"WWE RAW" 4-25-10 Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

Tonight, "the Universe as you know it will change" with the 3-hour WWE Draft. With the elimination of ECW, Superstars will go from RAW to SmackDown or SmackDown to RAW for the first time since the 2005 staggered Draft. The action starts at 8 p.m. ET tonight.

See the Draft and all the fallout from Extreme Rules in ten minutes!

WWE RAW #883
Monday, April 25, 2010 @ 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on USA Network

SHAKIN' THINGS UP
Live on a special three-hour Raw, the 2010 WWE Draft shakes up the foundation of sports-entertainment, reshaping the rosters of Raw and SmackDown. Tune in to see the entire WWE landscape get completely altered, beginning at 8/7 CT.

'HART' TO KILL
The Hart Dynasty has refused to desist in their quest for their golden opportunity. At Extreme Rules, David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd defeated Show-Miz to earn a Unified Tag Team Title Match live tonight on Raw.


This thread is to discuss tonight's RAW only. Spoilers for iMPACT! are not appropriate here as all may not be able to watch the show this evening. Put another way: No iMPACT! Spoilers!

"TNA iMPACT!" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

I am having to tape the Draft tonight and plan to watch it as soon as it is over. As a result, the typical 'Best Draft pick of the night' poll will be added late tonight/early this morning or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

[MetroSparkster]

I always forget the 3-hour specials always start at 8PM. What did I miss so far?

[Azrayel]

I always forget the 3-hour specials always start at 8PM. What did I miss so far?

ShoMiz vs Hart Dynasty for the titles opened the show. Hart Dynasty won the belts.

Second match Simply Flawless/Lay-Cool vs Eve Torres and Maryse. Smackdown team won and gets a raw diva pick.

Spoiler:

Smackdown got Kelly Kelly

CM Punk vs Evan Bourne. Punk won with a masked man's help, which gave the smackdown roster another draft pick. They got

Spoiler:

Big Show

and I think thats all that happened within the first hour.

[RedNinja84]

With Cole and Striker both there, the announcers are really annoying tonight.

[Kindness King]

Since when is Stryker annoying? Cole I could understand (even though I like him) but...


Anyway, Christian/Jericho was superb. Also, that was another great match between Swagger and Morrison. Those two have been bringing out the best in one another recently, and this was no exception.

[Azrayel]

Thank you Dolph Ziggler for beating up Hornswoggle. That beating truly made this an awesome Raw.

[TnAdct1]

My take on the people going to Smackdown: I think I can see where WWE is going when it comes to the draft ths year at least when it comes to Smackdown:

1. By moving the "bigger" names (i.e. Edge and Chris Jericho) to Raw while Kofi and Christian go to Smackdown (and with Jack Swagger currently the Smackdown champion), I think WWE is giving those wrestlers with "potential", but are stuck in mid-carder status thanks to the "big names", a chance to shine on Smackdown.

2. With the impending move to Scy Fy, it's best to have wrestlers that are already well known to viewers on that channel (thanks to ECW) be on the that program when the move takes place later this year.

[KJ Styles]

The draft was weak. Smackdown really looks like a B-show as a result.

Don't get me wrong, I like Kofi Kingston and Christian, but neither of them are main eventers as of yet, and could have benefitted from a main event rub from someone like Orton or Jericho. The Undertaker and Rey Mysterio are the only true main eventers remaining on Smackdown.

I also don't understand why they had Edge cost Orton the match. Edge has just returned a few months ago, was getting over as a face and now he's back to being a heel. It makes no sense. If they were gonna have Orton and Edge feud, it should have been with Orton as the heel.

The supplemental draft needs to be blockbuster or this years draft looks mediorce. The show from a wrestling standpoint was pretty good, but from a draft standpoint it sucked.

[Marvin Tikvah]

Honestly, I like it better than last year where predictability was tossed out the window and it became obvious the draft picks were all "groundbreaking" but convenient.

SmackDown gets gutted of talent as usual, but at least this means more new guys get a chance to main event. I'm excited at seeing Christian, Swagger, Kofi, Mysterio, Show and Taker having series of matches for the next year. Raw is completely stacked which is understandable since both HBK and Triple H are going to be out for some time.

I'm expecting at least a few more midcarders to make the jump tomorrow. Please move MVP back to SmackDown where he can be the old cocky heel again.

[Azrayel]

I also don't understand why they had Edge cost Orton the match. Edge has just returned a few months ago, was getting over as a face and now he's back to being a heel. It makes no sense. If they were gonna have Orton and Edge feud, it should have been with Orton as the heel.

Orton was just made face around the same time as Edge. So it wouldn't make sense either.

Besides Rated R Superstar/ultimate oppertunist Edge is awesome. I've hated how the writers/fans made Edge face. he just isn't cool that way.

Overall pretty good show. The draft always looks like the draft from my svr game.

Because Edge, R-Truth, and Morrison have been on my Raw for awhile and my smackdown also has Kofi Kingston and big show on it.

[Ioz]

Edge is a natural heel. I'm glad to see him back in that role. I thought before the show that Randy might be drafted to Smackdown, but I guess not. Techniquely, isn't Batista a Smackdown wrestler and Swagger a Raw wrestler? So if you win another brand's title they just let you stay there if you lose it (as in Batista's case). Batista's contract runs out this summer, so I doubt he will be around anywhere much longer.

[bigddan11]

Dang it. I had to go to Annie rehersals and missed the half an hour in which Christian was drafted to SmackDown! That ticks me off because dang it WWE, give us a Christian vs. Edge feud already. The purpose of the Draft was to create new rivalries, so all of the sudden we get a continuation of Edge vs. Jericho and a restart of Edge vs. Orton. Jericho is moved back to RAW after only a year on SmackDown!, so what tag team will they create next- Jericho and The Miz (since they've done ShowMiz and Y2Show already).

Let's look at the SmackDown side folks. If Evan Bourne and Yoshi Tatsu are drafted to the SmackDown! side tomorrow (both of which I fully expect to occur), then all of the sudden everyone that was on ECW on Syfy, outside of Mark Henry and Willian Regal (both of which have a history of being traded in the Supplemental Draft), will be on the SmackDown! roster when they move to Syfy. It makes no sense to have moved Christian, Yoshi, and William Regal to RAW for a whole two months if you were just going to move them back to SmackDown! and back to Syfy. As for saying Undertaker and Rey are the only main eventers on SmackDown!, I still disagree. You also have Kane, and you can add The Big Show and Chrstian to that list of people that will contend. Heck, Kofi will likely be a main eventer on SmackDown! after his performance last year.

[hobbyfan]

Reviewing the picks:

From Raw to Smackdown:

1. Kelly Kelly. Team Layme-o just found themselves a new pidgeon to play with, but we'll see how long that lasts.

2. Big Show. ! Been there, done that. We'll see if he's reunited with Piggy Guerrero.

3. Kofi Kingston. Drew McIntyre, meet your next challenger for the IC title!

4. Christian. I believe it was one year ago tonight that he beat Jack Swagger for the ECW title. Can lightning strike again? Plus, Christian returns to the brand he was on before leaving for TNA in '05. I called this one.

From Smackdown to Raw:

1. John Morrison. I've read rumors of him turning back heel, but would he reform his team with Miz? Or does he stay with......

2. R-Truth. Will Truth & Wisdom, as Matt Striker dubbed them, remain together? Truth's already set up for a feud with Ted DiBiase, Jr., so maybe it'll be Truth & Wisdom vs. the Fortunate Sons, once Brett DiBiase & Joe Hennig are called up? Probably.

3. Edge. Any hope for reunions of Edge & Christian or Rated RKO were dashed in the space of an hour. However, maybe Edge will be the lone wolf that Batista is now in the long term.

4. Chris Jericho. Oh, the irony. He wins a draft pick for Smackdown, only to be drafted away himself as the last pick of the night.

I'm figuring on Morrison vs. Miz for the US title right away, because Mizizzle needs a challenger to tie him over until NXT ends and Daniel Bryan comes a-callin'. Truth-DiBiase is a lock, maybe as early as next week. Edge will lie in wait for John Cena after Batista departs, but, yeah, going after Orton is a real head-scratcher, considering their feud was 6 years ago! The last history they had was as partners! Jericho will want a piece of Cena as well. The ducks are lining up........!

On to the matches. They needed to get the tag belts off Mizizzle & Show, and as Miz turned on Morrison one year ago, Show turns on him, tired of all the bragging.

Bret turning that stipulation into what it really was---a joke---was golden. Miz got played like a real sucka. The Hart Dynasty bring the tag gold back to Smackdown, which rules, but the only real competition now will come from the Straight Edge Society, until the Fortunate Sons come together.

Once I read that Batista was sticking around, you had to figure he'd get one more shot for the title before leaving. Too bad Sheamus was treated like such a tool after beating HHH last night.

Morrison-Swagger III was, to me, the best match on the show----again. Swag takes the rubber match, and now has to be reintroduced to Christian. This will rule.

Maybe DiBiase turning on Santino's a sign that Marella may be moving in the supplemental draft. I think that's the case.

If Edge is turning full heel, then why is Jericho on Raw?

It's funny. Maryse was an ally to Team Layme-o a couple of months back, but she's the one jobbing to Me-Chelle McFool. How did they write this show? On a velcro dartboard?

[bigddan11]

Exactly why has WWE once again ignored there own rules of brand separation? Batista is still a SmackDown! Superstar. Unless you have him move to RAW in the Supplemental Draft, then you need to keep him on the brand he belongs to.

[EinBebop]

Batista is still a SmackDown! Superstar.

wwe.com says otherwise.

[Wonderwall]

The draft was weak. Smackdown really looks like a B-show as a result.

Don't get me wrong, I like Kofi Kingston and Christian, but neither of them are main eventers as of yet, and could have benefitted from a main event rub from someone like Orton or Jericho. The Undertaker and Rey Mysterio are the only true main eventers remaining on Smackdown.

I also don't understand why they had Edge cost Orton the match. Edge has just returned a few months ago, was getting over as a face and now he's back to being a heel. It makes no sense. If they were gonna have Orton and Edge feud, it should have been with Orton as the heel.

I don't think SD needs to swap main eventers. It seems to be the show designated to make new main eventers anyway as they tend to be booked better on SD. Christian and Kofi along with Show could easily fill up main event spots, same with CM, Swagger, Taker, and Rey.

I'm guessing we'll find out next week why Edge attacked, usually they explain heel turns in the E but it's better to not show their hand and leave people to wonder why he did attack.

[The Penguin]

I have added the poll, so please vote away. I hope to fully comment on RAW and the Draft tomorrow, we'll see if my schedule allows.

Techniquely, isn't Batista a Smackdown wrestler and Swagger a Raw wrestler? So if you win another brand's title they just let you stay there if you lose it (as in Batista's case). Batista's contract runs out this summer, so I doubt he will be around anywhere much longer.

As Ein, pointed out, Batista's profile was finally been moved to the RAW Superstars section, so he has been moved back. Swagger made a comment about moving to SmackDown and has been on the SmackDown Superstars page for weeks (in the main section, not just at the top as Champion) so I'm not sure why there is still confusion there.

If that helps anyone, assume they were traded for each other.

[mumbo]

Looks like Edge is turning back heel to balance out the main event face-heel ratio on Raw, because Batista may be taking off soon. While yes, Edge just recently turned face, I wasn't crazy with his new face character. The man's a born heel, and I've been hoping for a feud with Orton for a long time. This could be epic.

It definitely seems like they've loaded up Raw at Smackdown's expense. It may be because they anticipate a drop in ratings for Smackdown when it moves to Syfy. That's my guess. But anyway, it leaves a lot of room for some new main eventers to emerge on Smackdown - though they could use the rub of a few more experienced guys besides just Mysterio and Taker, whose status is unreliable due to regular injury.

Anyway, this should help sort things out. Let me know if I'm missing someone big here...

Main Event Depth Chart

RAW
Face:
John Cena
Triple H
Randy Orton
John Morrison (?)

Heel:
Batista
Edge (based on what happened tonight)
Chris Jericho
Sheamus

Smackdown!
Face:
The Undertaker
Rey Mysterio
Christian (?)
Kofi Kingston (?)

Heel:
Jack Swagger
CM Punk
The Big Show
Drew McIntyre (?)


This really does seem to be great for Christian, plenty of room for him to potentially blossom into a main eventer.

[SirLemming]

I have no particular thoughts about the draft picks, but I do want to say the opening match was awesome. (The other matches weren't half bad either.) The crowd was really into it, and not just because it was a good crowd, but because the wrestlers worked the crowd. It's been a long time since I've seen someone do a suplex hold spot, and DH used it really well to get the crowd pumped. Hoping for more stuff like this!