The 2005 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft lottery, the third WWE draft, took place over a four-week period from June 6–30.
Every wrestler from Raw and SmackDown! was eligible to be drafted, including announcers, commentators, and general managers.[1] There were ten draft picks and an eleven-person trade conducted between the promotion's two main brands: Raw and SmackDown!, where twenty-two wrestlers were drafted and traded overall.[2] Draft picks were drawn at (kayfabe) random on WWE's two-hour main television programs, each Monday on Raw (on Spike TV) and each Thursday on SmackDown! (on UPN).[1] Post-draft trades were revealed on WWE's official website, wwe.com.[2][3]
On the April 18, 2005, episode of Raw, WWE chairman Mr. McMahon scheduled a draft lottery for the following month in May.[4] However, on the May 16 episode of Raw, McMahon postponed the draft to June.[5] He noted that there were no exceptions from the draft, including the injured and the champions.[5]
This was the first draft in which champions brought their titles to their new show if they were selected. After John Cena was drafted to Raw, along with the WWE Championship, SmackDown! was left without a world title for the remainder of the month of June.[6] As a result, on the June 23, 2005 episode, General Manager, Theodore Long, announced the creation of new world title, called the SmackDown! Championship.[6][7] The new champion would have been determined in a six-man elimination match between The Undertaker, Muhammad Hassan, Christian, Booker T, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and Chris Benoit, which JBL won on the June 30, 2005 episode of SmackDown!.[8][9] After JBL won the match, Long declared that the SmackDown! Championship was not needed because the then-World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, had been drafted to SmackDown!.[8][9]