Originally posted by AlbySureWho doesn't love a good supplemental draft?
I'd have to say all the guys who got shitcanned a few days after all the other supplemental drafts. If I were Deuce or Matt Striker, I'd start updating my resume.
The conclusion I have come to now that the Draft is finally over is that after 6 years of being mainly a RAW fan, that no good nasty, stinky Smackdown is now what I consider the A show. It may even be the new A show to WWE.
Smackdown to me got the lion's share of the best talent. Their new announce team is the best of the three brands. They're keeping Edge and MVP, plus gaining Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, Kennedy, Carltio, Shelton, Kendrick. That's an explosion of talent that can deliver in the ring. Plus with Maria, they have what they've lacked since Torrie Wilson went on the DL, that one super hot Diva who can be the babyface centerpiece of their Divas brand (sorry, Taker, McCool doesn't cut it.) It's the best line up for the older fan like me. Now, I'm sorry Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and/or HBK didn't get sent to the blue show, but those three are pretty much my salvation for watching Monday nights. But fuck RAW, Smackdown is sure as hell my A show now.
RAW inherited a lot of crap. Total crap. Chuck Palumbo, Deuce, Matt Striker, Layla. Maria for Layla is a shit trade for RAW. ECW as usual got hosed. Losing Shelton and Kofi Kingston, one of their few new breakout stars who's actually pretty good, sucks for them. They get Super Crazy, who never belonged on RAW, and Finlay, but how much of that is negated by getting Mark Henry? All of it I'd say.
It was a strange 48 hours and they sure did change some shit around. RAW is a great show for the 12 year old fan who's dumb, has no sense of history or quality, and loves the "big stars" but as far as I'm concerned the WWE I want to see is now on Friday nights.
Mark Henry to ECW -- Well, he's a shoe-in as the new ECW Champion.
Jamie Noble to RAW -- Lateral move.
Trevor Murdoch to SmackDown -- Lateral move. I'm thinking Murdoch will be moved down the ladder, regardless of what brand he's on.
Big Daddy V to SmackDown -- MAIN EVENT PUSH!? I can dream.
Deuce to RAW -- For some reason, I see them giving him a chance to succeed here.
DH Smith to SmackDown -- Don't think it matters. He's been persona non grata since his suspension last year, and I don't see that changing.
Hornswoggle to ECW -- I was excited about this, because it would mean the end of comedy Finlay. That excitement didn't last long.
Super Crazy to ECW -- Lateral move. He may get a little more face-time, due to there being fewer guys on the roster, but his role will continue to be a jobber.
Chuck Palumbo to RAW -- I can't imagine actually caring about Chuck Palumbo.
Brian Kendrick to SmackDown -- Lateral move.
Matt Striker to RAW -- Another lateral move.
Maria to SmackDown -- Glad to see Maria being switched over to the New A-Show.
Shelton Benjamin to SmackDown -- He was the jobber of jobbers on C-show. I can only imagine how jobbery he'll be on the A-show.
Finlay to ECW -- And the comedy duo continues. If they break him from Hornswoggle, he could become a great top-of-the-card heel for the brand, though. Basically, he should play the role Chris Benoit was supposed to play, before Benoit was drafted to the Hell Brand (sorry. too soon?).
Also, with Finlay/Hornswoggle vs. Miz/Morrison at the PPV on Sunday, have the WWE Tag Titles been moved to ECW?
Carlito to SmackDown -- Eh. I'd have moved him to ECW. Carlito is like a CM Punk, where he's MUCH better suited as a big-fish in a small-pond. He could be a solid upper-midcard guy on ECW. On SmackDown or RAW he'll continue to mean NOTHING.
Layla to RAW -- Oh..... who?
Kofi Kingston to RAW -- Mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, Kofi NEEDS to be on Raw or SmackDown. With his unique style, he could very easily get over with the crowd (ie, Rob Van Dam). However, that'll never happen on the ECW brand. However, at the same time, it's gonna' be MUCH harder to move up the ladder on RAW than on ECW.
Some pointless picks (Striker, Layla, Kendrick, etc), but also some very interesting ones (Kingston, Henry, Finlay). It'll be interesting to see where things go starting next week, when the rosters get settled.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaThey're keeping Edge and MVP, plus gaining Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, Kennedy, Carltio, Shelton, Kendrick.
No love for Murdoch? He's a solid midcarder too. He's at least on Carlito's level. They also still have Big Show, who I like. DH Smith isn't bad either. I'll miss Matt Hardy, Noble and Finlay but that's a pretty good trade off.
I'll take McCool over Maria any day. I'd take Victoria and Nattie over Maria too.
Why is it everyone thinks Deuce is being fired? I thought Domino was the one that sucked. If they wanted to give Deuce another shot he could always be Ted Jr's partner since Deuce is another second generation wrestler. If that's not his partner then who is? Does Cody or Holly turn now? Is anybody in FCW ready to be brought up?
Kendrick and London split up?? Boooo. I'd love to see them get pushes but I'm thinking their chances of getting pushed individually are even lower than as a tag team.
Mark Henry to ECW: Oh, that Matt Hardy/Mark Henry feud promises to be immeasurably painful.
Jamie Noble to RAW: I can't see him doing anything of consequence on Raw..
Trevor Murdoch to SmackDown: With Cade moving on to the Jericho/HBK feud, Murdoch needed to go somewhere.
Big Daddy V to SmackDown: They push him to the moon...again, only to job him out to Jeff Hardy. I anxiously await the day they decide to tag him with Umaga.
Deuce to RAW: I'm calling it right now. They play up his Snuka heritage and HE'S Ted Dibiase Jr.'s tag partner.
DH Smith to SmackDown: He gets the occasional Chris Masters-type push. He won't get anywhere, but he'll be on TV, at least.
Hornswoggle to ECW: Because his awesome feud with Armando Estrada MUST continue!
Super Crazy to ECW: Because ECW Originals are getting rarer and rarer these days.
Chuck Palumbo to RAW: He'll get thrown on some tag team...or maybe even continue feuding with Noble.
Brian Kendrick to SmackDown: Breaking up London and Kendrick makes no sense at all, especially when the company's running low on tag teams as it is.
Matt Striker to RAW: They really are doing this at random, aren't they?
Maria to SmackDown: SmackDown! is more about eye candy anyway, so this was a natural move. I just wish they'd move Victoria back to Raw.
Shelton Benjamin to SmackDown: Why? Wasn't the point of moving him to ECW to bring him to the next level?
Finlay to ECW: Finlay can make a good big fish in a small pond.
Carlito to SmackDown: Carlito might get a token push, but he's used up all his chances. He's not getting anywhere.
Layla to RAW: What a waste. Can't they just release her already?
Kofi Kingston to RAW: It is WAY too soon to move Kofi off ECW. And with all the star power on Raw now, he'll easily get lost in the shuffle.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaMaria for Layla is a shit trade for RAW.
I was thinking SD was the one that got hosed. At least they can boast having a raccoon on their roster. Layla is smoking hot.
And somehow, I'm not seeing any of Deuce, Domino, Paul London or Brian Kendrick having fantastic single careers, so I'm hoping they have some kind of pairing in mind for them.
Originally posted by John LOLquiolaThey're keeping Edge and MVP, plus gaining Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, Kennedy, Carltio, Shelton, Kendrick. That's an explosion of talent that can deliver in the ring
Wait, Kennedy & Carlito are "an explosion of talent that can deliver in the ring", but Chuck Palumbo is total crap? Man, that's crazy talk. Palumbo was doing some good stuff w/ Noble & Finlay, while Kennedy & Carlito are pretty terrible. Chuck's awesome, don't front.
They (WWE) are still airing Commercials that Triple H will be in action for the July 7th MNR in N.O. Maybe a Post-Raw dark match? Otherwise they will be plenty of empty seats/black tarp for this show.
Originally posted by Justin ShapiroLayla is a great heel.
TRUTH
The elimination of any possibility for a reuniting of your teacher Matt Striker and Big Daddy the Fifth breaks my heart in ways you people can't possibly understand.
I don't have anything else to comment on regarding the draft, other than that Kofi and Shelton being moved onto shows people actually watch is something that's desperately needed. HOWEVER, what about Elijah Burke? That's guy's got so much upside it's ridiculous. Where's he been, anyway?
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffWait, Kennedy & Carlito are "an explosion of talent that can deliver in the ring", but Chuck Palumbo is total crap? Man, that's crazy talk. Palumbo was doing some good stuff w/ Noble & Finlay, while Kennedy & Carlito are pretty terrible. Chuck's awesome, don't front.
Spiff, welcome to the Chuck Palumbo (Facetious) Fan Club, Population: you, me, and my buddy Ed.
TRUE STORY: Before they were gay pretending to be gay at the insistence of Rico, Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo wrestled a dark tag match in Albany, NY. I was in the crowd. For reasons that neither of us can recall, my friend Ed and I had this ongoing inside joke that Chuck Palumbo was the greatest thing to happen to professional wrestling since George Hackenschmidt.
We were in the audience in Albany, and marked out huge when Palumbo came up. We chanted "Chuck Pa-Lum-Bo *clap clap clap-clap-clap*", cheered wildly every time he was tagged in, and booed mercilessly every time he tagged Billy Gunn. Were were so enthusiastic for the man once known as "The Main Event" that we actually got our entire section into it. It was a great day to be a (Facetious) fan of Chuck Palumbo.
(edited by Deputy Marshall on 25.6.08 1726) KevinMarshallOnline.com - Blog, podcasts, comics, and more!
I wonder if they are just upping the talent on SD! to try and launch on MY! with big ratings and then people will eventually work their way back to USA.
I'm also a Palumbo fan, only he's always just been missing that little something to get him over. He'll never main event, but he is a great midcarder, throws nice punches and would really be great if he found a good tag-team partner.
Kofi Kingston to RAW -- Mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, Kofi NEEDS to be on Raw or SmackDown. With his unique style, he could very easily get over with the crowd (ie, Rob Van Dam). However, that'll never happen on the ECW brand. However, at the same time, it's gonna' be MUCH harder to move up the ladder on RAW than on ECW.
Now that the Raw roster is thinned out this is the perfect time to move him. If he gets that young up and comer under somebodies wing push, and one of the upper guys is willing to give him a few wins then this will work out nicely. I see him doing better than CM Punk
I'm actually sad that Mark Henry and Big Daddy V aren't on the same brand anymore. Does that mean my Knicks are trading either Eddy Curry or Zach Randolph? I might be the last guy on the planet that likes these two, but I liked them so much more together.
A lot of people are saying Raw lost a lot of people and came out bad in this draft. I say they had way too much talent and needed to thin it out so we get a more balanced roster that isn't clogged in the middle. I also assume they get Undertaker since I don't see him sharing his brand with Helmsley.
I just watched this 2 nights ago. Kinda funny to see kayfabe in full force on network TV. Been along time since that has been standard. Hogan sure came off like an asshole for being a baby face at the time didn't he?