Raw’s then–General Manager Eric Bischoff hyped it as the “single biggest acquisition” in the brand’s history, and with good reason. Watch SmackDown get “Animalistic” | See who had the best physiques in WWE history The Animal, who just four days earlier became the first Superstar in history to pin Triple H inside Hell in a Cell, strode onto the SmackDown stage like a true gladiator, poised to dominate the blue brand until the WWE Draft returned him to Raw three years later. 1 contender to the final pick in the 2005 WWE Draft: World Heavyweight Champion Batista! In what Teddy presented as a bad news/good news scenario, JBL had just become the new No. With what appeared to be the new SmackDown Championship concealed within a drawstring pouch under his arm, Long revealed that the title JBL had just earned was no longer necessary. But what Long said after the bout silenced even The Longhorn Loudmouth. As such, the head honcho of “holla” announced the introduction of a SmackDown Championship, set to be decided in a Six-Man Elimination Match on the June 30 edition of his show.įollowing a grueling battle, it was JBL who would emerge victorious and, seemingly, the first-ever bearer of the blue brand’s title. Watch Heyman blow a gasket on Raw | Read up on dominant “Paul Heyman guys”Īs the monthlong 2005 WWE Draft was drawing to a close, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long was left without a World Champion. In a scene made all the more pitiable by the brace encircling Heyman’s neck, the skulleted strategist did the only thing that seemed natural at the time and quit WWE. The extreme innovator needed an escape, and needed it fast. The lottery pick proved that no one was immune to the WWE Draft, including authority figures.Īfter years of accusing the former WCW head of pilfering his best ECW competitors in the 1990s - including the likes of Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and Dean Malenko - Heyman was fated to work for his nemesis, performing such menial tasks as doing Bischoff’s laundry and washing his car. During the 2004 WWE Draft, then–Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff randomly selected Heyman to join the Raw roster, in a bizarre turn of events indeed. Dangerously” likes to be at its epicenter. Paul Heyman’s been drawn to drama since before the birth of the cell phone, but not even “ Paul E. Watch the first-ever WWE Draft pick | Relive The Rock’s greatest SmackDown moments The Brahma Bull’s move to “his” show set the tone for future WWE Drafts, when a Superstar’s reaction to their brand alignment would become just as exciting as the anticipation beforehand. McMahon’s managerial style at the time, The Great One led the denizens of Nittany Lion country in a chant describing The Chairman. When The Rock was named as the first pick in the 2002 WWE Draft, the raucous Penn State University crowd came unglued, and so did The People’s Champ. Who better to lead the blue brand into a bold, new era than “ The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment”? McMahon selecting Superstars for his SmackDown locker room while his WWE co-owner Ric Flair chose the roster for Monday Night Raw, it was The Chairman who would get the first draft pick. WWE ventured into uncharted territory in the wake of WrestleMania X8, when the roster was split into two separate brands, Raw and SmackDown, and divided by way of the first-ever WWE Draft lottery.
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