2011 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; the ECW brand was additionally involved between 2006 and 2009. Annual drafts have followed since this occurrence, except for in 2003. As with past drafts, the purpose of the 2011 WWE draft was to increase television ratings of WWE programming and refresh the rosters for each brand. The 2011 event was confirmed by the RBC Center in April 2011, with WWE officially announcing it on the April 18 episode of "Raw". A USA Network executive had also confirmed the event to occur via a press release on the same day of the WWE announcement.
ECW (WWE brand)
ECW was a brand of the U.S. based professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment. The brand was established on June 13, 2006 as a revival of the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion and was discontinued on February 16, 2010. Wrestlers assigned to the ECW brand wrestled predominately on the "ECW" television program and ECW branded or co-branded pay-per-view events. From 2007 to 2009, ECW wrestlers occasionally appeared on the "Raw" and "SmackDown" television programs due to talent exchange agreements between the brands.