2010 WWE draft
The Brand Extension storyline was initiated in March 2002, in which WWE's Raw and SmackDown television programs were made into brands (similar to conferences within a league) to which employees were assigned to; the ECW brand additionally involved between 2006 and 2009. Since its inception, annual drafts have followed, except for in 2003. As in previous drafts that followed the Brand Extension, the purpose of the 2010 WWE Draft was to increase television ratings of WWE programming and refresh the rosters with new storylines for each brand. The 2010 WWE Draft was confirmed both by WWE and Richmond Coliseum via their websites between March and April 2010, which featured the draft eligibility of WWE employees from the Raw and SmackDown brands. The event was scheduled to take place over two days, in which the televised draft would air live on the USA Network in the United States from the Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia on the April 26 episode of "Raw". The second portion of the draft, the "supplemental draft," was originally scheduled for April 28; however, it was announced during the live broadcast that it would be held the next day on April 27 with selections being announced via WWE's website.
The New Breed (ECW)
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) acquired Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and its video library in 2003, and later began reintroducing ECW by utilizing ECW library content for DVDs and releasing a series of books. The popularity of ECW merchandise prompted WWE to organize an ECW reunion pay-per-view, ECW One Night Stand, in 2005. WWE organized a second One Night Stand pay-per-view the following year. In May 2006 WWE announced the launch of ECW as a stand-alone brand, congruous to Raw and SmackDown!, with its own show on the Sci Fi channel. In preparation for the launch of the ECW brand, WWE hired several original ECW wrestlers, including Sabu, The Sandman, and Balls Mahoney. It was also announced that wrestlers who had previously worked for ECW before joining WWE following its closure, including Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer, would be moving to the new ECW brand.