By Chris Walters on March 20, 2004 at 7:59 PM EST

When Brock Lesnar told management at Smackdown on 3/9 in Atlantic City that he was quitting after Wrestlemania, a panic set in, even though business has been on the upswing. In particular, Raw now has a string of four straight television sellouts, with the 3/15 show in East Rutherford, NJ drawing an announced 17,418 fans, the largest crowd for a WWE television taping in a few years. The decision was made to shake things up, and on 3/22 in Detroit, they are going to have a lottery. Vince McMahon made the announcement on Raw on 3/15, claiming "Where it all begins again," the Mania slogan would be in force. He said that everyone, presumably including announcers, although he specifically said General Managers and his own family members (signifying a return of Stephanie and/or Shane as weekly talent), as well as Steve Austin and all wrestlers would be up in the lottery. He specifically pointed out that groups like Evolution would likely be broken up. He also said all champions are up, which may wind up with titles vacated. He claimed some General Managers have been favoring talent and indicated there would be changes there. All members of Smackdown will be rushed back from a 3/21 show in Glasgow, Scotland to Detroit on 3/22 and appear on the show. None of the Smackdown wrestlers were aware of any of this until they got word in Manchester, NH that McMahon had made the announcement on Raw, and that they had to now be in Detroit. It should also be noted that when McMahon was at a Wrestlemania press conference in New York where fans were invited, at Planet Hollywood, when he brought up the success of the brand extension, he was heavily booed.

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Credit: WrestlingObserver.com