5 random WWE Draft facts
The WWE 2021 Draft could reportedly be drawing closer.
WWE is set to return to touring in July, with live fans returning to WWE programming for the first time on a regular basis since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
With WWE's return to touring on the horizon, it has been reported that WWE is looking to refresh both Friday Night SmackDown and Monday Night RAW as we head into the second half of 2021.
It has been reported that the WWE 2021 Draft will take place across the August 30, 2021 edition of Monday Night RAW on USA Network and the September 3, 2021 edition of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX.
With the 2021 WWE Draft on the horizon, let's take a closer look at five random WWE Draft facts.
#5 The WWE United States Championship briefly became exclusive to ECW during the 2008 WWE Draft
WWE's revival of Extreme Championship Wrestling as a third touring brand alongside Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown is arguably best forgotten.
Every time the brand seemingly made progress in creating new talent or getting new stars over, they would quickly be moved to Monday Night RAW or Friday Night SmackDown during a WWE Draft.
However, occasionally a veteran or legend would be drafted from Monday Night RAW or Friday Night SmackDown to the land of Extreme. One such example of this came with Matt Hardy during the 2008 WWE Draft.
Matt Hardy had recently returned from a lengthy knee injury at WrestleMania 24, attacking long-term rival MVP during the Money in the Bank ladder match. Hardy and MVP's feud continued at Backlash the following month when Hardy defeated MVP to capture the United States Championship for the first time in his career.
This meant that when Matt Hardy was drafted to ECW in the 2008 WWE Draft, the United States Championship briefly became exclusive to the ECW brand.
However, Hardy quickly lost the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin the following month at The Great American Bash pay-per-view. This meant that the United States Championship followed Benjamin back to the blue brand, becoming exclusive to SmackDown once again.