2002 WWF draft lottery
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The 2002
World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
(WWF) draft lottery, the initial WWF draft, took place at
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in
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, on March 25. The first half of the draft was televised
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on TNN for two hours, as part of the WWF's program, ''
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''. The second half was conducted over the Internet on WWF's official website, WWF.com. There were thirty draft picks, with sixty wrestlers drafted overall by co-owners of the WWF, onto their respective brands,
Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
and
SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...
. The remaining wrestlers were divided randomly in a draft lottery, with each brand receiving a grand total of thirty wrestlers.


Background

On March 17, 2002,
World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
(WWF) Chairman
Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...
announced that the company would represent its business of
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
through two distinct brands named after the WWF's weekly television programs, ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown!''. This was a direct result of the acquisition of
World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...
(WCW) and
Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...
(ECW), the WWF's primary rival corporations throughout the 1990s, that resulted in the addition of numerous talent to the extensive WWF roster. In terms of storyline,
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
had become fifty percent owner of the WWF following Survivor Series 2001 after
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and
Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian "St ...
had sold their stocks to him in order to purchase WCW and ECW, respectively, a campaign to launch The Invasion. Original full WWF owner
Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...
detested having to share his creation with Flair and sought to dissolve their partnership. Simultaneously, Flair was engaged in a feud with
The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...
and wanted to conclude it with a bout at
WrestleMania X8 WrestleMania 18 (stylized as WrestleMania X8) was the 18th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on Attit ...
. However, the WWF Board of Directors would only allow the match if Flair returned full ownership back to McMahon. Flair agreed, but the Board stated that it would review the WWF's status and ownership following WrestleMania. In continuation with storyline, the Board's ultimate decision was to split the entire WWF roster into two separate entities, with McMahon in control of the SmackDown! brand and Flair in control of the Raw brand. All WWF wrestlers were to be assigned to a brand based on random selections conducted through a mock- draft lottery. On the March 25, 2002 episode of ''Raw'', the WWF Draft was held, in which each owner received a total of thirty picks.


Selections

On the March 25, 2002, episode of ''Raw'',
Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...
won a coin toss to determine who would receive the first draft selection. Notes: *Picks No. 1–20 were made live on ''Raw'' *Picks No. 21–57 were conducted via lottery on the WWF's website


Undrafted

Several wrestlers remained undrafted for various reasons.


Aftermath

The brand extension was officially enforced on April 1, 2002.
Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...
was made exempt from the draft by Linda McMahon, but later opted to sign with Raw. A month later, the WWF was sued by the
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over the WWF initialism. This resulted in the company being renamed from "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc." to simply "World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.", which caused all of the WWF's assets to be properly renamed and branded. The Flair and McMahon feud came to an end on the edition of June 10, 2002 of ''Raw'', when McMahon became the sole owner of WWE by defeating Flair in a
No Holds Barred match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
. Following the situations with the brand extension and name change, by having two brands in place, the WWE was able to increase the number of live events held each year from 200 to 350, including tours in several new international markets. Even after the end of the first brand extension in 2011, WWE continued to have two touring live event shows. The brand extension returned in 2016. After McMahon became the sole owner, the owner role was replaced by "General Managers". For ''Raw'', he announced the new General Manager for Raw would be
Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...
, and for ''SmackDown!'',
Stephanie McMahon Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; ; September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the current chairwoman and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest profe ...
. On the same night when he announced Stephanie as new General Manager, he also stated that a free agent period has started and any Superstar could sign with the other brand. This continued until the fall of 2002. On the September 23 edition of ''Raw'', Bischoff announced that the roster was frozen and the only way for a wrestler to move was to ask for a trade.


References

{{World Wrestling Entertainment History of WWE WWE draft 2002 in professional wrestling Professional wrestling in Pennsylvania Events in Pennsylvania March 2002 events in the United States