Five-Star Conversation 04.28.10: The 2010 WWE Draft Wrap-Up!

Sorry this is coming to you so late, friends, but to offer complete Draft coverage, I had to watch Raw on Monday night, plus stick around for the Supplemental Draft on Tuesday.

For the record, the following is being written on Monday afternoon, PST, before The 2010 Draft. Given that there was quite a busy week in WWE since I posted my last column, I’ve rethought some things –

you know for once i’m at a loss as to who will get drafted. perhaps it’s an indication that i’m not following wrestling as much as i used to, but i mean usually they telegraph at least one or two major faces who are going to get drafted, like hhh last year, or of course practically everyone on the upper card of ecw who’s rivalries had run their course.

There are too many wrestlers as it is, so many decent guys like Yoshi, Ryder, Finlay, Regal, and MANY more hardly make TV anymore. They need to cut some fat or put more wrestlers on TV. Maybe lose the NXT show and make it a brand again al`a ECW?
Posted By: FUZEY

Well, DaJ, a lot has obviously gone down since last week’s column posted. Mickie James, Katie Lea Burchill, Shelton Benjamin, Funaki, Mike Knox, Slam Master J and Jimmy Wang Yang were all released by WWE. This isn’t really all that shocking in and of itself because WWE usually does a little “spring cleaning” in terms of its’ roster shortly after WrestleMania each year.

I’m not going to break down all of the releases and what they each mean for the company and the individuals themselves, except to point out that, with the exception of Burchill, all other six releases came from the SmackDown! roster. It’s also being heavily rumored that Batista will be working toward the end of having his character written off WWE-TV, as he’s allegedly opting against renewing his contract following news that Triple H is going to be replacing him as the lead of the latest vehicle for WWE Films, a move that reportedly has The Altered Beast fuming. Whether or not the details are correct, should Batista be leaving the company, this is another blow to the SmackDown! roster. The Great Khali has recently decided to take some time off for himself and to return to his native India; not quite the same marquee name as Batista, though still another name having abandoned The Silver & Blue. The Undertaker, as is well known, has begun his annual post-WrestleMania hiatus, and so there’s another top talent SmackDown! will be operating without for the time being. Finally, make of this what we will, Matt Hardy, who self-admittedly loves to mess with The IWC, recently Tweeted that he would be re-inventing himself in 2010, then, later, that perhaps he feels he’ll best contribute to the business in a cerebral role, as opposed to that of a physical one, implying perhaps that he may be retiring from in-ring action…? If so, there’s still another SmackDown! talent leaving the ring.

But that’s not all. As many are aware, news broke recently that NXT will not be returning to Sy-Fy after this, its’ debut run (WWE will be shopping the show around to other cable networks), and that SmackDown! will be moving from Friday nights on the doomed MyNetWork TV to Tuesday nights on Sy-Fy. In response to this move, it’s been rumored that WWE is going to cast aside any aspersions toward SmackDown! being the company’s “B” show and run it as such, featuring only a few top stars whom the company intends upon showcasing, while utilizing the rest of the roster much in the same manner as did ECW, ie, SmackDown! would become the place new, young talent is groomed and conditioned for bigger things and, perhaps, too, where burned-out acts go to revitalize and re-charge, while Raw will boast the stacked roster full of stars and name talent.

So how, then, does all of this affect how Raw will be booked? According to WWE.com, there are Guest Hosts lined up only through the end of May and it’s been rumored for a couple of months now that WWE has planned on discontinuing the Guest Host gimmick after WrestleMania. It seems to me that Guest Host segments have been something of a time vampire on Raw (props to KanyonKriest for that term, BTW), allowing the flagship show to have run with minimal actual wrestling content, at least, as opposed to its’ Friday night counterpart. Also, much of the Rawster has been quite bottom-heavy with certain “wrestling” talents being used solely in a comedic fashion for such segments (Chris Masters and his duel “Masterpieces”, Chavo Guerrero, William Regal, despite his NXT mentoring duties, Santino Marella, etc.).

(And don’t anyone get uppity about my using quotes around the term wrestling when describing talents like Regal and Guerrero; I know and you know that they could actually wrestle rings around ¾ of either roster if given the chance…that’s the point in the quotation marks, they’re not allowed the chance and are being relegated to comedy.)

With so much of SmackDown!’s roster being future-endeavor’ed, leaving the company, on hiatus or possibly reconsidering their role in the business combined with a possible re-configuration of the brand’s focus, I’ve been wondering if we’ll see a good number of these “bottom-heavy” Raw talents finding their way over to The Silver & Blue, so as to make way for more marquee talent or smaller names considered to have a wealth of promise? If we do, I imagine that’s what we’ll see making the most waves on Tuesday’s Supplemental Draft.

WARNING: POSSIBLE RAW SPOILER HERE!!!
It should also be mentioned that, despite the fact that only one NXT rookie will actually win a WWE contract, just as with Tough Enough back in the day and with the Diva Challenges of yore, the smart money is to bet on the fact that we’ll see more than a couple other rookies not winning the whole shebang start to pop up on one show or another, so room for them will likely be made.

Also, there’s another rumor floating around that makes a lot of sense to me, that The Fortunate Son Ted DiBiase will soon be heading his own stable on Raw, comprised of his younger brother Brett and Joe Hennig, son of WWE Hall of Famer, “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, currently tagging in FCW as, you guessed it, The Fortunate Sons. No word on whether or not Joe will be known as “Mr. Quasi-Perfect”.

However, if this is the case, then two points stand to reason: 1) Again, we’ll likely need to hold some room on the Rawster for two more heels (and this seems likely to me, because, once ShoMiz eventually lose the UTTTs to The Hart Dynasty, we’ll need a new heel tag team with whom for them to feud…an almost completely second- or third-generation feud!), and 2) it just about puts a lock on Cody Rhodes going to SmackDown! to develop his own singles career apart from his old Legacy partner.
POSSIBLE RAW SPOILER CONCLUDES HERE!!!

That all said, I’ve kinda rethought some of my Draft picks for tonight:

RAW to SMACKDOWN!
Randy Orton
Kofi Kingston
The Miz
Cody Rhodes
Zack Ryder with Rosa Mendes
William Regal

SMACKDOWN! to RAW
Chris Jericho
Rey Mysterio
John Morrison
Drew McIntyre
Shad Gaspard
Goldust

For some reason I could also see Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres swapping brands, too, just so the Barbie Belt is on the “B” show, plus, when Awesome Kong debuts, that story, which will eclipse a few of the men’s stories, will be on the “A” show. Yeah, yeah, I know, there’s absolutely nothing to substantiating Kong even being in talks with WWE that I’m aware, but a fella can dream about solid, hard-hitting Divas program, right…?

I guess that’s all that can/need be said about The Draft until tonight…let’s hope for a good one!

Okay, we’re picking this up on Tuesday afternoon PST just seconds after the conclusion of WWE.com’s Supplemental Draft!

And I am never sitting through that excruciating experience ever again. As Sheamus would say, “Hey, fella, that was fookin torture!” Between chat-guest Melina TYPING ALL IN CAPS and keeping us informed as to the banal action her Twitter account was receiving and all the moronic WWE Universe blather, I my eyes ended up resembling Shawn Michaels’.

Anywoozle, I’ll start by admitting that both sets of my own Draft predictions absolutely sucked, so we won’t waste any time discussing those, although, in fairness to myself, my second round was a little better once I had some more info toward where the company seems to be headed! It’s always just a matter of trying to prognosticate in whom they plan on putting stock for the coming year.

So let’s have a look at the new Rawster:

MAIN EVENT FACES: John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H
MAIN EVENT HEELS: Edge, Chris Jericho, Sheamus
UPPER MID-CARD FACES: John Morrison, R-Truth
UPPER MID-CARD HEELS: Ted DiBiase, The Miz
MID-CARD FACES: Evan Bourne, JTG, Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith
MID-CARD HEELS: Ezekiel Jackson
ETC. FACES: Primo Colon, Goldust, Mark Henry, Khali, Santino Marella, Yoshi Tatsu
ETC. HEELS: Carlito, Vladimir Kozlov, William Regal, Zack Ryder
DIVA FACES: Gail Kim, Melina, Natalya, Eve Torres
DIVA HEELS: Alicia Fox, Jillian Hall, Maryse
(and wherever The Bella Twins fit)

Up top, the card looks pretty balanced with established Superman Cena, Hot-As-Fuck Orton and Sonnyboy HHH as our heroes and Heat Machine Edge (presuming he’s turning…already…based upon his out-of-nowhere-and-why-the-hell-didn’t-the-ref-call-the-match Spear to cost Orton his WWET shot on Raw’s main event), Mister Can-Do-No-Wrong Jericho and Ah’m Coomin Inta Muh Own, Fella, Poipe or No Poipe Sheamus (he really looked as if he belonged in that match with Orton and Batista on Raw as far as I’m concerned and has really stepped it up on the mic, too, despite his Swagger-like lithp…is Duthty Rhodeth coaching this kids, and they’re taking everything too literally…?).

So if we have Cena defending against Batista, presumably to write his character off of WWE-TV whole he goes away and sulks, and if Edge and Orton lock horns again, where does that leave Sheamus while Tri films Big Dave’s movie selling the Extreme Rules beatdown, and where does that leave Jericho? Might this be the opportunity for Morrison and Truth to test their mettle against main event-level talent? Morrison has had a few entertaining rows with Swagger on SmackDown! leading to The Draft, so he’s dipped his toe in that pool before, but it would be new waters for Truth.

The only thing is, Sheamus needs to be booked monstrously strong right now as he awaits The game’s return for eventual vengeance. It seems pointless to bring over both Morrison and Truth if they’re just going to become job fodder for someone in whom McMahonagement is obviously looking to invest long-term like Sheamus. Perhaps that’s why we still have so many low-level performers hanging around? Would a program against a big guy like Mark Henry do Sheamus any good, to prove he can go over The World’s Strongest Man, or would this just lead to plodding matches that would do more to hamper Our Fella’s upward progress? Or will we see more devastation on littler guys like Evan Bourne, Primo and Tatsu? That would seem pointless, too, because we already know he can squash lower-level talent from his tenure on ECW. It should be interesting to see how Sheamus is continued to be handled. Perhaps he’ll be kept close to The WWET scene, regardless…?

Jericho role is puzzling, too. He seems to be drifting further away from a title shot at the moment, so unless he’s insinuated into the Orton/Edge program (which wouldn’t bother me a single bit), he really has no one against whom to feud but Morrison and Truth, and that could have all gone down on SmackDown!, with no real reason to be traded, making all the hoohah over being traded something of a moot point, and I don’t see someone I’m presuming WWE is looking to build like JTG reaching that far up the card. There’s also the possibility that Morrison and Truth will remain together as a team to feud with new UTTCs The Hart Dynasty, which would yield some dazzling matches, especially since the only other team left in the company is The DudeBusters, who have no business challenging for the belts, unless we decide to point sXs in that direction, which I’d regard as a mistake, but we’ll get to SmackDown!.

I discussed DiBiase in the spoiler section above, and I’m going to stick with that prediction because it makes a LOT of sense, even though it seems a little early for DiBiase to be cast in that kind of a role. Rounding out the upper mid-card, like it or not (and I do!), The Miz is now one of the hottest young prospects in the company right now and I look for a much tighter focus on his UST reign (and about time, too…have I missed a recent defense…?). The face who knocks him off his mountain is going to garner a windfall of face love from the crowd. This, too, could be a role cast for either Morrison or Truth, although if McMahonagement is committed to pushing JTG, this could definitely be his big opportunity, plus, the gold on the belt would match the gold on his grill. Or, we could see this as being the huge opportunity to build Tatsu or Goldust, but JTG seems like the smarter bet to me.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the Raw booking team manages to push both Sheamus and Ezekiel Jackson as simultaneous heel monsters, especially since we know how endeared Our Fella is to HHH. With Jackson now on the same brand as William Regal and Vladimir Kozlov, could we see a reunion of The Ruthless Roundtable (although I think it makes more sense for Regal to get the opportunity to continue a “Pros” mentorship of fellow Brit, Jericho’s current NXT protégé, Wade Barrett once he finds a home after NXT concludes)? Personally, I’d love to see Jackson return as a thinking-man’s monster with Alicia Fox at his side as a sexy, physical valet, but that’s just me.

Could we also see a heel turn for newly arrived Goldust? It makes a lot more sense for this creepy character to hold some bad intentions, especially in the age of PG programming…although that’s the rub, as well, because Goldust is best when he’s pushing the envelope, playing raunchy mind games with his opponents and Razor Ramon/Ahmed Johnson-style shenanigans will not fly for today’s kid-friendly audience. On the other side of the coin, as we’re lacking in heel teams to challenge The Hart Dynasty, perhaps Goldust will partner up with Kozlov, or, say, the now-valet-less Zack Ryder? We’ve seen Goldust make odd tag partnerships work in the past…

As for the decided gap in mid-card heels, there’s always a chance we could see Mark Henry turn now that his partnership with MVP has been severed once and for all, Ryder could be elevated, we could give Kozlov another shot, although I’m begging for that not to go down, and Khali is supposed to return with more focus and drive, although I’m really begging for ,i>that not to go down, too. I mentioned that we’re keeping The Colon Brothers on ice until the third brother is ready to rise up out of developmental, so there’s another lower mid-card program we could see occur on Monday nights, or they could all unite to create a second-generation stable; but if it’s met with the same indifference as the Carlito/Primo split and “feud”, I think we could finally see the future endeavor of Los Colons.

The new Divas arrangement looks pretty weak, quite frankly. As much as I loved her work in TNA as a KnockOut, Gail Kim has been shockingly disappointing since her return to WWE. I’m not sure when Melina is scheduled to return, although I have a hunch it’ll be soon, since she was co-hosting The Supplemental Draft (and if I didn’t dislike her before, after that torture, I REALLY want to see someone smack her in the gob so hard that snaggletooth widens by a foot) and, of course, we’re currently giving Eve Torres a push.

I’ve stated what I’d like to see in Alicia Fox’s regard, although that’ll never happen, and I expect her to continue on as a credible threat to The Divas Champion, but will never win the belt. Maryse continues to have a huge spot in my heart, which is a rarity, because usually with these style-over-substance types, especially when they’re divas, I tend to cringe, but she’s improved so much and plays her role so incredibly well, I just can’t help not love her. So, basically, the title will continue to hot potato around. The only thing I can see really shaking things up is if Natalya is allowed to finally enter the fray and show these bitches how it’s DONE, and that might be a good way to capitalize upon The Hart Dynasty’s sweetheart title win on Monday, although my fear is that she’ll end up becoming Jillian Part Two, and, because she can actually wrestle, be utilized to simply make bad wrestlers look credible.

If one phrase can accurately describe the new situation on SmackDown! it’s “Current room for immediate advancement”. Let’s break it down:

MAIN EVENT FACES: The Undertaker
MAIN EVENT HEELS: Batista, Jack Swagger
UPPER MID-CARD FACES: The Big Show, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio
UPPER MID-CARD HEELS: Drew McIntyre, CM Punk
MID-CARD FACES: Christian, Matt Hardy, Kane MVP
MID-CARD HEELS: Luke Gallows, Shad Gaspard, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler
ETC. FACES: Finlay
ETC. HEELS: Vance Archer, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Trent Baretta, Caylen Croft
DIVA FACES: Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, Tiffany
DIVA HEELS: Layla El, Michelle McCool, Rosa Mendes, Serena

For as evenly stacked as the top of Raw’s card looks, SmackDown!’s is in a virtual shambles when one considers Taker’s on hiatus and Batista is on his way out of the company. That leaves Swagger as the sole main-eventer, and a shaky one, at that, because the role is so new to him and so few people are really convinced he actually belongs where he finds himself. Like Sheamus, I think he’s coming along quite well and quickly, but he needs to continue to have the quality of matches he’s been having and really develop on the mic (I, personally, don’t give a creamy fart about the speech impediment; it never hampered The Dream, it needn’t Swagger, either).

I’m playing off the assumption that Show has turned face by laying out The Miz after he lost The UTTTs for their team, so I’ve listed him as such. Show is always so problematic to book, because there’s really just no way anyone short of another giant like Khali or a booked-to-be-believable foil like Cena can stand up credibly to him (one of the reasons he’s been relegated to the tag ranks for so long now). However, even disregarding his history as a former world champion, he commands being regarded as a main event performer by virtue of his size alone, but is that really what Swagger needs at this stage of his development? I mean, sure, Swagger’s no Amazing Red in stature, but it seems to me that The All-American American needs to establish himself as a credible champion first before he’s forced to start mountain climbing in the ring. Again, though, we could be building up to a multi-person World Title picture, which would work well for Show and Swagger, because a one-on-one where Swagger goes over would have to be done in such a manner such that it’s a believable win for him, translating into a real “moment” in his career path; conversely, if Show is victorious one-on-one, it knocks Swagger down a few pegs and proves his critics right, which is not what he needs if, like Sheamus, the intention is to build a young talent with a long-ranging vision.

Rey Mysterio is also an experienced top-of-the-card performer the WWE target audience loves to cheer and support and this could be his time to shine at the top of the card of a brand he’s helped to support for virtually his entire WWE career. Not to start waving flags in his vain, too, but Mysterio’s been around for a good long time now wrestling a very impactful and reckless style. It’s common knowledge his knees are in such poor health he has little business climbing stairs, to say nothing of wrestling. One wonders exactly how much gas is left in his tank, and if being built as one of SmackDown!’s top stars isn’t a close-to-the-end display of gratitude by McMahonagement for his loyalty and having given so much to the company over the last decade-plus.

That said, Mysterio, too, could easily jump to the top of the list of Friday/Tuesday night faces behind Taker and I can see a series of matches between Mysterio and Swagger as being incredibly entertaining, and a lot more functional for Swagger’s initial growth, plus, in the grand view, if Swagger loses The WT to Mysterio after a great program, there’s really no shame, considering the grand list of legends who’ve come up, erm, short against him.

However, after a long cool period for Kingston following his break-out success in his short program with Randy Orton, this appears to be Kofi Kingston’s time to really shine. The door is virtually wide open for him to take his star as high as he can, a true rarity in the modern-day WWE! Call me a traditionalist, but I’d like to see a nice, long, slow build for Kingston along these lines. With the glass ceiling removed, why not allow Kingston a three- or four-month-long program with McIntyre, whereby he’s the one to finally unseat The Chosen One as the next ICC? With the lines that separate the proverbial caste system on SmackDown! now so flexible, Luke Gallows could be next in line to challenge Kingston, or Cody Rhodes, or Shad Gaspard, or Dolph Ziggler (provided he doesn’t end up buried following a “feud” with Hornswoggle…). Ooh, yeah, how about Gallows challenging and defeating Kingston for the ICT by nefarious means as a result of sXs interference, setting up a program that leads Kingston to challenge Punk, who, by this time, has taken The WT from Mysterio (who has ended Swagger’s reign)? Kingston unseating Punk for his first world championship would send the kid to the moon and his star would be made. Just an idea.

As I mentioned, the mid-card appears to have a lot of upward mobility for the heels – Gallows, Gaspard, Rhodes and Ziggler all have varying degrees of upsides that could hold them in good stead and, again, with a certain air of almost-anything-goes on the new SmackDown! landscape, we could be in for some star-making, which, sadly, appears to be the purpose of solid, popular mid-card faces like Christian, Hardy and Kane. MVP is in this group, as well, and I kinda get the feeling this might be his last opportunity to really shine and break-out, or find himself relegated to such a role as he rest of his popular brethren (or to being future-endeavor’ed altogether). Mind you, it’s a noble role, and we need such performers, but no one ever gets into the business thinking, “Man, I can’t wait to be just popular enough to help make somebody else a star!

I discussed Ziggler and Hornswoggle earlier on. I just had a little thought about what could be going down in their regard. Little Horny’s return to SmackDown! also reunites him with his “father”, Finlay. What if Horny’s constant annoyance on Ziggler’s part, to say nothing of Ziggler’s brutal and ruthless response to such annoyance, leads to a program with Finlay? How, I ask, could working a long series of matches on the house show circuit of 15-20 minute matches be anything but beneficial for Mr. Ziggles? So if we see The Dolphster initially humiliated by DX’s last member, don’t initially be discouraged!

Another thought that crossed my mind…might Vance Archer and Chris Masters find themselves in a tag team? I could think of worse things for them to do…like have Masters sitting in the back waiting to flex his little masterpieces in front of a guest host. We do need tag teams, especially heels. Hell, I’d even cheer them if they came out and beat the shit out of those annoying MCMG wanna-bes The DudeBusters every week. Hmm…I just had an awful thought…what if Show’s face turn in being brought to SmackDown!, as well as Chavo’s migration to The Silver & Blue all ties in with My Favorite Moo-gar, Vickie Guerrero, and we get a series of pointless “levity” whereby Vickie tries to rekindle her romance with Show, fails, and sends her stalwart nephew after him to teach him a lesson…? They wouldn’t do that to us, would they…?

I was really shocked when Kelly Kelly was sent to SmackDown!, for no other reason than there’s little point for her to be there as long as Tiffany is there, too. I mean, cute, perky blond with minimal skills who tries real hard? Yeah, that’s Tiffany…and KK. Also, now the only other face is Beth Phoenix, also a blond, although brimming with ability. Beth’s top foe will likely continue to be Michelle McCool…another blond. It just seems a little homogenous to me…and, though my status as a gentleman can be debated, I do prefer blonds. Aside from that, we have McCool’s sidekick, Layla (who, I’ll admit, has finally been showing some spunk in the offense department!), Rosa Mendes, who is as pointless in the ring as Steve Cook at Alcoholics Anonymous, and Serena, who appears mainly to be in a support role for sXs. This, to me, seems like a very lean Divas roster with limited possibilities…at least until Awesome Kong arrives to KILL BITCHES DEAD!

All in all, what seems to be another forcible anal compromise (that’s for you, there, Double K) for SmackDown! opens up some really intriguing possibilities for “the ‘B’ show” where we could legitimately watch some long-term stars created in the coming year. As always, hope for the best and prepare for the worst!

COMMENTPALOOZA!
You know, for the first time ever I think there is a real chance they might Draft Undertaker to RAW. Here are my Top 3 reasons:

3.) A feud with Cena. Probably the last dream feud the WWE hasn’t done (other than Cena/Jericho, maybe). At this point, if anyone is gonna end Taker’s WM streak realistically, it’s gonna be Cena. Taker has beaten everyone else who’s even remotely been a candidate.
Posted By: JLAJRC

Good points, JLAJRC. The only things I’d have to take issue against is that your suggested reasoning behind the HHH/Taker program would be something of a moot point once Tri returns from selling the Extreme Rules beatdown suffered at the hands (and poipe, credit Landsell!) of Sheamus, and when he does end up returning, I’m betting The Celtic Warrior is going to get his hide proverbially tanned. Also, there’s no word on how long Taker plans on being out this year. Perhaps if the two could somewhat coincide their respective returns, that could work out and, for the record, I’d totally be down for a feud between these two, whether the story was contrived or brilliant. Their match at WrestleMania X7 remains one of my favorite WrestleMania matches of all time, and that backstory was surprisingly slapdash.

I’d love a Cena program, as well. As a matter of fact, I can see these both being his final WrestleMania matches, as they’re most likely the two biggest names/talents WWE is apt to have under its’ umbrella at the time. True, two years is quite a stretch in wrestling time and by WrestleMania XXVIII, we’re still likely to have CM Punk, Edge, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho still around and huge to challenge for The Streak, plus we could see Ted DiBiase, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre and Jack Swagger elevated to a level such that McMahonagement might roll the dice on giving the kids a shot. I think Cena and Tri are the smartest money, though, in terms of affording a real, big match environment as Taker closes in on a staggering twenty-year undefeated run. Should Cena go over and break The Streak in an homage to WrestleMania III’s “Andre/Hogan” match? There’s plenty of time to debate that should it come to pass.

The thing that bugs about WWE in this vein is that, Draft notwithstanding, if The Undertaker is wanted/needed on Raw, he’ll end up there whether we’re afforded a decent explanation or not.

As you said for CM Punk’s first title reign, I think the same could be sad the same about Swagger’s. Obviously he wasn’t built as the best before winning MITB, but I think his reign is saying “he’s got it, he jsut doesn’t always know how to use it.” And I think either a long reign where he finally gets “it” down or a second reign where he finally understand what he’s doing will help. Kinda like Kurt Angle’s first WWF title reign where he didn’t win a single title match cleanly.
Posted By: M.I.B.

I think you’ve got something there with respect to how WWE is approaching getting serious about those whom it intends to be its’ stars of tomorrow, that is, reward them now to make fans take note, then prove them to be worthy of the honor by booking them strong against established talent. Seems completely ass-backwards to me, but I think that’s going to be the norm for the foreseeable future, and I’ll tell you why.

It’s what we’ve discussed here before with respect to Vince having dicked himself out of a decent feeder system in having bought WCW and closed it down the same time ECW went under, or, at the very least, absolutely crushing the territories system. Now performers come to WWE greener than Finlay’s trunks with fans having no preconceived notions about who they are or of what they are capable. Now, I know Vince sees that as a positive in his favor, because he can mold them in his own image of what such a young sports entertainer should be, but considering what we’re seeing, ie, a lot of very similar talent coming up all at once, it leads to a very homogenized product if the strings aren’t pulled in genius fashion. The problem is, Vince still thinks he is that genius. We’re seeing he’s not in this respect.

It’s my belief along these lines, too, that this is why Vince is so high on second- and third-generation wrestlers, because that fact allows him to play off of that performers’ parents legacy and gimmick so he doesn’t have to come up with anything organic. How many times have I mentioned here that I have to keep reminding myself that McIntyre isn’t the wrestler Randy Orton is, that he’s a brawler with the same build and tights, but with long hair, no lips and an accent?

This also points to my suggestion that WWE consider picking up Christopher Daniels now that he’s available. I made the mistake of posting an afterthought approach at how to use him that wasn’t well-received, and that overshadowed the point of the suggestion, that being, would it serve WWE well to have a seasoned veteran in the midcard ranks to work with the kids on their way up the card, so that once they get to the point of deserving a singles title push, they aren’t having to prove they deserve to be there?

All in all, The WWF used to stand for the best of the best as far as I was concerned growing up, that when I turned on WWF-TV, I knew I was going to see a roster full of performers who had been around awhile and had their craft down (give or take a Zeus), such that, the guy holding gold, whether or not I dug his gimmick, knew what to do between those ropes. Now, sure, there are a grip of talented performers cashing a WWE paycheck today, but there’s certainly much more of a sense of on-the-job training going on in way too many instances for my liking. The fact that a lot of such examples are walking around with titles wounds the value of said titles in my view, and I think it’s the wrong way to go about booking them.

I think titles should be exclusive to the show the individual is on. Let Raw have the WWE Title and IC belts and let Smackdown have the World Title and US belts. It would (possibly) be good heel heat if a wrestler had to forfeit his title because of the draft. McIntyre or Miz having to forfeit their belt because they were drafted then having to work their way back up the ladder would be interesting.

Since you are reading comments again, a few weeks ago I mentioned the thought of WWE doing a PPV in 3D and offering the 3D version via closed caption at the theaters and the regular version at home. What do you think of this idea?
Posted By: Angry Bear

Maybe I’m not following you, Bear, but it seems to me that the singles titles you mentioned are already exclusive to the brands upon which they’re stationed, unless you meant specifically which titles are married to which brands, and, should the titleholder be drafted to the other brand, s/he then forfeits that belt. You just think The WWE & IC titles should be Raw fixtures and The W and US titles should be anchored to SmackDown!. I think that should be the case, as well, although I absolutely do not like the notion that a champion should be forced to vacate a belt as a result of being drafted.

Now, if you wanted to go that route, at least create a scenario whereby the drafted champion be at least allowed to fight to keep the belt against the other champion on the brand to which s/he’s being drafted, ie, should The Miz be drafted to SmackDown! tonight, before he’s forced to drop The UST, at least allow him the opportunity to challenge Drew McIntyre for The ICT. That way, the wrestler most deserving to be the midcard champion can be such, and, because they’re both on the same brand, the match needn’t be a one-off, we’ve started a new title program that ends with one of them having to get back into the title picture. That seems a little more fair and a little more functional, if I may say so myself.

As for a 3D PPV, I can see how that will absolutely be the next stage of viewing technology, it’s just a matter of when. The question is, can WWE implement the technology into its’ product in a successful manner for a price that would draw enough fans to the theaters to warrant the undertaking? I mean, how many millions did WWE spend just to update its’ broadcasts to HD? Has anyone yet attempted to run a live program of three hours length in 3D? And how many theaters are hooked up to run closed-captioned events? I know that’s how I saw the first WrestleMania, but that wasn’t in a movie theater, that was at the Bakersfield Convention Center. All in all, yes, you’re definitely on the right track, wave of the future and all that good stuff, it’s just a matter of financial practicality for now.

Punk, Edge, Batista to Raw
Orton, Kofi to Smackdown

Punk to raw makes great sense, esp after he beats rey at Ex rules. However how they get his other cronies to come along with him will take some creative writing.
Posted By: HEEL

We’re obviously in agreement in having Punk go to Raw, but I changed my mind, just because, if the rumors about SmackDown! are true, Punk stands to reap the benefits of being the true #1 heel of the brand, Swagger as The WC notwithstanding, and that’s a fantastic opportunity for him, and certainly well-deserved. It brings into full circle the discussion we’ve already had in his regard whereby he gets pushed, then is pulled back, pushed, then pulled back, each time he’s withdrawn and The IWC cries foul, he ends up a little more evolved and a lot more over. This also stands to benefit Luke Gallows and Serena, as we’re seeing them receiving a little more mic time each week and doing very well. By the time they’re unleashed as singles performers, it’ll be make-or-break time for them, and they’ll have a solid foundation of heat from which to work.

BTW, I mentioned last week that getting the entire SES to Raw would have been as easy as having a battle royal or some such situation they always seem to have every year, where the winning brand earns two or three picks in one swoop. The first pick is Punk and he demands to bring his Society with him. It’s not too tough and is as plausible as anything else we see, I think.

The only reason I included Batista last week was because I thought there might be a chance to finesse Big Dave into re-signing with the company if he was allowed a large enough role on the flagship show, but that seems as if it may not be enough right now, so I’ve eased off of making a big deal out of Batista in The Draft. Like recasting the film, it’s in WWE’s best interest to focus on talent they know will be employed by them and will be an active and contributing member to the company.

Finally, it seems to me to be quite well-balanced to have Cena & Tri as Raw’s top faces and Edge & Orton anchoring SmackDown!. They all kind of balance one another it seems to me, and it just makes a certain amount of sense.

FINALLY, The COMMENTPALOOZA has come BACK the The FIVE-STAR CONVERSATION!!! Geoff, it’s great to see this again. I’d like to see Miz and Ziggler on the same show and after a face turn by Miz (He’s great as a heel, but he could easily turn.), them go against each other.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth

Thanks, Schmoovester! I think you may get your wish, because I can see Ziggler being elevated on SmackDown! now that he appears to be getting a push with this resurgence of The Sleeper, plus, as fantastically antagonistic as The Miz can be, I can also see plenty of room to transition that smarminess into a face role, the same way The Rock did a decade ago. Fans are already digging the “I’m AWESOME!” call-&-response deal and that’s the first major step, as long as he’s booked with care. It seems to me McMahonagement is keeping a sharp eye on The Miz and just may have plans for him beyond a mid-card titleholder.