Triple H, Jim Ross and Brian Kendrick all change WWE addresses and move to the SmackDown! brand. I’m still up in the air on which of those three moves will make the most impact.
Opening Witty Banter
How was everyone’s week? Mine was good, as I was out on the road traveling for three days, so it made for a nice short week in the office. This week’s edition is brought to you by Bret Hart’s documentary, as I needed something for background noise while I crank this thing out.
The Big Story
The beauty part about having my column going up Monday morning is the fact I that I get the final word on everything that happened this past week in WWE-land. So yes that means you’ll get my analysis of last Monday’s draft and the subsequent supplemental online draft.
So here’s a brief breakdown of who went where and what it should/could mean for everyone involved.
Rey Mysterio from SmackDown! to RAW: Mysterio had spent his entire tenure on the SmackDown! brand, which I thought was kind of cool. It really has become his home. It seems as if Mysterio was kind of bummed out as well, as he really liked the Latino audience he drew for the blue brand. With that being said, this does open up a wealth of new opponents for Mysterio, especially with the cruiserweight division non-existent. It was a great way to kick off the draft in a big fashion.
Jeff Hardy from RAW to SmackDown!: Some have called this on-air demotion but after a week of hindsight it’s obvious that Hardy’s move was to help shore up SmackDown! in an effort to finally have a balance to the rosters that hasn’t been there since 2003.
CM Punk from ECW to RAW: Punk has made ECW his home for over two years, but it seems as if he had outgrown the third brand, especially with the Money in the Bank briefcase in tow. He seemed like one of the obvious choices to be moved from the brand. It will be interesting to see how Punk will fare on the star-heavy RAW brand. At least he will have the briefcase to keep him relevant and not get completely lost in the shuffle.
Matt Hardy from SmackDown! to ECW: It seems as if they are pretty adamant about keeping Matt and Jeff Hardy apart, and with Punk leaving the extreme brand, Hardy will fill in nicely as the hero. Him retaining the United States Championship at Night of Champions adds some intrigue as to what happens from here in regards to both him and the belt.
Jim Ross from RAW to SmackDown!: Easily the second biggest shock of the evening was JR’s move. His live reaction to the news was absolutely priceless, but I do think he should have been afforded at least a bit of heads up in regards to the switch. His rants on his blog were entertaining to read, but his original passion-filled rant did make Ross come off quite childish. This also shows the company is serious about making SmackDown! relevant again. I think him and Mick Foley will gel into an excellent commentary combination.
Michael Cole from SmackDown! to RAW: They’ve been trying replace Jim Ross on RAW for years now and apparently they’ve finally pulled the trigger on moving Michael Cole over. He and Jerry Lawler do have previous experience working with each other, which helps. This is definitely one of the more intriguing moves in the draft, and it will be interesting to see how Cole fills into his new live role. It might be a couple bumpy weeks until he and Lawler find their rhythm together.
Batista from SmackDown! to RAW: Everyone had pegged this as an obvious move, but I had come to see Batista as such an institution on Friday nights that I didn’t see the move coming, especially with how top heavy RAW already was with faces. Turns out by the end of the night it became more clear on the reasoning by big Dave was moved. He can now continue his feud with Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels and stay away from Undertaker and Edge for a long while. Plus we can finally see the long awaited dream matches with Randy Orton and John Cena in the near future.
Umaga from RAW to SmackDown!: Duh. This was the most obvious, logical move of their draft. Everyone could see this coming a mile away as Umaga needed this badly in order to remain credible and over in the company.
Kane from ECW to RAW: This kind of seems like a lateral move as wherever Kane goes he fills in nicely as an upper mid-card threat on either heel/face divide. Especially now that he has dropped the ECW Championship it will be back to business as usual for Kane. Perhaps we are looking at Kane’s farewell tour, as he has been consistent for the company for a decade now and rumors have floated recently that he is looking to retire soon.
Mr. Kennedy from RAW to SmackDown!: Kennedy has had just a string of bad luck on RAW over this past year after everybody had heralded him as the breakout star from last year’s draft. Perhaps a return to his old stomping grounds will reignite the momentum he once had. He’ll have fresh opponents like Edge and MVP to keep himself busy while he climbs the ladder once again.
Triple H from RAW to SmackDown!: This was the true shocker of the draft. No one believed it would happen, and detractors are still saying that it won’t stick. He kept the WWE Championship at Night of Champions, which brings a lot more intrigue to the WWE landscape as both World Champions are now SmackDown! based guys. Word has now come out that Triple H was notified of the move prior to it being announced on TV, and was okay with it as it will allow for him to spend more time with his new family. This move really does cement the fact that they are serious about making SmackDown! a legit entity once again, as he and Jim Ross have been RAW institutions forever and their moves show that the company is serious.
Supplemental Draft:
Kofi Kingston from ECW to RAW: I wasn’t really expecting much of Kofi’s move, but after Night of Champions it’s obvious that the company has big plans for young Kofi.
Layla El from ECW to RAW: I have no idea what the logic was here, and frankly it doesn’t really matter. She’ll just be background eye candy I would imagine.
Carlito from RAW to SmackDown!: Carly has been unhappy for a long time now, but perhaps a change back to his old home might be what Carlito needs to reignite his fire. Under a new booking team he might find some inspiration that he sorely needs.
Finlay from SmackDown! to ECW: ECW prides itself on having a veteran leader to work with all the young guys on the brand, and I guess Finlay gets that spot now that Kane has moved on.
Shelton Benjamin from ECW to SmackDown!: I don’t really know how this will work out for Shelton. He’s been given so many chances to try to become a superstar, so I feel this just another attempt at allowing Benjamin to find his niche.
Maria from RAW to SmackDown!: Poor Maria has become the latest victim of Playboy curse. She’s been in Playboy and been the star of the Divas, and now its time for her to fade into the background while someone else becomes the company’s “It†girl.
Matt Striker from ECW to RAW: I don’t know how this move will work for Striker as it seems as if Santino Marella already has the comedy mouthpiece quota locked up on RAW. I’m interested to see what he does with the move. A guy like Charlie Haas could sure use Striker’s gift of gab to help in getting over.
Brian Kendrick from RAW to SmackDown!: With no cruiserweight division left I don’t know what the plans are for Kendrick. It seems as if they would split him and Paul London because they had plans for at least one of them. Unfortunately I think London might benefit more while Kendrick becomes Umaga’s whipping boy on SmackDown!
Chuck Palumbo from SmackDown! to RAW: Somebody’s got to be the heel midcard guy on Raw.
Super Crazy from RAW to ECW: One of the few remaining ECW originals comes “home.†At least now he’ll be able to get some TV time being his old Heat stomping grounds are nonexistent.
Hornswoggle from SmackDown! to ECW: Apparently they are set on keeping him and Finlay together. I’m pretty much over Hornswoggle so I could really care less where he ends up.
DH Smith from RAW to SmackDown!: He seemed like a lock to be Ted DiBiase’s partner at Night of Champions so this moved puzzled people, including me. At least now he can work with his cousin Nattie Neidhart. Plus he didn’t get off to a good start on RAW so maybe a run on SmackDown! is just “The Canadian Bulldog†needs to finally find his relevance.
Deuce from SmackDown! to RAW: After he and Domino split on SmackDown! it was obvious they wouldn’t both be staying on the same brand. All eyes are pointing at Deuce joining up with DiBiase and Rhodes as part of this fledgling second-generation stable with a fresh gimmick. As for his partner Domino, somebody’s gotta job on Friday nights.
Big Daddy V from ECW to RAW: After Viscera was reinvented as Big Daddy V he became relevant again. I can see him remaining a mid-card player on SmackDown! amongst the other giants like Big Show, Great Khali and Umaga.
Trevor Murdoch from RAW to SmackDown!: After Murdoch got jobbed unceremoniously to his old tag partner Lance Cade it was obvious he needed a change in scenery. A run on SmackDown! under Michael Hayes’ booking might be just what Murdoch needs to not get lost in the shuffle completely.
Jaime Noble from SmackDown! to RAW: This originally seemed like a quizzical move to me, but apparently this worked out more for backstage reasons as Noble also works as an agent and this was done to help facilitate that position.
Mark Henry from SmackDown! to ECW: Well he won the ECW Championship last night so I guess they are finally going to try and get something out the guy after paying him for going on twelve years now.
Everything Else Fit For Print
Former WWE creative team member Seth Mates has being doing phenomenal with his new blog about the goings-on of WWE while he worked there. His most recent revelation is that, yes the company does read Internet wrestling website to get feedback and fan reactions.
Hi, WWE. I hope you like what I’ve done with the place.
Melina was legit injured last Monday on RAW during her tag match with Mickie James against Victoria and Nattie Neidhart. It hasn’t yet been announced what the extent of her injury was however.
I wonder if the real finish to their match was supposed to be a double count-out like that or if they had something else in mind to get to the announcer double-switch?
According to PWInsider, WWE won’t be changing its ECW tapings until October at the earliest. The August 19 SmackDown! taping in Moline, IL is confirmed to feature ECW, and all RAW events through September are listed as not including ECW. WWE has not announced any SmackDown! tapings for after September 15th, so the move may happen then. WWE.com had all RAW house shows after August 1st as being with ECW, but that has now changed back to just being RAW.
Well now we know…
There really hasn’t been a whole lot of other news as everything through the week has been dominated by either Draft coverage or looking back at the Benoit tragedy from a year ago. And speaking of that, as I’m putting the finishing touches on this article (and writing this as the very last thing) the Bret Hart documentary has just come to the part where Bret is talking about Owen’s death and features a lot of clips and comments from Benoit talking about their Owen Memorial match in Kemper. It has now transitioned into talking about their WCW Championship match from Vancouver in 1999, and it’s just interesting to hear the glowing praise Bret put on Benoit as being like part of the family and the perfect guy to honor Owen with.
Wrestler of the Week
I’m trying to think of new ways to change up/improve this column so each week I will highlight who I think was WWE’s Wrestler of the Week, kind of like what JR does on wwe.com. As this is still in its early stages I don’t really have any criteria, but I’m sure my choice will come from a combination of kayfabe and real-life factors.
For the week of June 23 – June 29: Kofi Kingston
Kofi went from hot, young upstart on the third brand to a major player on the RAW brand virtually overnight. I reported weeks back about how the company was looking for a new African-American hero that they can use to fill the void left by Bobby Lashley, and it appears as if Kofi is going to be used to fill that role. The guy can’t smile enough and he’s got a bright, flashy style that just makes him the perfect babyface. This will definitely freshen up RAW’s midcard as there are so many talents Kofi has yet to work with. With Kofi as Intercontinental Champion and the second-generation kids as Tag Champs I’m looking forward to what happens next.
Week of June 2 – 8: John Cena
Week of June 16 – 22: Lance Cade
RAW’s On Tonight!
I’m really excited for RAW tonight, as the fallout from Night of Champions put RAW into more disarray. Young kids like Kofi Kingston and Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes now hold the mid-card championships while technically RAW is without a World Championship. There are a lot of questions left unanswered, and a lot of new faces to debut and have their roles defined. Plus we’ll get to hear how Michael Cole does with a live mic. Oh yeah, apparently there will also be an update on Mr. McMahon’s condition as well, but I could care less about that.
On Last Week’s Episode…
Hepple covers the most relevant SmackDown! in a long time. It was a pretty good show actually.
Blatt and Kirschner provide double coverage of he first ECW of post-draft.
Marshall gets the honors of covering of covering a pretty monumental RAW that hopefully provides some real changes to WWE over the summer.
How They Rated
A.M. RAW (6.22.08) – .55
RAW (6.23.08) – 3.4
ECW (6.24.08) – 1.18
SmackDown! (6.27.06) –
This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
K Sawyer Paul heralds the efforts of Brother Ray from TNA this past week.
David Wells has a preview of a lot of big indy shows coming up.
Glazer does an absolutely phenomenal job of booking a one-hour Ring of Honor television show. Seriously, Gabe should hire this man today.
Kirschner gives a review of CHIKARA’ Campeones de Parejas.
Wiswell details some of Ring of Honor’s upsets that didn’t quite prove as memorable as they could have been.
In Case You Didn’t Spend the $40
Murray and Scott Keith provide double coverage of last night’s Night of Champions that produced more questions and answers. It sounds like it was a pretty good show.
Here’s the quick ‘n’ dirty:
John Morrison and The Miz beat Finlay and Hornswoggle to retain the WWE Tag Championship (8:48).
Matt Hardy pinned Chavo Guerrero to retain the United States Championship (9:21).
Mark Henry beat The Big Show and Kane to win the ECW Championship (8:19).
Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase beat Cody Rhodes & Bob Holly to win the World Tag Championship (1:30) after Cody turned on Holly and joined DiBiase.
Kofi Kingston pinned Chris Jericho to win the Intercontinental Championship (11:00).
Mickie James pinned Katie Lea Burchill to retain the Women’s Championship (7:17).
Edge pinned Batista to retain the World Championship (16:50).
Triple H pinned John Cena to retain the WWE Championship (19:39).
IP Staff Roundtable Results for WWE Night of Champions
Raffi put together a nice roundtable for Night of Champions. Click the link to see how the Pulse Wrestling staff voted and then come back to see who was the site’s Champion.
Roundtable Champion
Mark Neeley, Matthew Michaels and Andrew Wheeler all scored 5-3 so congrats to all three winners.
