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The 2021 WWE Draft kicks off this Friday Night during SmackDown on FOX.
As has been the case with the past several draft events, the 2021 WWE Draft will take place across two nights, airing on an episode of SmackDown and RAW respectively.
Some of the biggest Superstars in WWE history have had their careers altered during past drafts. Names such as John Cena, Triple H, The Undertaker, Batista and more have switched from RAW to SmackDown or vice versa during the event.
The opening pick in any year of the draft is a significant spot for a WWE Superstar. It usually signifies that the company has major plans for the star that has the honor of being the first name drafted.
Huge names such as Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Drew McIntyre, John Cena and The Rock have all had the distinction of being opening picks in WWE Drafts throughout the years.
However, some opening draft picks are certainly more surprising, and often forgotten, than others.
Let's take a closer look at five forgotten opening draft picks in WWE history.
#5 Rob Van Dam - drafted to ECW (2006 WWE Draft)
The 2006 WWE Draft is often seen by the WWE Universe as "the forgotten draft" in WWE's history.
This is because it is the only one in the promotion's history that did not involve any Superstars moving to RAW or SmackDown. Rather, it involved two names moving away from the red and blue brand respectively.
In 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling. The company announced that ECW would be a fully fledged third brand comparable to Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown.
Former ECW owner Paul Heyman was tasked with writing the show behind the scenes and also served as an on-screen authority figure for WWE's ECW brand.
During the May 29 edition of Monday Night RAW, Heyman revealed that he had received two draft picks ahead of ECW's launch on the Sci-Fi network.
The ECW representative announced that the land of the extreme had drafted Rob Van Dam from Monday Night RAW as its first selection in the 2006 WWE Draft.
RVD is an ECW original who was scheduled to face John Cena for the WWE Championship at One Night Stand after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.
The future Hall of Famer famously defeated Cena at the event to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his career whilst simultaneously becoming the ECW World Heavyweight Champion for the first time, too.
#4 The Great Khali - drafted to SmackDown (2007 WWE Draft)
The Great Khali has achieved a significant amount of success during his WWE career.
In addition to being a former World Heavyweight Champion, he also holds the distinction of being the first overall pick in the 2007 WWE Draft Lottery.
The 2007 WWE Draft took place during a special three-hour edition of Monday Night RAW on June 11 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
During the show, Superstars from RAW, SmackDown and ECW competed in matches to earn draft picks for their respective brands.
The opening match of the broadcast saw Edge, who represented Friday Night SmackDown, defeat John Cena, who represented Monday Night RAW. That earned SmackDown the first overall pick in the 2007 draft.
Much to the then-World Heavyweight Champion's horror, it was revealed that The Great Khali had been drafted from to Friday Night SmackDown.
Cena had just completed a feud with The Great Khali on RAW and was more than happy to see the Indian Superstar head to the blue brand.
#3 MVP - drafted to RAW (2009 WWE Draft)
The 2009 WWE Draft lottery took place during a special three-hour edition of Monday Night RAW in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 13, 2009.
As had been the format for several WWE Draft events, Superstars from Monday Night RAW, Friday Night SmackDown and ECW competed in matches throughout the broadcast to earn draft picks for their respective brands.
The opening match of the broadcast saw Monday Night RAW's Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio defeat ECW's Evan Bourne to earn the opening draft pick of the night for the red brand.
It was then revealed that SmackDown's WWE United States Champion MVP had been drafted to Monday Night RAW.
Not only did this mean that Montel Vontavious Porter had been drafted to Monday Night RAW, but the United States Championship had now become exclusive to Monday nights, too.
However, SmackDown wasn't without a mid-card championship for too long. By the end of the broadcast, Mysterio was drafted to the blue brand, bringing the Intercontinental Championship with him to Friday nights.
#2 Kelly Kelly - drafted to SmackDown (2010 WWE Draft)
Kelly Kelly holds the unique distinction of being the first-ever female Superstar to be the opening pick in a WWE Draft.
This came during the 2010 WWE Draft Lottery. The event took place during a special three-hour edition of Monday Night RAW in Richmond, Virginia on April 26, 2010.
The opening match of the broadcast saw Friday Night SmackDown's Michelle McCool and Layla defeat Monday Night RAW's Maryse and Eve Torres to earn a female-only draft pick for their brand.
The pick was revealed to be Kelly Kelly moving from RAW to SmackDown. She later went on to capture the Divas Championship once during her WWE career in 2011. She was eventually released from her contract in 2012 to pursue outside ventures.
She has since made sporadic appearances on WWE television in recent years.
#1 Rene Dupree - drafted to SmackDown (2004 WWE Draft)
The 2004 WWE Draft Lottery marked the first draft since WWE's initial brand extension in 2002.
Following WrestleMania XX the event marked the beginning of a new chapter in the company's history.
Rather than WWE Superstars competing for draft picks, random selections were made via a lottery throughout the broadcast by RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff and SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman.
After Heyman won the coin toss earlier in the evening, SmackDown was awarded the opening draft pick of the broadcast.
The SmackDown General Manager randomly selected Rene Dupree to move to SmackDown as the opening pick.
Dupree went on to achieve mild success on SmackDown, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships with Kenzo Suzuki.
He was later released from the promotion in 2007 after spending time on SmackDown, ECW and WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling.
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