Right off, I need to jump on the bandwagon of this week’s hot topic…the draft. It’s strange…I have almost entirely negative thoughts on what happened, yet I still believe it made for one of the more entertaining shows of the year. Here are some quick hits:
* What is the point of alleging that it’s random? I detest how these “coincidences” pop up. The Hardys have been reunited, now they’re in a match, oh how do you like that…now Matt’s been drafted while both The Hardys are still in the ring. I mean, really now. They only drafted main eventers anyway, so why didn’t they just claim the GM’s were making the selections?
* The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. ECW loses their top two stars and gains Matt Hardy, who in fact jobs right before his selection? Meanwhile, RAW acquires Kane, Batista, Rey, and Punk. That seems even, right? In past years, they at least sent Big Show or Benoit over…couldn’t they throw a few interesting wrinkles into the ECW roster?
* On the same note, what I hate even more is how Kane and Punk both appeared on ECW anyway. Why did we even bother with a draft, if wrestlers can pointless roam freely between brands for no good reason. And why did Kane job cleanly to Mark Henry right before the PPV? What is with this booking?
* Also, the timing of the entire thing made little to no sense. Having this the week BEFORE Night of Champions was utterly illogical. Based on the SD tapings (on which Kane makes it a 3peat and fights again), it seems almost as if they are just waiting til next week to start new storylines anyway.
* WWE needs to put the focus on something other than their main eventers. Have a guy like Knox get drafted to RAW. Have him be lost for a few weeks, or the GM not be excited about his acquisition. That is until he starts spending time with Snitsky and voila, a new tag team and something slightly fresh for both guys. As I’ve been touting for weeks, the WWE needs more Kofis and Hornswoggles…people to care about outside of the top of the card. The draft would be a perfect way to start new programs/feuds/gimmicks/stories. Instead, guys who went in last year’s supplemental didn’t freshen the product, the got lost in the shuffle (see London & Kendrick as a prime example).
* Wouldn’t it have been cool if they ran the whole thing like this week’s NBA Draft? Have a lottery. Have Vince come out to the podium and read the selections. Conduct interviews. Have the announcers provide analysis and stats. Make draft day trades…and in those trades, sometimes include young prospects for veterans. I, for one, would make the next several weeks of storylines about the aftermath of the draft…make it a true shakeup. Instead, what we end up with is Umaga fighting Triple H on Friday instead of Monday.
* I have an idea that is way better than the supplemental draft. How about a rookie draft? Much like they touted MVP as a bigtime free agent when he debuted, why don’t they highlight the top 10 rookies that are coming up? That’d be an awesome way to debut several new guys at once without having to force it. They’d be considered valuable players immediately.
* BTW, time to pat myself on the back. A few months ago, I wrote a column about the upcoming draft (which at that point wasn’t even known to be existing). Who did I spotlight in that article? Punk to RAW. Hardy to SD. Umaga to SD. Ding. Ding. Ding. I also predicted Finlay to ECW – well, ding ding ding he just went in the supplemental draft. 4 out of 5 is pretty freakin’ impressive, especially since I made them 2 months ago. The only big move of mine that didn’t happen was MVP to RAW…but I expect this will pave the way for him to become the breakout star on SD this year, along with Kennedy. Their times are finally about to come once and for all.
* Speaking of new rising stars, I must admit that I like what is happening with some of the young guys on RAW – Dibease, Cade, and Burchill. Sure, the jury is still out on how they handle these, but for now…kudos to them. The Burchills have been great, rough and tumble heel foils for Kennedy and Mickie this past month. Please please please move ahead with the 2nd Generation stable. Have Cody Rhodes absolutely wreck Holly with a chair shot and cost them them title. Have Rhodes, DH, and Dibease joined by Carlito next night. And I’d even campaign for them to get a rub from Orton while he’s recovering form injury. Have them be self absorbed, smug, arrogant, have a superiority and sense of entitlement…these guys don’t want to pay their dues. Hell, even have Holly recruit some veterans…even if it’s Haas, Duggan, Simmons, etc. to fight back and job bigtime to the newbies. This has huge breakout potential. Cade is going to be the most interesting case. While I find him to be highly vanilla, they have been craving to give him a singles push for over 3 years now. They’ve tried this time and time again…now he must take the ball and run with it. I say this one flops within 2 months…sure, he’ll get big matches on RAW. However, they will be jobs to HBK, jobs to Kane, jobs to Batista, and then lost in the shuffle.
* I echo Kevin Kelly’s sentiment. Great time at FanSlam this past weekend. For those of you who hung in there watching the streaming video, boy did you get some treats. Where else can you see such an array of wrestling goodness in such a short window of time? Al Snow ranting about bestiality & midget death fights, Jerry Jarrett sharing amazing memories of his 50 year career, and The Zombie wrecking shop and kicking our butts. Shout out to Awesome Kong…she rocks. And let me tell you – you are in great hands at this site…Chris, Nick, and Kevin are top notch at what they do. And if you ever have the chance, you should grab a beer with them…really funny guys and good times had by all.
I’m Eric Stein and this has been your wrestling reality.
