According to a report by The Pro Wrestling Torch, with the exception of two or three people on the roster, a majority of the WWE wrestlers from all three brands were not told ahead of time if they would be drafted to another brand or not.
As a result, some wrestlers felt disrespected that they weren’t trusted with that type of information. By not telling the wrestlers, WWE management obviously wanted to avoid someone spreading the word by calling or texting a list of those moving brands outside of the company to get the word out before the show aired on Monday night.
The “element of surprise” is something that has always been important in wrestling, but even more so lately in WWE with some seeing it as something of a sport or game within the company to prevent leaks from getting out to the internet. All WWE wrestlers were put on stand-by throughout the entire show and until their name was called, they didn’t know they were moving brands. When they came out on stage to greet the live audience, most of the wrestlers had little time to to take in what had just been announced. While Bobby Lashley appeared to be hesitant to hand over his ECW Title on the air, it was assumed by many within the company that he was one of the few told ahead of time about his move to Raw.
