Thoughts on This Year’s WWE Draft

Last night on Monday Night RAW the WWE “shook things up” as they’ve been calling it by holding a draft wherein any random wrestler can end up being drafted between the three brands of RAW, Smackdown and ECW (in order of significance of course). Even though the draft is a complete crock where you almost always see big names come back to RAW like Batista and Rey Mysterio did last year, and chump jobbers like Vladimir Koslov (ECW’s only draft pick) go to the land of extreme, it is still interesting.

I thought it was a great idea to get Jericho and Mysterio over to Smackdown now that Triple H is back on RAW because of one simple great reason; every championship contender on Smackdown now actually looks like they matchup. In fact, the only guy that doesn’t match up other than the other true superstars (Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Edge, and perhaps a few others) is Kane who also was drafted from RAW to Smackdown. None of those guys would be much more than transitional champions as long as Triple H were around. Plus, Kane is a bum and can be used to create some awesome “David vs. Goliath” type matches. And honestly, let’s not get started on Great Khali. He could be thrown in to stir some ratings, but no title for him. I also think that the moves make way for guys like Shelton Benjamin and R Truth.

Another thing I liked was the switch between the middle titles; Rey Mysterio takes his Intercontinental Title to Smackdown, and MVP takes his US Championship to RAW as he was drafted from Smackdown last night. In all truth, I think that US title is the sweetest looking belt of all the WWE and will look much better on RAW than on Smackdown. Finally, you got that chip off the big chin block Vladimir Koslov over on Sci-Fi where he can scrap it up a few matches and make others like Christian, Jack Swagger, and Finlay look good. I wouldn’t mind seeing Koslov go at it with Tommy Dreamer either.

All in all, I think it was a decent draft, and there weren’t really many head scratchers. Pretty good job WWE.

Money in the Bank Just got a Whole lot More Predictable

If you take a quick look at the contestants for this year’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match at Wrestlemania then that’s all you’ll need. The entrants are CM Punk, last year’s winner, Mark Henry, Kane, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, and Christian Cage. Time to round out the “definitely-nots,” the “maybes,” and the one “should be.”

 

The first and easiest definitely not would have to be Mark Henry. I don’t know how a 400+ pound fat man is going to climb a ladder whose steps might just break under his weight. And to be purely analytical, there is just no luster in The World’s Strongest Man’s game anymore.

 

Number two would have to be Kane. He is nothing more than a freak show like the Great Khali, where at best, they have one, maybe two championship reigns in the early-goings of their careers when their limited array of wrestling moves and ugly mugs still have some selling power.

 

A “middle maybe” could be MVP since it’s been a while since he’s won, and that would be a huge surprise. He hasn’t been able to draw much attention on Smackdown like the WWE intended, but perhaps a Money In The Bank victory might be a last ditch effort for the people booking his matches.

 

The “maybes” are Shelton Benjamin, CM Punk, and Kofi Kingston. Since Shelton’s move to Smackdown he has beaten Matt Hardy for the US Title and held it for about three quarters of a year. What’s even more is that he has notably been bulking up and expanding his arsenal of wrestling moves with a little extra mic time to boot. He could be a superstar that the WWE is grooming, and with his increased size, he would be a more believable WWE or World Heavyweight Champion at this point in his career.

 

Speaking of champions, CM Punk, who won the brief case last year could have a chance to repeat. Eventually, someone will have to win this event twice which is a gimmick that the WWE likes to use to create history (i.e. Stone Cold wining three Royal Rumbles, and Undertaker’s 16-0 record at Wrestlemania). Punk would not be a bad choice for this page in wrestling history, even if his title reign as champion was used as a tool to bring back a title to Monday Night RAW.

 

As for Kingston, he is a showman and people like him. But perhaps as time goes on, he’ll be nothing more than that and a consistent Intercontinental Title holder.

 

Now for mister “should be”… Christian Cage. Even though he has only been back for around two months, he is easily the biggest superstar of all those in this contest. If the WWE wants to continue to make this match intriguing, he probably should win. But the main reason he is the favorite is that most likely the WWE made an agreement with him that he would become a champion within the first year of his contract.

 

And that’s a lot more than he’s had for a good while on TNA!

WWE Championship to be Defended in a Triple Threat Match at Armageddon

The Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship that has been booked by the WWE board of directors for this coming Armageddon was so blatantly fixed up that… it should come as no surprise. When Triple H was attempting to pin his opponent, Shelton Benjamin, in the third of last Friday night’s installment of Smackdown’s Beat The Clock matches, it was plainly obvious that the referee was looking up at the clock. Now a match that should have been a one-on-one battle between Jeff Hardy and new WWE Champion Edge is a Triple Threat between the former two and Triple H.

 

Although the match may provide for plenty of excitement, the outcome is inevitable that Edge, with his new bearded look, will remain champion.

 

In recent years, the WWE has seemed to love the idea of setting up a Triple Threat match following a new champion’s reign with the new champion defending his title. Anyone should see that Edge is not going to relinquish his belt just yet and he’ll probably win in a manner befitting one of his nicknames other than “Rated R Superstar” with that being “Ultimate Opportunist.”

 

So, basically, either Hardy or Triple H will look like they’re about to score a big pinfall, Edge spears the attempted “pinner,” and Edge covers the wounded contestant for the pin. Once again, this matchup should be of no surprise to anyone who watches the WWE, as it has been booked solely for the intentions of building up a notorious heel character in Edge.

R Truth on the Rise in Smackdown

I want to talk about a guy who is making waves on the Smackdown roster as of late. He is the man who comes out of the fan-level rafters rapping, just finished beating MVP this past Friday, and knocked out U.S. Champion Shelton Benjamin the week before in non-title action. This newcomer I speak of is R Truth, formerly known in TNA as Ron Killings.

His high-flying antics have drawn much cheer from the crowd in the past weeks and that shows that he has some impressive in-ring skills. Aside from his in-ring skills he is also something of a public relations person for the WWE. When he enters the arena to begin a match he comes out of the fan seating area rapping his own theme song “What’s Up?” and allows a fan or two to sing along as he passes them the mic when the song goes “What’s Up?!

His speech skills aren’t that great but his back story gains sympathy for the crowd. It is a classic chip on the shoulder comeback story. A man from the rough areas of Charlotte North Carolina who has spent time in prison and now aims to turn things around with Pro Wrestling.

The WWE has lately been trying to hype up their new talent using commercial promos that air weeks before the newcomer even wrestles their first match. This is one superstar that might be in the spotlight in the near future. U.S. Title Triple Threat match for Cyber Sunday involving Shelton Benjamin, MVP, and R Truth anybody?