Post WWE Draft 2009 - A PEN15 Column

[PEN15]

A common complaint about the WWE Draft is that it doesn’t live up to the hype. Every year since the brand extension, the WWE hypes up the draft night as a major reason to tune in to Raw, usually delivering 3 hours of programming. And every year, it seems the interest in the draft among the IWC dies. I find this truly disappointing, because the reasons usually given are completely inept.

The most common is how the brand lines are blurred. Simply put, this is all based on timing. Before Wrestlemania, the WWE utilizes Raw as the primary advertising outlet for the huge Pay Per View. And since the draft typically occurs mere weeks after the granddaddy of them all, those lines continue to blur in what is an aftershock of the biggest show the WWE produces each year. This week, even as the draft has come to a close, we’ve already heard the advertisements for a very Raw roster concentrated edition of Smackdown. But let me assure you, next week, the brands will be 100% redefined with strict barriers. As is the process every year. There will be exceptions, but they are predictable and largely forgivable. I’ll get to those later.

But the draft is still the purest old school wrestling event the WWE can produce. Take a look at the 11 matches we had on Raw this past week:
Rey Mysterio vs Evan Bourne
Kane vs The Brian Kendrick
6 women tag team match
John Cena vs Jack Swagger
Great Khali vs Santino
Kofi Kingston vs The Miz
Tri Branded 15 Man Battle Royal
Christian vs Shelton Benjamin
Matt Hardy vs CM Punk
Chris Jericho vs Tommy Dreamer
Triple H, Shane McMahon and Batista vs Priceless/Legacy

There was only 1 match based on storyline, the main event. This left the rest of the card to be filled by purely strong action. There was no other reason to be out there except put on a good match. And that’s what we got for the most part. Sure we had a shitty womens match, a squash here and there. But 11 matches in 3 hours is a terrific wrestling ratio. And the amount of strong matches is also unbelievable. I’d argue that with the exception of Kane vs Kendrick, the 6 women tag, Khali vs Santino and Jericho vs Dreamer, every match delivered on the action.

So, the draft as a pure 3 hour show was a total success.

As for the draft results… well let’s look at each brand, one at a time shall we?

ECW
I’ll start by the easiest due to the size of it. With only 16 competitors on ECW, it’s pretty simple to go step by step into every possibility in terms of feuds, future champs, and other occurrences. Yet somehow, I think we’ll see some major names lost in the shuffle rather quickly.

I’ll start by displaying the faces and heels, and where on the card I position them (in terms of ECW, 1=main event, 2=upper midcard, 3=midcard))
Faces
1-Christian
1-Finlay
2-Evan Bourne
2-Hurricane Helms
2-Tommy Dreamer
3-DJ Gabriel

Heels
1-Jack Swagger (ECW Champ)
1-Mark Henry
2-Ezekial Jackson
2-Vladimir Kozlov
3-DH Smith
3-Paul Burchill
3-Tyson Kidd
3-Zack Ryder

There’s also Natalya and Katie Lea Burchill, but who cares?

First, we can see that the ECW roster is very heel strong. Not just in terms of amount of heels on the brand, by the size and strength of the heels. Swagger is probably the smallest of the top 4 heels, and that’s saying something.

First thing I’ll say is that the ECW roster is the least stable in the WWE. As the televised training ground for the top 2 brands, more calls up will occur here from FCW. Similarly, we’ll also see more ECW stars move to the other brands then vice versa. When Swagger and Christian reach their peak (which I’ll predict will happen before Summerslam) they’ll move over to the Red or Blue brand. Both Swagger and Chrisitan will run out of room to move on ECW and will need the change, but their absence will also give access to the next “generation” of ECW talent.

Jack Swagger will lose, and regain the ECW championship this year. I see Christian taking the title at Backlash, and then battling with him for a while longer, perhaps topping it off with a gimmick match at Extreme Rules/One Night Stand where Swagger takes the title back. This is when Christian will exit the brand, allowing Finlay to give Swagger another victory as champion. Then, this will be when Evan Bourne will take the Silver Gold. So expect Swagger vs Christian to be the spring feud on ECW.

Finlay in the meantime will probably feud with Kozlov, in an effort to keep the Russian occupied. Finlay isn’t going to be champion, but at his age and experience, he knows his role is to mold newer stars. This will happen often as he’ll feud with anyone, possibly turn heel even.

The dark horse and unknown name of the bunch is Hurricane Helms. I’m not sure where he can fit in, other than having random matches once in a while. Once the Christian and Swagger feud ends, he should move into title contention. But with so many other names that should be at that level, I don’t know how he’ll stand out. He could possibly be used as fodder for a few months, almost to test him out. I don’t mean job him out to everyone, but similar to how Chris Benoit was always just out of reach of the main event and lost to give credibility to those who won and did peak, Helms should do the same. By the fall, Bourne and Kozlov will need other names to work with, especially with Dreamer retired, and Swagger and Christian moving on. I think it will be a long wait for him to matter though, which is smart since he hasn’t been tested much since returning. Use the time while you have it. I somehow sense great matches between Helms and Paul Burchill. I’m not sure where this idea comes from, but it’s there, and it’s strong. I think letting them have a series of matches without any extra backstage segments would be great. Let these 2 wrestle every 2-3 weeks, and let the rivalry build. Both are in similar positions: you can tell the WWE sees something in them, but don’t know how to get it out. This is why ECW is their home.

Tommy Dreamer will not become ECW champion. Sorry marks, but Tommy Dreamer is just not going to win the ECW title. I’d feel good for the guy, and I wish I was wrong. But no matter how much he beats his chest and chants “E-C-W”, not enough people will care about his send off. Today’s WWE audience isn’t interested, and the old school ECW rabid fans have long since tuned out.

Kozlov will not be very patient on ECW, and will probably demolish Christian a few times in non-title matches. And he’ll be the monster that takes the belt from Bourne. I would suggest he go undefeated against Bourne several times over the course of the summer, leading up to his challenge for the ECW title when Evan is champion. Kozlov is talented, though boring. So he should never be the face of any company. But he would be perfect as the monster heel we pull the underdog face to overcome. And hopefully Bourne will.

So can I forget about Mark Henry? He’ll be involved. But not as champion. He’ll fill out a few contendership angles and be a challenger once in a while. But he’s got a new challenge ahead of him. Headed by the managing skills of Tony Atlas, ECW will home of the monstrous heel team of Henry and Ezekial Jackson. Henry has been terrific in his role over the last 2 years, but I think he’s run out of steam as the dominant heel. He would be the perfect ally to introduce Zeke in a tag team role.

Call this team Doom V.2 for all I care, I think this team will help give ECW a few Unified Tag Title matches. And that is a big key factor, because Tag Title matches will be previewed and advertised on the other 2 brands. When Carlito and Primo need to venture to the Land of Extreme, ECW will need to be mentioned on Raw. So cross brand advertisement is a huge positive here.

And when you mention teams on ECW, there’s bound to be a few “Hart Attacks” if I ignore seeing Tyson Kidd, Natalya and DH Smith on the roster together. Will we see Hart Foundation V.2? I am not sure. Would ECW be the place to try this? I tend to think not. But I could see an angle where it is teased or mentioned. DH Smith vs Tyson Kidd for a few months, leading to a team could definitely work. But I just doubt they’d jump at this faction on the third brand with 3 unproven stars.

Zack Ryder and DJ Gabriel will be 86ed rather quick. I could be wrong, but I sense that each brand will be making releases, and these 2 are the top choices for the unemployment line.

CONCLUSION
I see a bright future for ECW in the next year. I’m not sure how correct my predictions are, I just feel that the course I’ve set out here is the smartest for everyone involved, without straying from the WWE logic. Jack Swagger will definitely be a big time player soon, but he’ll need time to work in ECW. He may have jumped to the championship a bit too quickly. That is why I see him losing the title, and then feuding to get it back.

It’s a packed house right now, and a few guys will be lost for a couple of months. But again, Dreamer will retire, and Christian will jump ship quicker than Swagger, who isn’t exactly going to be an ECW fixture for long either. With those top 3 names, there will be lots of room for Bourne, Kozlov, Helms and Doom V.2 to lead the brand.




Raw

First thing, I went to WWE.com to get a full list of all the wrestlers in my research, and I noticed that Raw is not only stacked with the biggest names in the company, but over half of the championships. Both main event titles are on Raw, but along with their own Divas title and the US title, they have the Unified Tag Champs on the Red Brand. This might not last long as I think the Colons will be on the other brands once in a while, and either Edge will take back the Big Gold Belt, or CM Punk’s briefcase will haunt the Red locker room nightly.

But back to the names, EVERYONE is on Raw. With the exception of Jericho, Edge and Undertaker, Raw has every major name in the WWE. When the rumors of the WWE planning to turn Raw into a definite number 1 brand, this isn’t what I had in mind. But it is much better.

Before I go any further, I will state that I expect to be fully bored with Raw for the next year. I’m not hating on any particular star. I think Randy Orton is the most captivating WWE superstar today. But in general, the Raw brand will lack freshness as the main events will be dominated with guys that have all faced each other several times. I know the IWC will probably poo-poo on this method, but I think the casual fan may be interested in seeing more HHH vs Cena vs Orton vs Batista than anyone reading this long winded WWE forum post. Raw is going to draw in more people in terms of name power, and the WWE creative team will be put to the challenge of making these matches seem fresh and interesting. And it can be done, as Orton vs HHH leading into WrestleMania was much better than I expected it to be. The match… not so much. But the feud was well enough to be considered a success, and a footstep in the direction Raw is definitely moving in.

But let’s look at what we’ll see out of Raw.
1=main event, 2=upper midcard, 3=midcard, 4=lower

Faces:
1 John Cena
1 Shawn Michaels
1 Triple H
1 Batista
2 MVP
3 Carlito
3 Kofi
3 Mr Kennedy
3 Primo
4 Festus
4 Goldust
4 Hacksaw
4 Hornswaggle

Heels:
1 Big Show
1 Randy Orton
2 Matt Hardy
3 Chavo
3 Cody Rhodes
3 Jamie Noble
3 Ted DiBiase
3 The Brian Kendrick
3 The Miz
3 William Regal
4 Santino
4 Sim


I yawned about 7 times while typing that. And I figure that will be the same amount of yawning during any episode of Raw I may suffer through. That’s why I won’t go as in depth here as I did with ECW.

The main event will be repetitive. We will see a solid mix of Cena, HHH, Show, Batista and Orton revolving around the title (not sure which one yet. Though probably WWE). I don’t see any room for advancement for MVP or Matt Hardy who both deserve a shot. They’ll get involved in multi man matches involving the title, but we won’t see Cena defending against Matt Hardy at No Mercy.

But we should see Shawn Michaels work with Matt Hardy, in what should definitely be the barometer of the Matt Hardy main event potential. HBK would definitely carry the angle on the microphone, but we’re looking for the action in the ring. If Matt Hardy can shine with HBK, then he may be title bound sooner rather than later. While the WWE prefers guys that can talk on the mic, there have been a few wrestlers that make it to that level on skills alone. Matt Hardy did such a tremendous job with Mark Henry last year. Hardy showed he can work with a much less agile opponent, and make the match exciting. So I could definitely see Hardy having great matches with HBK on a 15-20 minute PPV scale. This could lead to more main eventing, and maybe 2010 will be his year to win the big one. Right now, HBK is the key.

If Shawn is going to retire after WM26, then I hope he works with guys like Hardy and MVP. Make the new generation look great in the fans eyes, especially on Raw where the fresh faces have no chance to steal the show. If these guys stand out here, then when the main event opens up, they can step right up to the plate. Add any other midcarder who could step up, like William Regal or the Miz. I doubt all of them can main event, but I think it’s time to test out how far they can reach.

The US title division is very strong. MVP is very high up the ladder, and there could be money to be made with several opponents. I could definitely see MVP working title defenses against The Miz, Legacy, Chavo, The Kendrick and Regal. There might even be some gas left in Matt Hardy vs MVP, especially since the face/heel roles are reversed. I wouldn’t bet on it though.

With the Tag Titles on Raw, I’d expect an influx of brand jumping here. The Colons will jump to ECW and SD at times, but we’ll see them defend their titles against visiting teams from the Tuesday Night Tapings. I see a few successful defenses to set their credibility in concrete. Maybe they’ll allow Ryder and Hawkins to challenge with the titles on the line, as well as the chance of the former Major Bros to be on the same brand. Same with Jesse/Festus. But, I think those teams will disappear soon, leaving the Colons to drop the titles to either my proposed Henry/Jackson team, or the more obvious team of rookies from Legacy.

We could see some other teams rise up on Raw as well. I read someone say The Miz and The Kendrick would make a decent pairing. I agree as those 2 could pull off top shelf arrogance being The Team, or anything else they name themselves. We could see a comedy team join hands with Goldust, Festus and Hacksaw. Any combination of those 2 would work in my opinion.

As for the Divas title being on Raw… I am really pushing myself to care here. I think Beth should continue working with Santino, as giving Beth mic time will help her out in the long run. As a heel or face, connecting with the crowd will benefit her. Maryse should pull off a few wins over Kelly Kelly, and defend against Mickie James in a much closer series of contests. But I still think Beth should be the single female of the WWE in terms of champion.

As for saying goodbye, I think any day could be the last day for Festus, Goldust, Hornswaggle, Chavo (yep), Kendrick, Sim Snuka, and Jillian. I hope they keep the last 3, but the others are expendable to the highest degree.


CONCLUSION
Raw will bring in the money and numbers, but it won’t excite. I see the WWE using the brand split as a true test to how to run the business: known names vs fresh new names. It might be a battle to the death. I hope the ratings go down when we have another Orton vs HHH match, as evidence that this method doesn’t work.

Either that, or the WWE accepts that HHH is NOT the first name associated with the company, and that it should be John Cena.



Smackdown

I said this in the WWE forum. This is the return to the era of the Smackdown 6 in 2002. For those who don’t know or remember, Smackdown had a consistent array of terrific matches based around 6 workers: Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge and Rey Mysterio. This was most apparent in the new SD tag division when the WWE Tag Titles were first created. Also, Brock Lesnar was developing as the face of the brand, and there was the cruiserweight division also working hard. So Smackdown was the work horse wrestling brand of the WWE.

Today, it seems no different. Instead of big names and giants, Smackdown has mostly up and comers who will be the future of the company in only a a couple of years, plus a some truly talented current stars who are experienced, yet young enough to keep up with the next generation.

Faces
1 Jeff Hardy
1 Undertaker
2 CM Punk
2 Rey Mysterio
2 The Great Khali
3 JTG
3 R-Truth
3 Shad
4 Charlie Haas
4 Jesse
4 Jimmy Wang Yang
4 Kung Fu Naki
4 Ricky Ortiz

Heels
1 Chris Jericho
1 Edge
2 John Morrison
2 Kane
2 Shelton Benjamin
2 Umaga
3 Dolph Ziggler
3 Mike Knox
4 Curt Hawkins

Smackdown seems a little light on the heels by the looks of it, which could mean a few things: Lots of exposure for every heel on the brand, expect a heel turn and soon, a lengthy reign from a heel champion taking on all challengers, or I am completely wrong about Smackdown and this year is going to suck.

Right away I see lots of money to be made in the main event. Even Edge has lots of potential feuds here thanks to the draft. I’m pretty confident that he’ll be the one to bring a title back to Smackdown next Sunday. And when he does, there will be a bevy of challengers. And since Raw has a couple of months of straight 1-on-1 title match potential, I would give Smackdown the opportunity to shine by having a Fatal Four way to give the fans an idea of who will be main eventing on Smackdown. Edge could defend against Jeff Hardy, CM Punk and John Morrison at Judgment Day, while in the undercard we have the first ever match between Jericho and the Undertaker. This would make 2 colossal main event quality matches, while still pushing newer main event talent. No matter the result (though I would hope for Edge to hold the title for at least a couple of months) the future is being built as the fans will slowly adjust to believe guys like Punk, Morrison and Hardy are on par with Edge in the main event. Having Punk vs Edge tomorrow isn’t going to draw. Not yet.

Speaking of Punk, with his Money in the Bank briefcase the potential is endless for him. I don’t think he’ll be the answer to bringing a title back to Smackdown as that was done last year. I fully expect him to get lots of exposure on Smackdown for at least 4-5 months. He will have a similar year to Edge in 2005 when he held the case. Punk will main event a bit, challenge and compete against Edge, Jericho, Undertaker, Kane and Morrison to give his credibility a boost. Basically, they should almost ignore Money in the Bank and just push Punk like a main event challenger. When it seems like is ready to get the Smackdown main event on a PPV against the champion (but when Raw has the final match of the night) is when Punk should openly challenge the champion.

Jericho has quite a lot of room on Smackdown to become the top heel. Even with Edge on the brand, Jericho is going to be so dominant on the microphone and in the ring. And he could have extended rivalries with Jeff Hardy, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio in an effort to keep those names main event relevant. But the money is in Jericho vs Undertaker. I would suggest this feud happens very soon. With Jericho just ending an angle of being anti-legend, I see no legend bigger than Undertaker to keep that fire burning. Keeping both of them out of the title picture by being involved with eachother will definitely help the Smackdown main event develop the new stars. Also, this isn’t a feud I want to see reach Wrestlemania 26. I don’t think Jericho should challenge the streak.

Undertaker should continue to have a lighter schedule. This is to help extend feuds, plus he doesn’t get overexposed. Random tag matches with Kane would be entertaining. I wouldn’t expect too much from Undertaker, just a few highlight feuds (JERICHO JERICHO JERICHO) and maybe put over newer guys on a rare occasion. I would be interested to watch a Rey Mysterio vs Undertaker match.

The Intercontinental Title division should heat up. Rey is a terrific champion, and looking at the roster on Smackdown, there can be weekly defenses and never get old. Of course, we won’t see that, but the point is still there that lots of contenders can help make this title mean something. CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, Kane and Umaga are all former IC champs that could have great matches with each other whenever they aren’t being pushed into a main event angle. Add in R-Truth and Mike Knox, and there is more than enough midcard wrestlers on the Blue Brand to make up for the lack of credibility the IC title currently has.

Cryme Tyme will be the resident tag team of the brand. If they want to push them as a “black” team, then having Alicia on the same brand could work out for them. If R-Truth teams with them in a stable, something good could come of it.

One major drawback to the Smackdown roster is the amount of guys that will never amount to anything. This isn’t an insult on the talent, but a combination of bad pushes, lack of size or many other attributes will relegate guys like Jesse, Jimmy Wang Yang, Funaki, Charlie Haas, Ricky Ortiz and Curt Hawkins to jobber territory. Maybe some of them will break out, as I think Dolph Ziggler should as well. Maybe Ortiz can be saved, but I have no hope on the matter. I really wish they’d make some tag teams out of these guys and start fresh… but we know that won’t happen.

CONCLUSION
Winner of the draft, hands down. Now, will the ratings prove this? Who knows, but I know I’ll be tuning in weekly to see the rise of the next generation of WWE main event superstars in Jeff Hardy, Umaga, CM Punk, John Morrison and Shelton Benjamin. They might not be Rock, Austin Hogan or Cena, but anyone of these guys could be the next HHH, Kurt Angle or Chris Benoit in terms of consistent credibility.

[ca$hmoney]

The was really refreshing compared to all of the "OMG GODZ SMACKDOWN SUX!!" that we've heard around here in the aftermath of the draft. I completely agree that it is looking much better than Raw simply becuase the feuds aren't stale.

It should be interesting as to where ECW goes as it seems like there isn't enough room for all of the guys they have.

Lastly, if Chavo gets released, who will push Vickie's wheelchair???

[Martin Riggs]

This was nice. It let me just sit back and think about what's going on across the brands, and it was so simply laid out that i had no trouble juggling my own thoughts and yours. And i wholeheartedly agree, Smackdown is the place to be right now, let no-one say otherwise!

[anonymous]

I thought this was going to be a column about the penis sizes of those moved in the draft. I'm really disappointed.


As someone who lists ECW as his favourite show (I'll never admit it outside of this column), I hated the draft and originally refused to read any columns on it. But, I plundered on and the column was actually very enjoyable. Aren't you average one every two years right now?

Good job. We need more Pen15 in this forum.

[Hustle]

It's downright scary how much we're in agreement on this topic.

Way to deliver the bad news to the non-believers. Great job, as expected.

[JoeyShinobi]

I was surprised to see MVP and Matt Hardy go to Raw, but in the scheme of things, it makes sense, provided they are going there to rub shoulders with the main eventers and not each other. I agree with pretty much everything here...so not a lot else to say!

Oh...and I'm sure this has been said before, but you should really do this more often, should the moment take you.

[Shelton=Champion]

I know we have disagreed a lot, but i have to say that is a great column and there is not one single thing i can say that i disagree with. 100% spot on.

Actually i can say one thing, i dont think morrison is an upper midcarder, definately a mid carder tho. Other than that, a perfect column, it will be interesting to read your next.

[Presti]

this is good stuff dude you may have a knack for this. I enjoyed it.



And I think he meant that jo mo's new role on the SD! roster will be that of an upper midcarder. Not that he already was one.

[Jason Boy]

great job

[Kano]

Dude, I do believe this the first column I have read of yours, and I hope it isn't the last one I read.

HBK/Hardy, is something I agree wholeheartidly, Matt can quite easily get lost in the shuffle but if he was to go against HBK I can only imagine that HBK would put Hardy over, thus Hardy not getting lost in the shuffle and working with names like Triple H, Batista etc.

R-Truth over on Smackdown on the other hand could easily challenge Rey Mysterio for the IC Championship, while as you said form a midcard stable with Alica Foxx and Cryme Tyme.

Theres so much more I could talk about but I'll leave it at a brilliant job and please write again.

Thankyou

[HBKRKO]

good column.

This was nice and easy to read, which is always good, and all of your points were developed.

Keep up the good work and will read your next column, if you do one that is.

[CrimsonIdiot]

i wholeheartedly agree

i only really used to watch raw and smackdown occasionally but they have a real oppurtunity to make smackdown superb.

i will still tune in to raw as Orton, Cena, HBK etc. are just money (thus proving what you said) plus i think legacy are showing signs of improvement, if only they werent being booked like shit

but the upshot is i will regularly tune in to Smackdown to hopefully see morrison, benjamin and umaga step up and main event.

p.s. why didnt they keep Kendrick on smackdown? he seems to follow HHH every draft which simply leads to HHH burying him (H's fault or not it seems to happen). I'm sad to see you have him potentially being shown the door.

[PEN15]

Thanks. It's easy to do a strong job when you only write once a year. I can't do random topics like most columnists, so I only have inspiration when a strong enough current event happens.

I've considered doing a weekly column as well, but it would be w weekly round up/evaluation of the week's worth of WWE and ROH wrestling. I doubt I'll ever feel I have the consistent time for that though, so I'll stick to posting terrific posts in the WWE forum, proving everyone who doesn't agree with me wrong, and random columns when I'm in the mood.