Keep It Five Star: I know CM Punk cashing in was a huge moment for many wrestling fans, but this moment holds a special place in my heart. I remember it like it was yesterday. Edge just rushed off Jim Ross and claimed he would take the World Heavyweight Championship to Smackdown, leaving RAW with no championship. Batista attacks Edge then as Batista walks up the ramp, this music plays! CM Punk cashes in, hits the GTS on Edge, gets the 3 count and becomes the NEWWWW World Heavyweight Champion! I was standing on my bed cheering and screaming. I went to go call and text my friends…

AND NO ONE WAS HOME! None of my friends were watching in real time due to other commitments. It was disappointing. But throughout the night, I received calls and texts and celebrated with the other future booth members when they were finally able to see it. Not only was this moment great, but it also ushered in my favorite post-Attitude Era period of RAW where the “Inmates Ran The Asylum.” That post is for another day.

LeKeith: We are not biggest fan of the Big Show. I mean, we include a #BigShowRuinsThings tag in our RAW Recaps when he’s on. Because it’s true! He has a tendency to ruin things. Unfortunately, these moments overshadow when he does something that’s genuinely cool. Take, for example, the WWE vs. ECW Head to Head Special. There was a 20-man Battle Royal pitting some WWE Superstars versus ECW wrestlings. The final 3 came down to Kurt Angle (ECW), Randy Orton (RAW) and The Big Show (RAW). Orton eliminated Angle and to win the rights to the Apex Slam and give RAW the victory… or so everyone thought. Big Show ripped off his RAW shirt to reveal an ECW shirt, chokeslammed Randy Orton, and won the Battle Royale for ECW. Big Show shocked everyone by not only wrestling in two shirts but also by pulling off the World’s Largest Defection.

Three Man Booth: The fallout from a Draft pick can be bigger than the pick itself. For weeks, Christian was idling on Monday Night RAW; instead of sitting in the back, he climb in the middle of the ring and, week after week, unleash verbal tirades about how Captain Charisma was better than everyone. He particularly focused on John Cena, who was on the Smackdown brand. Per “Brand Rules,” these two wrestlers could not interact. On top of that, Cena never responded to Christian’s raps (no, seriously, Christian has a sick flow), further raising the ire of Christian and his Peeps.

Then at the 2005 Draft, it finally happened: John Cena was introduced as the first RAW Draft Pick on Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. Cena did not even have time to show off his Throwback jersey before Christian’s theme music hit and the crowd – full of Christians Peeps – erupted! Finally, Christian and Cena were going to face off, on the mic and in the ring! Sadly, their feud was short-lived. After a few glancing interactions in tag matches on RAW, Christian had been moved to Smackdown in the longest Draft in WWE history.

One pick for each of us just wasn’t enough. Here are three more favorite draft moments of ours!

Keep It Five Star: It’s not secret that I am a huge fan of Carlito. In 2004, Carlito’s Razor Ramon-esque promos got me intrigued. Then in October of 2004, Carlito beating John Cena for the United States Championship in his first night made me a fan for life. Fast Forward to 2005. Shelton Benjamin is questioning Eric Bischoff about facing RAW’s newest Draft Pick for the Intercontinental Title when suddenly, you hear that familiar spit and catchphrase. Not only does Carlito get drafted to RAW, but he also goes on to make history by defeating Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Title on his FIRST Night! John Cena flashbacks, anyone?  On top of that, Carlito made his RAW debut even more memorable by spitting in the face of a Diva he didn’t find cool. The future was bright for this young Superstar, and if you’re as familiar with Carlito’s WWE career as I am… Let’s just end this post right here.

LeKeith: Some Superstars see the Draft as a chance to start over on a different brand, in a different atmosphere. Other Superstars dread it, seeing a switch from RAW to Smackdown as being demoted or placed on the B team. Triple H had the latter mindset in 2004. He was drafted to Smackdown and spent the week doing everything in his power to be back on RAW by the next Monday. He succeeded; taking advantage of Teddy long’s love of Tag Teams, Triple H was traded back to RAW for the mutli-time tag team champions The Dudley Boyz and tag team specialist Booker T. 3 for the price of 1! What a move by the Cerebral Assassin! His celebration was cut short though; The Game faced Shelton Benjamin, debuting on RAW via the Draft, and was upset by the Gold Standard. Not even the Cerebral Assassin can dodge the Draft!

Three Man Booth: Fans of The Miz and John Morrison call this moment, “The Day The Dirt Sheet Died.”  … Okay. Nobody calls it that, but in the 2009 WWE Draft, RAW’s Kofi Kingston faced ECW’s The Miz and the winner got a Draft Pick for their respective team. Spoiler Alert: Kofi wins, but it’s what happens after Kofi’s victory that’s important. RAW gets the draft pick and it’s none other than The Miz! The team of The Miz and John Morrison were officially split up. It seemed as if the two would take a page from The Dudley Boyz and split amicably, but that’s not what happened.

After the split, The Miz, determined to prove that he would not be “The Jannetty” of the group, took a page from Christian and Chris Jericho, and challenged the biggest Non-Undertaker dog in the yard, John Cena. It didn’t work out for him and everyone thought Miz was heading right down Jabroni Drive, but of course, that’s not what happened. As for John Morrison, he’s currently wrestling elsewhere and selling fitness DVDs. But maybe one day, we will see a reunion of “The (Self-Proclaimed) Greatest Tag Team Of The 21st Century.”

——————

Although the WWE Draft has been temporarily shelved, it’s left us with many great WWE moments. If you have a favorite draft moment that we didn’t cover, let us know via the comments section. Or on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr!