By: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Are you ready? Then stop questioning your heart and join me, because it’s time for “That’s a Wrap”!
Who won the 2011 WWE Draft?
Everyone always seems to complain and moan about Smackdown getting demolished in the draft, or RAW losing too many top guys. So this year, I’ve created an empirical system to evaluate the draft selections. Each selection is given a rating out of 4 stars. 1 being the lowest and so forth. At the end, the brand with the highest average shall be declared the “victor”. Oh, and before some of you send me angry emails about how I’ve given a draft pick the wrong grade, just don’t even bother. It is what it is.
Rey Mysterio to RAW ****
A move I predicted. I can’t wait for his eventual feud with Sin Cara – oh wait. This could hurt Smackdown more than it will help RAW. With him and Cena on the same brand you have the #1 & 2 merchandise sellers on the same show.
Randy Orton to Smackdown ****
This one was a surprise. They must really be looking to shake up the entire foundation of the WWE. Mike Tedesco will be happy, because Smackdown is starting to look like less of a “B-brand” coming out of this draft. This was easily the biggest move of the draft, and could fundamentally transform the Smackdown brand.
Mark Henry to Smackdown **
This might not be high impact, we’ll have to see how they choose to use him. I may have given him a generous rating as he would have received less if not for the heel turn. He just hasn’t done anything of substance in recent memory.
Sin Cara to Smackdown ***
I’m disappointed, mainly because I was hoping to see him feud with Mysterio. Oh well. It was a great move to put him on the taped show so that they can edit his matches. He has the potential to become a big star over the next year if they can settle him in to the WWE style.
Big Show to RAW *** He’s not always the most exciting star, but new feuds and maybe a heel turn around Summerslam could boost his stock. He’s still a “giant” attraction which holds a lot of weight in this business.
Alberto Del Rio to RAW ***
He should add a fun element to the brand with his antics. His star power has faltered since ‘mania BUT the move to RAW will provide him the security blanket of feuding with Rey. Plus, there seems to be a stronger reaction for him from the RAW audience than the Smackdown crowd.
Daniel Bryan to Smackdown **
He has stalled on RAW since losing the United States Championship. It just doesn’t seem as though they quite know how to use him. Hopefully Smackdown can breathe fresh air into the character of this immensely talented but not so charismatic star.
Jack Swagger to RAW **
How he went from World Champion to Michael Cole’s b-tch is beyond me. He’ll be great fodder for Cena on RAW.
The Great Khali & Ranjin Singh to Smackdown *
Despite being an attraction, the WWE can’t seem to be able to do anything memorable with him outside of comedy. His stock will rise ONLY if they can somehow make him a formidable opponent once again.
Jimmy Uso to Smackdown *
I’m at a loss as to why I should care.
Kelly Kelly to RAW **
She seems to be one of the more popular Divas with the crowd so I’ll grant her a rating of 2 and not 1. I’m absolutely thrilled to have her on RAW! Back when I was recapping ECW I lost her to RAW, then as soon as I took over RAW she left to go to Smackdown. I’ve been lamenting that loss for years, and I’m ecstatic to finally have her back on my brand. Am I biased? Yes. Do I care? No.
JTG to RAW *
They’ll have to actually use him for this to matter.
Alicia Fox to Smackdown *
Oh happy day! She can’t act, she can’t talk on the mic, and she definitely can’t wrestle. I’m so glad I don’t have to recap her on RAW anymore. She’s just terrible.
William Regal to Smackdown **
He’s a great veteran and worker who makes even the greenest of talent seem legit.
Yoshi Tatsu to Smackdown *
I haven’t seen this guy do anything but bow in the longest time.
Drew McIntyre to RAW **
Mac’s character has been increasingly interesting over the past couple of months. He bored me at the offset, but he is starting to gain my interest. Let’s see what some time on the live show does for him.
Natalya to Smackdown **
With the Divas belt being contested on both brands it doesn’t matter where Divas end up. She is one of the most gifted in ring technicians in the Divas division so we’ll see how creative utilizes her talents.
Curt Hawkins to RAW *
I didn’t even realize he was still employed.
Chris Masters to RAW *
(see Curt Hawkins)
Jey Uso to Smackdown *
(see Jimmy Uso) At least they kept the team together?
Kofi Kingston to RAW ***
This is a strong move. He is a crowd favorite and live audience seems to eat him up. Kofi should be a great addition to the midcard, and there is NOTHING wrong with that.
Ted Dibiase Jr. to Smackdown **
A lot of people do not give Dibiase the credit he deserves. A move to Smackdown will hopefully do his character wonders in the same way that it did for his former partner Cody Rhodes.
Tyson Kidd to Smackdown **
Tyson hasn’t really gotten over with the audience, but I have faith in his ability. Maybe I’m rating this draft pick higher than most, but I feel like this is a make it or break it year for the talented young star.
Tamina to Smackdown *
She’s heading over to join the Usos.
Tyler Reks to RAW *
(see Curt Hawkins et al.)
Alex Riley to Smackdown ***
This is one of the bigger moves of the supplemental draft. Riley could be explosive on the brand if they elevate him to upper mid card to feud with the likes of Bryan and Wade Barret. He has been rubbed by some of the biggest names currently active in the business, so it’s time to see if he can run with the ball on his own.
Beth Phoenix to RAW **
Could we see a reunion between Santino and Beth? After all, he has lost Tamina to the Smackdown brand. It seems as though the WWE felt the need to balance out the loss of Natalya with the acquisition of Beth.
Sheamus to Smackdown ***
This was a big one! The current United States Champion will take his belt with him over to the blue brand. I’ll be sad to lose the adorable superstar from RAW but he will move up to the top of the card swiftly.
RAW gained 12 Superstars with an average rating of : 2.08
Smackdown gained 16 Superstars with an average rating of: 1.94
At first I was surprised to see that RAW made out better in the draft than Smackdown, but in the end it worked out that Smackdown received substantially more Superstars as “fluff” than RAW. The scores are close enough that the draft could be considered extremely fair this year, especially compared to last year’s Smackdown pilfering. RAW takes a slight advantage, and emerges the victor of the 2011 WWE Draft!
– David Stephens
Wrestleview’s RAW Recapper
So ‘that’s a wrap’…. Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? Just want to chat wrestling? I’m always up for reading your thoughts so send them ’em on over.
Look for latest edition of “The Teacher’s Lounge” featuring Anthony Valvo (From the Desk of Mr. V) and myself this Saturday on the WrestleView Radio Network
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