IC25's 2009 Draft Review

[IrishCanadian25]

Where WWE Dropped the Ball

1. The Women's Titles. That's an "l" not an "i." I honestly believed that Melina going to SD with the Women's titles meant that WWE was going to merge those belts and keep the women's / divas wrestling on SD, all the while getting rid of that hideous butterfly belt. With so much top talent going to RAW, and the fact that the two major titles are there for now, it would be cool for SD to be the home of BOTH the tag-team and women's titles.

2. Meaningless swaps, part 1. Raw, SD, and ECW swapped "big men" as Kane was sent to SD, Kozlov to ECW, and Big Show to Raw. The result? Not much, really. WWE has now extinguished any of the heat (very little) the Big Show / Edge affair held, and sent Kane - with very little, if any, heat left - to Smackdown. Kozlov to ECW is a massive sigh. I'd have prefered a set up where many of the big men were on one show, either to feud or to create an alliance of SHW's.

3. Meaningless swaps, part 2. The Intercontinental and US Titles were two ships passing in the night. I was interested when Raw had both mid-card singles belts and SD had the tag and women's divisions. Why not keep it that way, and let Rey Rey and MVP feud to merge those belts?

4. Christian doesn't budge. With Vladimir "I am like Ludvig Borga without talent" Kozlov on ECW now, the big man fetish will just make it harder for Christian to pull any decent matches. Had Christian been drafted to SD, he could have made my dreak come true with Jericho's move and forged "The Blonde Canadian Coalition" with Y2J and Edge.

Where WWE Scored a Touchdown

1. Matt Hardy to RAW. He's just basically won a feud with his brother (though it seems to be continuing) and he's never had stronger heat. WWE struck while the iron was hot, sending Matt to Raw for a shot at making it bigger. This is Matt's chance - hopefully this makes him put up and get the job done.

2. Rey "Over-REY-ted" Mysterio to SD. Yes, for business reasons. Capitalize on that Hispanic / Latino market that My9 gets. I still would have loved to have seen Rey Rey on ECW, especially after another strong match between him and Bourne, but this works fine.

New feuds I Want to See

1. Chris Jericho and Edge vs The World. Two former world champion blonde Canadians who work sick matches as heels and are money on the mic? Yes, please.

2. Matt Hardy vs Shawn Michaels. Why not? Give V1 a shot at a legend.

3. MVP vs The Miz vs Kofi Kingston. 3 top-tier mid-carders with the US Title hanging around. I'd like to see where they take this.

Overall

I give them a C+. A lot of the moves were expected, but when I thought they were making some savvy choices (Divas and Womens Titles on SD) they blew it. And a great number of the moves were kinda Blah. The biggest name to move was Triple H to Raw, and like someone else already said - it felt like he was here already.

 

[tj177mmi]

Where WWE Dropped the Ball
2. Meaningless swaps, part 1. Raw, SD, and ECW swapped "big men" as Kane was sent to SD, Kozlov to ECW, and Big Show to Raw. The result? Not much, really. WWE has now extinguished any of the heat (very little) the Big Show / Edge affair held, and sent Kane - with very little, if any, heat left - to Smackdown. Kozlov to ECW is a massive sigh. I'd have prefered a set up where many of the big men were on one show, either to feud or to create an alliance of SHW's.

I disagree with the statement that it takes heat off Edge/Big Show/Vickie. Unless Vickie gets drafted on Wednesday, then Edge is away from his "wife." I think WWE is still going to do some cross-branded matches (especially with the top talent), especially with WWE Superstars starting. So, Edge can't use Vickie to his advantage, and the Big Show can. Creates tension, they both appear on Raw and SD for the near future until it comes to ahead. I think it infact creates more heat.

Now, swapping big men. Kane needed a new place to stomp. He had gotten lost on RAW and would only get more buried now that Batista is back and Triple H was moved to RAW. Big Show one confused me, but with the Vickie angle it can all work out. Kozlov started off fast, but has since gotten lost on SD. Which them moving Jericho over, Kozlov wouldn't be the #2 heel anymore, and how are you going to explain a little guy (Mysterio) beating a monster. Moving Kozlov to ECW gives them a new face. Because lets face it, if Mark Henry has been the face of ECW for far too long.

 

[DhA]

It wasn't that bad of a draft tbh, I don't like they they pretend it's random though lol. Rey Mysterio has always felt like mroe of a Smackdown! guy so I liked that change, a Rey vs Shelton fued could produce some awesome matches, as well as Shelton vs CM Punk...

It was interesting that The Miz and not Morrisson moved as wel. Perhaps we could get a three way fued for the ECW Title with Morrison, Christian and Jack Swagger? ECW didn't get raped too badly in the draft tbh.

 

[HBK-aholic]

1. Chris Jericho and Edge vs The World. Two former world champion blonde Canadians who work sick matches as heels and are money on the mic? Yes, please.

The 2 as a team? I'd much rather see Jericho vs. Edge, with Jericho ultimately becoming the champion. When I heard Triple H had gone back to Raw and Jericho was on Smackdown, my first thought was that Jericho should get a shot at the title. Jericho and Edge would own the tag team division, but that doesn't leave much for the championship. Jericho and Edge are both better than they ever have been - they could have some amazing matches.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I will give the draft a solid B. MVP did all that he can do on Smackdown and looks toward RAW to improve. Matt Hardy is at the highest he's been since 2003 and looks to step up any more. I like Jericho and Punk moving to Smackdown so they can start new rivalries over there. I didn't care much about Kane or Big show moving or Melina and Maryse moving. The biggest payoff in the short term could be Miz on RAW as he needs to prove himself more as a singles competitor.

 

[Tastycles]

Tastycles' twopenny bit on the draft

MVP to Raw: A good move for Raw as he is probably one of the most over midcarders in the compny right now, asides from maybe Rey and Christian. He is always good for an interesting segment, the only problem is that the top midcarders have all flown the nest and there isn't really a heel for him to feud with now that JBL has gone. For him, this is terrible. The peope on his level to feud with are scarce and he has little to no chance to stepping up to the main event that contains Cena, Batista and HHH already. 3.5/5 for WWE and 1/5 for MVP = 4.5/10

The Big Show to Raw With JBL and Jericho gone this looks like it could be a fine move for Big Show. As it stads he is the second heel on the roster after Orton, which is not a bad place to be, but is basically no advancement on his position on SmackDown. For WWE, it's a great move because he is far more capable of feuding with main eventers consistently than Kane, who he's essentially swapped with.
3/5 for Big Show and 4/5 for WWE = 7/10

Melina to SmackDown: This was probably the best move for both parties. The only decent feud in the womens division was between her, Beth and Mickie or a combination thereof and it had been done to death. Now at least she has a good range of new competitors to fight. The only thing is is that this should have been a supplemental draft move, as nobody gave a shit. 5/5 for Melina and 4/5 for WWE = 9/10

Matt Hardy to Raw Unless one of Cena/Batista/HHH turn heel any time soon, this is an absolute dream move for Matt. JBL has retired and Jericho is off the brand. This makes him a number 3 heel for the time being. He is in the strongest position of his career, and this is make or break for him. For the WWE it is a risk. Matt is not the most charismatic of wrestlers, so the jury is still out on how this move will pan out for them.
5/5 for Matt and 3/5 for WWE = 8/10

Triple H to Raw: The problem with this is that he still had a Taker feud on Smackdown and even a Jericho one. Now he instead has a load of feuds that he has done a million times before. For WWE they have given themselves a headache in that they have put their favourite son(-in-law), their number one guy in Cena, and the guy they want to push to the moon in Batista as three faces on the same brand. Something has to give, and I expect a Batista heel turn soon, possibly as soon as Backlash. As it stands, this move is a disaster.
1/5 for HHH and 1/5 for WWE = 2/10

CM Punk to SmackDown With Raw becoming as stacked as it has, Punk needed to get away. Going to SmackDown has made him a top three face once more along with Jeff and Taker. His briefcase is the most valuable thing on the blue brand right now, so I can see only good things for him in the near future. Presumably he will be bringing the championship SmackDown lacks back to the brand. For the WWE it is a risk with anything they do with Punk now given his lacklustre triple crown etc.
4.5/5 for Punk and 3/5 for WWE = 7.5/10

The Miz to Raw: It was the right time to split the Miz and Morrison up and making Miz look the stronger member was a good idea. Going to Raw, I assume he will be the one to feud with MVP, which is fine for him but he won't be going any higher than that over there. For WWE, they could have a good career midcarder here, and they have put him on a midcardless brand, which seems a little wrong.
3.5/5 for Miz and 2.5/5 for WWE = 6/10

Kane to SmackDown: They're running out of ideas for the big man, and this emphasises that. He'd have been far better going to ECW than Kozlov did because he is a bigger name for that brand. On SmackDown it'll be pointless feud after pointless feud. There was no need to move him really, so this move is average.
2.5/5 for both WWE and Kane = 5/10

Jericho to SmackDown: For him this is great. He has the ippurtunity to usurp Edge as top heel on the brand, but he could equally turn face and become more popular than Jeff. This is a great oppurtunity for him. For the WWE, they have a reliable guy who gets good feuds and matches out of people as a top player on a brand. However, they are losing a top heel on Raw and they've already lost JBL leaving big shoes to fill on the brand
5/5 for JEricho and 4/5 for WWE = 9/10

Vladimir Kozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzlov: 5 months ago, a good move for all concerned. However, Kozlov won't be burying Christian, as Christian is too good a comodity for that to be allowed. So Kozlov is just going to become a generic heel. He will probably go undefeated fro a while, squashing the almighty Ricky Ortiz, but it will ultimately go nowhere fast for either him or the WWE. On the plus side, at least he'll be getting on PPVs more often as ECW champion/challenger.
3/5 for Kozlov and 2/5 for WWE = 5/10 Overall

Maryse to Raw: It's good for her, because she gets to fight Beth Phoenix, which will make her look better. It's bad for WWE because it means they are keping two womens titles. It means the talented females and the eye cand are well spread. I really couldn't care less, and neither could the crowd, so this should have been on the suppemental draft, to be honest.
4/5 for Maryse and 2.5/5 for WWE = 6.5/10

Rey to SmackDown Rey belongs on Smackdown and a lack of big named faces means more TV time for him on the brand. It is good for WWE because the latino demographic get their hero back.
4/5 for Mysterio and 4/5 for WWE = 8/10

N.B. The points that have been dropped by the WWE refer in part to people who could have moved instead. E.G. Maryse's move could have been replaced by a more notable one. I'm also subtracting 5 from the total for having the 3 biggest main event faces on Raw, as well as HBK still to come back. Too top heavy.

Giving a total of 72.5/120 (60.4%) Which I believe is a C+/B-

 

[Uncle Sam]

Canadian, for once me and you are on the same page. Once Jericho was drafted to Smackdown - and with Edge standing in the ring - I was anticipating a Christian move to the blue brand more than ever. When it never came, I was devastated. That's neither hyperbole, not sarcasm. Devastated.