First, the results (italic selections are from the online supplemental draft held two days after the live draft on RAW):Drafted to RAW:
- CM Punk
- Kane
- Batista
- Rey Mysterio
- Michael Cole
- Kofi Kingston
- Layla
- Matt Striker
- Chuck Palumbo
- Deuce
- Jamie Noble
Drafted to Smackdown!:
- Jeff Hardy
- Jim Ross
- Mr. Kennedy
- Umaga
- Triple H
- Carlito
- Shelton Benjamin
- Maria
- Brian Kendrick
- D.H. Smith
- Big Daddy V
- Matt Hardy
- Mark Henry
- Finlay
- Hornswaggle
- Super Crazy
And now, the review...
Aside from the very first pick, the first couple selections didn't do much for me, as none of them were true shockers.
Batista going to RAW? Great, but also obvious. Jeff Hardy to Smackdown? Of course they were moving him there; they needed somebody the fans could connect with on that show to get it headed in the right direction again. CM Punk to RAW and Umaga to Smackdown, like the Batista selection, were also both pretty much stone-cold locks. But things got interesting afterwards...
Kane going to RAW was a BIG surprise since, after all, he is the ECW champion.
Good ol' JR trading seats with Michael Cole was another nice surprise. It didn't even look like JR, one veteran employee you'd think they'd inform beforehand about getting moved, knew about the selection. It didn't stop there though.
Mr. Kennedy, one of the "blue-chippers" of the WWE, got drafted to Smackdown. Not even five seconds later, Triple H was ALSO drafted to Smackdown.
Aside from the very first pick, the first couple selections didn't do much for me, as none of them were true shockers.
Batista going to RAW? Great, but also obvious. Jeff Hardy to Smackdown? Of course they were moving him there; they needed somebody the fans could connect with on that show to get it headed in the right direction again. CM Punk to RAW and Umaga to Smackdown, like the Batista selection, were also both pretty much stone-cold locks. But things got interesting afterwards...
Kane going to RAW was a BIG surprise since, after all, he is the ECW champion.
Good ol' JR trading seats with Michael Cole was another nice surprise. It didn't even look like JR, one veteran employee you'd think they'd inform beforehand about getting moved, knew about the selection. It didn't stop there though.
Mr. Kennedy, one of the "blue-chippers" of the WWE, got drafted to Smackdown. Not even five seconds later, Triple H was ALSO drafted to Smackdown.
So what does this mean for the WWE? Well, they are obviously putting a helluva effort into transforming Smackdown, the most disappointing of the three brands, into an equivalent, if not better brand than RAW. The timing isn't sheer coincidence either, as Smackdown is soon making the move to MyNetworkTV (a better network for their target audience).
But I'm starting to wonder if the WWE put too many eggs into Smackdown's basket and now left RAW with a raw deal (harty harrr harr)... My brother, who is just a big a fan of the WWE as I am, said he'd now just watch Smackdown, and never watch RAW again.
But I'm starting to wonder if the WWE put too many eggs into Smackdown's basket and now left RAW with a raw deal (harty harrr harr)... My brother, who is just a big a fan of the WWE as I am, said he'd now just watch Smackdown, and never watch RAW again.
If you take a look at the changes, you can't really blame him. Three big-time fan favorites - including his favorite, Mr. Kennedy - are moving to Smackdown (Hardy, Kennedy, HHH), while only one mega-star is moving over to RAW (Batista). Rey Mysterio, another one of Raw's selections, is far too much of an injury-risk to consider the draft as having even been even close to equal for the two main brands, since he tends to spend more time on crutches than he does in the ring. And even if he does stay healthy, he can't possibly be in the picture for a heavyweight title the way HHH and Kennedy will be on Smackdown because of all the more-prominent wrestlers ahead of him. CM Punk, I will admit though, is a wrestler on the cusp of super-stardom, but even he is not quite over with the fans yet.Besides what I now see as too much talent on Smackdown, I didn't have any other problems. I'm actually now craving the possibilities of the endless number of potential new rivalries: Batista-Cena, Edge-HHH, Edge-Jeff Hardy, Orton-Batista, Mysterio-CM Punk, CM Punk-Cena, Kennedy-HHH, Kennedy-Hardy, Kennedy-Edge, Batista-Y2J, Mysterio-Cena... I really could go on-and-on.
Hopefully the writers will pluck some showdowns out of that list and give us even more bang for our buck!
* * * * *
BTW, regarding the "accident" Vince McMahon has, I hope it turns into a whodunit situation. They better not eff it up though, and give us some lame ending the way they did the last time McMahon had a significant storyline (his son being Hornswaggle).
1 comment:
Neil,
I don't know why the emails aren't working, so I figured this would work better. Here are the answers to you questions (and good ones, too!):
- Is there a limit to what I can do? For example, does XHeadlines have any rules regarding language? Rules about the number of posts I can do?
For a columnist position, it would be best to stick to 1 post per day. News reporters are encouraged to post thorough news items when they receive new information - so long as it isn't already on the newsboard. As for language - fuck it! As long as you're not putting up hate speech or a vulgarity-plagued post, then you can do as you wish.
- Will I be allowed to put the link of my website at the top/bottom of my posts?
Absolutely - at the bottom and so long as the text is in good taste.
- Will I have to list my real name in my columns?
You can use whatever name you want.
- Is MMA discussion on or off the table? (It's something I just recently got into)
On the table- I just got into it myself and I'm negotiating with the PR Rep for Amir Sadollah (The Ultimate Fighter 7 winner) for an interview
- You said I may as well copy my posts over from my site, but what about the ones that aren't related to wrestling (i.e. sports, poker)?
Stick to the wrestling - no poker or regular sports.
- Are there any perks that come with this job? Free shirts/clothing? Pay? I honestly don't care if I get paid or not, but if it's being offered I'm not exactly going to say no!
No one gets paid (not even me!). XHeadlines.com does not turn a profit at this point, but we expect it to turn a profit within 12 - 18 months. At that point, the profit will be put back into the site via contests and giveaways. We are thinking of getting t-shirts made and offering them to the staff at a small cost. Other than that, you get the perk of working at the fastest growing wrestling/MMA site on the internet!
And finally, I found your website through Google Blog Search. The program we have to keep track of our stats provides links to where people come from, so I was checking out some of the visitor paths and 'accidentally' came across your site. Turns out to be a good thing, though! Anything more, just let me know! Otherwise I'll have your posting info to you someone tomorrow upon your official acceptance!
Much thanks,
Jacob Spades
XHeadlines Webmaster
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