Monday night provided all three brands of the WWE with a historic chance to improve their rosters and talent. Two weeks prior, Shane McMahon had announced the WWE would hold a draft in which talent would trade shows. As we were welcomed to Raw, JR and the King announced that matches would be held, and the brand winning the match would draft a member of the opposing rosters. I expected that the GM's of each branch would do the drafting, but it seems that it was done at random.
The first match featured WWE champion John Cena vs. World Heavyweight Champion Edge:
SHOCKER...JOHN CENA LOST. My only question for the wrestlers in this match. Your title is not on the line. Why do you want to win and bring another challenger over for your belt? If I was in this match, I would lose on purpose.
Anyhow....lets get to the draft results
Edge wins his match....the screen flashes all the wrestlers on the RAW and ECW brands in an effort to show the randomization of the draft. The same process was repeated throughout the night. Here are the picks in order.
1. The Great Khali from Raw to Smackdown
2. The Boogeyman from Smackdown to ECW
3. King Booker from Smackdown to Raw
4. Chris Benoit from Smackdown to ECW
5. Torrie Wilson from Raw to Smackdown
6. Chris Masters from Raw to Smackdown
7. Bobby Lashley from ECW to Raw
8. Ric Flair from Raw to Smackdown
9. Snitsky from ECW to Raw
10. Mr. Kennedy from Smackdown to Raw
Draft Analysis...Overall, the big winner is Raw. I was leaning towards Smackdown, but the last draft pick shifted the balance to Raw. Here's why.
The Great Khali is painful to watch. Now that he had lost, what could they really do with him. In my opinion, they dumped alot of dead weight with losing him. They also made some awesome additions in Mr. Kennedy and King Booker. For people who don't watch Smackdown, MRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR KEEEEEEEEEEENEEEEEEEEEEEEDYYYYYYYYYY!!!! is awesome. He is one of the most entertaining wrestlers in the WWE. He is great on the mic and he is good in the ring. My bet is that he will take the belt shortly. Lastly, the additions of Lashley and Snitsky could be good, but we will have to see. Losing Torrie Wilson is no big deal, but they may regret losing the Masterpiece, one of the most underrated superstars in the WWE.
Smackdown comes in second place in the draft. Their night was carried by the fact they acquired the 16 time heavyweight champion Ric Flair. Chris Masters was another excellent pick up for the Friday night show. Expect a feud between him and Mark Henry. However, the pick up of Khali was unfortunate for the show. Torrie Wilson does not do much to help either. Smackdown will regret their losses this night: Benoit, Booker, and Mr. Kennedy. However, I think they are happy with losing the Boogeyman.
ECW....they needed help, and they got Benoit. That is unfortunate because I like Benoit, and I doubt I will see him wrestle much. ECW is garbage.
IN DEPTH ANALYSIS
1. Most shocking pick: Ric Flair to Smackdown. Many other picks were shocking (Lashley, Kennedy), but I never expected to see the Nature Boy stylin and profilin on Smackdown.
2. Most unsuprising pick: King Booker to Raw. He cracks me up with his royality angle. It is awesome.
3. Most boring pick of the night: Torrie Wilson.....why? Does anyone really care where a diva goes. They appear on all the shows alot anyway, so why even waste this pick.
4. Worst Pick: Great Khali...this will rank with Ryan Leaf, Sam Bowie, Sebastian Janikowski, Akali Smith, Tim Couch. I wish the Great Khali would have been drafted to the military instead.
The WWE will hold a supplamentary draft Wednesday afternoon. Check back here for more information and final analysis. If you want to see the superstars reaction to being drafted,
click here.
