2011 WWE Draft

The draft aired live on the USA Network on Raw in the United States[a] for two hours in Raleigh, North Carolina, from the RBC Center.

[9][10] A USA Network executive had also confirmed the event to occur via a press release on the same day of the WWE announcement.

The draft also featured various wrestlers being selected to a new brand for the first time in their WWE careers, such as Sheamus and Daniel Bryan.

[3][18][19] Mark Henry stated that with his recent weight loss, he was more determined to seek a championship reign on SmackDown.

[20] Rey Mysterio also was hopeful about his new home and explained that he would represent Raw just as proud as he has for the majority of his WWE career with SmackDown.

[21] The first and final pick in the televised event, John Cena, stated how he wanted to make history for 2011 and that it only begun by being the first person to ever be drafted officially first and last.

[22] Finally, Big Show was stunned by his selection but looked forward to the transition from broadcast delay to live television.

[25] As a result of the extra promotion, the April 25 episode of Raw increased viewership from the previous week in terms of adults from 1.6 and 1.7 to 2.0 and 1.9 for the first and second hours, respectively.

[28] In a 2013 interview with Advertising Age, Stephanie McMahon explained that WWE's decision to end the brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms.