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2010 WWE Draft

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The 2010 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft was the eighth WWE draft, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment.[1] The draft took place over two days: the first day was televised live for three hours on April 26, and the second part, the "supplemental draft", was held on April 27.[1][2] The first day was broadcast on WWE's Monday night program Raw on the USA Network in the United States,[a] and the supplemental draft was available on WWE's official website.[1][2] The televised portion was held at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia.[4] During the production of the draft, guest hosts were portrayed as authority figure characters on Raw; however, due to the importance of the event, the draft was run by the WWE management backstage, as are all other WWE programs.[5][6]

2010 WWE draft
General information
SportProfessional wrestling
Date(s)April 26–27, 2010
LocationRichmond, Virginia
Overview
LeagueWorld Wrestling Entertainment
TeamsRaw
SmackDown
← 2009
2011 →

Unlike sports draft lotteries where players are signed to a team, WWE drafts featured the exchanging of employees between WWE's two brands. The 2010 WWE draft marked the fifth time that only the Raw and SmackDown brands were involved; wrestlers along with other WWE personalities from these brands were eligible to be drafted.[1] This was the first draft since 2005 to not feature the ECW brand, due to its disbandment on February 16, 2010.[7] For the televised portion, matches determined which brand received a random draft selection. During the supplemental draft, brand and employee selections were conducted randomly. Based on 2009 regulations, drafted champions took their titles to their new brands, and tag teams were not exempt from being selected. Unlike the previous year's draft where each selection was for only one individual, 2010 featured two instances where at least two employees were drafted in one pick.

Overall, 21 employees from the company's roster were drafted in 19 selections, the fewest in a single night draft show (that featured supplemental drafting) since 2004. Eight selections were made on television (four from each brand), while the supplemental draft saw eleven draft picks (five by Raw and six by SmackDown) that featured 13 draftees. Of the 21 selected personalities, seventeen were males (seven drafted on television) and three were females (one drafted on television). All but one draftee was a wrestler: The Great Khali's manager Ranjin Singh, who came to Raw in the supplemental draft along with Khali in one draft pick. SmackDown obtained the first draft pick by winning the first match, which resulted in the acquisition of the only drafted female wrestler on television, Kelly Kelly; John Morrison was Raw's first selection after winning the third match. In the supplemental draft, Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) were drafted as one selection to Raw, with their valet Natalya Neidhart drafted as a separate pick. In addition to Smith being drafted to Raw, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Montel Vontavious Porter, and Hornswoggle (who were all drafted to SmackDown) were acquired by the brand for which they made their debuts in WWE.

Background

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The Brand Extension storyline was initiated in March 2002, in which WWE's Raw and SmackDown television programs were made into brands (similar to conferences within a league) to which employees were assigned to;[8] the ECW brand additionally involved between 2006 and 2009.[9] Since its inception, annual drafts have followed, except for in 2003.[10] As in previous drafts that followed the Brand Extension, the purpose of the 2010 WWE Draft was to increase television ratings of WWE programming and refresh the rosters with new storylines for each brand.[11] The 2010 WWE Draft was confirmed both by WWE and Richmond Coliseum via their websites between March and April 2010, which featured the draft eligibility of WWE employees from the Raw and SmackDown brands.[1][4] The event was scheduled to take place over two days, in which the televised draft would air live on the USA Network in the United States from the Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, on the April 26 episode of Raw. The second portion of the draft, the "supplemental draft," was originally scheduled for April 28; however, it was announced during the live broadcast that it would be held the next day on April 27 with selections being announced via WWE's website.[2][12]

Selections

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Televised draft

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During Raw, six matches were held among representatives of the two brands to determine which would receive a draft pick; except for one match that was for three selections, the others were for one. 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[b] selected a member from the opposing brand's roster for the winning brand.

Matches

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No.ResultsStipulations
1Team Lay-Cool (Layla and Michelle McCool) (SmackDown) defeated Maryse and Eve Torres (Raw)Tag team match for 1 female-only draft pick
2CM Punk (SmackDown) defeated Evan Bourne (Raw)Singles match for 1 draft pick
3Santino Marella and Ted DiBiase (Raw) won by last eliminating Rey Mysterio (SmackDown)[c]10-man Battle royal for 3 draft picks
4Chris Jericho (SmackDown) defeated Christian (Raw)Singles match for 1 draft pick
5Jack Swagger (SmackDown) defeated John Morrison[d] (Raw)Singles match for 1 draft pick
6Hornswoggle (Raw) defeated Dolph Ziggler (SmackDown)Singles match for 1 draft pick

Selections

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Pick No. Brand (to) Employee Role Brand (from) Notes
1 SmackDown Kelly Kelly Female wrestler Raw
2 SmackDown Big Show Male wrestler Raw Split of ShoMiz
3 Raw John Morrison Male wrestler SmackDown
4 Raw R-Truth Male wrestler SmackDown
5 Raw Edge Male wrestler SmackDown
6 SmackDown Kofi Kingston Male wrestler Raw
7 SmackDown Christian Male wrestler Raw
8 Raw Chris Jericho Male wrestler SmackDown

Supplemental draft

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Ranjin Singh (left) and The Great Khali (right) made up the ninth overall pick in the 2010 WWE draft.
Pick No. Brand (to) Employee Role Brand (from) Notes
9 Raw The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh[e] Male wrestler and manager SmackDown
10 SmackDown Chavo Guerrero Male wrestler Raw
11 SmackDown Cody Rhodes Male wrestler Raw
12 Raw Natalya Female wrestler SmackDown
13 SmackDown Chris Masters Male wrestler Raw
14 Raw Ezekiel Jackson Male wrestler SmackDown
15 Raw Goldust Male wrestler SmackDown
16 SmackDown Hornswoggle Male wrestler Raw
17 SmackDown Rosa Mendes Female wrestler Raw
18 Raw The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd)[e] Male tag team SmackDown World Tag Team Champions and WWE Tag Team Champions (Unified WWE Tag Team Champions) while drafted.
19 SmackDown MVP Male wrestler Raw

Response and aftermath

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Following the televised draft, Josh Mathews, a commentator and interviewer for WWE, interviewed various wrestlers who switched brands. They included The Big Show, Christian, Kelly Kelly, Kofi Kingston, John Morrison, and R-Truth, who all stated that they viewed their new brands as an opportunity to engage in combat with new competitors and to achieve new success.[13] Based on the 2009 regulations, champions that were drafted would carry their titles with them to their new brand.[14] As opposed to previous drafts, this was the first to not feature a championship exchange brands since 2007.[f] Similar to 2007, no tag teams were affected by the draft since tag teams and stables were drafted to the same brand either as a single draft pick or consisting of several draft picks to a new brand. The two alliances that switched brands were the stable of The Hart Dynasty (Kidd, Natalya, and Smith), in which Kidd and Smith were in unison and Natalya consisted of a separate draft pick, and The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh, who were also drafted as one selection in the supplemental draft.

The draft had little effect on the WWE's television ratings. Despite not having direct involvement in the draft, NXT and WWE Superstars were a part of the weekly television lineup for the company and featured wrestlers from both brands. Generally, the ratings of the four 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 19 episode of Raw was watched by an average of 4.10 million viewers in the first hour and 4.20 in the second hour for an average 3.05 rating,[16] WWE NXT on April 20 was watched by 1.21 million viewers for a 0.90 rating,[17] the April 22 episode of WWE Superstars earned a 0.64 rating,[g][18] while the April 23 episode of SmackDown was watched by 3.09 million viewers and earned a 1.8 rating.[19] The draft episode of Raw was watched by 3.90 million viewers in its first hour, 4.99 in its second hour, and 4.98 in its final hour for an average of 3.07 rating. In the normal two-hour time slot for Raw, the show would have received a 3.4 rating.[20] Later that week, WWE NXT was watched by 1,069,000 viewers for a 0.79 rating,[21] WWE Superstars earned a 0.76 rating with 754,000 viewers,[22] and SmackDown was watched by 2,718,000 million viewers for a 1.7 rating.[23]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ In addition to the United States, Raw is broadcast in various countries.[3]
  2. ^ Although WWE claimed the draft was conducted randomly, the results were predetermined since the draft is a storyline.[11]
  3. ^ Other match participants: Raw; Montel Vontavious Porter, Mark Henry, and Yoshi Tatsu. SmackDown; Kane, R-Truth, Drew McIntyre, and Shad Gaspard.
  4. ^ John Morrison was originally a SmackDown member, but represented Raw after being drafted earlier in the evening.
  5. ^ a b Both men were drafted in unison.
  6. ^ Although The Hart Dynasty were the reigning Unified WWE Tag Team Champions at the time that they were drafted, the championship was available to both brands as opposed to only one.[15]
  7. ^ Viewership details were not published and available via a reliable source of information.

References

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General
  • Adkins, Greg (2010-04-26). "Mix & matches (Televised draft results)". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  • "2010 WWE supplemental draft results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e "The 2010 WWE Draft approaches". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-18. For the eighth time in WWE history, the WWE Draft promises to realign the stars within the cosmos of the WWE Universe.
  2. ^ a b c "2010 Supplemental Draft today at Noon ET". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2010-04-21. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  3. ^ "WWE Television". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-27. Note: Reader must click drop down menu to see the different countries.
  4. ^ a b "WWE Presents the 2010 Draft on Monday Night Raw TV". Richmond Coliseum. April 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-30. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  5. ^ Mezzera, Jon (2010-04-27). "4/26 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: WWE Draft, Swagger vs. Morrison, Christian vs. Jericho, Sheamus vs. Orton vs. Batista". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-24. There was no guest host.
  6. ^ "Live and Televised Entertainment". WWE Corporate. World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  7. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-02-05). "WWE Officially Announces NXT's Debut Date Replacing ECW, Only Two Episodes Remaining". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  8. ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands". WWE Corporate. World Wrestling Entertainment. 2002-03-27. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  9. ^ "WWE Launches ECW As Third Brand". WWE Corporate. World Wrestling Entertainment. 2006-05-26. Archived from the original on 2009-02-22. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  10. ^ Dee, Louie (2007-06-07). "Picks of the past". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  11. ^ a b "WWE's Monday Night RAW Scores Huge Ratings Jump". WWE Corporate. World Wrestling Entertainment. 2005-06-25. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-27. '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
  12. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-04-26). "WWE Supplemental Draft moved up a day". Wrestleview.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  13. ^ The Big Show, Christian, John Morrison, Kelly Kelly, Kofi Kingston, and R-Truth (2010-04-27). WWE Superstars comment on being drafted to new brands in the 2010 WWE Draft. World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original (FLV) on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  14. ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (2009-04-13). "Rough Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  15. ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (2009-04-27). "Judgment is coming". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2009-12-14. As holders of the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, brothers Carlito & Primo can defend their titles on any WWE brand.
  16. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-04-20). "WWE News: WWE Raw ratings are in – lowest rating since Dec. 2008". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  17. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-04-21). "WWE News: NXT ratings are in for last night's show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  18. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010). "2010 Nielsen Television Ratings". Wrestleview.com. Gerweck.net. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  19. ^ Seidman, Robert (2010-05-04). "Syndicated Top 25: Oprah Fueled by "Octomom" But Judge Judy Still Wins + Legend Of The Seeker". Nielsen Media Research. TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  20. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-04-28). "WWE News: Official WWE Raw ratings for three-hour draft show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  21. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-04-28). "Final 4/27 WWE NXT rating". Wrestleview.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  22. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-04-30). "Final 4/29 WWE Superstars rating". Wrestleview.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  23. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-05-11). "Final 4/30 WWE Friday Night SmackDown rating". Wrestleview.com. Archived from the original on 2010-05-16. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
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