Should they be doing more to hype the draft?

[Kane Knight]

Or am I missing the hype somehow? So far the only real "big" bit that was memorable was the couple of things Christian did to Cena.

Shouldn't we be seeing some more dramam realating to this, since it's supposed to be huge?

[The One]

When WWE did advertise that the draft was going to "Rock the Foundation of the WWE" they knew they couldn't deliever. Drafts are basically a way of saying "We are going to switch one over guy and about 9 other not over people to see if they make more of a splash on the other show." I think the only important thing that will come from the draft is Christian will go over to SmackDown...other then that maybe Nunzio or some other jobbers get thrown around but no one gives a shit.

[M. Banana]

There's still 14 days left until the draft.

[Kane Knight]

When WWE did advertise that the draft was going to "Rock the Foundation of the WWE" they knew they couldn't deliever. Drafts are basically a way of saying "We are going to switch one over guy and about 9 other not over people to see if they make more of a splash on the other show." I think the only important thing that will come from the draft is Christian will go over to SmackDown...other then that maybe Nunzio or some other jobbers get thrown around but no one gives a shit.
Which brings up the question: Which is worse--hyping a disappointing draft, or dropping the ball now, before the draft?

[Kane Knight]

There's still 14 days left until the draft.
So they're gonna pull an "Orton/Taker?"

[The One]

Which brings up the question: Which is worse--hyping a disappointing draft, or dropping the ball now, before the draft?

I would say that over hyping a disappointment is far worse then giving no hype to something that may or may not work. I mean really if they only plan on switching Christian then more or less everyone can see that coming with the promos Christian has been doing latly. However if they do something huge like have God...er...Triple H go over to SmackDown (and actually stay there this time) without any warning or hype...that would be silly.

[KillerWolf]

So they're gonna pull an "Orton/Taker?"
no. a Booker T / Angle.

[Kane Knight]

no. a Booker T / Angle.
I still re...

Ooops. You said ANGLE.

[M. Banana]

Who's Booker T?

[The One]

[HBK Theme]He's just a Booker T...Booker Teee-eee...He's not a sucka...SucKAAAA[/theme]

[Kane Knight]

Okay, so here's a question. Why bother if they can't deliver.

[The One]

That is a good point, and my response is one simple in nature yet baffling in practice...because it's WWE. In a world where the master minds keep Heyman under contract but don't use him creativly or as a character...and in a world where a man has his girlfriend cheat on him and then get fired because there might be backstage tension...and in a world where they bring back and old shell of a man to semi-main event pay-per-views and have him go over a young up and comming star...and in a world where the most over person on a roster doesn't even score a match at the most recent PPV...and in a world where...oh I don't think I have to continue do I? I don't know why WWE does what they do, but they just do.

[The CyNick]

I dont think theyve done a bad job hyping it.

There's not much you can do as far as angles to hype a draft. Assuming they do it the same as last year, its going to be a random drawing deal, so you cant really hype that. I mean if they were going to do a thing where the GMs could actually pick guys, then there would be more they could do.

They've been teasing the Christian thing, but you dont want to do that with more than one guy because they it looks too phony if the guys who tease that they are leaving wind up being the same guys who leave.

Aside from mentioning it on TV, which they've been doing since Vince showed up on RAW, so I dont see what more they could do.

[YOUR Hero]

There should be a guy or guys complaining they don't want to go to the other show. That they find it a demotion. Just more genaral buzz.

[Kane Knight]

I dont think theyve done a bad job hyping it.

There's not much you can do as far as angles to hype a draft. Assuming they do it the same as last year, its going to be a random drawing deal, so you cant really hype that.
Because in a real situation like this, nobody would care where they'd end up, and the WWE doesn't do drama, so it's important to emphasise this.

FFS, it's a soap opera. They can hype the "random" royal rumble, but not the draft?

[Fox]

The draft doesn't need to be hyped. All we need to know is when it is, and the rest will work itself out.

Just like last time, it isn't the draft itself that draws big numbers, it's the combination of RAW and Smackdown superstars under one roof. We know we're going to see some cool shit, just like last time (Eddie vs. HHH and the brand brawl to cap things off), and it would be lame for them to build up an angle or something leading into it. It's going to be spontaneous, and introductory build up is unneccesary.

[SuperSlim]

some build up would be necessary.

like the thing with Christian is real interesting. then yaknow if Christian and Cena were to meet up that night on Raw it would be hot.

but yeah can't use too many guys but some guys that have the potential to be switched or somethin, even in a random drawing, would make it a hotter night with the anticiaption of them bumping into each other before ht night is over.

[PureHatred]

There should be a guy or guys complaining they don't want to go to the other show. That they find it a demotion. Just more genaral buzz.

Pretty much what I'm thinking. If this is supposed to be a big deal, and everyone on the roster is facing the possibility of having their career shaken up by being moved to a different show, you'd think there'd at least be some scenes where guys in the back are talking about the propect of moving. Or maybe guys coming up to say, Benoit, and saying thing like "What's it like to be on Smackdown?" Or Smackdown guys talking amongst themselves saying , "Man, I don't want to go to Raw. I hear the Bischoff is a real dickead."

Just a little something to get across the fact that the roster is thinking about it. It adds a touch of reality. And if its on the mind of the performers, then of course it will be on the minds of the viewers.

[John la Rock]

I really hope Kurt Angle comes to Raw

[Jaded-Dragon]

I have to keep reminding myself that a draft is coming up. They rarely make mention of it on Raw and I don't recall any segment where it was mentioned on Smackdown. To which I reply, why bother? Why not just switch who you want to and say that there was a trade? It just seems like a waste of time to mention the draft, and Christian being the only one on TV every week talking about it.

Perhaps the WWE will go the route of..

Smackdown! draws... CHRISTIAN!
Raw draws.... CHRISTIAN!

JR: Wow that's unheard of, both brands drawing the same name.

Smackdown! draws... Christain!?

etc. etc.

Basically Christian is the only person that gets traded, he just jumps back and forth between shows all night. The sad part to all of this, I could really see the WWE doing it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think they could be doing something more to hype it.

Maybe just have Orlando Jordan approach Vince McMahon backstage and ask him what happens to the US Title if he goes to RAW.

JBL could be looking for back-up Cabinet members, cruiserweights might be worried that they'll be with the big boys on RAW, RAW guys could be scared of The Undertaker, Edge should be paranoid about losing his title shot, Trish should be praying Kane goes to SmackDown!, etc. I can easily see a promo with The Hurricane and Rosey saying goodbye to each other just in case one guy goes to SmackDown!, and I can easily see The Hurricane (re)tease his heel turn, and have im frustrated by the fact that he just won the World Tag Team Championship again, and now it might be taken away from him.

[Londoner]

I have to keep reminding myself that a draft is coming up. They rarely make mention of it on Raw and I don't recall any segment where it was mentioned on Smackdown. To which I reply, why bother? Why not just switch who you want to and say that there was a trade? It just seems like a waste of time to mention the draft, and Christian being the only one on TV every week talking about it.

Perhaps the WWE will go the route of..

Smackdown! draws... CHRISTIAN!
Raw draws.... CHRISTIAN!

JR: Wow that's unheard of, both brands drawing the same name.

Smackdown! draws... Christain!?

etc. etc.

Basically Christian is the only person that gets traded, he just jumps back and forth between shows all night. The sad part to all of this, I could really see the WWE doing it.

Er no, i know the WWE and even i know they wouldn't do that. That would just be ridiculous.

[Kane Knight]

I have to keep reminding myself that a draft is coming up. They rarely make mention of it on Raw and I don't recall any segment where it was mentioned on Smackdown. To which I reply, why bother? Why not just switch who you want to and say that there was a trade? It just seems like a waste of time to mention the draft, and Christian being the only one on TV every week talking about it.
They're doing it because it drew huge ratings last time.

Of course, last time they didn't wait a month after announcing it and leave it hanging. But the WWE doesn't used critical thinking.

[Xerzes]

So...has there even been a date set for it, yet? I have yet to see one. Great job, WWE.

[Mr. JL]

All I have heard is next month there will be a draft. Nice date, however, maybe they are just trying to get people to tune in each and every week thinking the draft could occur at any RAW show. If people are desperate enough to watch "who gets traded" then I think it would inspire them not to miss a few weeks of shows, as opposed to telling the fans the exact date and having them miss a few weeks of shows and then having them just tune into the "Daft Show".

[Anybody Thrilla]

If you remember the last draft, it resulted in pretty much nothing of a great deal of importance happening. What was it? Tajiri, Rhyno, A-Train, and Chuck Palumbo to Raw?

Maybe they realized that the last one wasn't so hot, so they can't push it as such anymore. So, they simply state that a draft is happening and continue to put on quality Raw shows (if anybody didn't think last week's Raw was awesome, I might question why you claim to still enjoy professional wrestling) to keep people watching for other reasons...and maybe they can fix the draft up a little better this time around.

[Mr. JL]

Booker T, RVD, Dudleys, Shelton Benjamin all went over at last years draft.

RVD is now injured. Dudley's are ECW talent so we obviously have not seen them for about half a year.

Booker T is doing pretty well now on SD!

Shelton Benjamin is off the charts and continues to get more and more reactions from thelive crowds.

[Crashnburn]

Personally I wish the WWE would go back to a format where they didn't hype shit up anymore, with the exception of the ppv's of course. For example if you're bringing in a new superstar don't hit us with two months of vigenettes/promos before they actually debut because they will never be able to live up to the hype. Just have them do the old standard suprise run in. Bring the shock value back to sports entertainment. So as far as the draft goes I would enjoy it just as much if not more if some random Raw opened with Vince standing in the ring and announced that they were having the draft that night.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Personally I wish the WWE would go back to a format where they didn't hype shit up anymore, with the exception of the ppv's of course. For example if you're bringing in a new superstar don't hit us with two months of vigenettes/promos before they actually debut because they will never be able to live up to the hype. Just have them do the old standard suprise run in. Bring the shock value back to sports entertainment. So as far as the draft goes I would enjoy it just as much if not more if some random Raw opened with Vince standing in the ring and announced that they were having the draft that night.

I agree 100%. About the wrestlers anyway. I think vignettes would be better spent on hyping an already existing wrestler. Maybe have a "Billy Kidman Moment #239" air, with Billy Kidman injuring Paul London with a Shooting Star Press.

They need to worry more about hyping their older talent then their newer talent.

[Crashnburn]

I agree 100%. About the wrestlers anyway. I think vignettes would be better spent on hyping an already existing wrestler. Maybe have a "Billy Kidman Moment #239" air, with Billy Kidman injuring Paul London with a Shooting Star Press.

They need to worry more about hyping their older talent then their newer talent.

:y:

[PorkSoda]

WWE should do alot more.

Like this past Saturday. I'm signing up for wrestling school, the dude told me to come back next week, but I met this girl, Cherry, shes a wrestler/manager, really nice, talked to her for a couple minutes and I told her that WWE don't really know what they're doing, but I watch. IT WAS FUN! Then I went to DQ and got the Brownie Batter Blizzard, which was AWESOME! WAHOOOHAHAHAHH OHOH OHOH!

[Anybody Thrilla]

I think that last post killed an abnormal amount of brain cells for me.

[Crashnburn]

:drool: <---- me after reading Porksoda's post.

[The CyNick]

Because in a real situation like this, nobody would care where they'd end up, and the WWE doesn't do drama, so it's important to emphasise this.

FFS, it's a soap opera. They can hype the "random" royal rumble, but not the draft?

In real life they would totally care. If you're on RAW do you really want to go to the show that the company sees as the "B" show?

If you are a guy on SD, do you want to rsik a top spot by going to RAW and have to deal with Hunter?

Its not that they shouldn't hype it, but its a difficult thing to hype.

The whole deal with teasing a Cena-Christian program is that it makes the draft look fake. We all know its a work, but it should be presented as totally random. When Christian and Cena end up on the same show (assuming that happens) it will emphasis that the whole thing is a work. I know it sounds dumb to complain about something looking like a work, but part of good wrestling is making things seem real.

Like I said, I think its fine to do with just Christian, but if they were to tip off more guys switching, it would seem too phony.

I do agree that they could do a little more in terms of quick vignettes where tag teams, and factions talk about the possibility of changing shows. But at the same time, there is only so much TV time, and when you have a PPV in 2 weeks, and a major tournament on the other shows, those things need to take up most of the TV time.

I also agree they should announce the date, which I expect to be done tonight actually.

[M. Banana]

waht?

[Mayo]

They mentioned the part where Edge might not get a chance to use his title shot if he gets traded, and although minor, at least they mentioned it somewhere else. There should be an angle where a top face or heel is bitching to the GM about hating this show and hoping that he's drafted, or some tag teams complaining that they wouldn't be able to bear being split by the draft, or a champion claiming that he can't be drafted because he has a title, etc.

[Kane Knight]

In real life they would totally care. If you're on RAW do you really want to go to the show that the company sees as the "B" show?

If you are a guy on SD, do you want to rsik a top spot by going to RAW and have to deal with Hunter?
Thanks for making the point that I was emphasising. Glad you're now up to date.

[The CyNick]

Thanks for making the point that I was emphasising. Glad you're now up to date.


So you want them to talk about that stuff on TV?

Wise move!

[Nark Order]

What if WWE pulls a big FU and keeps Christian on RAW?

[Kane Knight]

So you want them to talk about that stuff on TV?

Wise move!
And you just discovered that! Brilliant lad!

[olympic hitman]

This is typical WWE. They expect the draft to be "major" but, give it little attention. They are focusing more on the ECW One Night Stand PPV more than the upcoming draft.

I hope the draft is done right. RAW is the A-Show and Smackdown is the B-Show. It shouldn't be that way. Both should be equally impactful and meaningful. Politics play a part of the equation, but, there should be no differences in either show. So, I'm hoping the lottery will kind of even it out and make both shows good again[like after the original draft]. If only two or three stars are jumping though, it won't be that major anyway. It's going to take major changes to make an impact and change the WWE for the better.

[redoneja]

I really don't give two shits about the draft, as long as they push wrestlers properly.

[M. Banana]

I didn't get to see last year's as I started watching SmackDown regularly right after that though. I remember the big ass fight, that was pretty cool...

[darkpower]

If they hyped the draft now, wouldn't that overshadow Judgment Day coming up? My guess is that they wouldn't want to take the chance, and just worry about selling Judgment Day first, THEN the draft.

People will wonder if anything at JD will mean anything if those very people will be taken out of SmackDown via the draft, and thus won't order the PPV, which the WWE I would figure want for people to order.

Makes sense to me.

[Evolution]

Smart thinking darkpower.

Didn't even think about Judgment Day (mainly because I don't watch this programme you seem to call SmackDOWN!)

But I quite like the idea of having people bitch to Bischoff/Long about the state of the show their on, then if/when they get drafted, things get worse. Like when Carlito griped about Teddy Long but nothing happened, so he was stuck shovelling snow outside the arena. But you could also work it so Masters gets drafted to SmackDOWN! and in one of his challenges he gets beat and has to fork out $5000 or whatever it is now.

Come on WWE, DON'T SCREW THIS ONE UP!

[Kane Knight]

If they hyped the draft now, wouldn't that overshadow Judgment Day coming up? My guess is that they wouldn't want to take the chance, and just worry about selling Judgment Day first, THEN the draft.

People will wonder if anything at JD will mean anything if those very people will be taken out of SmackDown via the draft, and thus won't order the PPV, which the WWE I would figure want for people to order.

Makes sense to me.
They're hyping One Night Only, wouldn't that "Overshadow" JD?

[Mike the Metal Ed]

There should be a guy or guys complaining they don't want to go to the other show. That they find it a demotion. Just more genaral buzz.

:y:

They don't need to overhype it, just a couple of backstage segments, say MNM being worried about being split up, or Edge not wanting to lose his "Money in the Bank" deal if he moves to Smackdown.

Like in the 2002 draft, William Regal (I think) went around the various tag teams, shit stirring, and teasing some tag break ups (telling the APA, Hardyz etc that they might not be on the same show after the draft.) It hypes the show without overdoing it, or making it seem fake.

[darkpower]

They're hyping One Night Only, wouldn't that "Overshadow" JD?
From what I was hearing, they weren't going to do as much advertising of that PPV than they normally do (although I am surprised that they did do a promo about it with Coach and Bishoff on RAW), so I'm not sure if that would really count. The draft is something that EVERYONE is going to be wanting to see, whereas ECW is something that may be for a more "localized" audience.

[Kane Knight]

From what I was hearing, they weren't going to do as much advertising of that PPV than they normally do (although I am surprised that they did do a promo about it with Coach and Bishoff on RAW), so I'm not sure if that would really count. The draft is something that EVERYONE is going to be wanting to see, whereas ECW is something that may be for a more "localized" audience.
And yet ECW's gotten more attention.

By your logic, does it make more sense to advertise to a specialty crowd, or to hype somethint everyone's gonna wanna see?

[Just John]

They should build up more cross brand fueds otherwise it might as well be pointless


*cough*pushchristian*cough*

[darkpower]

And yet ECW's gotten more attention.

By your logic, does it make more sense to advertise to a specialty crowd, or to hype somethint everyone's gonna wanna see?
I'm not saying that I'm agreeing with it, just trying to make some sense out of it.

By WWE'S logic (which is what I put up there), yeah, EXACTLY that. Of course, WWE logic is different from any other logic in the fucking WORLD, so what can you do? (and again, I'm not necessarily AGREEING with it, just telling you how it probably will be according to the WWE!).