10 Most Shocking WWE Draft Moments

7. Twice As Nice

Kurt Angle ECW
wwe.com

In the final WWE Draft of the original brand extension before the lines between shows were blurred for good later that year, John Cena started the night making a blockbuster move to Smackdown then ended the evening back on the flagship show.

The well-worn format saw superstars facing off in inter-brand matches that would determine which show would gain the next 'pick' from the random TitanTron superstar selector.

Cena's name popping up after Kofi Kingston and The Big Show won a battle royal for the blue brand saw the entire Smackdown roster mocking their Raw counterparts for the huge acquisition, but (as usual), the Raw talent would get the last laugh when 'Big Match John' returned home at the conclusion of the broadcast.

Ironically, it was Cena's biggest foes that triggered the trade. The Miz, CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio were victorious over Cena and his new compatriots Christian and Mark Henry in a Raw vs Smackdown six-man main event, with then-WWE Champion The Miz particularly pleased to be seeing the back of his most threatening challenger.

Cena's return triggered a beatdown on the Raw heels from 'The Champ', and he'd reclaim the WWE Title just days later at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett