With Vince regaining all the power in his company, it was no surprise that he opened the show, and really it was the best way to go. The appointment of a New GM came completely out of the blue, and with one enemy gone, Vince decides to appoint another one as the GM. That was a little strange considering the circumstances and timing, could that have waited a week with Vince saying he will unveil a GM next week as a build up would have been nice going in to next weeks show? Heyman will make a great GM though, that’s for sure. His speech was really good and he will have a very strong presence on Raw
This is what it’s all about, the draft and some different matches we don’t see each week. Shelton starting the in ring action is a sure fire to bring some excitement to the match, and along with Finlay they put on a good match, although the finish was a little bit of a cliché with the slipping down and hitting the finisher straight away. A win for Shelton is cool and I hope he guts pushed on Raw. The Animal coming to Raw is an obvious choice as he has done it all on Smackdown over the last three years and is in desperate need of a change. Spearing Shelton too was a good way to demonstrate that The Animal has well and truly arrived
Cena’s interview was okay, he was a little out of character in the first paragraph unless you are in the process of turning him heel for a feud with Batista. It seemed to hint that quite a lot. Having him being cleared to compete doesn’t sell how brutal his match with Orton was the night before, but having him in the title picture with Edge & Triple H tonight is very interesting as it could lead to something. But with Orton winning last night, it looks like he’s taking the back seat with Cena taking his spotlight tonight
Santino put on a real good showing against Matt, something that will help him a lot of you decide to push him in the near future. You did a lot better job than most of us do with him, making him look more than credible against someone as good as Matt, but still falling short. It was the right decision as Matt had to win that one, and Jeff going to Smackdown is a good call too, although similar to real life, it’s the right decision
The one thing I realised about having the draft tonight is that half of these guys are gonna be beat up to fuck, and would usually have some kind of break. Anyway, Edge and MVP’s promo was okay, I didn’t think the character was the best to be honest. MVP’s arrogance got through in the last paragraph and that was very good. When he was saying his titles, the Ballin superstar tag would have been better replaced by half man, half amazing to sell it to Edge even more. Having Edge stand up to him was right though to put him in his place, but it just didn’t sound right at times with Edge not being aggressive enough. He really should have driven home the fact that he beat The Undertaker the night before
This was a good tag team match, and I was a little gutted to see this match since it will take place on my Raw. It’s all written and the ending is very similar too, I hate it when that happens, but I just gotta roll with it! Anyway, it was a good solid match and very even which I was impressed with, plus the finish was typical Morrison & Miz. The draft is going just like real life for now! Kennedy on Smackdown was when he was at his best, and I agree with that move to be perfectly honest. I’m not sure his promo was too necessary since it was nothing more than his typical entrance and a little shorter
Jeff & Heyman’s promo was very good and it brought up the subject of Jeff taking his title to Smackdown. I assumed that he would have it stripped, but I guess you’re going down a different route than that, which is cool. One problem I do have though is that it’s all good putting him in a match on Friday, but what happens if JBL gets drafted later on? That takes away the illusion of the random draft because we now know that JBL is staying put. It seems that JBL will win the IC title too, but let me say it would be great to see Jeff retain instead of dropping like I’m sure everyone thinks and make a storyline out of it
JBL was always going to pick up the win over The Hurricane. Poor Helms, but The Hurricane is certainly able to get over a lot better. The inevitable defeat brought The Big Show over, interesting! I don’t like that The Big Show copied Batista and attacked the winner of the match for no real reason. The Big Show didn’t need that to get over as much, whereas Batista doing that as the first pick set the tone for a night of chaos. Seeing the same thing repeated makes it less of a big deal. JBL being booked to take that bump too and look like a bit of a jobber doesn’t make him look great going in to his match with Jeff that was just set up too
Punk/Dykstra would be a match I would pay to see, and I mean flights, insurance, accommodation as well as tickets! It was a real good match and my favourite of the night ahead of Matt/Santino as again, you made it very even and made Kenny look good. The finish was fine although it repeated the cliché trend of the Matt/Santino match, one guy goes for finisher and misses, other hits his and wins. The most drafted superstar is drafted again. Khali sucks and just needs to fuck off back to India and stay off of TV. Please have Val Venis kill him
Burke against Kane was a slight mismatch and I’m not sure that I agree with having Raw’s tag champs compete in singles action as this does nothing for Burke, especially since he and Shelton weren’t even supporting each other. The Express counter to the chokeslam was good and I liked that spot a lot. Jericho to Smackdown is a good move too, I may have to rethink my plans now! Jericho/Edge, Jericho/MVP, the possibilities are spell binding
Medics checking if there was something “medically serious was going on”. That is so funny. I bet that is the first time that sentence has ever been used IRL!!! Anyway, Triple H being knocked out is cool as it could be Edge & MVP, or one of Raw’s superstars looking to send a message to the champion
The mixed tag match didn’t do too much for me as I don’t like Palumbo at all. Mickie & Natalya put on a good finish for sure and I agree with the decision to book Natalya strongly. Seeing her drafted after beating Mickie would have been real interesting, but Orton’s name was huge! Jaws have been dropped! Jaws have dropped mate, it sounds like people have picked up jaws and dropped them that way. His speech was awesome, very, very Orton
The next promo with Triple H & Cena was again very on/off character wise. Cena just sounded a little too forceful at times, but there were a couple of lines too that made caught my attention. The medic at first saying that it appears Triple H was attacked, that is just strange when we all knew that. Then Triple H saying he didn’t know where he was, but he knew that the match was next. Surely that would contradict his first statement. His desire though was spot on, although this is probably as serious as it gets when it comes to battling through
The main event was pretty solid, but Triple H only coming at the end was my only real problem, but it made sense with the injury. The chair shot had to be expected to be perfectly honest from Edge, but I still despute that Edge was behind the attack earlier on. Rey & RVD are good draft picks, but even though it made sense for them to race down and make the save, they were two of the smaller names that traded shows and I kind of feel disappointed because I was expecting some real big names to end the show. Batista coming to the rescue would have suited the predicament, and if Big Show’s a face too, then those two would have been the two big names that would have ended the show on a real high
Supplemental Draft Thoughts
MVP & Victoria are the two names that stick out as the big picks for Raw. Both could do well on the show for sure and I guess we’ll see a Rey/MVP or RVD/MVP feud for a while after the ending on Raw. Finlay too is a good pick and an interesting one along with Seamus
Smackdown’s picked up some good mid card talent in Kofi, Carlito, Paul Burchill & Santino, as well as Paul London & Brian Kendrick, plus Cody & Lance Cade. That looks like being the wrestling show and it can really help elevate these guys to a decent position. Katie Lea should be challenging for the Divas title, but I can’t remember if you have it or not. If not, I think taking her from Raw is a bad move, but I think you do have the title on Smackdown
Seriously. What was the point in these past two posts because he accidentaly double posted? Here's a warning but next time both of you will get infractions for spamming.
Gotta be quick unfortunately as I’m hard-pushed for time I’m afraid. But the first thing to point out is the exceptional lay-out; very easy on the eye and clear to understand.
Good opening segment to start off the show, McMahon was in character completely and was a joy to read. Good decision to fire Regal and end what has been a great feud. Heyman as GM? Hmm, interesting. McMahon was the face but appointed the heel Heyman? Should be good to see how this plays out. Maybe you were a bit too quick to commercials though.
Good ending to the opening match, and great way to kick off the draft with Batista. By gawd what a spear ;P
Enjoyed the backstage segment with Cena and Maria – he was definitely in character and you explained his injuries and how banged up he was well. Great main-event booked btw.
Again, solid second match, good finish and Hardy is on Smackdown – hope he links up with Matt Hardy on The Blue Brand but we’ll see.
Unfortunately I kinda lost touch with this thread so I missed Edge and Lita getting back together; however it’s fair to see that that’s a good decision. The segment was, as expected, solid and in character for the most part. I think MVP was very good through-out, but Edge kinda flipped and went off on one when MVP said he was the face of Smackdown. Well done.
Fine match-up and the ending was typically heel-ish from Morrison and Miz. Kennedy being drafted and coming out afterwards was what it’s all about, and you got the point across well. Very short promo though, but don’t worry!
Great backstage promo with Heyman and Hardy. Heyman was playing the greasy kiss-ass to a tee and the culmination with JBL taking on Hardy on Smackdown will be very good.
Decent match with Hurricane and JBL, good finish and he looked strong. Big Show was a good acquisition and him coming out and chokeslamming JBL was good, but made JBL look kinda weak. “The World's Largest Athlete is now the World's Largest Raw Superstar” – another example of your great commentary.
Dykstra vs Punk on paper is a match I’d want to see head-lining shows some day, and this was a good showing. Punk got the better of the offense as expected which is fine, but Khali on Raw isn’t really what I would have wanted. Smackdown however is looking like it’s getting the best of the draft. One thing I didn’t enjoy was every star coming to the ring when drafted and either having a really short promo or just slamming someone. Well done all the same.
Okay first Punk-Dykstra, now Burke-Kane? What gives here! Good match-up and for a second there I thought Elijah was gonna win, but good finish. Jericho on Smackdown furthers the assumption that Smackdown are getting ahead with the Draft, pleased to see him there. But, “Smackdown is Jericho” on Raw? Should have saved it till Friday
Very good touch with The Game laid out in the back, all done very, very well. “I don't think that's the kind of Pool Triple H wants to be lying in for the Summer” – once again, loving your commentary.
I personally don’t really enjoying writing or reading divas matches but this mixed tag was decent. Glad Chuck and Natalya won and the fact that Orton is on Smackdown as well is excellent for that brand. Highly enjoyable promo from Orton, of a great length.
Main-event, match of the night. The fact that Triple H was competing obviously got him over as a face perfectly but realistically he shouldn’t have gotten any offense after the conchairto RVD and Rey to Raw sucks for Smackdown but what a coup for Raw.
Overall Grade – A-
Very good show with plenty of twists and turns, enjoyable to read and personally my first draft I’ve read. Well done, indeeeeeeed.
WWE SmackDown! – Los Angeles, CAJune 5, 2008“The Fall-Out Of A Screwjob”
WWE SmackDown goes LIVE for the first time ever tonight, and the Brand’s success in the WWE 2008 Draft only adds to the exciting prospect of Friday Nights going to a whole new level. Something that will dampen the spirits of the WWE Universe is that Edge is still the World Heavyweight Champion. Edge retained the Championship against The Undertaker this past Sunday at One Night Stand, with help from his new acquaintances, WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison & The Miz, but The Deadman will certainly be looking to get redemption from the Rated-R Superstar and the A-Listers. After what happened at One Night Stand, Edge is certainly a wanted Man, but with The Undertaker off his checklist, will there be any new Challengers to the World Heavyweight Championship? Also On SmackDown...
- There are many new Superstars on the SmackDown Roster following the WWE 2008 Draft, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Mr. Kennedy to name a few. But another of SmackDown’s newest Superstars, WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy, will have to defend his Title against Raw’s John “Bradshaw” Layfield, after the new Raw General Manager Paul Heyman stated that the Intercontinental Championship “has been an integral part of Raw’s history” so Heyman and the WWE’s Flagship Brand want the Title back where it allegedly belongs. Will the Self-Made Millionaire come back to Raw with the Gold? Or will the Legend Thriller thrill his way to victory over JBL?
- Evan Bourne has made a big impression on the SmackDown Locker Room since debuting just last week with a victory over Charlie Haas, but somebody who hasn’t welcomed Bourne with open arms is Jamie Noble. After Bourne’s victory, Noble viciously attacked the High Flyer, but when the Pitbull tried to assist Kenny Dykstra in a Post-Match beatdown on The Hurricane, Evan Bourne was quickly on hand to come to the Superhero’s aid. Evan Bourne teams with The Hurricane tonight to face Kenny Dykstra and Jamie Noble in Tag Team action, which tandem will prevail? With 4 High-Flying induviduals in the Ring at the same time, we’ll have one Hell of a time finding out.
- Shawn Michaels kept his career alive and well at One Night Stand, when The Showstopper defeated Batista in an I Quit Match, where if Michaels lost, he would have to retire. With SmackDown now on the path to Night of Champions, what is next for Shawn Michaels? Will HBK challenge for Championship Gold, or will Michaels take a break from the tiring WWE schedule, after shedding blood, sweat and tears to prevent his retirement?
- A whole new era is dawning on Friday Night SmackDown following the WWE Draft, so you don’t want to miss the beginning of it, as well as the first LIVE Show for the Blue Brand! There is a lot more to see on SmackDown now, so tune into the CW Network at 8/7 CT to witness the jaw-dropping action from the SmackDown Superstars on your Television Screens!
WWE; The Alternative Route
