Another Draft is in the books, and Vince McMahon will…not…die…
Opening Witty Banter
This is going to be probably my longest This Week in ‘E to date as I take to task all thirty-six of last week’s draft stemming from RAW and the on-line draft, so enough with banter and onto the news.
Let’s take some ‘E…
The News of the Week
WWE’s 2009 Draft is in the books. On Monday night live on RAW twelve talents switched brands while on Wednesday afternoon another 24 talents were transferred about thanks to a supplemental draft exclusive to wwe.com. Here is my expert take on what the roster transfer means for each of the 36 wrestlers who made a switch in shows and brands.
Live Draft from RAW:
Rey Mysterio (RAW) pinned Evan Bourne (ECW) – RAW gained United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (and the US Championship) from SmackDown.
Montel Vontavious Porter – MVP spent most of 2008 in a losing streak that was finally rectified late in the year. The losing streak caused fans to gain sympathy for the cocky Porter and allowed him to become a fan favorite for the first time in his WWE career. Shortly before WrestleMania XXV he also picked up his second US Championship, putting him back in a solid position in the company. This move to RAW will be Porter’s first long-term exposure on WWE’s flagship live show and a chance for the company to see if he will become the big-time superstar they are banking on. But as it stands this move puts him about number five on the depth chart of top level good guys so he will still have a long term battle ahead of him to reach the top of the cards.
Kane (RAW) pinned The Brian Kendrick (SD) – RAW gained The Big Show from SmackDown.
The Big Show – Since Big Show first arrived in World Wrestling Entertainment in early 1999 he has become quite the utility player for WWE. He has portrayed ruthless monster, a big friendly giant, an enforcer, an under-utilized big man who didn’t live up to his potential and a variety of other roles. Since his battle with lightweight boxer Floyd “Money†Mayweather at WrestleMania XXV Show has continued to change and evolve. Currently he has been riding probably the mot high-profile run of his WWE career since 2002 and a move to the flagship show is likely a reward for his previous work.
WWE Divas Champion Maryse, Michelle McCool & Natalya Neidhart (SD) beat WWE Women’s Champion Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly (RAW) – SD gained Melina from RAW. As a result Melina and the Women’s Championship is moving to SmackDown.
Melina – Since last year’s experiment of loading up Friday Night SmackDown’s roster in preparation for its move to the fledgling MyNetworkTV was deemed a failure the company has seemingly decided to go back to what worked with SmackDown before – drawing in the Latino audience. Melina Perez is a great role model for young Latina women and her presence on SmackDown defending the Women’s Championship is a great hook in viewers. She has been a member of the RAW roster for nearly three years straight now so this is also a chance for her to work with new talent and a new audience.
World Heavyweight Champion John Cena (RAW) made ECW Champion Jack Swagger (ECW) submit. As result RAW gained two draft picks, and picked up both Matt Hardy and WWE Champion Triple H (and the WWE Championship) from SmackDown.
Matt Hardy – Matt Hardy recently turned on his little brother Jeff and the two brothers have been battling with each other since January. It was apparent that both brothers couldn’t stay on the same brand for too much longer or their rivalry would run its course and become stale. Matt has just developed a new villain persona and moving to RAW will be a great chance for him to try out and grow into his new character away from his brother, who stayed on SmackDown partly because of his ability to draw in young fans. A move to RAW as a bad guy will give Hardy a plethora of new opponents to work and keep him fresh for the time being.
Triple H – When I said earlier that last year’s experiment was to front load SmackDown, moving Triple H was their biggest variable to make the plan work. It surprised the casual fans and “marks†and it surprised the “smart†or in-the-know fans as no one expect that Triple H, the son-in-law of the McMahon family, would essentially take a demotion and move to the company’s taped b-show. He brought prestige to SmackDown and made the two shows look more equal. Now that the experiment is over, Triple H (and the company’s most prized Championship) are back on the A-show, where many feel they belong.
The Great Khali (SD) pinned Santino Marella (RAW) – SD gained CM Punk from RAW.
CM Punk – Punk is one of the company’s most unique stars. He worked his way through the independent circuit making a name for himself before signing with WWE in 2005. When he finally debuted on ECW in 2006 he surprisingly was able to keep his name, his look and much of the same character he built for himself while working the indys. Punk worked his way through ECW, had more success on RAW in the past year than anyone could have expected and now a move to SmackDown is the next logical choice. Punk will have a great chance to shine on Friday nights as there are less mega-stars on SmackDown and he will be able to be at the top of the cards much easier. Plus with the Money in the Bank briefcase that he won at WrestleMania XXV he is a threat to jump to any brand at any time to challenge for their World Heavyweight Championship.
Kofi Kingston (RAW) beat The Miz (ECW) by disqualification when Miz’s tag team partner John Morrison interfered. – RAW gained The Miz from ECW. As a result Miz turned on Morrison to solidify the split of their long-standing tag team.
The Miz – Former MTV reality star Mike “The Miz†Mizanin has surprised virtually everyone with his success in WWE. In late 2007 he formed a cocky tandem with fellow MTV star John Morrison (John Hennigan of MTV’s Tough Enough) that grew into one of the most entertaining acts of all of 2008 and early 2009. Most wrestling “experts” could see that this would finally be the night that the entertaining duo would be split up, as a year and a half is a long time to be together in WWE lore. However most of us figured it would be Morrison who would get the call to the RAW brand. It is thought that Morrison is the more talented and entertaining of the duo so Miz’ draft to the big show was a surprise. This is will be a huge test for Miz to see if he will “sink or swim†on the company’s biggest show without the aid of his former running buddy.
Edge (SD) won a fifteen-man tri-branded battle royal to gain two draft picks. SD gained both Kane and Chris Jericho from RAW.
Kane – Kane, like his fellow larger-than-life monster Big Show, is a great company utility player who can work as a hero or a villain very easily and very effectively. Kane has spent time on all three of the company’s brands over the years and this move to SmackDown looks to be just another effort at freshening up the “Big Red Monster.†On SmackDown he will once again be able to work with and against his “brother†The Undertaker, which always provides for entertaining television.
Chris Jericho – After Jericho returned to WWE in November 2007 after a two year self imposed exile he started out basically in the same spot he left at. But by early 2008 he was able to transform himself into a ruthless, purely evil villain unlike he had ever played in his career previously. The serious image and character overall was just what Jericho needed as along the way he picked up two World Championship reigns and earned the company’s “Superstar of the Year†honors. Now that he makes the move to SmackDown he will be able to become the number one or number two villain on the show and continue his amazing reign of terror on a new audience and against new opponents. It’s a great move to freshen up Jericho after his absolutely amazing 2008 and early 2009.
Christian (ECW) pinned Shelton Benjamin (SD) – ECW gained Vladimir Kozlov from SmackDown.
Vladimir Kozlov – ECW’s one and only draft pick-up on the live show is this big Russian monster. Kozlov is a throwback to the ‘80s “big evil foreign menace†archetype of bad guys. He spent most of 2008 destroying everyone on SmackDown, even picking up wins over stars like Undertaker and Triple H. He even earned a couple of WWE Title chances but the fans didn’t take to him as they hoped. By early 2009 he started losing to all those big names he once defeated and basically outlived his usefulness on the brand. Moving him to ECW allows him to be a big fish in a smaller pond and keeps in the fans’ eyes without actually doing anything real important or newsworthy. His spot on ECW allows him to quickly transfer from one of the other two brands if it is so needed.
Matt Hardy (now from RAW) beat CM Punk (now from SD) by disqualification when Jeff Hardy interfered and attacked his brother Matt. – RAW gained Maryse and the Divas Championship from SmackDown.
Maryse – Earlier in the night when Melina was drafted to SmackDown it seemed logical that her counterpart from SmackDown, the Divas Champion, would conveniently move to RAW, which happened. Maryse has improved so much since her early days in 2006 that it is ridiculous to think about. She had run her course on SmackDown, battling the same opponents numerous times. She is the perfect arrogant French blonde bombshell and moving her and her Title to RAW exposes her to a larger audience, gives her fresh opponents to work with allows her to improve her game while working on the live show. Plus she is ridiculously good looking and if WWE knows how to do anything, it is how to market a silicone blonde model.
Chris Jericho (now from SD) beat Tommy Dreamer (ECW) – SmackDown gained Rey Mysterio and the Intercontinental Championship from RAW.
Rey Mysterio – Mysterio seemed like another logical pick to move back to SmackDown. Barring the past ten or so months he spent on the RAW brand, Mysterio has spent his entire WWE career working on SmackDown. He is vital in bringing the Latino audience I talked about earlier with Melina, as well as young kids, who buy his replica masks and other merchandise at an alarming rate. Mysterio is the prefect guy to have on the Friday night brand and bringing the Intercontinental Title with him freshens up that belt as well, as it has been primarily a RAW brand title since the initial draft back in 2001. Plus with MVP and the US Title moving to RAW at the beginning of the show it seemed like a safe bet that Mysterio and the Intercontinental Title would be coming to SmackDown.
Supplemental Draft:
Mr. Kennedy (from SmackDown to RAW) – Kennedy is easily the biggest name of those swapped during the online draft lottery, however his untapped potential has yet to be fulfilled. Since his debut in 2005 he looked like a hot young prospect that could be one of the company’s biggest stars. He was drafted to RAW in 2007 and gained valuable momentum and become a good guy for the first time in his WWE career. He was drafted back to SmackDown in 2008 only for him to go out with a serious shoulder injury last August. He has yet to step back inside the squared circle despite taking time to film the WWF Studios-produced direct-to-DVD film Behind Enemy Lines III: Colombia. In this ensuing draft he was sent back to RAW although no timetable for his return to the ring has been set. If Kennedy can finally get back on track and shake his injury-prone stigma he still has time to be one of the company’s big stars.
Shad Gaspard of Cryme Tyme (from RAW to SmackDown) – Shad and his partner JTG form the comic tag team of Cryme Tyme, two happy-go-lucky thugs from Brooklyn who love money and “borrow†from others. Racial and satirical overtones aside, the duo became a hit with fans as a nice comedic break in the middle of the crowds. It looked as if the duo would be split up but as you will see later his partner JTG would also be drafted to SmackDown as well, bringing the tag team to a new home, with a fresh audience, fresh opponents and fresh surroundings. Shad is the bigger and stronger of the team who provides the power to complete JTG’s speed and athleticism.
Alicia Fox (from ECW to SmackDown) – The lovely Alicia is a relative rookie to the wrestling business who hasn’t logged in too much in-ring time. Recently she had spent her time on ECW as the dancing valet for fellow WWE newcomer DJ Gabriel. Splitting the duo means that Alicia will be able to mix it up with the veteran women wrestlers on SmackDown, challenge for the Women’s Championship and gain valuable in-ring experience. Unfortunately it may be the demise for her former co-hort DJ Gabriel, who without his valet looks to be dead in the water on their old home of ECW.
WWE Unified Tag Team Champion Primo Colon (from SmackDown to RAW) – When this pick was first released fans were in uproar as it looked as if the company was about to split the newly crowned Unified Tag Team Champions, however as you will see later, Primo’s older and more experienced brother Carlito will also join him on RAW, bringing their act together to the RAW brand. While their home brand will be RAW being that the real-life brothers from San Juan are the Unified Tag Team Champions expect them to make appearances on all three shows fending off the challenges of tag teams from every brand.
Mike Knox (from RAW to SmackDown) – Mike Knox is a throwback to the old ‘80s style of big, mean, hairy, silent bad guys. Knox is nearly 300 pounds and is a perfect mid-card monster that can act as a spoiler for fan favorites looking to climb the ladder of success. Knox has already had fairly successful runs on both ECW and RAW and a move to SmackDown, a place he has never wrestled on, is the next logical choice for the big man for Phoenix.
Ezekiel Jackson (from SmackDown to ECW) – Ezekiel debuted last summer on SmackDown as the bodyguard/enforcer/associate for the 190 pound cocky Brian Kendrick. Ezekiel is another big 300-pound monster of a man who plays the role of silent bodyguard quite effectively. This move to ECW will separate Jackson from his former client Kendrick and will be his first real test as a singles competitor and to see whether he will sink or swim on his own.
Nikki Bella (from SmackDown to RAW) – Nikki is one half of the beautiful identical twin pair of sisters that spent their early months in their WWE career confusing opponents while switching identities. In early 2009 Nikki and her sister Brie took opposing sides in the tag team war between The Colons and John Morrison & The Miz. Nikki took the side of the evil Miz and Morrison and battled with her sister Brie, and it seemed logical that the twins would split up in the ensuing draft, however after WrestleMania XXV when the tag team battle was settled the girls made their peace with each other. Now the curvaceous twins will make their home on the RAW brand.
Candice Michelle (from SmackDown to RAW) – She is another one of those talents who has improved incredibly since her debut in 2005. She became the top female performer for a brief time in 2007 but her stock has fallen greatly after a series of injuries halted her progress through both 2008 and 2009. After her return from her second clavicle injury in late 2008 she got a quick push to the top of the women’s division before falling down to number four on the depth chart of female fan favorites on the RAW brand. This move to SmackDown will do worlds of good for Candice as it will give her a fresh perspective and new opponents. Essentially a move to SmackDown could actually save Candice’s WWE career.
Zack Ryder (from SmackDown to ECW) – He is a young kid from Long Island who came into World Wrestling Entertainment back in 2006 with his childhood friend who now goes by the ring name Curt Hawkins. The pair initially debuted on the ECW brand in early 2007 as a brother tandem named The Major Brothers. By late 2007, the two long blonde-haired rookies joined up with WWE mainstay Edge as his team of lackeys. Despite their uncanny physical similarities the two friends were not actually brothers and renamed themselves to their current ring names. The duo won the WWE Tag Team Championships one time while under the tutelage of Edge but after their association ended and they lost the Titles Ryder and Hawkins essentially fell off the face of the earth. Now Ryder and Hawkins will be split via the draft. While I don’t like another tag team being split up, this might be the best for Ryder (and Hawkins) as having them on different brands will allow them to develop their own personas and actually allow audiences to actually tell them apart. I’ve said it before with other talents but this is the real case of “sink or swim†as Ryder moving the c-show with a smaller, younger roster will allow him to gain valuable visibility. Within a few weeks it will be easy to tell whether the two rookies can thrive on their own and if the company has plans for one or either of them.
Chavo Guerrero (from SmackDown to RAW) – This was probably the biggest no-brainer of the supplemental draft as Chavo’s aunt Vickie Guerrero is the new General Manager of RAW, and he is her biggest lackey. Without his aunt Vickie and the legacy of his late uncle Eddie, Chavo would be persona non grata in WWE right now. This move to RAW to stay close to Vickie is the best way to keep him relevant in the company.
Ricky Ortiz (from ECW to SmackDown) – Ortiz is another of WWE’s newest superstars who debuted on the ECW brand in 2008 and made a quick splash before getting lost in the shuffle amongst other much more talented new guys. He has a goofy charisma that some fans have gotten behind and a move to SmackDown to will give him a second chance to see if he gain traction with WWE audiences, or if he will continue to be lost in the shuffle and ultimately released.
Layla (from RAW to SmackDown) – Layla is a product from the 2006 Diva Search, basically meaning she was a model hired by the company for her looks. During her tenure she has bounced around all three WWE brands playing a variety of roles. Her most recent run on RAW saw her play up her British roots by acting as valet for British superstar William Regal. She didn’t make much of a splash in that role either and frankly I don’t know if this return to SmackDown will help raise her stock either.
Hornswoggle (from ECW to RAW) – The diminutive little person has portrayed the leprechaun-like “son†and sidekick to Irish veteran Finlay since 2006. Now the father-son combo will be split up. This is great for Finlay as he can now go back to his previous serious, tough guy ways. The real question is where does the little man fit in on RAW without his “father†or a little person division or even a cruiserweight division to compete in. I’m a little puzzled by this move but I’m assuming the company has some plans for splitting the Irish duo apart and moving Hornswoggle to the A-show.
DH Smith (from SmackDown to ECW) – He is the son of legendary wrestler the late “British Bulldog†Davey Boy Smith and has grown up in the pro wrestling industry. He signed with WWE in 2006 with loads of pedigree and potential that unfortunately has yet to be realized. After working in WWE’s developmental territories for over a year he made his debut on RAW in October 2007. He promptly wrestled two live matches before being suspended for violating the company’s Wellness Policy. After his return he was relegated to working pre-show and on-line exclusive matches. In 2008 he was drafted to SmackDown but made no appearances on the show. Despite not being on WWE television for over a year he is still considered an active roster member and has now been traded to ECW, which will be his best chance to finally thrive. He will be joining his childhood friend Tyson Kidd and his cousin and fellow third generation star Natalya Neidhart. It looks as if a new generation of the legendary Hart Foundation could develop.
John Morrison (from ECW to SmackDown) – As I stated earlier in the Draft analysis it was pretty obvious that the entertaining tandem of John Morrison and The Miz would be split up, but most figured it would be Morrison that would be promoted to the A-show of RAW. Rather Miz was the one who went to RAW which gives him the momentum he so desperately needs. Morrison is the more talented and entertaining of the duo and his quiet move to SmackDown will benefit him greatly as he will be able to carve an entertaining singles niche for himself without the added pressure.
WWE Unified Tag Team Champion Carlito Colon (from SmackDown to RAW) – The uproar of splitting up The Colon brothers and the Unified Tag Team Champions lasted all of about two hours before it was released that Carlito would be joining his younger brother on the RAW brand. Carlito has been with WWE since 2004 and is a WWE mainstay that isn’t a stranger to RAW. As I said earlier, expect them to make appearances on all three shows fending off the challenges of tag teams from every brand.
Natalya Neidhart (from SmackDown to ECW) – Natalya has already been appearing regularly on ECW for the past few months as the valet for her childhood friend Tyson Kidd. This move is purely a logistical one to make her partnership official. Natalya, the daughter of WWE mainstay Jim “The Anvil†Neidhart, is a third-generation performer from the famous Hart wrestling family. Besides Kidd, her cousin DH Smith (another Hart family legacy) will join her on ECW.
Festus (from SmackDown to RAW) – Festus is an interesting performer, loosely based of off the character of Lennie from Of Mice and Men. Festus is a loveable, mild-mannered, docile, dare I say mentally challenged character that was led around, watched over and cared for by his partner Jesse. But like Pavlov’s dog once the ring bell rang Festus would change into a near-uncontrollable machine. The team of Jesse & Festus has been a mid-card fan favorite act since their debut in late 2007 and splitting up the duo should be interesting. Festus has always been the more popular part of the duo but Jesse worked great as the big man’s controller and served as his quasi-manager. It will be real interesting to see where they take the Festus character without Jesse there to control him. On the flipside, leaving Jesse stranded on SmackDown could be bad for him. His whole success has been based on the Festus character and without his partner he becomes a generic wrestler. Jesse’s saving grace could be that the head writer of SmackDown is wrestling legend Michael “P.S.†Hayes, who was a long-time tag team partner and good friend of Jesse’s father, the late Terry “Bamm Bamm†Gordy.
JTG from Cryme Tyme (from RAW to SmackDown) – As mentioned earlier with JTG’s tag team partner Shad, the members of Cryme Tyme are two happy-go-lucky thugs from Brooklyn who love money and “borrow†from others. Both members of the team are going to SmackDown, bringing the tag team to a new home, with a fresh audience, fresh opponents and fresh surroundings. JTG brings the speed and athleticism and speed to the team that complements Shad’s power, size and strength.
Dolph Ziggler (from RAW to SmackDown) – This guy is the definition of a company journeyman. He has been with the company since 2004 and his role as the narcissistic Dolph Ziggler is his third completely separate and unrelated character within the “WWE Universe.†For some reason the company is high on the man named Nick Nemeth as he originally played a golf caddy and is the last surviving member of the ill-fated member of The Spirit Squad. He survived a 30-day Wellness Policy suspension in late 2008 and has come back stronger than ever. This switch to SmackDown looks to be Dolph’s chance at superstardom. In his first appearance on this past week’s SmackDown he got a non-title victory over United States Champion MVP, setting his new push to success into motion.
The Brian Kendrick (from SmackDown to RAW) – After a couple of years teaming with his long-time partner and friend Paul London, in 2008 Kendrick found himself moved to SmackDown away from his partner. He reinvented himself as a cocky little villain in the vein of the legendary Brian Pillman or his mentor/trainer Shawn Michaels. Adding Ezekiel Jackson as his large “insurance policy†only helped his character as he became the little trash talker that you couldn’t get at thanks to his oversized enforcer. Kendrick found the greatest success ever in his wrestling career with this character, however his rampant marijuana use behind the scenes caused the company to lose faith in him. Now in 2009 he finds himself separated from Ezekiel and moved to RAW, the proverbial land of the giants. This move is a bad one for Kendrick as his small size and recent behavioral problems will probably give him trouble finding TV time on the crowded RAW roster alongside other hot mid-card villains like Matt Hardy and The Miz, among others.
Charlie Haas (from RAW to SmackDown) – Charlie Haas is another throwback to the ‘80s style of wrestler, in that Haas comes from a decorated amateur wrestling background that makes him a natural inside the professional ranks. However he lacks a certain charisma that allows fans to get behind him in a meaningful way. He was been repackaged many times in hopes he find his niche but other than a brief stint as an impersonator this past winter, nothing has really caught on. The one saving grace for Haas moving to SmackDown is that is old tag team partner Shelton Benjamin is there, and perhaps a third time pairing for “The World’s Greatest Tag Team†could be the move that saves Haas’ WWE career.
Hurricane Helms (from SmackDown to ECW) – Helms has also played a variety of roles in his career, from boy band teen idol to delusional superhero to disenfranchised angry young man. He is a great performer at refining and adapting his character to change with the times. His latest run as “Hurricane†Helms was met with initial success this past success after a return from neck surgery that kept him out for over a year. However inexplicably his success stopped and he found himself treading water once again. A move to ECW could be great for Helms as it will allow him to work with some of the younger and more athletic kids on the roster to put on some quality wrestling matches and give him some valuable television time he has sorely been lacking.
Brie Bella (from SmackDown to RAW) – The other half of the beautiful team of identical twin sisters, Brie will join her recently reunited-with sister as a tandem on the RAW brand. A move to the A-show will give the young women a chance to shine in front of a bigger audience and interact with a fresh group of female opponents and male suitors.
WWE pumped out a press release touting the huge one day success of WrestleMania XXV:
STAMFORD, Conn., Apr 13, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — With $52 million in gross sales, the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania(R) set a record for the highest grossing one-day entertainment event in 2009. The pop culture extravaganza, held in Houston, TX on April 5th, tops the 2009 highest grossing movie opening day record — $30 million opening night of Fast and the Furious and the 2008 highest grossing single-day stadium concert — Madonna’s $6.1 million Sticky & Sweet concert in Dolphin Stadium — combined.
The milestone event generated an estimated $43 million in worldwide gross Pay-Per-View revenue and packed Houston’s Reliant Stadium with 72,744 fans from all 50 states, 24 countries and 7 Canadian provinces, surpassing the attendance at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa this past February. Combined with WWE’s Sunday fanfest, WrestleMania Axxess, the sell-out crowd grossed more than $7.4 million in ticket sales and an additional $1.5 million in merchandise sales.
Following the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, World Wrestling Entertainment’s website, WWE.com, garnered a record-breaking 105 million page views, including staggering one day totals of 2.7 million unique visitors, and nearly 2 million video streams. For the three days surrounding The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, WWE.com’s page views totaled 166,239,115.
It’s amazing how much money we will give WWE blindly just off of the WrestleMania name alone. On a side note, do you suppose any movies coming out this summer like Transformers or GIJoe that will break that one-day record?
ESPN’s E:60 program had a great little feature on Vince McMahon and WWE in preparation for WrestleMania XXV. It was a refreshing piece in that it wasn’t a total burial job of WWE but rather more a profile of a wizard behind the machine. Perhaps the most interesting part for a nerd like me was a quick behind-the-scenes look of a production meeting that was near WrestleMania. They also briefly touched on the Chris Benoit tragedy and the subsequent institution of the Wellness Policy but it was done more as a necessary evil rather than a hatchet job.
I found the fifteen minute segment quite entertaining and not embarrassing as most mainstream media appearances about WWE tend to be. Easily my favorite line was when McMahon didn’t see him dying because it wasn’t part of the plan. Hahahaha.
The always elegant Trish Stratus had some great reasoning on why she chose not work WrestleMania XXV, from a recent interview with SLAM Wrestling:
“Simply, there were no finishes, no ‘What’s going to happen? Will I win?’ discussed. It was just, ‘Would you like to be in this 25-woman battle royal at WrestleMania,’ and I said, ‘Thank you but I’m going to decline.’ â€
That’s why she is the greatest woman wrestler of the modern era. Can you imagine if she or Lita would have bothered to show up for that utter waste at WrestleMania and been treated like Victoria, Sunny or Molly were?
Wrestler of the Week
Week of April 13 – 19: Christian
I really wanted to give some love to John Morrison for his great match with Evan Bourne on ECW and then his successful debut on SmackDown debut againt R-Truth, but I can’t deny the week that Christian had this past week. On RAW he beat Shelton Benjamin to earn ECW’s only live Draft pick, survived the triple threat on ECW and then beat Finlay on the inaugural Superstars earn another shot at ECW Champion Jack Swagger. Perhaps staying on the c-show was the best option for the returning Christian as it has made him look like a star without getting lost in the shuffle among the crowded giants of RAW or SmackDown.
The Road to…Backlash
WWE Championship
Triple H (c), Batista & Shane McMahon v. “Legacy†– Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes
If anyone on Legacy wins the match then Orton becomes Champion. If anyone on Triple H’s team wins then he retains the Championship.
World Heavyweight Championship – Last Man Standing
John Cena (c) v. Edge
ECW Championship
Jack Swagger (c) v. Christian
I Quit Match
Jeff Hardy v. Matt Hardy
RAW’s On Tonight!
With WrestleMania and the Draft in the books it’s a new landscape for RAW, but with only six days before Backlash expect one more burst of inter-brand fighting before it is hopefully out of their system until the next three hour RAW or whenever it is convenient again. But with the new rosters in place tonight’s show could be a fun one to see new characters, new alliances, new feuds and new Championships.
On Last Week’s Episode…
Norine and Clarke covered the post-draft SmackDown that looked way too much like RAW for my taste.
Quick results of the re-debut of Superstars. Hmmmm…I think Pulse needs a solid recapper for the fledgling program.
Innarelli looks at a fantastic ECW highlighted by crazy-good Morrison-Bourne match.
Marshall and Kirschner look at the monumental draft edition of RAW.
How They Rated
SmackDown! (4.10.09) – 2.2
A.M. RAW (4.12.09) – .7
RAW (4.13.09) – 3.7
ECW (4.14.09) – 1.3
This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
Glazer is back! At least for one night anyways…
Ditch interviews Jae, of DragonGate USA.
Bambi has a great account her personal experience at WrestleMania XXV.
Wiswell looks at Ring of Honor’s recent trip to Canada (Sylvan Grenier??? Really???) and former ROH honcho Gabe Sapolsky moving to DragonGateUSA.
For more relevant, interesting and exciting wrestling information from your truly, check out my gig as the Pro Wrestling Examiner over at Examiner.com.
