Falls Count Anywhere

05-31-07

Hugo? Is that you?

RAW and The Draft Lottery
I didn’t see it. I was at BayCon until midnight or so and found that I had forgot to tape the thing. These things happen (especially when chipotle vodka is involved).

I did go over the results and there didn’t seem to be much there save for Edge being incredibly over because it was Toronto. I also saw that the 3.2 rating is terrible, but Memorial Day seldom gets good ratings. A fair amount of the show seemed to be setting up the Draft Lottery.

What makes me worried about this draft is that they will take the little things and make them into big things that will just fail. They’re doing a 3-hour RAW where they’ll do the draft, probably waste one or two PPV-level matches on the show and then activate full-reset mode as they start walking us towards SummerSlam. Good idea? Yes, but I’m worried about the way things will go down.

It’s obvious that SmackDown! needs new blood. They could swing Randy Orton over there and make for an Edge v. Orton feud, but I’m not sure that’d get over unless they did the big match between them in Canada. They could draft a guy like Shelton Benjamin over and try to push him, but he’s been so seriously downplayed that he’s lost a lot of his fire and hasn’t been himself for months. He’s still the best athlete in the WWE. Cena and Edge should stay on their Brands, and maybe they should move Lashley to one of the other shows to where he can start to get the bigger, more mainstream push.

Of course, where that leaves ECW is a giant question. I still think they should think about combining the titles into one and touring it between the brands.

Here’s the specifics of what the various brands need:

ECW- Star power and consistency.
Lashley has gotten over to a degree, but is still not nearly what RVD was to ECW. He’s not even what Sabu and Sandman meant early on in the WWE’s ECW days. The biggest need is for a real heel to run at Lashley. I’d say that the Umaga thing has run its course, so I wouldn’t expect him to be shifted, and they may have some work for Khali, though they may make the switch and I’d put his odds at maybe 60% moving. In a dream world, they’d put Orton over there and let him be the full-time heel and the feud between the two would be given time and be allowed to have actual violence even though that’s not WWE’s ECW theme anymore. Bob Holly’s return could also end up with him staying on ECW, giving them at least another body that has been over to various degrees during the run.

I’d expect them to lose at least two of the following: Kevin Thorn, CM Punk, Elijah Burke or Marcus Cor Von.

Look for them to draft low-level SmackDown! wrestlers as well, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the Hardys ended up in ECW as a team.

RAW - Heel Challengers
RAW has the best draw (Cena), and the best position. The trouble is they are so thin because of injuries. Cena goes nowhere and maybe gets a new challenger in the mix. I’d expect Khali to be gone if they decide that One Night Stand is the final blow-of between them, but with the depth being the way it is, I’m not sure. HHH is coming back, though the timing isn’t known. He may be gone so he can do the program he wanted with Edge. I wouldn’t put it past them to draft King Booker or Kennedy for when they return from their injuries.

Expect a few of the lesser stars to go. At least one of those four ECW names I mentioned will end up here, with CM Punk and Marcus Cor Von being the two most likely. I’d expect Shelton to go, perhaps Flair and maybe Carlito, though his heel turn has been working and they might have faith in him as a challenger to Cena shortly. Orton could move, but he’d mean little to anyplace other than ECW. Kane could be there? Umaga might move? RAW is hard to judge.

SmackDown! - Star Power and Challengers for Edge
Kane could provide some challenge for Edge, as could Shelton if they gave him the ‘I’m sick and tired of being a nobody’ push. Elijah Burke or Kevin Thorn would make nice additions to the undercard, but they don’t add much star power. Rey-Rey will be back soonish, and that will help, but they need some big name. I wouldn’t be shocked if they lost Finlay or Boogeyman. Boogey would be best in ECW anyhow.

Also, I’ll put in a long-shot: Chris Jericho is re-signed and sent to SD! to take on Edge. That’s the best case scenario and if it happens, would turn around all the troubles of SmackDown! for a while.

All in all, they need to do some serious work and hope that injuries clear up fast. This Lottery is one of desperation and it needs to do something revolutionary to really work.

June Second MMA Show in LA
They’ve finalized the card for the big Coliseum show in LA. Brock Lesnar is fighting a different Korean opponent, though this guy’s not nearly the foe that Choi was. Sakuraba is facing Royce Gracie in a rematch of the biggest MMA match ever in Japan. As far as star power goes, that’s about it. I haven’t found an update on ticket sales, but I can’t imagine them being very good. The groups that came together for this show are probably going to eat big loses.

That’s all for this week. I’ll have lots to talk about on Monday, including two PPVs and Saturday Night’s Main Event.

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Chris Garcia