A New Draft After WM ?

[Road Warrior]

Is a new draft needed after Wm ? I mean granted they, have'nt done much with the guys they moved last time ( Kennedy), but so many guys are in need of new programs. Would you move anyone ?

[Theo Dious]

Yes. For now at least they need to re-draft the brands the way they want them, then go back to frozen rosters. Also, either Vickie or Teddy needs to be sole GM of Smackdown and Regal needs to be GM of Raw with far less Vince interference.

[thedamndest]

I was thinking that the way they were going they would feud Jericho and MVP and then have them trade shows. Not like the belts ever change hands anyway.

[Road Warrior]

I was thinking that the way they were going they would feud Jericho and MVP and then have them trade shows. Not like the belts ever change hands anyway.

You can't really complain about the belts never changing hands. People bitched for sooooo long about the U.S and I-C belts changing hands too often and it taking away from the "prestige" of each belt.

[addy2hotty]

I don't really see what a draft will do at this stage. The big names will stay on Raw, the rest will be on Smackdown with Edge & Batista while ECW will stay as the brand of the damned.

[Tommy Gunn]

Move MVP to Raw, that way I no longer need to watch Smackdown.

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>This is what I think will happen:

MVP goes to Raw, Jericho to Smackdown. The titles simply change shows...while MVP becomes this year's Kennedy and gets lost in the shuffle. :-\ Its odd, as much as I want to see Jericho succeed, I don't want to have to watch Smackdown so for that I'd rather he stay on Raw.

Also, figure Taker will be champ by this point, so they'll need to move a semi-big name over to Smackdown for a fresh feud. I'd say Umaga is a good bet, definitely the kind of guy I can see WWE moving because he'll be seen as more of a main eventer on Smackdown.

I'm guessing this will just be a two way draft, with Smackdown and ECW drafting as a unit since they have that talent exchange anyway.</font>

[Mr. JL]

Yeah... Chris Jericho needs to be sent to SmackDown! to become the World Champ.

[thedamndest]

You can't really complain about the belts never changing hands. People bitched for sooooo long about the U.S and I-C belts changing hands too often and it taking away from the "prestige" of each belt.

I don't care if they don't change hands, I care they neither one of them get defended due to lack of credible undercard.

[Rollermacka]

Well I see the change maybe put Cena back on smackdown. Put Boogey (if he's still around :?:) back with Kane so you can have a drooling worm eater and the big red machine staring down Jessie & Festus (and THAT my friends is the look of a man with no fear Festus: :|) . I would like to also see Jericho lose the belt via MVP and on the same night go to Smackdown to persue revenge. Also put Cade and Murdock/ Highlanders on Smackdown and make the show more about Tag titles.

[Ruien]

Move MVP to Raw, that way I no longer need to watch Smackdown.

Woot, that is 1 person on the bandwagon with me.

[Mr. Nerfect]

No offence Ruien, but isn't everyone on the MVP bandwagon these days? Or were you just referring to people who want to see him moved from his cozy little home on SmackDown!?

I'm fairly sure Batista will be moving from SmackDown! to RAW. It seems likely that Batista will defeat Umaga at WrestleMania, which would give SmackDown! a rare claim of superiority over RAW. What better way for RAW to ruin it than take SmackDown!'s Superman? It's been something that has been rumoured for a while (I believe), and Batista just seems like a RAW guy to me. They made him the big fish in the small pond, and I thought it was brilliant when they did it, but I think it's time to move him back.

Carlito is one of the only other guys I've seen rumoured to be switching brands soon. Apparently the plan is to have him go to SmackDown! and feud with Eddie Colon, or team with him, or something. Could be good. Carlito has been on RAW for a while, and has been lost in the shuffle for a lot of that time.

Umaga is another guy people see moving, but I actually see Umaga officially being added to the ECW roster. To keep the illusion of a brand on Sci-Fi, I think the WWE need to have some guys drafted there. Umaga will be one, I feel. Whether or not they keep the SmackDown!/ECW thing going is up to them, but I agree that there need to be re-defined lines between the brands. ECW needs some people that fans care about, and see as somewhat credible.

Rey Mysterio is someone I can see moving to either RAW or ECW. He's been on SmackDown! for a while, and it's sort of his home, but you occasionally hear rumours about him changing brands. Rey going to ECW would still allow him to work SmackDown! shows, if they keep the agreement between the brands around. He could go there in the intended "Chris Benoit role" that Benoit did last year.

I see John Morrison drafted to SmackDown!. It won't make too much difference, except Morrison will spend more of his time on SmackDown! than ECW, don't ask me why, though, but I can definitely see it.

Super Crazy, Paul London and Brian Kendrick are all sort of being lost on RAW. Why was Crazy on RAW again? He should move back to ECW, even if he remains a jobber. Paul London seems to be in the doghouse at the moment, or still not quite recovered from his foot surgery, or something, because he's been left out of the Battle Royal while Brian Kendrick is in. I could see him going back to either SmackDown! or ECW because of this, for sure. Kendrick the best fitted to remain on RAW, but a move might generally do him good. I think he'll stay, though. Any of their moves will be a part of the "supplemental draft," though.

There are some big moves I'd like to see, but I don't think we will. Namely, John Cena and The Undertaker trading place with their World Championships. It's been a while since we've seen The Undertaker on RAW (like 2002, I believe), and John Cena is a company man. He will go wherever the WWE tells him to. There are a lot of benefits for putting John Cena on SmackDown!. It again refreshes the title scene, and puts the title with history on SmackDown!, and the big gold belt on RAW. It's good to change things up occasionally, in my opinion. It's been three years with the belts the way they are. It was three years before they changed things up last time. It also allows the WWE to edit Cena's reactions for the positive. Plus, Cena is the face of the WWE these days, so putting him on SmackDown! gives the move to MyNetworkTV, when it happens, a lot of publicity, and the appearance of WWE supporting the network. Good leverage in getting them back on Thursdays. Plus, Cena could appear on ECW if he was on SD!, which means three hours of Cena a week instead of two. The WWE has to love that.

And then there is the long awaited Triple H/Shawn Michaels move people keep wanting to see, even though we all know it's hopeless. HBK will be riding a high when he retires Ric Flair, though, and he recently worked SmackDown!, so who knows, maybe he is having a change of heart? One can dream.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Oh, and Jeff Hardy will probably get moved to ECW after his suspension, as a form of silent "punishment" for his suspension. He'll still be over, and still sort of be pushed (to a degree), but it will not happen on the flagship show. Matt might take his place, as it makes sense to put him on the show with Randy Orton, to get revenge for head getting kicked in. This would also fit with MVP moving to RAW, as well. That would imply a SmackDown! move for Chris Jericho, which is something I can see the WWE doing, even though I think Jericho is fine on RAW.

[addy2hotty]

Isn't SD going to be on a nothing station in the States soon?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Isn't SD going to be on a nothing station in the States soon?

That's why it might be good to get some guys that people will actually seek out to watch on there. MyNetworkTV is apparently a nothing station, but it is available in more homes than the CW Network was, apparently. This means that, technically, the WWE could get higher ratings for SmackDown! on this new station than where they were.

[addy2hotty]

In that case, ignoring 'possible' viewing figures that after the next draft, Smackdown's biggest star will be Michael Cole.

[Kane Knight]

When's the last time WWE really seeded a B show to increase ratings, though? It's not exactly in their standard operating procedure.

Though the best rated MNTV show does worse than ECW broadcasts, so Smackdown is sure to be their best rated show. The problem being that even that increase in viewership may not be enough to save a company that's been on life support for like two years.

[Mr. Nerfect]

When's the last time WWE really seeded a B show to increase ratings, though? It's not exactly in their standard operating procedure.

Though the best rated MNTV show does worse than ECW broadcasts, so Smackdown is sure to be their best rated show. The problem being that even that increase in viewership may not be enough to save a company that's been on life support for like two years.

Oh, you're 100%. SmackDown! will no doubt be mined again.

[Kane Knight]

Oh, you're 100%. SmackDown! will no doubt be mined again.

This is one of those cases where I really wish I was wrong.

The benefit of Smackdown is that you see some guys you probably wouldn't have seen without the roster split. The problem is, they farm the talent to Raw, and the writers almost seem to know this. They rarely write interesting programs that go anywhere, because anyone who gets over is destined for Raw. And so you have talented guys who will go nowhere, and they're often just randomly shuffled around. And so it's like, "why bother?"

[The Heenan Family]

I really think they should give the ECW the b show and give it 2 hours on Sci-Fi making Smackdown the C brand on a crappy network...

[Mr. Nerfect]

This is one of those cases where I really wish I was wrong.

The benefit of Smackdown is that you see some guys you probably wouldn't have seen without the roster split. The problem is, they farm the talent to Raw, and the writers almost seem to know this. They rarely write interesting programs that go anywhere, because anyone who gets over is destined for Raw. And so you have talented guys who will go nowhere, and they're often just randomly shuffled around. And so it's like, "why bother?"

That is exactly right, except SmackDown! actually had better storylines than RAW this past year. The whole Jamie Noble/Chuck Palumbo/Michelle McCool storyline was absolutely brilliant until the WWE gave it the conclusion of...well, Noble giving up trying to tap that pussy.

After Noble got his injuries from Big Show that week, they really should have played up Michelle McCool being concerned for Jamie, and sort of reversing roles a bit. Have McCool chasing Noble, while Jamie seems a lot less interested.

But yeah, SmackDown! also had MVP vs. Matt Hardy and Batista vs. The Undertaker. RAW only really had Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy.

SmackDown! should really be made the wrestling show again. Move over the guys on RAW that are best served in an in-ring environment (Val Venis, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Super Crazy, DH Smith, etc.) and let them work 10-20 minute matches on SmackDown!.

There needs to be some reason for the show to stick around.

[FourFifty]

I don't care who goes where because everyone will be bitching about it the next week. What I do hope for is that the brands remain split. This includes PPVs.... Ya know, I'm not even going to bother typing this out. Can someone just quote me by saying "TEH BRAND SPL1T IZ GUUD!!!!!" with a picture of someone beating a dead horse?

[KYR]

450 is the biz...

"TEH BRAND SPL1T IZ GUUD!!!!!"

http://www.steveaddison.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/flogging%20dead%20horse.jpg

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think the WWE needs to either go all-out with the brand split, and have guys remain on fixed rosters, with their own championship schemes, and just different feels for each show. Fuck, let the writers be as competitive as they can be. Competition tends to make the WWE better.

One of the biggest problems with the roster split, is that it gave the WWE the chance to create new stars, and really focus on giving two full rosters the chance to shine. The WWE does not do this. The way the WWE is carrying on ("The main event is the only important aspect to the show!" seems to favour a more unified roster approach -- which is the other option.

Re-unify the rosters, and just get things over with. We could use William Regal back in the ring and Armando Estrada and Theodore Long managing, anyway.

Recently, it just occured to me that Big Show is in the RAW opening. Um, why? He's a SmackDown! guy. He also got to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, despite being from a different brand. You have ECW guys holding SmackDown!'s WWE Tag Team Championship, and almost no mention made of it. I think the ECW Champion is still technically a SmackDown! guy, too. What brand is Ric Flair meant to be on again?

Everything is pretty much in shambles.

[The Optimist]

I think that ECW and Smackdown have been completely free to traverse each other's shows for awhile. It's sort of a sticky situation, but it's become accepted. Smackdown wrestlers on Raw with no mention of why, not even an obligatory "Interpromotional" sticker on the match, still slightly bothers me. It's become one of those WWE cliches that just happens with no explanation and no apology, like people completely forgetting storylines and fueds that have beginnings and middles but no ends.

If they do another Draft, I don't know if that's destined or not because I wasn't paying attention, they'll likely do almost exactly what they did last time. Shake things up the slightest bit and use that as a mask to take the good parts or ECW/Smackdown to Raw.

And, just from Noid's prediction: Umaga and CM Punk fueding would be cool. As would Chavo and Jeff Hardy.
I really think they should give the ECW the b show and give it 2 hours on Sci-Fi making Smackdown the C brand on a crappy network...
How is Sci-Fi not a crappy network?

[St. Jimmy]

MVP sucks.

[Kane Knight]

How is Sci-Fi not a crappy network?


Well, among other things, it's not in financial dire straits. That alone should put it on better standings. Though it's not so much that it's not a crappy network, but that it's a less crappy network, I suppose.

I mean, MyNetworkTV has a huge installation base, but its top rated shows in the history of the network only does about as well as a current (Not even best) episode of TNA Impact or ECW. And that's considering that Spike and Sci Fi are cable, and MNTV is broadcast.

[FourFifty]

450 is the biz...

"TEH BRAND SPL1T IZ GUUD!!!!!"

http://www.steveaddison.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/flogging%20dead%20horse.jpg

Thank you for summing up my views on the issue.

[Kane Knight]

I think that ECW and Smackdown have been completely free to traverse each other's shows for awhile.


You mean like was announced on WWE.com, Smackdown (and apparently ECW), and so on?

Now, I'm not saying that everyone should know it, because nobody watches ECW or Smackdown and not everyone reads WWE.com or even takes it seriously.

[The Heenan Family]

How is Sci-Fi not a crappy network?

It don't have no HDTV channel and that's very important in my life.

[Kane Knight]

It don't have no HDTV channel and that's very important in my life.

Sci-Fi does have an HD broadcast.

[The Optimist]

Well, among other things, it's not in financial dire straits. That alone should put it on better standings. Though it's not so much that it's not a crappy network, but that it's a less crappy network, I suppose.

I mean, MyNetworkTV has a huge installation base, but its top rated shows in the history of the network only does about as well as a current (Not even best) episode of TNA Impact or ECW. And that's considering that Spike and Sci Fi are cable, and MNTV is broadcast.
Acceptable answer.

I guess I'm just beating my own dead horse pertaining to the ECW-Smackdown roster agreement. I'm a bit suprised that they haven't just joined the two, somehow. Does ECW's hour even have an official name?