Welcome to the 39th edition of the CBlog. I will be discussing WWE’s 2009 Draft & the upcoming Backlash event. There were 24 WWE Superstars drafted in total, so here are my thoughts on all 24:
United States Champion MVP To RAW- I am glad to see MVP moved to RAW. I am a big fan of MVP and putting the U.S. Title on RAW seems like a smart decision to try and get the title over more as a major championship.
Big Show To RAW- Big Show is one of those Superstars that wil get drafted to a different brand, but it does not really matter what brand he is on. Big Show will do just as good on RAW as he did on SmackDown. I think putting Show on RAW is to continue the angle between Show & Vickie.
Women’s Champion Melina To SmackDown- Initially, I was surprised by this move, but it is a good decision to move the title to SmackDown for a while. Not only is it a nice change of pace (the Women’s Title has been on RAW since the brand split started in 2002), but it will give the Divas Title a chance to become a legitimate title in the WWE. I would not be surprised to see John Morrison & Melina reunited sometime soon.
Matt Hardy To RAW- I was surprised that Matt is the Hardy being moved to RAW as I would have almost bet money that Jeff would be the one moving. I do not know how well Matt will do on RAW or what kind of feuds he will have, but I hope to see a revival of his feud with MVP.
WWE Champion Triple H To RAW- This move was just a formality, in my opinion, since Triple H has been a regular on RAW for a few months now. I am glad that they treated it as a formality instead of having it be announced last.
“Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” CM Punk- With both World Titles on RAW and John Cena defending the World Heavyweight Title in a Last Man Standing Match against SmackDown Superstar Edge at Backlash, it all adds up to CM Punk cashing in the Money-in-the-Bank opportunity after the match at Backlash. It is all laid out to take place, it seems. I can see Cena retaining the title in a grueling match and it would seem like both World Champions still reside on RAW until the newly-drafted CM Punk comes in and wins the title from Cena and brings it to SmackDown with him. That is the only real reason I can see for moving CM Punk. Being the holder of the briefcase means he can cash it in regardless of what brand he or the champion is on. Though Edge could win the title from Cena, at the end of the night, I am predicting CM Punk will be World Heavyweight Champion. Bank on it ;).
The Miz To RAW- Again, I was surprised by this move. I was not surprised that the Miz & Morrison team was split up, I fully expected that to happen after they lost to Primo & Carlito at WrestleMania. I was surprised that Miz was drafted to RAW. To me, Miz can only survive on ECW or SmackDown. RAW seems to be too “big” for Miz. If one of the two were going to RAW, I would have thought would be Morrison. Who knows? Maybe the move to RAW will improve The Miz as a singles star.
Kane To SmackDown- Kane is one of those handful of Superstars who get batted back-and-forth between every Draft. I do not exactly see the benefits of Kane moving to SmackDown, but maybe he is going to be in a feud with CM Punk (after what happened on RAW). I would not mind seeing another Kane/Undertaker feud.
Chris Jericho To SmackDown- I expected this one to take place. There is nothing left for Jericho on RAW, in my opinion. I could see Edge & Jericho forming an alliance somewhere down the line though.
Vladimir Kozlov To ECW- Given Kozlov’s lack of ability, this was a good move. ECW has been made useless, so why not stock up ECW with useless Superstars (I obviously omit guys like Christian & Evan Bourne from that comment).
Divas Champion Maryse To RAW- This one was to be expected after Melina and the Women’s Title got drafted to SmackDown. For me, the more Maryse, the better. I’m curious to see how Maryse fairs on RAW.
Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio To SmackDown- Rey getting moved to SmackDown was one of the more obvious moves in the Draft given the hispanic audience Rey draws in for the show. Moving the Intercontinental Title to SmackDown was a smart move, too. Much like the Women’s Title, the Intercontinental Title has been a RAW title since the brand split in 2002. I am hoping for a Rey Mysterio/John Morrison feud over the title.
Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Primo & Carlito To RAW- This was another smart move in my mind since there is only one tag team championship in the WWE, it makes sense that it would be on the top show in the WWE. I kind of expected Rhodes & DiBiase to take the belts from them en route to Backlash, but maybe after Backlash. That all depends on if Orton gets the title or not.
Mr. Kennedy To RAW- Kennedy is another Superstar who just gets drafted back-and-forth every year. I used to be a fan of Kennedy’s, but he is just poor in the ring and even his promos garner no interest from me. Not to mention the fact that he is very injury-prone.
The Bella Twins To RAW- It will be intersting to see how they fit The Bellas in on RAW. Not sure how they will do.
Hurricane Helms To ECW- To me, this is a smart move as well. Helms just seems to lack the ability he used to have, so moving him to ECW will make him look better than he really is.
Charlie Haas To SmackDown- Why move a guy who barely has a job anymore? I imagine Haas will be there to fill out the jobber part of the roster.
The Brian Kendrick To RAW- Boy, if you though Kendrick was getting buried on SmackDown, wait until you see him on RAW. Kendrick is a great talent if utilized correctly, but if you are not popular backstage, your career is pretty much in the gutter in the WWE.
Dolph Ziggler To SmackDown- Originally, I expected Ziggler to continue jobbing on SmackDown, but I was shocked to see him defeat MVP on last week’s SmackDown. Maybe Ziggler is getting a second singles run. He looked impressive on SmackDown. Maybe with the thinner roster, he can really thrive on SmackDown.
Festus To RAW- I have been hoping for a split of the Jesse & Festus tag team for quite some time. Jesse is just not needed in the equation for Festus to succeed. I look forward to seeing Festus on RAW on his own. As far as Jesse goes, I think his days in the WWE are numbered.
Natalya To ECW- Again, this pick is just a formality. Natalya was an ECW Superstar when she started managing Tyson Kidd, but then she was moved back to SmackDown (while still managing Kidd) and now she is officially on ECW.
John Morrison To SmackDown- It seems like they are giving Morrison a renewed singles run and I am all for it. I am a big Morrison fan and the guy has all sorts of talent. Like I said above, I look forward to a Rey Mysterio/John Morrison feud over the title (hopefully Morrison wins the title at some point).
DH Smith To ECW- I though Smith was in FCW? Unless he forms a tag team with Tyson Kidd, I see Smith just being a jobber on ECW.
Hornswoggle To RAW- I am glad to see the end of the Finlay/Hornswoggle partnership, but I do not have the slightest clue as to where Hornswoggle will fit in on RAW. Finlay is better off without him.
Layla To SmackDown- Unless she manages someone, I do not see how Layla will work on SmackDown as anything more than a jobber.
Ricky Ortiz To SmackDown- I would have rather seen Ortiz drafted to the unemployment line, but that might be the next move. Ortiz has no talent at all, so moving him from ECW to SmackDown will only show that even more.
Chavo Guerrero To RAW- Again, just a formality. Unfortunately, I see Chavo continuing to be a jobber with a good portion of his time going to being the guy who pushed Vickie in a wheelchair. It’s easy to forget who Chavo is when he is treated like he was on RAW.
Zack Ryder To ECW- I do not see any good coming out of this move. Ryder will be an ECW jobber just like Hawkins will be on SmackDown.
Candice To SmackDown- I am nowhere near a fan of Candice’s. I just hope she never makes an appearance and eventually gets fired.
Ezekiel Jackson To ECW- This is a smart move to me as Ezekiel seems much better as a singles star than being Kendrick’s bodyguard. Maybe Ezekiel will get rid of the uncomfortable short tights now.
Mike Knox To SmackDown- You can call him Mike Knox, but he is the same character and has the same ability (or lack there of) of Snitsky. Knox has been doomed ever since moving to RAW. It’s another monster character that will fall to the wayside. I will be surprised to see Knox around much longer.
Alicia Fox To SmackDown- This pretty much leaves DJ Gabriel out to dry on ECW. I would like to see the relationship between Edge & Alicia Fox start back. As for Gabriel, I don’t really care what becomes of him.
Well I got that done, now here are my predictions for Backlash this Sunday:
WWE Championship: 6-Man Tag: I see the team of Triple H, Batista & Shane McMahon beating Legacy in this one. I would not bet money on it as it can go either way, but for the sake of making a prediction, I am picking Triple H to retain. I can easily see Batista scoring the win for his team and then saying that he retained the title for Triple H so he deserves a shot at the WWE Title, which will probably lead to a match at Judgment Day and maybe a couple more after that.
World Heavyweight Championship: Last Man Standing: As I stated above, I see Cena retaining the title against Edge in a grueling match, only to have CM Punk cash in the Money-in-the-Bank opportunity to win the title and bring it to SmackDown with him. The best way to accomplish this would be to have both Cena & Edge be down for the 10 count, making the match a No Contest then have Punk pin still champion Cena to win the title.
ECW Championship: Though he really deserves better, I see Christian winning the ECW Title at Backlash. To me, Jack Swagger’s reign as champion has sucked. Barely appearing (and not appearing at all one week) on ECW gives me the vibe that the backstage powers are not happy with Swagger being the champion. I like to look at it as Christian winning the title and making it seem like a more legitimate title somehow.
“I Quit” Match: I see this being the final match in the Matt Vs. Jeff saga. After this one, I see both of them taking some time off. As for the winner, I think the only one who can rightfully be the winner is Jeff, as Matt has won their last two encounters.
Chris Jericho Vs. Ricky Steamboat: Believe it or not, I actually see Steamboat picking up the win here. Jericho got the win at WrestleMania, so it makes sense that Steamboat would get a win at Backlash. I hope to see Steamboat do it on his own, but I would not be surprised to see Flair, Piper, & Snuka get involved. I would love to see Steamboat come back to wrestling full-time, but they are billing this as his “one last match”, so I guess that won’t be happening. Maybe he will replace Grisham on the SmackDown Announced Team soon. Let’s hope so.
Khali Kiss Cam- Well, it should be entertaining. I have mixed feelings about it taking up pay-per-view time though.
I expect to see Big Show added to the card in some capacity. Possible a match for the Intercontinental Title against Rey Mysterio?
I will be posting another blog soon, probably after Backlash. Peace!
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