Last night’s three-hour RAW broadcast was headlined by the 2008 Draft Lottery, which saw some very predictable brand switches and a couple surprises, to boot. Overall, the show was enjoyable, but I was left wondering what in the world they plan to do with some of these drafts they’ve made. Let’s break things down…
1. Rey Mysterio (Smackdown!), Drafted to RAW – Rey was an interesting choice to move to RAW, and while it surprised me, I can’t say that I see good things coming from this. On Smackdown!, Rey was still a marketable main-eventer, but the same cannot be said for him on the RAW brand. There are already a wealth of top-tier performers on RAW, which doesn’t leave much room for Mysterio to become a legitimate title contender again. Overall, I think this was a bad move for Rey.
2. Jeff Hardy (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown! – Fresh off his suspension, Jeff was seemingly right back in the title hunt on RAW. However, with all the other guys they currently have swarming up top, I think it probably 
would have taken management a while to actually give the guy a run with the title. Not that I personally think he deserves one anyway, but I can’t deny that he’s mega-over and gets a great crowd reaction. The jump to Smackdown! gives Jeff some new opponents (although we’ll still likely see the old standby Jeff/Umaga match every other week) and a bit smaller of a pond with which to finally establish himself as a main-event player. Great move for Jeff.
3. CM Punk (ECW), Drafted to RAW – Hell of a promotion here for Mr. Money in the Bank. I don’t think 
anybody didn’t see a move coming for Punk, as he’s essentially outgrown ECW at this point. I personally am really looking forward to seeing Punk in some higher-profile feuds, a program with Chris Jericho down the line would be especially awesome. Look for Punk to establish himself on the RAW midcard and finally cash in his MitB briefcase in early 2009. Great move for Punk.
4. Matt Hardy (Smackdown!, United States Champion), Drafted to ECW – I laughed my ass off at the 10-minute Hardy Boyz reunion going up in smoke to the fans dismay. But then I remembered Smackdown! and ECW have that whole ‘talent exchange’ bullshit thing, so it doesn’t really make a difference anyway. I felt
it was an interesting move to transder the US Title to ECW when they already have had a title and only an hour on the air each week. However, I think Matt will personally be a good fit. They kinda left him with nothing to do after finally defeating MVP and the move to ECW will give him some fresh faces to feud with. I would especially be interested to see a Hardy/Burke or Hardy/Morrison feud over the US title in the months to come. Good move for Matt.
5-6. Jim Ross (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown!/ Michael Cole (Smackdown!), Drafted to RAW – Man, how pissed
is JR? He could barely cover it up on TV. Between his reaction to being drafted and Tazz’s repeated displeasure with ECW getting screwed, I have to wonder if these guys didn’t know ahead of time what the draft picks were going to be. That said, I think Smackdown! DEFINITELY get’s the bright end of this trade. JR and Foley could truly become a broadcast team for the 
ages, too bad it’s on the show less people watch. On the other side of things, I can’t say I’m thrilled with the prospect of Cole/Lawler calling RAW. Cole’s boring, catch-phrase laden commentary is not exactly salvagable by Lawler’s skirt-chasing antics and minimal attention to matches. Overall, good move for JR, bad move for Cole.
7. Batista (Smackdown!), Drafted to RAW – Big Dave returns to Monday nights for the first time since taking the World Heavyweight Championship to Smackdown! a few years back. I was excited for this one,
since Dave has pretty much accomplished all he can on Smackdown!. Really, how many more times can we see him feud with Undertaker, feud with Edge, make Khali his bitch, and not regain the title? This move to RAW opens up the potential for some stellar feuds that we haven’t had a chance to see yet, most notably John Cena and Randy Orton. Great move for Batista.
8. Umaga (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown! – Another move I think everybody saw coming. Much like 
Batista on Smackdown!, Umaga is officially out of stuff to do on RAW. My only concern is that with a wealth of new opponents on Smackdown!, booking will shove him right back into more wash, rinse, repeat matches with Jeff Hardy. Incidentally, an Umaga/Finlay feud could possibly be one of the most brutally awesome things ever. Good move for Umaga.
9. Kane (ECW, ECW Champion), Drafted to RAW – Now THIS was one I did not see coming. Tazz was PISSED.
ECW loses one of it’s biggest stars AND it’s title in one draft pick, and I can’t say I’m down with it. Kane was in a great place on ECW, what’s he going to be on RAW? He’s going to go back to his mid-card, ‘I job to only the main event guys’ spot on the roster and this will suck. This is pretty much a guarantee that Big Show is walking out of Night of Champions with the ECW title, otherwise it would be pretty damn stupid. Terrible move for Kane.
10. Mr Kennedy (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown! – Cue the Kennedy main-event push! It’s long been 
said that his move to RAW in the last draft was a terrible call (it was), because there are just too many main-event guys on RAW for him to go anyplace. On Smackdown!, Kennedy will finally have a chance to run with his newfound popularity and make something of himself. Hopefully we’ll be seeing him in the title hunt within the next year. Great move for Kennedy.
11. Triple H (RAW, WWE Champion), Drafted to Smackdown! – Definitely didn’t see this one coming either. 
Triple H has been on RAW since the brand extension began, so it’s a welcome change of pace. Who knows, maybe he wants to be on the road with his wife. It makes sense. Of course, it’s altogether possible they’ll run another angle like they did way back when the initial draft took place and trade him back to RAW for a bunch of random guys. At any rate, Triple H is now on Smackdown! and the prospect of a Triple H/Edge feud has me pretty interested. Good move for Triple H.
Final Thoughts – Overall, I was pleased with the results of the draft, but I’m left wondering about the state of the title picture. I guess that’s their goal right? Get you to buy Night of Champions so you can figure out what the hell is going on with all these belts. In light of the drafts, and assuming Triple H isn’t magically traded back to RAW, I would say signs point to either Edge or Hunter dropping their title on Sunday. This would put one of the belts back on RAW and leave on on Smackdown! for them to feud over.
Night of Champions Predictions!
Women’s Champion – Mickie James
Diva’s Champion – Natalya
WWE Tag Team Champions – Miz and Morrison
World Tag Team Champions – Ted DiBiase and Whoever
US Champion – Matt Hardy
Intercontinental Champion – Chris Jericho
ECW Champion – Big Show
World Heavyweight Champion – Edge
WWE Champion – John Cena
Half-Man, Half-Amazing. 
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