I really haven't been this excited about wrestling since ECW returned to WWF TV. It was ruined by the end of the show though, when ECW joined WCW and Stephanie was named their leader.
Right now, WWE is trying to get people's attention again, and they are, but they are setting either themselves or the fans up for a fall.
Nonetheless, the writing has been superb the last 3 shows(PPV,Raw,Smack). It does seem like someone else has taken over the writing duties because both shows(not just Smackdown) have shown continuity throughout. Everything on each show has a rhyme and reason to it. The last few months of Raw have been like throwing a bunch of crap against the wall and seeing what stuck. Whether it stuck to the wall or not, it still stank. I'm guessing Biggie Pauls is working with both shows now(at least I hope he is). Either that or The Bisch has been storing some shit up over the last 2 years.
Although the shows have actually seemed like they were well planned out in advance for once, there is nowhere to go. Well, let me correct myself, there is somewhere to go, but it is going to disappoint a lot of people. If Raw and Smackdown continue to steal big names from the other, there is going to be a huge let down in a few weeks. The fans will be pissed again and WWE will have to press the reset button again. I've read a few people's posts that state WWE's free agent storyline did too much too fast with big names like Triple Aids and "TNBT." They may be right, but WWE had to give people a reason to watch. But with Smackdown's cliffhanger, they have really fucked themselves. I personally hope it's not a big name because there are no main eventers or upper midcard guys on Smackdown that would make since in jumping. The problem is the fans are going to be expecting something huge and if it is revealed to be Randy Orton or Rico,Chuck,Billy, people are going to be pissed. So if WWE hotshots a big star from Smackdown to fulfill the high expectations, it is either (a)not going to make any sense or (b)ruin the dynamic of each show's upper card. Then Smackdown will have to counter by stealing a big star from Raw and ruin the dynamic of each show's upper card even further. And it will continue until there is nothing left of the Brand Extension. Then what, the same 15 guys on both shows each week. Half the roster is out of a job. I hope WWE pisses off some people now instead of pissing everybody off in a few weeks time. Elevate a Randy Orton,a Batista,even a Valbowski. It will make one more guy seem to be more important and the angle won't be completely used up by Summer Slam.
Sorry if I'm writing too much, but my woman went out with her female friends tonight and I'm bored as hell. No more ECW on the Friday Night Thrillzone either.
Anyhoo, there is one big name who should jump....... KANE. He can't feud with the nWo anymore and I just don't want to see him anywhere near the Undertaker(whether they are feuding or teaming). He seemed to have a good dynamic with Hollywood and La Rocca before the split happened. Plus, he could also feud with "TNBT."
Here's a look at the Raw and Smackdown rosters and who should or could jump:
BIG BOSS MAN-remove him from the RAW page BIG SHOW-EZ Craka's main man BOOKER T-a top face,EZ Craka's adversary,BookDust BRADSHAW-reform the APA? Who wants to see that? Not me BROCK LESNAR-already layin the SMACKeth BUBBA RAY DUDLEY-reform the Duds? Wanna see that? Not me CHRIS BENOIT-the Raw equivalent(in ring only) to Angle CHRIS NOWINSKI-Christopher should stick with Regal CRASH-could in the future(Cruiser,Fightin Holly Cousins) D'LO BROWN-definitely should(could do Velocity when no Snow) EDDIE GUERRERO-a top heel ERIC BISCHOFF-duh GOLDUST-BookDust,has to be an upper mid face(who else) JACKIE GAYDA-Sharmell got cut? WTF! JACQUELINE-most of the female wrestlers are on Raw JAZZ-Ditto JEFF HARDY-float tag belts,Better off being carried by Matt JUSTIN CREDIBLE-Do something with him already, what a waste KANE-definitely should jump KEVIN NASH-out of sight,out of mind LINDA MILES-OVW LITA-gonna be with the Hardys MATT HARDY-Should be on Raw instead of Jeff.Very good lately MOLLY HOLLY-drop the Holly, Crash did ROB VAN DAM-a top face along with The Book RAVEN-Do something with him already, should be a top heel SHAWN MICHAELS-HBK might not be dead after all SHAWN STASIAK-Planet Stasiak. Don't know what to do with him SPIKE DUDLEY-Bubba's bitch STEVEN RICHARDS-somewhat of a mini-push lately TERRI-Sharmell was a better interviewer THE ROCK-wait a minute, I thought he was Smackdown TOMMY DREAMER-Hardcore title? Dump 24/7 rule,more matches like the 1 with Stevie(that was Hardcore) TRISH STRATUS-Smack has Torrie and Stacy, so she's stayin TRIPLE H-THE top heel WILLIAM REGAL-upper mid heel X-PAC-could unify Light Heavyweight and Cruiser titles,yeah right! Should not work with Gerwetz though. Has to go to Smack(BTW:X-Pac rulz)
Not listed-Sean O'Haire,Johnny The Bull, and Victoria (might as well be RAW) Add in the newly debuted Island Boyz as well. Oh yeah, why aren't Flair and Undertaker listed? WTF! Obviously they're both top faces,but should be doing what Hogan has been doing lately, putting people over. Flair knows how to, but Taker.......
As you can see there are only 28 male wrestlers listed that are active in the RAW brand(I counted Kane and Trips since they're both about ready).
Out of those 28, O'Haire,Johnny The Bull,Raven,Credible,and Crash are primarily only on Heat. Oh yeah, and D'Lo is an announcer on Heat who is "too boring" to wrestle on Raw.WTF!4 of those 6 guys should be making waves on RAW, especially considering the lack of depth when it comes to male wrestlers on the roster. That leaves 22 male wrestlers on RAW when you take those guys out of the equation. Raw desperately needs to raid the Smackdown roster. Here's a look:
AL SNOW-Velocity and Maven partnership ALBERT-moving him won't help,but changing name could(Baldo) THE BIG VALBOWSKI-should be important,ditch name and switch BILLY-could along with Chuck and maybe even Rico BILLY KIDMAN-only need one Billy,call him Kidman only CHAVO GUERRERO-cruiser CHRIS JERICHO-#2 heel,leader of Maple Leaf Mafia(Flair) CHRISTIAN-a top heel,MLM(Tully,I guess) CHUCK-could along with Billy and maybe even Rico DAWN MARIE-could valet Credible,city version of Noble-Nidia D-VON-Am I the only one who likes the preacher gimmick? DEACON BATISTA-should jump,him and Lesnar have similar look Could also be renamed Leviathan and feud with Taker on Raw DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE-should jump,Heat color man EDGE-a top face FAAROOQ-Is he retired?I like him, but his time has past,Damn FUNAKI-cruiser GODFATHER-He should retire HARDCORE HOLLY-reform the Fightin Holly Cousins on Smack HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN-a top face,below the young guys though HUGH MORRUS-should jump with Saturn,Eliminators 2K2 THE HURRICANE-cruiser IVORY-Smackdown needs some females that can wrestle JAMIE NOBLE-cruiser champ(if he jumps though,all the cruisers would be forced to jump. The Bisch did bring cruisers to the forefront on Nitro). JOHN CENA-a top face,if or when he turns heel maybe we will see The Prototype KURT ANGLE-eventually THE top face MARK HENRY-if D'Lo jumps, they could tag again MAVEN-could jump, but I doubt it NIDIA-wherever Noble goes RANDY ORTON-should jump,seems to have potential as a heel RICO-could jump with ChuckaBilly RIKISHI-could jump to join Island Boyz,but I'd rather they stay separated THE ROCK-Smackdown's his show TAJIRI-cruiser TORRIE WILSON-Kidman's lady SCOTTY 2 HOTTY-cruiser SATURN-should jump with Hugh,Eliminators 2K2 STACY KEIBLER-Test's lady LANCE STORM-top heel,MLM(Arn,since he's Y2Js right hand man) TAZZ-retired(better than the King) TEST-top heel,MLM(The real enforcer of the group,but more akin to Sid or Lex,can't be Ole because Test is Jakked)
Not listed-Rey,Shannon Moore,Rob Conway,Nick Dinsmore,Mike Awesome. Rey and Shannon are cruisers, so they are staying unless Noble jumps to Raw. If that happened then Bradshaw would of course jump to Smack with the Hardcore title and all the former ECW guys would follow suit. Awesome could go either way, but I think they are going to job him out anyway. Conway and Dinsmore might as well be a team on Smackdown. Also, the #1 heel "TNBT" Brock Lesnar is not listed.
That's 36 active male wrestlers in the Smackdown brand(It should be noted that I counted Maven and Saturn since they are somewhat close to returning).
Out of those 36, Hugh,Shannon Moore,Rob Conway,Nick Dinsmore,Mike Awesome are primarily only on Velocity. Also, Al Snow is mainly an announcer on Velocity. That leaves 30 male wrestler on Smackdown when you take those 6 out of the equation.
So if Steph steals 10 Raw male wrestlers, The Bisch has to steal 14 to even it out.