Same ole Heartbreak

As I watched RAW Monday night, awaiting Vince McMahon's "big" announcement, I actually saw a good wrestling match. Not totally surprising, as RAW has shown us a lot of good wrestling in the past few weeks, but it was a match that made me think. I'm talking about Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels going one on one in the Main Event. A good match that's part of a good storyline that really got me thinking.
The great thing about Jericho and HBK is that the two really click together. Jericho is admittedly a fan of HBK, and that showed in their match. Almost every time HBK came out ready to do a signature move, Jericho was prepared. HBK didn't really have anything other than his usual repertoire, and it cost him.
Here's my big idea: Make HBK find a new finisher, or some new moves to up his game.
Now, I know that no one in WWE is going to walk up to the guy who's dubbed "Mr. Wrestlemania" and force a new finisher on him, but it is a really logical thing to do. Part of what has kept Undertaker from getting stale is his various trademark maneuvers. He's got the Tombstone, Chokeslam, Last Ride, and now his "choke" maneuver. Not to mention that he's altered his standard offense as his character has changed.
Think about when Jericho came back. Y2J knew better than to teturn without something different, and he brought in the "Codebreaker" to give him an impact move that gave him an entirely new dimension to his matches. Now he doesn't have to work the back for the Walls of Jericho, he can also work the head and neck for the codebreaker. He doesn't have to wait for his opponent to tire out enough to slap on a submission or hit the Lionsault, he can also surprise them at any time with the knees to the face.
I'm not saying that HBK has to stop being the "Showstoppa," just that the show shouldn't stop as much for the Sweet Chin Music or the flying elbow like it once did. Every fan in attendance knows when HBK is going to kick someone, or when he's going to drop the elbow. Now that he's in his forties, many of the wrestlers on the roster grew up watching him. They should be able to anticipate as much as the "thousands in attendance and millions watching at home." All I'm asking is for Shawn himself to realize that and freshen up his in ring act.

To tell JJ that HBK will never change here.

To talk about Y2J vs. HBK, McMahon giving away a Million and more, click here.

(Pictures courtesy of www.onlineworldofwrestling.com)

I CAN see you, but I don't want to.

Last night on RAW, John Cena showed me every reason that us "older" wrestling fans don't like him. (When I say "older" I use quotations because I'm in fact 25, but I'm already way out of the John Cena demographic.) It's not because he's being forced down our throats every week, even though he is. It's not because he used to come out and rap about "Deez Nutz." It's because he doesn't really know what or who he is, or what he's really doing.

When Cena first came out last night, I could have sworn it would be to defend Mickie James and her protests to William Regal. That would have made perfect sense. It would have helped Mickie James out, as fans would see that even Cena respects her, and it would have helped Cena out as he would come to the aid of someone who wasn't getting respect from Regal. Instead, though, we get John Cena escorting Mickie from the ring while he talks with Regal. Which is the wrestling equivalent of saying "get back to the kitchen, woman!" Even after that, we start to think "Oh man, Cena's going to give it to Regal" when what happens? Cena starts to lecture Regal on respect.

Now I know "respect" is just as important to John Cena's gimmick as pretending that starring in the Marine makes him a Marine, but lecturing Regal isn't the way to do it. This isn't World Lecturing Entertainment, it's World WRESTLING Entertainment. What does that mean, children? That means we solve our differences in the ring. This is John Cena's first mistake of the night. Instead of being a wrestler and doing something about Regal making the wrong decisions, Cena wants to talk about it. Can you imagine if Stone Cold just wanted to talk to Mr. McMahon about the bad decisions he made? How about instead of Laying the Smacketh Down, The Rock wanted to Cheweth the Fat with his opponents? To the older fans used to someone who knows that actions speak louder than words, John Cena is a waste of time.

Move on to Main Event, and we'll see another aspect to John Cena that irks the older wrestling fans: his in-ring style. Now, I'm not the kind of guy that believes "work rate" brings the ratings, but Cena is one of the few times where I think that what he does in the ring really hurts him, especially against someone like Randy Orton.

Now, I've watched this match three times just to make sure I wasn't making this up, but Cena's repertoire is, for lack of a better word, sloppy. Randy Orton starts the match looking as if he's mentally prepared. J.R. used that wonderful term "methodical" when describing Orton in ring. That used to mean slow, but with Orton's in ring style it's very accurate. He lays on every headlock, every punch, every back breaker with precision and intent. He wants to work on your head so that concussion kick really takes effect, or for that RKO to deliver a KO. Cena, not so much. If Orton is, as J.R. called him, a viper, then John Cena is a blind gorilla. Cena's every move in that ring looked as if he didn't really have a hold on what he was doing. His ring work looked sloppier than the Goodwin's overalls. Lots of flying through the ring while "holding on" to Orton when it was clear he didn't have a hold at all. Bulldogs, clotheslines, even a cross body that looked horrible in comparison with Orton's precise movements.

Now, I'm not saying Orton is the best in the business, but he looked like a million dollars compared to the Vanilla Gorilla Monday night. If you add that, as well as his confused gimmick, John Cena isn't at all connecting with the older fans. There's an old saying that Jim Cornette is fond of: "You can't polish a turd." Luckily from Cena, he's far from being a turd. But if he is to continue on the course he's on, he will be. The Great Khali has excuses for his lack of in ring prowess, John Cena has none.

To tell JJ that he can't be polished, click here.

To talk about John Cena's performance on RAW, click here.

(John Cena Picture courtesy of www.onlineworldofwrestling.com)

Two sides to every coin...

As I watched the two "weiners" Carlito & Santino last night, I couldn't help but think about my blog entry from last week. Not because they exemplify the things that I pointed out, but because they seem to be different. Carlito and Santino together remind me of what WWE used to be. Now this could be because the people backstage are giving them better stuff to work with. To me, though, this shows the other side of the coin in the creative equation in professional wrestling: what the wrestlers themselves do.
Several months ago, WWE finally dropped OVW from their developmental status and "let go" of Al Snow. This has been something rumored about for what seems like ages, and it finally happened. What amazed me, though, was some of the things supposedly said about OVW in the dirtsheets. There were talents complaining about the treatment, saying that morale was always down because they were constantly being yelled at. What does this have to do with Carlito & Santino? Well, it's pretty simple: There are those that take what they're given and run with it, and those that take what they're given and cry about it.
Carlito & Santino, in ring talent aside, have taken what could have been crappy gimmicks (and have been at times) and made them comedic gold. Santino has not only become a good heel by his asinine actions in the ring, but his butchering of the English language gives you a chance to feel as though you are better than him and thus justifies your booing him. You don't just feel like he's and idiot, you know it. That's not just the creative team at work there, that's Santino. Had he not run with this ball and worked very hard to make Santino come across as idiotic as he does, we would have seen the "We wish him well in his future endeavors" comment a long time ago. Not only has he done himself good, but he's done Carlito good too, almost completely revitalizing the Caribbean character just by giving him someone to play off of. For a brief moment Monday night, I believed that these two could Main Event someday.
Creative gives you something to work off of backstage. Once you're on the floor, though, it's fairly up to you. This is why I don't completely blame creative for Kane's Championship Speech a few weeks ago. Yes, it's their fault for giving him a speech that sounds as bland as anything else they write, but it's also up to him to make that speech fit his character. Creative is never going to give you the perfect promo or vignette for your character, that's why you have to be able to work your character into it. It's a two way door that too many people just don't walk through.
Back to the OVW deal. Why did I include it? To me, it seems that a lot of the people going through OVW were complaining about morale because they weren't getting what they thought was proper treatment. Al Snow being one of the trainers who was credited with this the most. I've seen Al's "Secrets of the Ring" video from ROH. He's not nice about some things, but he's not nice because people are making basic mistakes that they shouldn't be. They complained about his yelling when they should have opened their ears and listened.
I've begun to see that creative isn't always to blame. Sometimes it's the wrestlers themselves who are too timid to suggest something, or maybe they expect everything to come to them perfect and shiny. This is a creative business, built on performers and sometimes their mistakes are the ones we should be criticizing, not just the writers.

To criticize JJ's mistakes, click here.

To talk about how WWE should re-hire Al Snow as a trainer, click here.

(Pictures courtesy of www.onlineworldofwrestling.com)

Too much of a Soap Opera..

Last night as I was watching RAW, I realized just how much change has occurred in WWE since the late 90's and early in this decade. Not just in the presentation of the product, but in the product itself. Long gone are the days when watching WWE felt like watching a bunch of characters enjoying making a name for themselves. There's no unscripted humor, no unscripted interviews, and no unscripted anything, really.

Take the Cryme Tyme vignette last night. JTG and Shad are backstage showing us what they stole from people at Wrestlemania, in a mock shopping channel set up. They've got some soul in a shaker courtesy of "Soul Man" Rocky Johnson, an autographed Playboy from Maria, and panties that belonged to Mae Young. Funny stuff, but it's in no way shape or form connected to ANYTHING else in the show, as it would have been several years ago. Someone would have figured that if they bought that shaker full of Rocky Johnson soul, the might be able to "shake" (pun intended) off a losing streak or somehow improve their game. Maybe Al Snow would have coughed up some cash in order to improve Steve Blackman's hard headed personality. You could have even had someone incredibly gullible pay for it, only to find out later that the shaker had nothing but pepper in it, giving them sneezing fits and costing them a match which would lead to a feud with Cryme Tyme for selling fake products.

Later on in the show, someone like Funaki would have approached Cryme Tyme for the Playboy to see Maria, and then snuck away with Mae Young's panties. If not that, then Maybe someone like Val Venis would have picked up the Playboy, and he and Santino would start a feud as Santino would chastise Venis for looking at Maria naked (great idea for a feud, as Santino and Maria are no longer together, so it makes him even more of a jerk. Venis, being a former porn star, has seen many women naked and probably doesn't think that much of looking in Playboy. The misunderstanding is more than enough to start a decent mid-card feud).

Another thing that really made me consider that WWE has changed was Kane's obviously scripted promo on ECW following Wrestlemania. The man beats 23 other men to earn a title shot, and then beats Chavo in 8 seconds for the ECW title, and comes out cutting a promo that not only sounds like something Randy Orton might say, but is delivered in the way Randy Orton would say it. This is Kane we're talking about. The same Kane who was once a monster that believed he was hideously scarred by a fire that killed his parents. The same Kane that once he started speaking, did so with the sound of violence deep in his heart. The same Kane who now sounds nearly identical to a snotty twenty something who goes around beating up old men and calling himself a "Legend Killer."

What's wrong with this picture?

Now, I realize I may just be looking for things to complain about, but these things may just explain why WWE is getting lower ratings than they were eight to ten years ago. It may explain why there are a lot of guys like me getting their wrestling fix from independent companies like ROH, FIP, Chikara, and NWA's Showcase show on Colours (Which SamoaRowe LOVES to review, by the way). It's not like these things are hard to fix, but they might be a little too hard for some people in high places to admit.

To tell JJ how right or wrong he is, click here.

To talk about WWE's shows, and how they're overly scripted, click here.

Congratulations, I think...

It's the talk of the internet wrestling world, mostly because nothing else is going on. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about the "Exodus" of workers leaving TNA and heading to New York. There is a "flood" of talent leaving TNA. I use quotations to emphasize my sarcasm, if you didn't know. In reality, there are three talents leaving TNA at the moment: "Wildcat" Chris Harris, Ron "The Truth" Killings, and "Senshi" (Low-Ki). Not exactly an exodus of Biblical proportions, I know, but it's something worth talking about. Especially since these three were pivotal talents for TNA several years ago.
"Wildcat" Chris Harris is signed to a deal to go straight to the main roster(s), according to several sites. I congratulate him on this. Since I first tuned in to TNA long ago, back in the $10 Wednesday PPV days, I always felt that he and James Storm were better suited for the WWE. Their punch and kick focus, with wrestling moves on the side, didn't really fit in with what TNA was becoming known for at the time (X Division action, before it became Nash & 3D burial fodder). I felt that WWE would handle both Harris and Storm a bit better in the booking, and allow their style to grow properly, whereas TNA was bound to book them clumsily and stunt their growth as wrestlers. I feel that the assessment was accurate, even if TNA would ALWAYS give AMW the tag titles when they changed networks. I know if I were in TNA tag division, I would have REALLY resented AMW every time the TV situation changed. Jarrett and Styles, too. After AMW split for the final time, it soon became obvious that TNA had more planned for Storm than for Harris. Sad really, even though I prefer Storm myself, I still say Harris has LOADS of potential. I hope Vince uses it properly.
During his initial time in TNA, Ron "The Truth" Killings quickly established himself as a rising star, partially due to his attitude about being released by WWE. Killings, first as K-Krush, then as "The Truth" and finally as Ron "The Truth" Killings, would capture the NWA title twice, and the NWA Tag Titles as part of the 3 Live Krew. The Krew became one of TNA's most popular acts, despite Killings dancing in the ring before every match. Despite their popularity, the Krew would eventually split, partially due to the arrival of Kip James. Since then, Killings has been on the backburner in TNA, and fairly honest about his unhappiness. He's been one of the few to make allegations of racism, along with his 3LK partner Konnan, and actually left the company before. In fact, the only reason he's been in TNA recently is because they needed a partner for Adam "Pacman" Jones. Which doesn't really help the racism allegations, if you ask me.
The departure of Senshi isn't surprising. Senshi, like Killings, was one of the first stars of TNA. He helped establish the X Division with Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles, and even helped establish the tag team division as one third of XXX (Christopher Daniels and (uggh) Elix Skipper being the other two thirds). Though Ki was already making a name for himself, having won the ECWA Super 8 tournament in 2001, TNA was his first real national exposure outside of a few episodes of Jakked in which he played jobber to Crash Holly, Essa Rios, and the Radicalz (Malenko & Saturn, specifically). (Side note: After seeing one of these episodes, I was sure that WWE would sign Ki. My logic was "He's like a young Rob Van Dam." Shows you what I knew then, huh?) Ki did a great job of establishing the "X Division Style" with Jerry Lynn, and AJ Styles. Ki would make his mark known in early TNA, winning the X Division title and Tag Titles. He hasn't always been TNA oriented, though, as he was gone for nearly two years to work ROH and Japan. Upon resigning, TNA dubbed him "Senshi" and won the X Division Title from Samoa Joe in a 3 way with Sonjay Dutt. After that, Senshi became just another one of the X Division wrestlers. He was supposedly the only one that was willing to take Dixie Carter's offer the day she made it, and has actually gotten more TV time SINCE asking for his release than he did before that. Interesting scenario.
That's 3 talents, all pivotal to the early days of TNA, who are stepping out. This wouldn't be such a big deal if the buyrates were going up, or the ratings were going up, or if the company was successful. But this comes at a time in which TNA is loaded full of talent who had nothing to do with it getting where it is, with most of those talents getting TV time. It's a telling sign that guys who were there at the beginning are wanting out. Especially Harris. But will the WWE, in Killings and Harris' case, or the rest of the wrestling world, in Low Ki's case, make for greener pastures? Either way, good luck guys. You may need it.

You can tell JJ what you think about the departures here

Discuss TNA and their wrestlers leaving here

The Golden Arches of Wrestling

It's quick. It's cheesy. It's only momentarily satisfying, but with a slightly greasy, guilty aftertaste. It's the McDonald's of wrestling. McMahon's is shoving drugged, un-human, overly-beefy dandys down our collective throats and calls it Entertainment the same way those Golden Arches shove drugged, overly beefed processed patties and call it nutrition. This "Sports Entertainment" is satisfying for the fans and, like fast food, horribly unhealthy for everyone involved. What used to be revered a sport has been sacrificed at the altar of our short attention span and desire for convenience alongside breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

What am I saying, you ask? Have you not been online all weekend? (I know I haven't, thanks to faulty internet and a trip to my grandparents for a family reunion.) This past weekend three different news organizations have reported almost 20 names of professional wrestlers, all but one a recent WWE star, who have been buying their steroids from an online pharmacy in New York. You don't believe me? Don't be so glib! I'm the "Mad Scientologist of Professional Wrestling," after all. I'll let you see the names, and the articles they came from.

Sports Illustrated lists Chris Benoit(deceased), Eddie Guerrero(deceased), Brian "Crush" Adams(deceased), Sylvain Grenier(released), Chavo Guererro, Shane Helms, Randy Orton, John Hennigan (Johnny Nitro/John Morrison), Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy... Kennedy), Sho Funaki, Charlie Haas, Edward Fatu(Umaga), Darren Matthews(William Regal), and Adam Copeland(Edge). Adding to that list, the New York Daily News adds Mike Bucci(Nova/Simon Dean, just released), Robert Huffman(Booker T), and Anthony Carelli(Santino Marella). ESPN also threw in Dave Bautista(Batista), and Chris Mordecki(Chris Masters).

In total, that's 19 different names listed. Nineteen. "But JJ, three of them are dead." That's right. One of them from a steroid related heart condition(Guerrero), and one was prescribed an OVERWHELMING amount of Roids before stunning the world and putting the spotlight on wrestling(Benoit). The other, we don't really know about. What this means is that two years ago, there were at least eighteen guys on the WWE roster on "the juice." There's no real telling how many truly are. Apparently, Batista is adamantly denying his name being in the hat, but how many people look at Batista and think "Wow, what natural size?" What's surprising here isn't just the obivous. It's the names that seem out of place. Who, in their right mind, would think Funaki is using steroids? Smackdown's #1 Announcer needed steroids? REALLY?? Look at who else is named on the list. Umaga?? Regal?? Chavo?? SIMON DEAN?? Looks like we finally figured out the secret to the Simon System, huh?

What kills me isn't that there are so many names listed. It's that a business that once built itself around guys who could go sixty minutes a night and hold their own in a barfight now only ask their wrestlers to go 10 minutes on TV and jack themselves up on steroids to look like they're powerful. Much like what Ray Kroc did with the restaurant, Vince McMahon has now turned what we know and love as Professional Wrestling into a "Fast Food" version called "Sports Entertainment." Instead of Wrestlers, Women Wrestlers, Veterans and Referees we get "Superstars," "Divas," "Legends" and "WWE Officials." The Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets, Quarter Pounders and "Apple Pies" of our sport. The focus is less on the Wrestling and more on the Entertainment in World Wrestling Entertainment.

I'm not saying that Vince should close up shop and live his life in shame. Maybe, though, he should focus more on the Sport and less on the Entertainment. More on the Food and less on the Fast. It will only make things better for us all in the end.

You can "stick it" to JJ Dangerously here.

You can add some "juice" to Da Wrestling Board's conversation on the steroid suspensions here.

Where's the Bright Side?

Several weeks ago, my hopes were high as professional wrestling (I dare not call it Sports Entertainment) seemed to be headed for an upswing. There was a massive amount of excitement focused around the WWE draft, there was hope that TNA could maybe turn around (Isn't there always?), and there was the excitement of the upcoming Ring of Honor Pay Per View, Respect is Earned. Sadly, the tragedy (Is there any other appropriate word) of the Benoit family has now placed us in a valley when we were hoping for a peak.

There are people in all forms of media calling for the head of Vince McMahon. They say McMahon encourages steroid use, steroid abuse, and drug abuse among other things. They want Congress to intervene and create a way for the government to regulate drug abuse and steroid use/abuse at wrestling shows. Everyone, from internet bloggers like myself to wrestlers, radio hosts and "wrestling reporters" blame the schedule and lifestyle of WWE for what has happened. It looks as if a dark day has come for Vince McMahon, one he hasn't seen since Hulk Hogan stepped into court so many years ago.

There's a part of me that wants to defend WWE. I mean, wrestling now is SO much better than it used to be, right? Guys like Harley Race and Dory Funk can look at the schedule WWE works and laugh. They wrestled 7 days a week, sometimes twice a day for most of their career. None of them committed an act anything close to what Benoit did. The Ultimate Warrior, of all people, made a point about the use and/or abuse of steroids on FOX News, listing bodybuilders of the late 70's that used steroids and never had problems. Heck, one he listed is the current "Governator" of California. None of them committed an atrocious act like Benoit.

There is one thing I can't defend in this whole debacle, and that is Vince McMahon. For over 23 years, Vince McMahon's company has represented the industry as a whole. Much like MLB, the NFL, the NBA or the NHL, WWE has become synonymous with Professional Wrestling. Even more so than some of those groups. If you think of any major sport, you think of your favorite team in the league. If you ask most anyone outside of the Wrestling bubble about wrestling, they automatically assume you mean WWE. My little brother said it best when asked if he liked wrestling: "Yeah, I like WWE." All this brings one question to mind: What's different about WWE than all of those major corporate entities/legalized monopolies?

The biggest answer, and the one given most often, isn't that wrestling isn't a "real" sport. But I dismiss that. I dismiss it because those guys spend more tim on the road performing than any other sport. Hell, even Broadway shows get a break. What makes the difference to me is the fact that WWE, in spite of the fact that it works with charities like the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the USO, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, and the Starlight Foundation among others, never shows it's positive side. I bet you had no idea that WWE was involved with so many charities, huh? Well, neither did I. I'm sure the non wrestling world doesn't know. To them WWE is the bird flipping, Mr. McMahon butt-kissing, nearly naked women loving predecessor to the retarded reality TV we're so overwhelmed with. But why don't we, the wrestling fans, even know about it? I mean, we spend hours every week with our eyes on the TV screen with not one mention of any of this, barring Mick Foley making a kid GM for a day.
Where are the WWE sponsored Public Service Announcements encouraging people to pay more attention to some of these interests? I'm sure the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation wouldn't mind having a PSA during RAW featuring WWE Champion and fan favorite John Cena encouraging people to donate money or time to help fight a form of cancer that attacks Plasma in your blood. (Don't feel bad, I didn't know what it was either.) I understand that major sports do charitable things all the time without gaining publicity, but pro wrestling NEEDS the positive "karma" of showing that they're more than a way for kids to absorb violence through television. Not just WWE, but professional wrestling as an industry. So what gives?

The honest truth is, only Vince and Linda know why they don't do more. I do know, however, that when wrestling is looked down on by talking heads (and mustaches. I'm looking your way Geraldo) on cable news like the bastard stepchild of American past-times, that there is now only one place to lay the blame. It's not TNA or ROH, both of which are still in their infancy. It's not the now defunct WCW or ECW, as both were absorbed into Vince's empire. In my opinion, it's solely at the feet of Vincent K. McMahon, who built a worldwide conglomerate out of a small company by using the marketing knowledge and skills that would actually save him if he used them for something other than the "almighty dollar."

Draft Thoughts, part 2

Tri-Brand draft part 2: Friday Night Smackdown!

We’re looking at the draft again today, this time we’re looking at RAW’s broadcast network little sister, Smackdown.

Smackdown loses:

The Boogeyman, King Booker & Queen Sharmell, Chris Benoit, Ken Kennedy, Paul London & Brian Kendrick, The Miz, Daivari, William Regal, Jillian Hall

One brands gain is another brands loss. Specifically, Raw’s gain is Smackdown’s loss. The Friday night CW offering loses a large amount of talent in this year’s draft. Whereas I could actually say good things about some of the talent leaving Raw, I can’t say that about Smackdown. The move that will hurt the most is “The fastest rising star in Sports Entertainment” Ken Kennedy. Kennedy is money in the bank, and I’m not talking about his Wrestlemania win. The guy oozes charisma, and is one of the few stars that bleeds desire the way a young Stone Cold Steve Austin once did. That’s not even considering the built in Main Event feud with Edge that was waiting on a silver platter when Kennedy was healed up.
Losing Kennedy was bad enough, but Smackdown also lost 3 strong veterans that helped form the backbone of the brand. King Booker is a powerful loss that helps RAW, but provided plenty of entertainment with his faux British accent. Chris Benoit proved a valuable asset that could help the most mediocre talent look good. William Regal was the consistent heel who could provide any young up and comer someone to play off of. Any company or brand is lucky to have any one of these, and until recently Smackdown was lucky to have all three. With their departure, the job of seasoning the young talent falls more heavily on Finlay, Dave Taylor, and Chavo Guerrero.
Smackdown loses three talented cruiserweights in Paul London, Brian Kendrick, and Daivari. While Daivari has yet to find his place after giving up as the mouthpiece for Muhammed Hassan or the Great Khali, he could more than hold his own in the ring with any other cruiserweights. London & Kendrick, though, are the loss that will be felt the most on Smackdown. They’ve double teamed their way to the top of Smackdown’s tag division. With their departure, along with that of William Regal, Smackdown’s tag team roster basically consists of Deuce & Domino and the newly acquired Major’s Brothers.
Smackdown has also lost many of the characters which separated it from the other brands. With the departure of The Miz and The Boogeyman to ECW on top of Kennedy’s move to RAW, Smackdown seems short on over the top personalities. Throw in the departure of Brooke Hogan wannabe Jillian Hall, and it will be interesting who gets to showcase their character over the next year.

Smackdown gains:

The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair, Kenny Dykstra, Hardcore Holly, Brett & Brian Majors, Victoria, Eugene

What does Smackdown get in return for their 3 Upper Mid-card veteran talents? Well, if you ask me, not much. I’m not saying that there isn’t potential with the arrival of Kenny, Chris Masters & Hardcore Holly. I’m just saying it’s not really a fair trade off. If Hardcore Holly continues on the path he was heading down during his stay in ECW, he’s got a chance to fill in as a main event level foil for Batista or Kane, or as an elevater lifting Matt Hardy above mid-card. Masters could have the chance to grow, but there are so many heel talents working Smackdown right now, I don’t see any place for him to truly go. He could feud with Matt Hardy or Kane, and possibly a babyface Hardcore Holly, but I’m just not seeing it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him slapping the Masterlock on a debuting star and starting a feud out that way. As for Dykstra, he’s pretty much in the same boat. Although I’d really enjoy a Dykstra/Hardy feud, but I’m afraid we’ll see a renewal of the Spirit Squad/Eugene feud.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a feud between Batista and the Great Khali. It sounds like a disaster to me, but it’s fairly obvious that WWE would love to see the two big men go at it. Regardless of who Big Dave takes on, expect the Nature Boy to follow him. Flair’s not got much left in the tank in ring, but his managerial career could just be starting.
The Majors Brothers got an interesting start in ECW, but look for them to take on a more serious role in Smackdown’s now damaged tag team scene. If I were in charge, I’d be calling every tag team wrestler in the WWE system looking for some help with that group, but we’re more than likely to see the random pairings than the legit teams right now.
That leaves us with Eugene and Victoria. What I would love to see is Eugene start chasing Hornswaggle around. Something could easily come from that. But don’t expect it, as Finlay is one of the major stepping stones on the Friday night roster. What Eugene needs, though, is a sympathetic member of the Smackdown crew to take him under his wing and work with him. Make a team of the two. The question to ask in that situation is who would be that sympathetic to the mentally handicapped superstar? Victoria? I don’t see her doing much else, outside of the occasional women’s match. But Smackdown’s women’s roster isn’t as strong as Raw’s, and she’ll need something to do.

Smackdown, in my opinion, needs to make sure that next years draft has nothing to do with computers. The randomness of the brand’s acquisitions seems likely to hurt the brand for a while. The way it’s been going, though, I’m sure Smackdown, with what is possibly the best commentary team in wrestling right now, will come out ahead in the end.

Feel free to discuss this post at Da Wrestling Board

Draft thoughts, part 1

With one of the most conversation worthy weeks behind us, I want to take a look at the so-called draft that WWE put out. I’m not even going to mention how I think that having computer generated picks is a mockery and insult to legitimate drafts(Well, I just did), but I will give my opinions and thoughts on the picks that the computer “randomly” generated.

Tri-Brand Draft, part 1-RAW

Out of all the brands, RAW got the best deal coming out of the draft, and that’s no surprise. Let’s take a look at how this worked out for WWE’s flagship show:

RAW Loses (in order):

The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair, Kenny Dykstra, Viscera, Victoria, Eugene, Johnny Nitro

Basically, what we have here is RAW losing a limited monster, eye candy (and I use that loosely), a muscle head, an old man, a talented up and comer, the world’s largest lover, one of the best women wrestlers, a mentally challenged character, and a cocky rising star.
Sounds like a mixed bag, huh?

Well, in my opinion losing Khali, Masters, Wilson, Flair, Viscera and Eugene really helps RAW. You lose a monster in Khali, but that opens the door for Umaga to return to form as a smashmouth killing machine. The pre-taping of Smackdown also ensures that Khali won’t pull an Iron Sheik (random f-bombs) as he has done in the past. Masters switching brands only helps him, as he has a fresh group of Cruiserweights to lock into his full-nelson “Master-lock,” and the promise of fresh feuds with guys like Matt Hardy, and possibly Hardcore Holly. Master’s loss, however, make one less heel on RAW for the recently crowned Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella.
Flair leaving is great for RAW, definitively killing the Carlito-Flair feud and any possibility of a re-occurance with either Carlito or Foley. It does hurt the brand, though, as that’s one less wrestler who could make almost anyone look good. Val Venis is probably stoked to have his RAW jobber duty back. The losses of Viscera and Eugene aren’t that pivotal. I will say, however, that I thought Viscera and Val Venis were one of the most under-utilized tag teams in recent years, as I believe they could’ve had quite the impact. Like Torrie Wilson, the switch of Eugene will have basically no effect at all. Eugene has been used in recent months as a dark match crowd warmer, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

RAW gains (in order):

King Booker & Queen Sharmell, Bobby Lashley, Snitsky, Ken Kennedy, Paul London & Brian Kendrick, The Sandman, Daivari, William Regal, Jillian Hall

There are two picks here which make no sense to me, and that’s the Sandman and Daivari. Why anyone would move these two from their previous brands is a loss to me. The Sandman is only with the WWE because of the re-birth of ECW. Though I’m sure he’s loving the larger paychecks, I’m not so sure taking him off the brand serves any real purpose. The Sandman’s best work these days, and honestly ever, is done in “Extreme Rules” matches in which weapons are illegal. Barring the DDT and the Heineken-Rana, he has a very limited moveset without a Singapore Cane. Not to mention his status as an “ECW Original” maintained what little credibility the new ECW had with old-school fans. Daivari, while being a good wrestler, is limited in possibilities on RAW. He’s much better suited on ECW with some smaller roster members, like Little Guido or Matt Striker, or on Smackdown with the Cruiserweights. But it’s likely he was forced to RAW to prevent any question of why he wasn’t translating for the Great Khali. Even though a Khali attack on Daivari could have led to a great face turn and a possible Cruiserweight title reign.
When it comes to the other choices, there is nothing but benefit for RAW. King Booker, when he returns, is a solid heel who could hold his own with Cena both in and out of the ring. Booker’s reactions to Cena’s stale sexual preference jokes might actually freshen up the Champ’s bad jokes. Bobby Lashley has somewhat proven his ability to win over a crowd. The question is whether or not he can do it against a lesser presence than “Evil” McMahon. His arrival on RAW allows him the chance to feud with other young up and comers like Randy Orton, or even the recent acquisitions like Ken Kennedy and William Regal. Kennedy will be a breath of fresh air for the show, as we haven’t seen a true rising star on the show since Cena switched brands and his character fell flat on it’s face. Hopefully, Kennedy will follow a different path. Regal, on the other hand is a versatile wrestler capable of seamless movement throughout the card. I could see him feuding for the IC title, or teaming up with King Booker or even helping Armando Estrada with Umaga.
London and Kendrick are possibly the best of the draw for RAW, as their devil may care style will mesh perfectly with Matt and Jeff Hardy, if WWE continues to ignore that Matt’s actually on Smackdown. Even so, L&K are well suited to work with the RAW tag scene, and the possibility of a feud with the World’s Greatest Tag Team could take both teams to new levels.
This leaves us with Snitsky and Jillian Hall. Snitsky has very little promise, in my opinion, but I could see him feuding with John Cena after a few months of build. Like so many before, I could also see Snitsky feuding for the Intercontinental Title. Honestly, if Santino were to overcome the challenge of Snitsky or Regal it could do wonders for his in-ring credibility. Fans might begin to take him seriously. Jillian Hall, in my opinion, is a waste of airtime, but we may see her latching onto Carlito or another mid-level heel to try and spice up the character. I predict she gets more airtime than she’s worth. Much like Miss Brooks in TNA.

Overall, RAW gets a fair cut from the “computer-generated” draft. They lose some young guns, and a couple of big men. While Snitsky will basically replace Khali, RAW does get some versatility in Regal and Booker and some depth in the middle with London & Kendrick, Lashley & Regal. Not to mention they get the fastest rising star in wrestling today with Ken Kennedy. If the booking is as exciting as the roster, RAW will be quite the show. But that’s a big if.

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