Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 1:04 AM EST

I know people are going to yell at me for doing this, but too bad. I went through the picks while watching the results come in through the IWC, and now, I’d like to offer my opinions on the aftermath of Draft 2008, from San Antonio, Texas.

Pick #1: Rey Mysterio (to Raw)
I can't complain with this pick whatsoever. Rey has been on Smackdown since his debut, and has gone through the gamut, winning the World Heavyweight Championship. What is left for him to do? Repeat the cycle again, or attempt to "shake things up", as Vince had said prior to the beginning of this whole fiasco. By Rey returning and going to Raw, the possibilites are endless. Mysterio vs. Jericho, Mysterio vs. Michaels, Mysterio vs. Cena. Just to name a few. All matches I would be incredibly interested to see.

Pick #2: Jeff Hardy (to Smackdown)
I guess the obvious is the obvious. Jeff Hardy ruined his chance at ever winning the WWE title when he got suspended prior to Wrestlemania 24. This clinches it. Now, Hardy goes to a new show, where the chances of him going one on one with Edge are certainly viable, especially with what happened later on in the draft. The possibilites of Jeff also competing with the likes of MVP, Jimmy Wang Yang, Hawkins & Ryder & others prognosticate some more possibilites. However, what I fear is in line for Jeff Hardy sooner rather than later, is something in the lines of a feud with Vladimir Kozlov, to try and help build this project from another dimension.

Pick #3: CM Punk (to Raw)
Punk on Raw is dangerous. Why? Simple. It's obvious as all hell that the Raw locker room is the most heated in all of the WWE. With the egos of Shawn Michaels et al leading the pack, Punk's unorthodox style and somewhat grating personality can possibly lead to more trouble than its worth. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Punk do what he said a few weeks ago on Smackdown to Edge, cash in Money in the Bank at the wedding, and be a surprise victor. Punk's better locale is Smackdown, but this may have gone down so he can remain being involved with ECW, since the extreme is latching on to Raw like an albatross that won't go away.

Pick #4: WWE U.S. Champion Matt Hardy (to ECW)
I don't get it. With this deal, Smackdown loses its secondary championship, and its secondary brand to boot when ECW flips to Raw. So technically, Raw would have, prior to the end of the draft, the WWE title, the IC title, and the US title, assuming the talent exchange principle would still be in effect. I also don't get this because I think the fans are screaming for some tag teams, they had a tag team reunited AGAIN, for one match in Matt & Jeff, having them together on one show would allow a watchdog for Jeff as well if, God forbid, he made another mistake, and WWE sees fit to kill the dream of, who I believe, most fans by disbanding the Hardys once again. So, bottom line here, the title picture is murky at best, and the tag team division suffers here, again. This one, I scratch my head at.

Pick #5: Jim Ross (to Smackdown)
I shouldn't give a damn about announcers switching shows, but this one I am thrilled about. With my own personal schedule, I don't have the ability to watch Raw as it happens, yet, I can watch Smackdown weekly. Ross & Lawler have evolved in to one hell of a tandem, don't get me wrong, but the fact is simple, Ross & Foley can be just as golden, if not more. Not to mention the fact that the more experienced Lawler can shield the Raw audience from Cole's nails on a chalkboard mentality, while Ross and Foley can feed off each other like JR did when he began his tenure with the King. I think this is a win win situation for Smackdown. I won't comment on the Raw side, because frankly, for me, specifically, and I know I'm being selfish, it's addition by subtraction. Removing Cole from the show I watch makes me a happy panda.
With that being said, I am reading reports that Ross is legitimately not happy with the move to Smackdown. While I can relate and understand completely that losing the top chair in the announcing arena of WWE can be somewhat detrimental to one’s personality, the chances of working with new talent and being able to work with someone as gifted as Mick Foley should be able to alleviate Ross’s emotional state. I think it’s going to be a win win for both tandems in time, but Ross better not take this to the level he’s capable of, because it’s definitely going to backfire in his face.

Pick #6: Michael Cole (to Raw)
With Ross going to Smackdown, this was obvious. I am not a fan of Cole whatsoever. Cole is a professional, don't get me wrong, and I think he and Lawler can coexist nicely. What I would like to see happen is I would like to see Lawler go back to his roots, and get a little heelish on Cole, because it needs to happen. The best time that Cole has had as an announcer was with Tazz and JBL. Since JBL went back to competition, Cole's performance has dwindled because he hasn't had the antagonistic personality to meld with. Lawler can do that. All do respect, Foley can't, but Ross can meld with anyone, he's that damn good. Coach, well, let's not go there, ok?

Pick #7: Batista (to Raw)
I'm pretty stunned here. I would've thought with Undertaker on hiatus that the face of Smackdown would remain. I know with what happened later, things kind of make sense, but the pick still surprises me. I expected some things to fall in to place for the Animal, and feuds to open up for him on Smackdown, but the facts are the facts. It's now pretty much set in stone that the Animal will fall to the Family at Night of Champions, but with Batista now firmly on Raw once that obligation is finished, we can possibly get to see Cena vs. Batista in a long term feud. I think I would pay to see that.

Pick #8: Umaga (to Smackdown)
I honestly thought this would be a lock. Umaga vs. Batista till Taker returns, and then Taker vs. Umaga. You could've marked it down, and locked it up. I think its still a lock for Taker/Umaga, but for now, Umaga will find some meat to chew on, and work his way to the top of the ladder. Whether face or heel, the chances here of a potential world title run are much greater with him in a new environment. His chance at WWE title status on Raw had pretty much gone by the waste side when Cena disposed of him. He never got the chance again. Here, with a clean slate, anything is possible.

Pick #9: ECW Champion Kane (to Raw)
This pretty much confirms Raw and ECW are merging. There's no way it's not going to happen now. Kane is the biggest draw in ECW, especially with Punk going to Raw. By ECW merging with Raw, Punk can still appear, Kane is still around, and the opportunities open up for some new talent to wreak havoc on the land of the extreme. I'm still concerned this could be a mistake moving ECW to the Raw side of the coin, but until proven otherwise, we gotta go with what we got, don't we?

Pick #10: Mr. Kennedy (to Smackdown)
Small time on Raw, not much done, except for a face turn. Now, Kennedy can return to Smackdown, and potentially be next on tap for Edge and the World title. I think injuries played a role, a serious role in Kennedy's lack of usage on the Raw side, and he never truly found a niche while competing on Monday nights. On Smackdown, he was the face of the future, and prominently featured. He can be again, if given the proper opportunity.

Pick #11: WWE Champion Triple H (to Smackdown)
Absolute stunner. I think, truthfully, this is Vince McMahon saying to the internet wrestling community, who all said that Cena was a lock to Smackdown, to take that idea and shove it. It was probably going to happen that Cena would go to Smackdown, but when Vince got word of the rumour leaking, he lost his mind, and tried this. It's funny. I just watched ECW One Night Stand 2005 the other day, and heard Paul Heyman scream at JBL that the only reason he was WWE champion for a year is that Triple H didn't wanna work tuesdays. Now does he? Or could this be potentially a reason for him to be able to spend more time at home with the blossoming family. The lack of pressure on Smackdown from it not being live does permit Triple H some flexibility to be involved with the show, and not technically be on site. It's just an opinion as to that aspect, but the possibility does exist. I won't even mention though, how much of a cluster bomb this pick does to the championship scenarios in WWE. It's obvious the draft is far from done, as the titles need to be reworked in a big way. Perhaps the Night of Champions is going to be more unpredictable this year than originally anticipated.

Apparently, this was the other option with the main pick, either the Game or Cena was going, & apparently Trips agreed to this. While I find that potential logic hard to believe, and I am betting my bottom dollar that the members of the Smackdown locker room are not too thrilled that the man with all the political clout is coming to their home, I gotta say this, if the reports are legit, Triple H moving and staying on Smackdown, I give the man credit. It provides so much new possibilities for himself and the WWE title that its almost too good to contemplate and try and describe on paper.

Some surprises from the draft are these that I can think of. I am surprised MVP is still on Smackdown. However, with the addition of the WWE title, let’s see how the title picture shapes up, and we may end up seeing the Game take on the half man, half amazing superstar for some gold, and that, ladies and gentlemen, does not sound terrible from where I sit.

With the break up pretty much sealed between Deuce and Domino, I thought maybe that they would take the opportunity to use the draft vehicle to send either one of them to ECW. A new locale, a new brand that needs talent, one of them, I believe preferably Deuce, could’ve made a singles name for himself in a brand that needs star talent. I guess WWE thinks that they can get something out of Deuce vs. Domino. I hope they’re right, because I’m not so sure.

I’m kind of surprised Mark Henry did not get moved to Raw. With the obvious challenge made from Smackdown to the winner of the ECW title match, it’s pretty much written in the stars that Mark Henry will get the next chance at the ECW Championship, against whomever it may be. It still may happen based on what they do with the titles, but the chances have dwindled with ECW moving, and Kane already on Raw and off Smackdown again. It kind of puts WWE in to a hole.

However, something just popped in to my head.

I wonder if the champions will be allowed to compete on any show they choose. Hear me out. On Raw, right at the moment, you have the ECW title, the IC title, the World tag titles, and the Women’s title. On ECW, you have the United States Title. And on Smackdown, you have the World title, the WWE Tag titles, and the forthcoming divas title. Seems a little cockeyed to you, don’t you think?

Meanwhile, the ECW title is being defended between a Smackdown guy and a new Raw guy. IF by chance Big Show beats Kane, does that put him on Raw as well? It was said during Raw that Batista will still get the shot at Edge and the World title at Night of Champions. Although I seriously doubt he wins, if he does, does he move back to Smackdown? ECW talents Miz & Morrison have held the Smackdown tag titles for some time. With ECW moving, what happens with those belts? Most conclusive thing could be to drop them to Finlay and Hornswoggle, (God help us all, and not because it’s Finlay, but Hornswoggle as a tag champ? Please.) But, based on the obvious that I am going to say that the Miz and Morrison retain, what happens when ECW moves?

The only viable solution I can think of, outside of stripping titles, which was said during the show that it wasn’t going to happen, is to exempt the champions from the brand extension boundaries, and let them compete where they wish. When I mean, “they”, I mean of course, where WWE creative wishes. It’s a bit of a stretch, but let’s think about this for a second, the brand extension has been slowly disintegrating anyway, this would continue the slow process of eventually perhaps eliminating the three brands together.

I know it’s far fetched, but it’s a good topic for debate, don’t you agree?

Now, I guess I have to comment on the McMahon injury “storyline.” I am wondering if the man has truly lost his mind. First, he tries to fake his own death last year, and now he basically has the stage fall down on top of him. Now, I understand completely that there needed to be a way to write him off television so the contest can be suspended, since it basically had been a monumental flop. But, why go down this road again? Injuries happen, yes, I know, in pro wrestling, injuries do happen, but these “freak accident” things that Vince is having done to himself are just silly. Yeah, I didn’t see it, and yeah, I can’t truly comment on it, and maybe I’ll be eating crow in the coming weeks when WWE writes some major league creative idea to roll with under this auspice, but the deal as far as I can see it is this.

If Vince McMahon needed to be put off television because of this contest, put someone, a monster wrestler who wanted the money from the contest, no questions asked, run out, beat the holy piss out of Vince, and leave him laying. It’s more likely a storyline to put him out of action for some time, and take the contest out of the picture. By this, it’s a freak deal that nobody believes.

But, I won’t lie to you, I did believe, and I think that’s what bothers me. I read Hunter Golden’s live coverage of the WWE Draft and the results from the matches, and I believed the “accident” was legit, and it pissed me off when I read that I was wrong.

Obviously, that’s what Vince wants, and I commend him for that, but the opinions remain. I’m pissed. I got duped, and that’s what Vince wanted.

I’m very anxious to see the videos from Raw tonight on WWE.com. I’m also psyched to see Smackdown and see if Ross’s commentary matches the alleged mood he is in after getting sent to Friday nights. One thing is absolutely certain here coming out of WWE Draft 2008.

The landscape of all three brands has changed, dramatically.

Thank you for reading.

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