The WWE Draft

With the three hour 2008 WWE Draft coming this Monday, I thought I'd share what brand changes I'd personally make. Now, this isn't purely fantasy booking, for the most part I try to stay realistic (like, for example, that Triple H would never move to ECW or something like that) and I try to retain the status quo (Raw's the #1 show, followed by Smackdown, with ECW in a distant third).

Now, just because Raw is clearly the favored brand, doesn't mean it has to be the top program by such a large margin. Therefore, I'd sacrifice very few top stars from Smackdown and ECW. For example, this year I think they'll be VERY tempted to move CM Punk from ECW and MVP from Smackdown, but I think both of those moves would be a TREMENDOUS error. I mean, consider that last year they traded Lashley from ECW, King Booker from Smackdown, and Mr. Kennedy from Smackdown. They all went to Raw, and what happened? Lashley and Booker asked for their release within a few months, and Mr. Kennedy surely isn't any higher on the card than he would have been had he stayed on the blue show. On the contrary, he would have had a tailor made feud with World Champion Edge upon his return from injury.

For that matter, CM Punk is one of the very, very few Superstars on ECW that is truly over and exceptionally marketable. While some might argue that his talent and marketability is being wasted on the C-show, I think it's also fair to say that he's one of the very few reasons to actually watch that show. Along with that, he's clearly one of the stars of the show on ECW. Should he be moved to Raw, he'd take a huge back seat to John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy, and possibly even Mr. Kennedy. Trading him to Smackdown would be a slightly less terrible option, but still somewhat pointless given the whole talent exchange agreement (although, from what I understand, that may be switched over to Raw).

Before I provide my input, let me just say how curious the timing of this draft is: Namely, right BEFORE a Pay-Per-View in which every match is for a championship. So lets say, theoretically, Edge gets drafted but Batista doesn't. Wouldn't that, in a way, give away the ending? Part of me feels like they should just establish that every championship will remain on its respective brand, but that doesn't make matters much better. In that hypothetical above, Edge will either (a) lose the match and the title or (b) win the match and be stripped of the title. Why not wait a week and do it the Monday immediately after the PPV?

So what trades would I make? Lets start at the bottom-of-the-card guys that are doing absolutely nothing on their respective shows, but would surely benefit from some new scenary:

• Super Crazy to ECW: Personally, I'm not sure why this wasn't done when ECW was relaunched. He's an ECW original, and his style is more appropriate for the Tuesday night program anyway. He rarely appears on Raw, and with Heat now canceled, there's really no reason to keep him there.
• Val Venis to Smackdown: For the life of me, I don't know why Val Venis has been treated so poorly for the past several years. Here's a guy that is over, can speak, has a good look (although he has understandably let himself go a bit), and can speak. It's hard to believe that this guy was once considered an-almost-main-eventer. He desperately needs to be moved to another show, and I think he could fit in quite well with the more tag-team oriented Smackdown (maybe pair him up with Steven Richards).
• Chuck Palumbo to Raw: Why not move this guy over there and make him fodder to the upper midcard guys like Mr. Kennedy?
• Trevor Murdoch to Smackdown: Now that he and Cade have broken up and had their obligatory match, there's really no need to keep them on the same brand. And I can personally see him fitting in quite well with Jesse and Festus.
• Brian Kendrick to ECW: It seemed like they were going to turn him heel a couple of months ago, and he subsequently showed off a much more cocky personality. If that's the case, it seems like WWE is more serious about pushing him than London, so why not move him to ECW where he can really shine?
• Deuce to Raw: Much like Trevor Murdoch, since he's no longer in a tag team, there's no reason to keep him on the same show as his former partner. Why not move him to Raw, acknowledge that he's Jimmy Snuka's son, and give him a new gimmick?
• DH Smith to Smackdown: The poor boy is just floundering on Raw. Why not pair him up with Natalya Neidhart?
• Jamie Noble to ECW: With the Cruiserweight title deactivated, Noble has a lot more opportunities to shine on ECW than Smackdown.

Now onto the midcarders....

• Santino Marella & Carlito to Smackdown: These two are absolutely golden, and their talents are being wasted on Raw (where they either don't appear, or simply job out to the bigger stars). These guys could shine on the blue show.
• Elijah Burke to Raw: Trust me, I know that this could simply lead to him getting lost in the shuffle. But the problem is, he's already lost in the shuffle on ECW. In a true travesty, ECW only gets one match per PPV (which is a little ridiculous), and it's almost always the title match. Because of that, this guy has made, like, one PPV appearance since joining the brand (despite being a staple). As odd as it sounds, he'd probably get more exposure on Raw.
• Mike Knox to Raw: WWE has a tendency of building up big men on Smackdown and ECW, only to move them to Raw and completely castrate them within months. Last year it was Snitsky. This year it'll be Mike Knox.
• Mark Henry to ECW: They're already building him up to challenge for the ECW Championship, and if ECW is really going to be paired up with Raw in a short while anyway, why not make his move to the Land of the Extreme official?
• Chavo Guerrero & Bam Neely to Smackdown: Again, if the ECW/Smackdown partnership is ending, this allows La Familia to stick together.
• Gregory Helms to ECW: This fills the void left by Chavo Guerrero. And Helms working with CM Punk and the other Cruiserweights has a lot of possibilities that would not be available on Smackdown now that the Cruiserweight title is gone.

And since they inevitably switch around the Divas, here's a list of some trades. No explanation necessary, really:

• Maria to Smackdown
• Maryse to Raw
• Eve Torres to ECW
• Melina to Smackdown
• Cherry to Raw

And, finally, the main eventers:

• Umaga to Smackdown: This guy has done pretty much anything he can on Raw, to the extent that he's basically being jobbed out to the upper midcarders and main eventers. There are a lot of people there that he hasn't worked too much with, as well.
• Shawn Michaels or Chris Jericho to Smackdown: In a perfect world, both of these competitors would be going there, but unfortunately that will never happen. Michaels would be especially helpful to that program, since they need a fresh top face, but Jericho will do just as well.
• Update: Rey Mysterio to ECW: Like Super Crazy, he's an ECW original and would fit in with that style. It's also pretty likely he won't be getting another reign with the World Heavyweight Championship, but an ECW Championship run isn't out of the question.
• Update: Jeff Hardy to ECW: On Raw, he still takes a back seat to John Cena and Triple H, and during many periods he's really no higher up on the ladder than Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. I think Jeff Hardy would really benefit from at least year on ECW, including a lengthy title run, before returning to Raw and appearing like a bigger star than when he left.

I know what you're thinking: What, Raw doesn't get ANY main eventers? Honestly, neither ECW or Smackdown can sacrifice their top stars. A lot of people would be tempted to put Batista on Raw, since he's hit a real rut on Smackdown, but I think it would be a little much to have John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, AND Batista on Raw. Hopefully the reshuffled rosters will open up some new feuds for him.

Thoughts? Suggestions?