WWE Draft Results

The night began with a short promo, in which Mr. McMahon insisted that he had the mental capacity to go through with the draft. Throughout the night, wrestlers, announcers, managers, and anyone involved with the WWE in the past were featured as they spoke candidly about the Chairman. Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin were among the speakers in an obvious effort to relive the Attitude Era.

Edge took on John Cena in a very good match which saw Edge emerge the victor. His joy was soon crushed as The Great Khali was drafted alongside him to SMACKDOWN.

CM Punk took on Carlito in yet another entertaining and fast-paced match. CM Punk won, and The Boogeyman was drafted to ECW, which Punk seemed to be in favor of.

Mick Foley came out and delivered a short promo, saying that he would be challenging for the WWE title at Vengeance.

Umaga beat Balls Mahoney in a squash match and Booker T was drafted to RAW.

Benoit and Lashley fought in a highly-technical match, which I thought was the best match of the night. It wasn't quite a five-star match, but it was damn close. Lashley won the match, but Benoit was drafted to ECW as a result. The two men then shook hands in the ring.

MVP beat Santino Marella in the first match where I felt Santino's skills came out. MVP, however, is getting better every week and it showed as he earned the pick for his brand. Torrie Wilson was drafted to SMACKDOWN.

Snitsky beat The Miz in a squash, but the referee reversed the decision after Snitsky refused to follow post-match instructions. Chris Masters was drafted to RAW.

Candice Michelle soundly beat Krystal, and Bobby Lashley was drafted to RAW and then immediately stripped of his title.

Batista beat Elijah Burke and Jeff Hardy in a decent triple threat match. Ric Flair was then drafted to SMACKDOWN.

The RAW team (Eugene, Kenny, Viscera, Orton, and Nitro) beat the SMACKDOWN team (Matt Hardy, Chavo, William Regal, Mark Henry, and Chris Masters) and the ECW team (Striker, Dreamer, Snadman, Marcus Cor Von, and Kevin Thorn) to win the final TWO picks. The match was an over-the-top-rope Battle Royal and featured an enjoyable confrontation between Viscera and Mark Henry. Other noteworthy aspects include Eugene knocking out teammate Kenny (Eugene's retarded) and Orton knocking out teammate Eugene (Orton's an asshole). Matt Hardy also hit an awesome Twist of Fate on Chris Masters from the other side of the ropes. Randy Orton finished the match by eliminating Matt Hardy. Snitsky and Mr. Kennedy were drafted to RAW.

RAW Lost: The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair
RAW Gained: Booker T, Bobby Lashley, Snitsky, Mr. Kennedy

SMACKDOWN Lost: The Boogeyman, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Mr. Kennedy
SMACKDOWN Gained: The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair

ECW Lost: Bobby Lashley, Snitsky
ECW Gained: The Boogeyman, Chris Benoit

It appears that RAW primarily lost guys to SMACKDOWN, SMACKDOWN primarily lost to ECW, and ECW sent its two McMahon Muscleheads to RAW (neither of which belonged there in the first place). In other words, a conglomeration of talent at the A show was shifted down the ranks to create more equality among the brands. While quantity of talent was shifted away from RAW, the greatest quality went to RAW as it gained the wrestlers who are considered to be the up-and-coming talent (Lashley and Kennedy). RAW and SMACKDOWN gained and lost 4 wrestlers each while ECW gained and lost 2.

In related news, this draft will be supplemented with another draft online (WWE.com) this Wednesday at noon!

A new Vengeance match was announced, which features John Cena against Bobby Lashley, Mick Foley, Randy Orton, and Booker T.

In one of the more bizarre spots ever seen on RAW, McMahon was inexplicably killed from an explosion as the show went off the air. Could this signify a changing of the guard in WWE Upper Management?

Look for Drew's In-Depth Draft Analysis shortly! He'll be discussing the impact of the roster changes, the feuds to look for, which of our writers got it right (hint: none of us), and every aspect of the historic night!

Read More...

Poor decisions, injuries plague RAW, SMACKDOWN

The WWE seems to be stuck in a period of bad luck, only accompanied by some of the worst programming I've seen in years. As far as RAW is concerned, sure, they've been booking the cards like it's WrestleMania. But does any of that matter when The Great Khali interferes multiple times in one night? Not really. RAW has been the show to avoid injuries, and has seemingly decided to force bad fortune upon themselves as they push Khali for a title run. Last I heard, this guy was such a bad wrestler that no one backstage would agree to wrestle him. And now he's at the forefront of their A-show? Give me a break.

The current Intercontinental champ is a no-name Italian who is supposedly a good wrestler, but isn't being allowed to showcase his talent. He's expected to drop the title in feud with Chris Masters, the man who spent the good part of a year asking people to sit down in a chair. With one fell swoop, the WWE will reduce their champions from John Cena (serviceable) and Jeff Hardy (perfect for the IC belt) to an even worse wrestler and a steroid-laden gimmick gone wrong, respectively. For more on roids gone wrong, do a google image search for Buff Bagwell or Scott Steiner.

SMACKDOWN, on the other hand, was finally headed in the right direction when their two biggest stars went down in one week. The Undertaker, poised for a long title reign, pulled a bicep or something last week, forcing him to hand the title back to Batista. Why? Because SMACKDOWN doesn't have anyone better. Who is he going to give it to, Finlay? Unfortunately, the best bet for SMACKDOWN is a man who just had the title and proved he couldn't do anything with it.

Even worse, the young SMACKDOWN star Mr. Kennedy has been held down by BOTH bad programming and injuries. Just last week, he lost clean to Matt Hardy. Don't even get me started on this one. He formed an injury at a house show following this loss, from what I understand, and he was forced to drop his Money In The Bank Briefcase to a RAW Superstar, Edge. Edge is great and all, but I was really excited to see what Kennedy (and SMACKDOWN) would do with the opportunity. SMACKDOWN, showing promise less than a week ago, has gone back to being RAW's retarded, red-headed stepchild.

Between the developing problems of RAW and SMACKDOWN along with Mr. McMahon holding the ECW Championship, the WWE is facing its toughest times in recent memory. The worst part is...they're doing it to themselves.

Read More...