LIVE Smackdown....um....LIVE thoughts - July 19, 2016

9:57 - Pretty cool that they gave Ambrose the clean and decisive win going into the title match at Battleground.  At the very least, this adds some legitimacy to Ambrose's reign and he won't look like a lame duck should he lose at Battleground.  Interested in seeing what happens.

Alright, I'll watch the rest of the Draft on WWE Network but won't be doing a play by play.  Enjoy!!

9:43 - Still hoping for the "clear the locker room" ending.  No interest in seeing Ambrose lose tonight.  Or moving the title to Raw for the rest of the week.

9:36 - Who thought it was a good idea to end the draft with Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus????

9:32 - Have six NXT guys even been picked so far?  It's going to be a bit anti-climatic to end it with an NXT pick, unless it's Bayley or Joe, I would think.

9:26 - A bit surprised to see Big Show drafted at all, to be honest.  Nice to see Dolph Ziggler get a little attention.  Surprised to see the Club broken up, but perhaps they'll reunite with Finn Balor?  The crowd completely deflated when they realized Steph wasn't getting Bayley.

I wonder if we'll see any surprise entrants, though.

9:18 - Nobody exceedingly obvious missing right now.  I'm guessing Smackdown selects the Club next (makes sense for the AJ connection, plus they need a "name" pick and numbers).  Obvious wildcards:  Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Cesaro, the Dudley Boyz, Apollo Crews, Natalya.

9:16 - Really cool ending and it's good to see Jericho get a win....but they've clearly given up on Cesaro's latest push.  He's not being buried or anything, but he's just exchanging wins and losses with people.

9:11 - The overwhelming feeling seems to be that Raw is "winning" the draft.  I don't think it's as much of a blowaway as everybody else does.  Smackdown has Cena, Ambrose, AJ, and guys who elicit a reaction like Wyatt and Miz.  Not terrible.

9:05 - Is there anything more annoying than that inflection Stephanie does with her voice?

9:04 - I'm guessing Smackdown picks Miz now.

8:57 - I am enjoying these Network interviews because the Superstars are clearly just being themselves and having fun.  This is the most entertaining I've seen Chris Jericho in years.

8:50 - Surprised to see Owens picked after Zayn and Jericho.  Pretty cool to see Sasha and Becky picked so early.

8:38 - I'm guessing Bray Wyatt gets drafted next round.  Also, potentially, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (to separate shows).  And at least one more NXT Superstar.

8:32 - Again, great interview with Cena on the WWE Network about him being drafted to Smackdown.  Cena back on Smackdown for the first time in something like 10 years is a great thing for both the show and the Superstar.  I can see his stock with the fans improving significantly.

8:23 - Some obvious big-name picks here that made sense.  As predicted, Reigns to Raw and Cena to Smackdown.  Lesnar and Orton to Raw and Smackdown makes sense too.  New Day to Raw was interesting as well.  Does this mean that Raw gets the Cruiserweight Championship, Women's Championship AND Tag Team Championship?  Women's and Tag Titles aren't being defended at Battleground.

8:17 - I'm kinda hoping the championship match ends in a no contest when the drafted Raw and Smackdown Superstars come in to interfere on behalf of Rollins and Ambrose, respectively.  It's in the best personal interest of the Superstars of each brand to make sure that their show has the WWE Championship.  AJ Styles should want Dean Ambrose to win so that he has an opportunity to challenge for the title.  Maybe each side interferes too often to cause a DQ finish.

8:15 - Really fun and in-depth interview with Charlotte on the WWE Network.  I'm enjoying the Draft Center stuff.

Next round, I'm thinking Reigns to Raw and Cena to Smackdown.

8:10 - Whoa, pretty cool to have the side-by-side screens during the commercials.  Nicely done, USA and WWE.

8:04 - Pretty cool that Charlotte was the third overall pick.  Does this mean that Raw gets the Women's Division AND the Cruiserweight Division?

8:02 - Not surprising and a really cool honor for Seth Rollins.  Guy had an awesome couple years and deserves this.  I'm guessing Smackdown picks Dean Ambrose.

8:00 - Cool seeing everyone (but Bryan) sporting their show's colors and logos.  I'm guessing pick #1 is Seth Rollins.

7:46 - The Top 10 draft shockers brought back some nice memories of when the brand split was taken pretty seriously.  For a LONG time I was a huge proponent of the brand split.  I didn't think guys like Edge, CM Punk, or Daniel Bryan would have gotten a shot at the World Championship.  Arguably, neither would John Cena or even Batista.  Certainly, guys like Christian and probably somebody like the Miz wouldn't have either.  And at those moments, they likely deserved the opportunity as champion.  But once they stopped taking it seriously, anybody associated with the Smackdown brand kinda became tarnished goods and it was doing more harm than good.  I don't think this is the right time to do a brand split, but if they take it seriously and make some smart moves, it could be a good thing after a few months.  Let's see.

7:32 - Lita repeatedly mentioning the Wyatts being drafted together, when they're not, is uncomfortable.

7:04 - So I think this is an absolute first.....I don't think I've ever done a LIVE posting of Smackdown before.  Well, in typical WWE fashion, we're getting an overabundance of something.  We saw Ambrose vs. Rollins last night.  We're seeing Ambrose vs. Rollins (and Reigns) on Sunday.  Well, now we're seeing Ambrose vs. Rollins AGAIN tonight.  Why?  To create further controversy so that they can split the titles?  Can't they just do that Sunday?  And since a triple threat doesn't benefit the champion -- and both of these guys are in the triple threat match -- why even bother resolving the issue?  It literally won't make a difference as both would have to defend Sunday and neither would have a championship advantage.  Seems unnecessary to me.

I've got the Pre-Show playing in the background so I'll comment if anything interesting happens. If not, I'll see you guys in a little less than an hour.