A look back at the original draft

[masterragu]

A LOOK BACK AT THE ORIGINAL 'BRAND EXTENSION' DRAFT
by Buck Woodward @ 12:10:00 PM on 3/22/2004


Back in March 2002, WWE (then WWF) went ahead with their concept of a "Brand Extension" and divided their roster into two separate units, with one existing on Raw and Heat, while the other appeared exclusively on Smackdown and Velocity. At the time, the WWE World Heavyweight Title was going to be defended on both brands, but that would later be changed as WWE moved into a "hard split" that also included "brand exclusive" Pay-per-view events.

Here are the final roster lists for the original "Brand Extension", as selected by Vince McMahon and Ric Flair (the storyline was that they were dividing the company between them). The top ten picks for each brand were done live on an edition of Raw, and the rest was filled out by a lottery that was posted on WWF(now WWE).com.

Vince McMahon's Smackdown:

1. The Rock
2. Kurt Angle
3. Chris Benoit
4. Hulk Hogan
5. Billy & Chuck
6. Edge
7. Rikishi
8. D-Von Dudley
9. Mark Henry
10. Maven
11. Billy Kidman
12. Yoshihiro Tajiri
13. Chris Jericho
14. Ivory
15. Albert
16. Hurricane Helms
17. Al Snow
18. Lance Storm
19. Diamond Dallas Page
20. Torrie Wilson
21. Scotty 2 Hotty
22. Stacy Keibler
23. Christian
24. Test
25. Faarooq
26. Tazz
27. Hardcore Holly
28. The Big Valbowski (Val Venis)
29. Perry Saturn
30. No Pick (Side already has 30 due to the pick of Billy & Chuck)

Ric Flair's Raw:

1. The Undertaker
2. The New World Order (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & X-Pac)
3. Kane
4. Rob Van Dam
5. Booker T
6. Big Show
7. Bubba Ray Dudley
8. Brock Lesnar
9. William Regal
10. Lita
11. Bradshaw
12. Steven Richards
13. Matt Hardy
14. Raven
15. Jeff Hardy
16. Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig
17. Spike Dudley
18. D'Lo Brown
19. Shawn Stasiak
20. Terri
21. Jacqueline
22. Goldust
23. Trish Stratus
24. Justin Credible
25. Big Boss Man
26. Tommy Dreamer
27. Crash Holly
28. Mighty Molly
29. No Pick (Side already has 30 due to the pick of the nWo)
30. No Pick (Side already has 30 due to the pick of the nWo)


Triple H, as WWF Unified World Champion, and Jazz, as WWF Women's Champion, were to work on both shows. Steve Austin, due to his "contract" (according to Linda McMahon), was not eligible for the draft, and was a free agent, able to decide which show he wants to sign with (and had not been at a show since Wrestlemania at this point). Chris Jericho was not eligible for the initial draft because he was involved in the WWF Unified World Title match on Raw. He was included in the lottery and ended up on Smackdown. The APA and the Dudleys were the most notable tag teams to be split by the draft.

[xAfterThoughtzx]

i thought that Matt was on Smackdown not Raw...not maybe im mistaken...

[Mason]

Matt was originally on Raw, then moved to Smackdown, then back to Raw I think.