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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: WWE DRAFT MADNESS, JERRY LAWLER WINS NUMBER 27 AND MORE

March 22nd 

On this day in history in .... 

1981 - Paul Jones & Masked Superstar defeat Ray Stevens & Ivan Koloff for their second NWA World Tag Team Championship as a duo, exactly one month after losing the titles to them in the same town, Greensboro, North Carolina. 

1981 - Andre The Giant defeats Hulk Hogan at a WWF event at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. 

1993 - Brian Christopher & Scotty Flamingo defeated the Moondogs (Spot & Splat) for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending the Moondogs third run with the belts. 

1997 - Jerry Lawler defeated Tank for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. This was Lawler's 27th time winning the belt. On the same show, The Truth Commission defeated Flash Flanagan & Billy Joe Travis for the USWA Tag Team Title. 

1998 - WWF ran at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the following results: 
- Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher.
- Henry & Phinneas Godwinn defeated Skull & 8-Ball in a Country Whipping match.
- Marc Mero defeated Goldust.
- Cactus Jack defeated Billy Gunn in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
- Ken Shamrock defeated Intercontinental Champion The Rock via DQ.
- NWA World Tag Team Champions The Headbangers defeated The Quebecers.
- Bradshaw defeated Barry Windham.
- Steve Austin defeated European Champion Triple H in a non-title match.

2004 - WWF held their "draft lottery" between Raw and Smackdown during an edition of Raw from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.  Here is Tim Whitehead's original report from the show, followed by several additional draft lottery notes.

The 3/22 episode of RAW EDGES OUT THE GAME aired live from Detroit. It was an eventful show, to say the least, with the lottery to reshuffle the RAW & Smackdown rosters and three title matches. I found the show to be entertaining, and the three title bouts provided solid action. As for the roster changes, most of them involved lower card guys, with the biggest news being that Triple H was shifted over to the Smackdown roster. The second biggest news was that Edge, returning from an injury that kept him out for over a year, was switched over to RAW. How this all turns out, of course, remains to be seen. It wasn't a revolutionary shake-up, so in that sense it wasn't a disastrous re-start like the notorious WCW angle which helped kill that company. The titles were all protected. The lottery was better than a draft, since the latter invariably buries the guys who don't get chosen early. The way it was set up, Eric Bischoff drew six names from a lottery basket that contained Smackdown roster names, while Paul Heyman drew six names from a RAW lottery basket. It was also announced that Bischoff and Heyman would have until Midnight (a little less than an hour after the show left the air in the Eastern time zone) to negotiate any trades they wished to make in addition to the lottery, though that part of the storyline ended up amended by the end of the show. All in all, the lottery left most wrestlers untouched, didn't affect the titles directly, and only made a few changes, some of which might be good. I said last week that I didn't like the idea of re-starting things in one big move like this, and I stand by that opinion, but the changes were happily more modest than I feared. Of course, they could have done the same thing by just having normal trades, but I guess that wouldn't have popped TV ratings, as they're hoping this does.

The show opened with both announcing teams present, with Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler manning the RAW desk while Tazz & Michael Cole held down the Smackdown desk. Backstage, the entire RAW roster was gathered in one meeting room, while the Smackdown crew was in another. Everyone had on a T-shirt representing their league, with the RAW guys in red RAW shirts and the Smackdown guys in blue Smackdown shirts. Vince McMahon explained the lottery rules to Bischoff & Heyman before sending them out to begin the drawings (the lottery baskets were on the stage at the ramp top). Bischoff wanted reigning champs to be excluded from the drawing but Vince sternly informed him that they would be included like everyone else. In the end, not a single reigning champ was drawn. Heyman was wearing a neck brace to sell being tombstoned last week by Undertaker. Both Heyman & Bischoff offered to shake Vince's hand, but he refused them both.

Bischoff & Heyman took their places behind their respective lottery baskets. Bischoff got something of a babyface reaction since the crowd got into the RAW partisanship gimmick. They booed Heyman out of the arena and chanted "you suck" and "a**hole" at him. Heyman sarcastically told Bischoff that RAW really attracts a classy audience. Heyman also noted his injury at the hands of Undertaker, and said he would get even with UT on Smackdown this week, claiming that if Bischoff were to get assaulted he'd go whining to the Board of Directors rather than fighting back like a man. Heyman had the first draw, and he announced that he drew the name of a member of one of RAW's top groups. Backstage in the RAW meeting room, the three Evolution members looked worried (Randy Orton wasn't there, reportedly due to having his tonsils removed, which I believe is true), but it turned out that Heyman drew Rene Dupree of La Resistance. HHH, Ric Flair, and Batista breathed a sigh of relief. Dupree hugged Sylvan Grenier & Rob Conway as graphics showing basic stats on Dupree appeared on the screen. They showed the stats like this for every name drawn, which was a nice touch. Dupree came out with the French flag and shook Heyman's hand. He then went to the ring and brought up how Steve Austin beat him up and stunned him last week. He didn't want that to be his final memory from RAW, so he challenged any RAW "jabronie" to come out and fight him. Out came Chris Jericho.

Jericho defeated Dupree in 3:06. Jericho charged in and threw some fists and chops. He went for the walls hold but Dupree blocked it. Jericho springboard dropkicked Dupree off the apron. Dupree scored some twos after a dropkick and a lariat. Jericho hit an enzugiri and scored the pin. Good action, though short. Afterward, Dupree threw a fit and claimed he was cheated. He demanded respect. Austin came out and gave him a stunner. Okay, that was stupid. Switching Dupree to Smackdown was okay since he needs a fresh start. He has a ton of potential and needs to be broken away from Conway (who is okay but doesn't have Dupree's potential) and Grenier (who isn't good). But it was absurd to have him lose in three minutes on his way out, as if he was leaving from one territory to another circa 1974 and needed to put the other talent over on the way out. Note to Vince: You own both RAW and Smackdown, and the same fans watch both. It was beyond absurd and even pathetic to let Austin stun him one last time.

Bischoff drew his first name, and selected Shelton Benjamin. Damn it. This was the worst change of the night, since it breaks up the best new tag team to come along in a long while in WWE. Tag teams, when booked right, can be great attractions, as anyone who remembers the Midnight Express, the Rock & Roll Express, the Fantastics, the Freebirds, and many other teams from the eighties can attest. But it seems that any tag team today that has that level of potential gets broken up. So Benjamin had to say goodbye to Charlie Haas and join RAW. Too bad both of them couldn't come to RAW as a team.

Kane squashed Rico on 0:28. Miss Jackie was at ringside for Rico, who took a boot to the face and a chokeslam to get buried. On his way out, Kane grabbed both Bischoff & Heyman and warned them that he didn't want to be on the same show as Undertaker. What a wuss!

Heyman did his second draw. He picked Mark Jindrak, which drew no crowd reaction whatsoever. If that surprises you, you haven't been paying attention these past few months. Heyman apparently is gunning for an Oscar or an Emmy, as he pretended to be excited about that pick.

Bischoff's second pick was Nidia. She acted happy to be coming to RAW, and she jiggled out to the stage where she changed shirts, flashing her bra to put on a RAW shirt. Bischoff touted her as an addition to the women's title picture, as if she was Ayako Hamada or something. Nidia sort of didn't have much going for her on Smackdown, after breaking up with Jamie Noble, so I assume they'll either try to push her as a wrestler, or will hook her up in the corner of someone new. Maybe she''ll have catfights with Trish Stratus as Jericho's Fozzy groupie.

Heyman was about to make his third draw, but he was interrupted by John Cena. Cena got a great reaction coming out. He ripped on Heyman big time. Cena ended up making Heyman's pick for him, drawing a name from the basket. Heyman said only he was authorized to draw the names, but Cena insisted on making the pick. Bischoff, noticing how much Cena was pissing Heyman off, demanded that Heyman accept Cena's selection. Man, did that ever backfire on Bischoff, as the pick turned out to be HHH! Bischoff nearly fainted. Backstage, HHH had just taken a big drink of water and when he heard his name announced he did the spit spot, spitting water all over half the people in the room. Flair & Batista were in shock as well. The rest of the RAW roster sang "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" to HHH, which was funny as hell. It'll be even funnier if it turns out that was spontaneous, though don't bet on that being the case.

Christian defeated Spike Dudley in 3:19. This was Spike's chance to avenge being attacked last week by Christian. Quit laughing. Spike attacked suddenly and surprised Christian with a quick two count. He chased Trish Stratus, apparently planning to strip her, but Christian made the save. Trish choked Spike. Spike hit a DDT for another near fall. Spike also scored two with a cool roll-up. Christian bumped out, and Spike hit him on the floor with a crossbody off the top. Continuing on offense, Spike scored with a double foot stomp. Christian ended up posting Spike and pinning him after the unprettier. Another match that was short but had good action. No sign of Jericho seeking revenge, but we can safely assume they're saving that for later.

Bischoff ran to Vince, wanting him to void the HHH selection on the grounds that Cena made the pick, not Heyman. But Vince said all picks are final. Heyman then rubbed salt in Bischoff's wounds, suggesting that WWE (Smackdown division) World Champion Eddie Guerrero should defend his belt against HHH as the RAW main event. Vince acted shocked at the suggestion, but then said he liked it and gave it his sanction. Heyman looked totally victorious, having taken a major RAW superstar and, as icing on the cake, having him challenge for the top Smackdown belt as the main event on Bischoff's own show. As for the HHH move to Smackdown, they needed a new major star with Brock Lesnar departing, Kurt Angle injured, and Chris Benoit having moved over to RAW after the Royal Rumble. HHH has also buried most of the guys on RAW, so he needs new opponents. I do kind of hate to see Evolution broken up, but I'll get over it.

A deflated Bischoff returned to the stage to make his third pick. He vowed that whoever he picked would get a shot at the RAW World Title. That was presumably to counter Heyman's coup, but it was stupid to say that not knowing who he would pick (yeah, I know the lottery was worked, but I mean in storyline it was dumb of Bischoff to say that). Bischoff drew Rhyno, a guy who was buried for several months before being unburied and then jobbed. Moving him from Smackdown to RAW probably won't make much difference one way or another, though he is a talented guy.

Hour two began with Ric Flair & Batista defeating Rob Van Dam & Booker T to capture the RAW World Tag Titles in 13:31. In storyline, it made no sense to schedule a tag title match on this show, since the winning team could have easily been broken up by the lottery. In real life, it did make sense, because they were planning to move RVD to Smackdown and needed to get the belts off him so they could do it without screwing the titles up. It was a pretty good match. Booker dropkicked Flair. Flair retaliated with chops. RVD came in and hit Batista with kicks and a flying crossbody. Flair and Booker traded chops, with Flair taking his face-first bump. Flair went to the top and got tossed off, which has now become a comedy spot. RVD hit Flair with the frog splash, but Batista made the save as the network went to a commercial break. When the action returned, RVD nailed Batista with a thrust kick off the top. Flair broke the pin up. Flair hit a chop block on RVD and began working on his leg. He hooked the figure four, but RVD made the ropes. RVD hit an enzuigiri on Flair and hot tagged Booker, who cleaned house. He hit a bookend and a scissor kick on Batista. Flair stopped the pin. RVD laid Flair out and hit the rolling thunder on him. However, when RVD went for a big kick on Batista, he accidentally nailed Booker. Batista took the opening to plaster Booker with the sit-down powerbomb for the pin and title change.

Heyman made his fourth pick, and lo & behold he drew RVD. Heyman was happy with this one, calling RVD Mr. Thursday Night (a play off RVD's old ECW heel gimmick where he pissed off the ECW fans by saying he wanted to go to RAW or Nitro and wrestle on Monday nights as Mr. Monday Night). Heyman said he, RVD, and Tazz could have an extreme reunion on Smackdown. RVD has gotten stale on RAW so moving him is probably a good thing.

Backstage, RVD & Booker were talking about getting a re-match to get their tag belts back, but Jonathan Coachman arrived and informed them that Heyman had just taken RVD for Smackdown. Both looked disappointed that their team was now history.

Chris Benoit beat Rhyno in 4:34 to retain the RAW World Title. Rhyno opened with fists. Benoit hit two suplexes. Rhyno dropped Benoit on the turnbuckles (like the snake eyes move) and hooked a sharpshooter. Benoit made the ropes. Benoit went for the sharpshooter but Rhyno made the ropes before he could hook it. Benoit hit three German suplexes and a diving headbutt, but Rhyno kicked out at two, which is something usually reserved for major stars. Rhyno hit a spinebuster, but soon fell victim to the crossface and tapped out. As I said, Rhyno's a talented guy, but his RAW role will likely be the same as on Smackdown, which is putting over the upper tier and doing jobs in tag bouts.

Shawn Michaels approached Bischoff. He said that as much as he desires the RAW World Title, he wants even more to get his hands on HHH and finish their feud once and for all. So he asked Bischoff to try to trade him to Smackdown during the roughly one hour trading period after the show. Bischoff didn't want to trade away a name as big as Michaels, so to get him to agree to stay, he promised him a shot at Benoit for the title at Backlash. Michaels immediately changed his mind (boy, that was easy) and said the best way to punish HHH was to win the title that he thinks is his, so he agreed to drop his trade demand in return for the title shot. He vowed to put away Benoit with the sweet chin music.

Bischoff's fourth pick was Tajiri. Backstage, Tajiri seemed sad to be leaving his allies, Akio & Sakoda. A Tajiri move to RAW will be basically a level move by a mid-carder.

Heyman's fifth pick was Theodore Long. Long seemed happy to be leaving RAW, which angered Jazz, whom he manages. Pretty much another level move.

Bischoff scored his big draw on his fifth pick, selecting Edge. Heyman was upset by this one and tried (to no avail) to claim Edge was on some kind of injured reserve list and should be ineligible for the lottery. Edge has been out so long that he had no Smackdown programs, so it isn't like the departure of HHH, but Edge probably fits the RAW model a little better so this was a good selection.

Heyman made his sixth and final pick. He looked at the name on the paper and threw it away in disgust. It was Spike Dudley. Why do they bury guys like that? It's one thing to take some guy with no talent and make him something of a cult wrestler by having him lose all the time. But Spike actually has talent. He can't be a major star, for many reasons, but to bury him like this is obscene, and makes zero business sense. It's another level move, as Spike will now get buried on Smackdown instead of on RAW, though if they're smart they'll try to rehab him as a cruiserweight contender. Of course, that'll take some doing without ending up burying the entire division after how Spike has been promoted. By the way, in another amazing coincidence, note how none of the cruiserweights (other than Tajiri, whom they presumably are grooming for something different) got moved to RAW, and neither did any of the ladies on RAW (home to the women's belt) get moved to Smackdown.

Bischoff's final draw ended up selecting.....Paul Heyman! As if it made any sense to include general managers in this lottery, especially when they were the ones doing the drawing. The entire Smackdown roster erupted into cheers back in their meeting room when Heyman was picked for RAW. The RAW crew looked sick over Heyman coming to their division. Bischoff bragged that he planned to make Heyman wash his car and do his laundry. Heyman said he could do a lot to improve RAW, but there's no way he would work for scum like Bischoff or appear weekly in front of the RAW fans, whom he described as animals. He expressed disgust with the entire deal and said he was quitting. Bischoff gave a victory smirk as Heyman stormed out and rode away into the night in his limo. The bad news is that this means you-know-who will likely be his replacement as Smackdown general manager. It was later announced on the WWE website that, in light of Heyman's departure, Vince had extended the deadline for making trades until the end of the Smackdown taping Tuesday night. It said a new Smackdown general manager will be in place by then and that individual will be able to make trades at that time with Bischoff.

Bischoff went to the ring and bragged that he outlasted two co-general managers (Austin and Mick Foley) and had just defeated his rival Heyman. Edge charged the ring to a huge pop and speared the hell out of Bischoff. Cool!

Eddie Guerrero defeated HHH by DQ to retain the WWE (Smackdown) World Title in 13:53. Tazz & Cole did the announcing for this match. HHH came out wearing a RAW shirt, but removed it to reveal a Smackdown shirt, to symbolize that he accepted the drawing which moved him to Smackdown. Eddie came out in a nice low rider. They traded shoves. Eddie kept going for holds on HHH's left arm, which was reported as still not 100% after Benoit's crossface at WrestleMania. HHH kept using the ropes to break the holds. HHH hit a high kneelift. After an early commercial break, HHH was in command on the floor. He rammed Eddie into the stairs and the broadcast desk. Back in the ring, HHH whipped Eddie hard into the turnbuckles. HHH hit a high backdrop and a backbreaker. HHH scored some twos. Eddie scored twos after a spinning headscissors, a suplex, and a DDT. HHH hit a facebuster for a near fall. Eddie blocked the pedigree and hit three German suplexes. Flair & Batista came out, still allied with HHH even though he's leaving RAW. Flair distracted the ref, while Batista slipped the title belt to HHH. John Cena & Rey Mysterio Jr. ran in and went after Flair & Batista. While the ref was distracted by all this, Michaels went in and gave HHH the chin music before he could wallop Eddie with the belt. HBK then did a plancha on Flair & Batitsta. Eddie went to the top to deliver a frog splash on HHH, but Christian ran out and shoved him off in full view of the ref, who signaled for the DQ. It soon became apparent that most of this interference was because of the RAW vs. Smackdown rivalry (presumably Christian wanted the recent RAW guy HHH to beat the established Smackdown champ), and soon both rooms emptied as the RAW and Smackdown guys brawled all over around the ring and up the ramp. When the Smackdown guys started getting the upper hand, Austin sent in some more RAW guys. The show left the air with the blue shirts battling the red shirts all over the place. We could have probably done without that. The match itself didn't draw as much heat as one would expect, but it was good until the DQ ending.

Draft Note #1: The next day, WWE announced that Triple H was being traded back to Raw in exchange for The Dudley Boyz and Booker T being sent to Smackdown.  So, Triple H was back to being a Raw wrestler without ever even appearing on an edition of Smackdown.

Draft Note #2: A-Train and Chuck Palumbo were sent to Raw in exchange for Rico and Miss Jackie being sent to Smackdown.  

Draft Note #3: Due to Paul Heyman's departure, Kurt Angle (who was recovering from neck surgery) would become the new General Manager of Smackdown.

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