15 transactions occurred thanks to Donald Trump. Something tells me there’s a touch of sarcasm here, but nevertheless, 15 talents have new homes inside the realm of WWE, and let’s go through them, if you’d like.
Raw’s New Talent
Gail Kim – With the fact that she had been beaten by Michelle McCool, her chances at a women’s title shot were dwindling. Now that McCool is the women’s champion, I would’ve thought that this would be the perfect program, but obviously, that is not the case. Now, on Raw, with some legitimate competition in Beth Phoenix and Mickie James, Kim can possibly show some more of her bonafide wrestling ability. This is a good acquistion for the Raw brand, but a bit of a hit for a depleted women’s division on Smackdown. Outside of Melina, who’s left to truly challenge McCool for the championship?
Alicia Fox – She’s gone from being a wedding planner to Michelle McCool’s lackey to being tossed aside and sent to Mondays as soon as McCool won the women’s gold. Why do I get the feeling she may be future endeavoured in the not too distant future? I don’t see much out of this young lady outside of her looks, but if she continues to have her hair looking like a bad lion’s mane, that appeal is going to disappear pretty damn quickly.
Jack Swagger – Kind of a head scratcher here as I would’ve thought Swagger could’ve kept rolling with Dreamer for a while in some way, shape, or form, as a part of maybe a triple threat program between the champ, this guy, and Christian. Past ECW champions who have ventured to other brands have succeeded, i.e. CM Punk and John Morrison, but I think this kid may be a little too young to see a lot of success on monday nights. He may end up getting relegated to mid card jobber status, and may want to go back to ECW, where he could be a main event player.
Mark Henry – Meet the new Hardcore Holly of the WWE. Why this guy still has a job is beyond me. I think I’d like him a little more if he shaved the jungle from under his chin. My son was watching the Rumble back from 2004, where Henry was huge then, and clean shaven, and he looked so much more like a superstar than a bad attempt at a monster. Anyway, here, I am not sure where he is going to fit in. I always predict this guy is going to get future endeavoured, and I think he is one knee injury away from that happening. However, in the meantime, I would not be surprised if this guy is like a gun for hire for the main eventers for the forseeable future. Any major program I think is highly doubtful.
Evan Bourne – I really wanted to see Bourne capture ECW gold before jumping ship. I think he has the most up side potential out of any of the five who went to Raw, and any of the former ECW talents that jumped ship last night. One thing scares me though, Bourne is going from a land where more of the talent are close to his size to a world where behemoths and monsters rule the locker room. Whether or not he can survive the onslaught is absolutely tatamount to his success on Raw. I am sad I won’t get the chance to see him regularly on Smackdown.
Smackdown’s New Talents
Matt Hardy – I have a feeling with Hardy’s injury, he may disappear from the forefront for some time, and heal up, and then when he returns, he may try and re-unite the Hardy Boys. I would not be the least bit surprised if this had occurred to provide a last ditch attempt to sway Jeff to re-sign with WWE. I really don’t see any other options for Hardy at this time. His heel run has not been as positive a result as I think WWE had hoped or expected.
Finlay – This tough Irish bastard is good to go where ever he fights. I would like to see Hornswoggle reunite with Finlay because they were fun to watch as a tag team. Finlay is long overdue for some gold, and I would not be surprised that if Kingston were to drop the US title, that Finlay would be in line to get a crack.
The Hart Dynasty
David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd & Natalya – I have a feeling that these guys are put on Smackdown for a simple reason. Exposure. The name behind this team is enough to get them some notoreity on the brands, and with them on Smackdown, you could see them eventually try and make a move toward the Unified tag straps. It’ll take some time, but I think this move is a positive one in all aspects for the Hart Dynasty. Not to mention the fact that the void of someone who could face Michelle McCool for the women’s title just got filled with the return of Natalya to Smackdown. Not for nothing, but I’d pay to see that match, in a second.
ECW’s New Talents
Goldust – If there was a star born for the concet of Extreme Championship Wrestling, it’s the bizarre one. Whether or not he makes a major impact in ECW is anyone’s guess, but this may be the last stop for Dusty Rhodes’ son before he goes back through WWE’s revolving door of future endeavours.
William Regal – This had to be a surprise. I thought Regal could find his way in to mid card feuds where ever he went. Perhaps this could be a way to try and elevate him to the next level in a roster that needs some veteran leadership.
Shelton Benjamin – Another big surprise. I think this is his second term in ECW, and the fact that he was brought in here means something pretty significant in my terms. One, there’s not much on the plate for him creatively, and two, any hopes of Haas & Benjamin being a legit tag team for a tenure to come is now dashed. Of course, if you look at this half full, Shelton can challenge for the ECW belt right off the bat, and give Dreamer a run for his money, or make Christian’s life very uncomfortable. Question here is simple, is this a test to see is Shelton is world title material, or is Shelton living out his usefulness?
The Bella Twins – Nothing can be finer than a Bella. A couple of smokin’ hot tomatahs in ECW, but the question is ,what’s their role going to be? There’s no real women’s division in ECW by a long shot, is this going to restrict Nikki & Brie in to nothing short of glorified valets?? If that is the case, it’s a waste of talent, in a big way. Both of these ladies have shown they can go, and they should be given the chance.
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