This Week In WWE: April 12, 2009- April 18, 2009

Welcome to the fiftieth edition of This Week In WWE. Feel free to contact me on TWO or Wrestling 101 anytime with comments, questions, and anything in between. Also, check out my blog on Wrestling101.com.

The 829th edition of Monday Night RAW was a special three-hour edition for the 2009 WWE Draft. The historical WWE Draft took place at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA.

RAW opened with "The Animal" Batista, who stated that he came back for retribution against Randy Orton for the punt he received four months ago. "The Animal" wastes no time in calling Randy Orton out. However, what Batista got was Shane McMahon. Shane reminds Batista of what Orton has done to The McMahon Family and claims he has the right for retribution against Randy Orton. WWE Champion Triple H then comes out and states that all of Orton’s actions are Triple H’s fault since Orton is after Triple H and the WWE Title. Triple H reminded both of his Backlash teammates of what Orton did to his wife- Stephanie McMahon. "The Game" proclaimed that he is going to "finish it". The new General Manager of RAW Vickie Guerrero comes out and says that she is the one making decisions on RAW. Vickie tells the trio that they will get their chance at retribution at Backlash. Vickie then announces that she has given Randy Orton the night off. The new GM then announces a 3-on-2 Handicap Match for the main event as WWE Champion Triple H, Batista, & Shane McMahon would take on Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase of Legacy. If the team of Triple H, Batista, & Shane McMahon win, then whoever scored the fall would face Randy Orton in a one-on-one match next week. However, if Rhodes & DiBiase win, then all three members of Legacy would face whoever lost the fall in a 3-on-1 Handicap Match on next week’s RAW.

The opening match of the night was a Draft Pick Match and would determine which brand would get the first random Draft Pick in the 2009 WWE Draft. Representing RAW, Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio defeated ECW’s resident high-flyer Evan Bourne in a non-title match. Due to Rey’s win, RAW would get the first Draft Pick. RAW’s first acquisition of the night was United States Champion MVP! MVP & the United States Title have been drafted from SmackDown to RAW.

In a match to determine the second Draft Pick, RAW’s Kane picked up a decisive win over SmackDown’s The Brian Kendrick. RAW picked up the second Draft Pick and it was a "big" one as "The World’s Largest Athlete" Big Show will be moving from Friday Nights to Monday Nights!

In a 6-Diva Tag Match, Divas Champion Maryse, Michelle McCool, & Natalya scored a Draft Pick for SmackDown by defeating Women’s Champion Melina, Mickie James, & Kelly Kelly, representing RAW. SmackDown’s first pick of the night was Women’s Champion Melina! The three-time Women’s Champion will be taking her title to Friday Nights.

In a special Champion Vs. Champion Match, World Heavyweight Champion John Cena defeated ECW Champion Jack Swagger to earn two Draft Picks for RAW. Moving from SmackDown to RAW will be "The Evil Enigma" Matt Hardy. Then RAW hit it huge when it was revealed that WWE Champion Triple H returns to RAW. "The Game" has returned to Monday Nights. WWE Champion & World Heavyweight Champion faced off as RAW now has both World Champions!

After the match, John Cena was blind-sided by his Backlash opponent, Edge. Cena countered and set Edge up for the Attitude Adjustment, but the slippery Edge escaped the ring.

As Santino Marella prepared to take on the giant task of facing The Great Khali, Beth Phoenix came out and revealed that, on top of a Draft Pick, if Khali wins, then Santino’s twin sister "Santina" will have to participate in the Khali Kiss Cam next week on RAW! Khali got his wish as he defeated Santino to secure a Draft Pick and a "lip lock" with "Santina" next week. SmackDown’s next Draft Pick was simply "money"; Money-in-the-Bank, that is, as CM Punk takes himself and his briefcase from RAW to SmackDown!

To determine the next Draft Pick, ECW’s The Miz took on RAW’s Kofi Kingston. When it looked like Kofi was poised for a victory for himself and RAW, The Miz’s tag team partner, John Morrison, pushed Kofi off of the top turnbuckle. However, Morrison got caught red-handed by the referee! The referee disqualified The Miz for outside interference, thus giving the Draft Pick to RAW! RAW was about to get a "reality check" as the next Draft Pick was The Miz! Now that the 2008 Tag Team of the Year is split up, RAW’s newest Superstar laid out his former partner, John Morrison, with the Reality Check; making an immediate impact on RAW. How will Miz & Morrison fair now that they are on their own?

To determine the eighth and ninth Draft Picks, fifteen Superstars from all three brands competed in a Battle Royal to determine which brand will get the two picks. In the end, it was RAW’s Big Show eliminating ECW’s Mark Henry, but "The Ultimate Opportunist" Edge tipped Big Show over the top to score two Draft Picks for SmackDown! First, SmackDown was about to get a little redder as "The Big Red Machine" Kane is heading to Friday Nights! The second pick was a Superstar who defeated three WWE Hall of Famers at WrestleMania and was the first Undisputed Champion in WWE History; Chris Jericho is heading to SmackDown! The two native Canadians, Edge & Jericho, eyed each other. Now that Edge & Jericho are on the same brand, will these two opportunistic Superstars form some sort of alliance or will the nature of the two former World Champions lead them to battle each other on Friday Nights?

ECW’s Christian was able to defeat SmackDown’s Shelton Benjamin to score ECW’s first draft pick of the night- "The Moscow Mauler" Vladimir Kozlov will have a whole new roster to terrorize as he heads to "The Land of the Extreme"!

Wasting no time representing their new brands, recent draftee to RAW, Matt Hardy, took on SmackDown’s recent draftee CM Punk. Fueled by revenge and hatred for his older brother, Jeff Hardy rushed into the ring and attacked Matt, which gave Matt the win; earning RAW another Draft Pick. RAW scored big as a "French Flavor" will be added to Monday Nights now that Divas Champion Maryse is a member of the RAW Roster!

To determine the final Draft Pick of the night, SmackDown’s newest Superstar, Chris Jericho, took on "ECW Original" Tommy Dreamer for the first time ever. The crafty Jericho was able to catch Dreamer with the Codebreaker to earn SmackDown the final Draft Pick of the 2009 WWE Draft. Making his return to Friday Night SmackDown will be Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio!

Now that twelve WWE Superstars have found new homes on different brands, who will thrive in their new environment?

The 3-Hour WWE Draft Special was just the beginning, as on Wednesday on WWE.com, the 2009 WWE Supplemental Draft will take place!

Now that all the Draft business was over with on RAW, it was time for the main event as the recently drafted WWE Champion Triple H teamed with "The Animal" Batista & Shane McMahon to take on Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase in a 3-on-2 Handicap Match. If the team of Triple H, Batista, & Shane McMahon win, then whoever scores the fall will get to face Randy Orton in a one-on-one match on next week’s RAW. However, if Rhodes & DiBiase win, whoever lost the fall would be forced to face all three members of Legacy in a 3-on-1 Handicap Match next week. In the end, "The Game" took advantage of his team’s dissentioned to pin Ted DiBiase and earn the right to face Randy Orton in a WrestleMania Rematch on next week’s RAW in London! Will Triple H "finish" Orton next week or will Orton send a message by pinning the WWE Champion en route to Backlash? Can the team of Triple H, Batista, & Shane McMahon keep it together at Backlash to keep the title around the waist of "The Game" or will Legacy be able to take advantage of the conflicted team to allow Randy Orton to claim the WWE Championship?

The 149th edition of ECW on Sci-Fi came to you, live, from the Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. Confirmed for ECW was Round 2 of the Elimination Chase To Backlash as Christian, Finlay, & Tommy Dreamer faced off in a Triple Threat Match.

And In Other News…
The opening match of the night saw John Morrison return as a singles competitor as he defeated Evan "Air" Bourne.

"The Moscow Mauler" Vladimir Kozlov made his debut as an ECW Superstar, defeating Knoxville’s own David Floridia.

The main event of the evening saw the second round in the Elimination Chase To Backlash as Finlay defeated Christian & Tommy Dreamer in a Triple Threat Match. By pinning Tommy Dreamer, "The Fighting Irishman" eliminated Dreamer from the Elimination Chase To Backlash. Now it is down to Finlay & Christian; these two Superstars will face off on the premiere of WWE Superstars this Thursday night and the winner of that match will head to Backlash to challenge Jack Swagger for the ECW Title. Who will survive the Elimination Chase and earn the opportunity to face Swagger for the ECW Title?

The premiere episode of WWE Superstars came to you from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA & the Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. Confirmed for the premiere was The Undertaker making his first appearance since WrestleMania as he took on Matt Hardy. Also, Christian and Finlay would face off in the Finals of the Elimination Chase To Backlash to determine who will face Jack Swagger for the ECW Title at Backlash.

The opening match of the night saw "The Deadman" The Undertaker make his first appearance since his historic WrestleMania match with Shawn Michaels as he took on "The Evil Enigma" Matt Hardy. Undertaker picked up the win via count-out after Matt decided to get himself counted out instead of facing The Undertaker. However, Matt would not escape so easily as his brother, Jeff, attacked Matt. Matt tried to find sanctuary inside the ring, but found himself face-to-face with The Undertaker, who delivered a huge chokeslam to Matt, much to the delight of Jeff Hardy.

A shot at the ECW Title was also on the line as Christian took on Finlay in the Finals of the Elimination Chase To Backlash. In the end, it was "Captain Charisma" hitting the Killswitch on Finlay to become the #1 Contender for Jack Swagger’s ECW Title at Backlash. Can "The Igniter" win the ECW Title for the first time in his career or will "The All-American American" hang on to his title?

Prior to his match against Cody Rhodes (with Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, Batista, & Triple H all banned from ringside), Shane McMahon vowed that "retribution starts with Cody Rhodes". Shane stayed true to his promise as Shane McMahon, at the expense of getting disqualified, hit Rhodes in the ribs with a steel chair, followed up by a skull-shattering chair shot that leveled Rhodes. Shane then put an exclamation point on the attack by going Coast-To-Coast on Cody Rhodes. While Shane got a measure of revenge on a member of Legacy, he got himself disqualified in the process. When Shane teams with "The Animal" Batista & WWE Champion Triple H, if Shane gets disqualified (or counted-out, pinned, or forced to submit), he will cost "The Game" the WWE Title; the same goes for all six competitors. Will the desire for revenge from Triple H, Batista, & Shane McMahon cost Triple H the WWE Championship at Backlash?

The 504th edition of WWE SmackDown came to you from the Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. The post-Draft edition of SmackDown featured a face-off between WWE Champion Triple H and Randy Orton just two days before their one-on-one encounter on RAW. Also, "The Animal" Batista would seek retribution as he took on Ted DiBiase.

The opening match of the night saw RAW’s "biggest" acquisition in the 2009 Draft- Big Show take on "The Extreme Enigma" Jeff Hardy. In the middle of the match, Jeff’s older brother and bitter rival Matt Hardy made his way to ringside. Jeff turned his attention to Matt, knocking Matt off of the apron and diving onto his brother on the outside. Unfortunately for Jeff, Matt’s plan worked to perfection as Jeff turned his attention to Matt long enough for Big Show to recover and knock out Jeff with the devastating right hand. After the match, Matt attacked his younger brother with several slaps to the face and countless leg drops to the unconscious Jeff Hardy.

It was revealed later in the show that, at Backlash, the brothers will face off again as Matt Hardy takes on Jeff Hardy in an "I Quit" Match. Matt has vowed to eradicate the WWE of his younger brother, can Matt do so in this sinister match or will Jeff get his payback by making Matt say "I Quit"?

The Great Khali also presented the Khali Kiss Cam. Khali picked out a Knoxville native to "prepare" for his lip lock with Santina Marella this Monday on RAW.

After being drafted to RAW this past Monday night, Divas Champion Maryse made her last appearance on SmackDown before heading to Monday nights as she took on former Women’s Champion Gail Kim. Continuing in her domination of SmackDown’s Diva Division, Gail Kim was able to defeat Maryse in a non-title match. While Maryse goes to RAW with the Divas Title, Melina is coming to SmackDown with the Women’s Title. With a win over the departed Divas Champion, Gail Kim has got to be a top contender for Melina’s title.

One of SmackDown’s newest Superstars- John Morrison was in action, defeating R-Truth in Morrison’s second win this week. Has Miz’s departure and subsequent betrayal on RAW lit a new fire under "The Shaman of Sexy"?

WWE Champion Triple H also made an appearance on SmackDown to have a face-off with Randy Orton. However, as Triple H prepared for the arrival of "The Legend Killer", Orton opted to stay in the back, but decided to antagonize "The Game" via satellite. Orton stated that coming to the ring would be a "mistake" and that Triple H has no one to count on at Backlash with his partners, Batista & Shane McMahon, out for their own personal agendas. Orton vows that Triple H will lose his cool at Backlash and get disqualified and Orton will get the title. Unfazed by the words of Orton, Triple H just sat and smiled at the sadistic Orton. Orton tried to wipe the grin off of Triple H’s face by reminding Triple H of what Orton did to his wife. Orton then asked Triple H if Triple H’s kids got the Easter basket that Orton sent to them. These comments did not faze "The Game" either. Frustrated, Orton demanded to know what was so funny. Triple H replied by saying that he knows something that Orton does not; that their one-on-one match on RAW will be a No Disqualification Match! "The Cerebral Assassin" then vows to "finish it" on RAW. It is bound to get extremely physical between these two on RAW. Not that the match is No Disqualification, will either man survive this match to make it to Backlash?

The Undertaker made his first appearance on SmackDown since WrestleMania and defeated "The Gold Standard" Shelton Benjamin in a one-on-one encounter.

Now a member of the RAW Roster, United States Champion MVP made his farewell appearance on SmackDown as he took on one of SmackDown’s newest Superstars- Dolph Ziggler. In what many would consider a big upset, Ziggler rolled up MVP and picked up the win over the United States Champion! While it was not the greatest send-off for MVP, Ziggler picked a huge win in his first night on SmackDown. Is Dolph Ziggler a force to be reckon with on Friday nights?

The main event of the evening saw "The Animal" Batista make his return to one-on-one action as he defeated Legacy member Ted DiBiase en route to the 6-Man Tag for the WWE Title at Backlash.

Superstar of the Week: Triple H