and asking him to periodically refresh WWE’s website on his desktop PC. 

And so it went, with 37 individuals getting their intel from the internet, or from somebody with handy internet access. This is where the rest of the pack went:

Raw: Bradshaw, Stevie Richards, Matt Hardy, Raven, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Perfect, Spike Dudley, D’Lo Brown, Shawn Stasiak, Terri, Jacqueline, Goldust, Molly Holly, Justin Credible, Big Boss Man, Tommy Dreamer, Crash Holly, Trish Stratus

SmackDown: Billy Kidman, Tajiri, Chris Jericho, Ivory, Albert, The Hurricane, Al Snow, Lance Storm, Diamond Dallas Page, Perry Saturn, Scotty 2 Hotty, Stacy Keibler, Christian, Test, Faarooq, Tazz, Hardcore Holly, Val Venis, Torrie Wilson. 

Among the standout moves were the split of the APA after three and a half years, and putting The Hardyz on a show without tag team titles, while Tajiri going to SmackDown meant the Cruiserweight Title became exclusive to that brand.

These were the final rosters, but they wouldn't be for long. As this was the first time WWE had conducted a draft, there were changes and the company even made amendments from their original plans as, according to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the likes of Chris Jericho, and Billy & Chuck were originally planned for Raw, while The Undertaker and Booker T were scheduled to be on SmackDown. Meltzer also wrote that Raw was set to gain some new tag teams, including the Island Boyz (Three Minute Warning) and a peculiar combo of Perry Saturn and Hugh Morrus.  

WWE Quickly Reshuffle The Rosters Post-Draft

Post-draft, the changes continued in earnest as the Hardcore Title moved to Raw when Raven defeated Maven on the final SmackDown before the changes went into effect. 

Raw gained the services of Steve Austin too when he returned the week following the draft, and they also acquired a healthier Eddie Guerrero, who was re-signed four months after he was fired due to ongoing personal issues. Later that year, a returning Shawn Michaels added even more zest to a brand in need of it.

Talents began moving between the brands too, explained in kayfabe as a grace period where wrestlers could decide where they wished to work. Benoit returned from his long injury absence on Raw instead of SmackDown, though he'd later cross back to SmackDown with Eddie Guerrero. Eddie's nephew Chavo, as well as a debuting Rey Mysterio, would come to fortify SmackDown as the premier brand for in-ring wrestling.

Others who moved to Raw included Jericho, Keibler, and the new "Un-Americans" faction with Christian, Lance Storm, and Test. Christian and Storm brought the tag belts with them to Raw that summer, prompting SmackDown to create a new set of titles. The Hardyz wouldn't be challenging for either belts, however, after Matt turned on Jeff in August. He then moved to SmackDown, where he began extolling the virtues of Mattitude.

The Big Show, meanwhile, was traded to SmackDown late in the year for a slew of talents, including now-former reverend D-Von Dudley, who very quickly reunited with Bubba Ray to the joy of all.

Call-ups from Ohio Valley Wrestling also continued following Lesnar and Rico, and it was SmackDown that initially benefited with Randy Orton, Batista, and John Cena. The former two ended up on Raw later in 2002, while Cena soon found his voice as a subversive rapper on the blue brand. 

The idea of top champions floating back and forth was killed off by autumn too, as now-WWE champion Lesnar signed exclusively with SmackDown. In turn, Raw restored the Big Gold Belt and gave it to Triple H.

However, there would only be one Women's Champion for the next six years, as Raw was where the women wrestled, and SmackDown was where the women wrestled without any clear end game or goals.

It took many months after the initial draft, but eventually all of the titles were minted, and all the talents were locked into place. Raw and SmackDown were completely distinct from one another, both gaining new show theme songs and entrance sets along the way.

Though WWE has continued to go to the well of annual drafts in a number of different formats, it has been difficult to beat the charm of the original. Though it defied all prior wrestling convention, the original attempt at a roster split proved emblematic for the time, and positively in many ways. There were rough spots, but the novelty of the idea and its total execution gave 2002-03 WWE a unique flavour all its own.

The first-ever WWE Draft is just like many of the organisation's most enduring creations; different, intriguing, occasionally uneven, but wholly memorable and era-defining.