Immediately following the last match of Summerslam, fans were getting ready to head for the exits after an exciting show, but all of a sudden Vince McMahon's music started blaring from the speakers and he entered the ring and grabbed a microphone. "Hey folks, stop right there! You're going to get a whole lot more than you paid for tonight as I have a major announcement to make!" The fans returned to their seats as everyone eagerly awaited the words of a very smug looking Vince McMahon.
"Several weeks ago, there were rumours of a brand split, where the roster would be divided evenly on two brands to allow all talents to be more prominently showcased. Now, that obviously didn't happen, and many of you may have heard the rumours that the idea was scrapped on a whim by yours truly. Well, those rumours were wrong, dammit, because we're going to have a WWE Draft and split these brands right here, right now! Let me introduce to you the new general managers of Smackdown!"
"Here Comes the Money" blasted from the speakers as Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon, looking every bit as smug as their father, made their way down to the ring. Vince once again spoke, "And of course, if we're going to have a draft, we'll need a second brand and a second leader. Well, many years ago I thought up the brilliant idea of RAW is WAR, a show that kickstarted the Attitude Era, and I'm going to bring it back and take over as general manager once again." Stephanie beckoned for the mic and Vince handed it to her, "Well if you're done with the build-up daddy, let's start this draft. I think it's only right that as CEO and Vice Chairman you get the #1 Overall Pick."
Vince smiled and grabbed the microphone again, "Well it wouldn't be RAW is WAR without the man who personified the Attitude Era now would it? With the number one overall pick in the WWE Draft, I select... STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN!" The crowd exploded into cheers as Austin, still beaten up from his earlier encounter with the new Nation of Domination walked down to the ring and shook hands with Mr. McMahon. Then Shane spoke up, "Great pick, but look we're going to do you one better and do you (pointing to Austin) a favour as well. With the second overall pick in the WWE Draft, we select the most electrifying man in ALL of sports entertainment, the Great One, the People's Champion and the WWE Champion, The Rock!" The Rock came down to the ring and the McMahons stood in between him and Austin to prevent a brawl from breaking out between the two. Vince's pick was up again.
"I'm feeling nostalgic, so why don't I go ahead and take a guy that was responsible for WWE's success in the early 90s. The Immortal Hollywood Hulk Hogan!" Once Hogan made his way to the ring, Shane McMahon revealed that his next pick would be the most promising prospect and rising star in the company, The Beast, Brock Lesnar. Vince followed that by selecting the rest of the nWo, and Stephanie and Shane also grabbed a tag team of their own in the Brothers of Destruction.
Vince made an announcement to the crowd, "I will be debuting a new championship tomorrow night, the World Heavyweight Championship. A selection of superstars that I choose will compete in a match for that title tomorrow to determine who our first major champion is on RAW. However, we're going to determine our first secondary champion right here right now, because I'm taking the Big Show and his United States Championship!" Realizing that they also needed a secondary title, Stephanie announced that Smackdown! would be drafting Randy Orton in order to keep rights to the Intercontinental Championship. She also stated that Smackdown! would be debuting a new women's only title, the Divas Championship, and that she would be the inaugural champion.
Vince followed this up by drafting the Women's Champion, Lita, while Stephanie and Shane picked the Nation of the Domination and subsequently the rights to the WWE Tag Team Championships. Vince announced that he would also be debuting new tag titles called the World Tag Team Championships, that would also be competed for the following night on RAW.
The rest of the draft (and summary of the live picks) went as follows:
1.) Steve Austin
2.) The Rock
3.) Hollywood Hulk Hogan
4.) Brock Lesnar
5.) Kevin Nash and Scott Hall (nWo)
6.) Undertaker and Kane (Brothers of Destruction)
7.) Big Show
8.) Randy Orton
9.) Lita
10.) Nation of Domination
11.) Goldberg
12.) Kurt Angle
13.) Sting
14.) Triple H and Shawn Michaels (D-Generation X)
15.) Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy (Hardy Boyz)
16.) Randy Savage
17.) Booker T
18.) Ultimate Warrior
19.) Ric Flair
20.) Eddie Guerrero
21.) Mankind
22.) Rey Mysterio
23.) John Cena
24.) Shelton Benjamin
25.) Chyna
26.) Trish Stratus
27.) Batista
28.) Beth Phoenix
29.) Edge
30.) Christian
31.) Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart (Hart Foundation)
32.) X-Pac
33.) Bobby Lashley
34.) Molly Holly
35.) Mickie James
36.) Big Boss Man
37.) Maria Kanellis
38.) Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
39.) R-Truth and Brian Kendrick (Truth & Conseqeuences)
40.) Stephanie McMahon
WWE also announced that the pay-per-view schedule would be changing. Additionally, Booker T, who was drafted to RAW would still keep his guaranteed anytime-anywhere shot at the title that he won via King of the Ring, but it was being renamed to the RAW is WAR King of the Ring, while Smackdown! would have the Smackdown! King of the Ring briefcase. Superstars from each roster would only be able to appear on the show they were signed to, however there would be measures in place for stars to switch shows, although the WWE was fuzzy on the details for that. It was also announced that the cruiserweight and hardcore titles would now be effectively defunct with Eddie Guerrero and Batista announced respectively as the last-reigning champions.
New Schedule:
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