General Draft Discussion

[hbk&triple h]

Reported by Ryan Clark

WWE officials had talks this past week to shake up the roster in the near future. They plan on doing another draft after WrestleMania.

Perosnally, the rosters do need some shaking up. On Raw and Smackdown we have very little feuds left.

The only problem is they don't do anything big or drastic with the drafts. They draft a couple of upper mid carders but the rest of the trades are pointless. We should see Undertaker move over to Raw. And HBK move to Smackdown. Put somebody over to ECW who can help all the younger talent. We also need to see mid card shuffle a bit. Move Carlito, Matt Hardy, Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, etc. move around a bit too.

The draft sounds like a good idea to me but hopefully they don't screw thingsup royally like they did with last years draft.

 

[tap-out]

the problem with the draft is that with the brand split there is such limited talents on each roster....i think we all agree on this. With the small rosters, the feuds get old real fast because there is no one else to feud with...thus making this dumb brand extension very boring and stale. If Vince would ever end the brand splits....the possibilities are endless with storylines and surprises and feuds.

 

[MR.SCOTT]

the problem with the draft is that with the brand split there is such limited talents on each roster....i think we all agree on this. With the small rosters, the feuds get old real fast because there is no one else to feud with...thus making this dumb brand extension very boring and stale. If Vince would ever end the brand splits....the possibilities are endless with storylines and surprises and feuds.

Ok for the millionth time, vince would never end the brand extension, you know it, i know it even the whole mcmahon family knows it, it makes too much money for the company

nack on topic i think im gonna love this draft in 2008, i want some main eventers in the ecw brand man give me val venis and give me the guys that raw and smackdown wont push and let them shine in ecw

 

[Saiko]

Cruiserweight title should go to ECW
Wrestlers like funaki, jimmy wang yang,s. moore, j. noble, jessie should go to ECW. i think cody rhodes is also a cruiserweight so he would also do fine! Perhaps even supercruiserweights Mysterio and Chavo geurrero should go to ECW.
Carlito, mr kennedy and c. palumbo to ECW to heat up the competition for the ecw champ.
Big daddy V to raw or smackdown.
and perhaps a BIG trade between RAW and SMACKDOWN like:
Taker for HHH
Kane for HBK
Egde for HBK
Edge for Orton
...

 

[CelticPride101]

yea if there gunna do a draft please help out ecw before you help out the "A" show raw cause look at what they left ecw with not a lot bring me kennedy or trevor murdoch or mvp hell i'll take santino this draft should be dedicated to help out ecw but u cant forget about the other shows

 

[Billy mac]

i think most of u r right, money has 2 be spent most 4 ecw not big ppl like hbk or hhh mid carders, n it happened this yr wit chris benoit (rip) but we no wot happend there. but maybe a kennedy or a val venis, carlito, or a upper midcarder like jeff hardy.

U cant 4get raw or smackdown they need a shake up

Taker for HHH
Kane for HBK
Egde for HBK
Edge for Orton

that could be right maybe leave the champs but even a mysterio 4 a kennedy, a mvp 4 a hhh, a batista 4 a hbk, the rosters need 2 be shaken we hav seen repeated feuds, edge n batista, hbk n rko we need a shake up

billy
_________________
this post made u REST...IN...PEACE

 

[darius_malcisky]

Undertaker,the main star,has to get back to the main show.Orton could go to Smack Down to feud with Edge.Batista sholud pe traded for Triple H or HBK .It will be nice to see another feud between Undertaker and Randy Orton,if undertaker stays in smack down,and some one like rey mysterio is traded for orton

 

[tap-out]

Everyone wants to have all these main eventers traded, and you can't trade alomst all of them for each other because you will have them feuding with themselves once again. This should be really focused on shaking up the mid card level....like everyone else saud ECW could use some people. With Kofi going there and the Dudleys want out and to come back all you really need is about two-three more to have a respectible roster. The problem though is that ECW is sharing with Smackdown so i don't see them spending much time on ECW when they can just send them to Smackdown and still use them for Ecw. I would like to see Jeff Hardy go from Raw to ECW, i think he would be perferct and would love to see Morrison v. Hardy again for the title.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

What they really need to focus on is not "give more to ECW" or something, but balancing out the trio. Because of the ECW/Smackdown exchange, they don't need to both have equal standing as Raw, but TOGETHER they should have a slight edge.

Since this will be a long chart, I'll post it in a second reply, not this post, but the following post from me is how I'd set up the rosters (and thusly, how things would look like after the draft that I'd do) since to me, it seems the most balanced and logical.....

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

RAW Main Event:
1. John Cena / Edge
2. HBK / MVP
3. Jeff Hardy / John Morrison
4. Batista / Umaga

SMACKDOWN Main Event:
1. HHH / Mr. Kennedy
2. Undertaker / Randy Orton
3. Chris Jericho / Shelton Benjamin
4. Rey Mysterio / Big Daddy V

ECW Main Event:
Faces: Kane & CM Punk
Heels: Elijah Burke & Mark Henry

Structure: If you look at it, there’s an equal balance. The first faces are the “supermen” (Cena/HHH), then the second faces are veterans that want limited work time (HBK/Taker), and the third and fourth are popular swing votes. The heels start with the great talkers that are top heels and well rounded (Edge/Kennedy), then the second grouping (ie Orton/MVP) are more mat-based, followed by the third grouping which are more aerial (Morrison/Benjamin), and rounded out by a monster (Umaga/BDV). The wildcard in the situation is ECW, which gives spotlight to two faces that would be downplayed if they were in the other brands (Kane and CM Punk), has its own monster (Henry), and balances it out with a top heel (Burke), but since they can take people from Smackdown, you could also have Orton challenge CM Punk or Kane challenge Mr. Kennedy, etc, allowing for more options than it looks like for ECW.

RAW Midcard:
1. Lashley / Carlito
2. Cody Rhodes / Santino Marella
3. Jimmy Wang Yang / Kenny Dykstra
4. Chuck Palumbo / Lance Cade

SMACKDOWN/ECW Midcard:
1. Matt Hardy / Kevin Thorn
2. D.H. Smith / Jamie Noble
3. Shannon Moore / The Miz
4. Kofi Kingston / Chavo Guerrero

Structure: First faces are the well rounded guys that could carry the belts (Lashley/Hardy), followed by the rookies (Rhodes/Smith), high flyers (Yang/Moore), and then the random ones (Palumbo/Kingston). The faces go from well rounded guys that could carry the belts (Carlito/Thorn) to the gifted talkers (Satino/Noble), two young guys that are increasingly impressive despite how a lot of people don’t like them (Dykstra/Miz), and the random ones (Cade/Chavo).

TAG TEAM
Faces: Londrick & the Daltons
Heels: Major Bros & Deuce/Domino

Structure: Just pick one from each. You can fill out the rest of your tag team division by teaming up midcarders (example, Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore) or with filler people (ie Funaki & Super Crazy as a tag team)

FILLER
Well Rounded Veterans: Val Venis / Hardcore Holly
Comedy Figures: Hacksaw / Balls Mahoney
Squash Flyers: Funaki / Super Crazy
Tough Guys: Snitsky / Mike Knox
Other: Finlay, Tommy Dreamer, Trevor Murdoch, Charlie Haas, Taylor, McIntyre, Highlanders, Boogeyman, Nunzio, Steven Richards, Khali

 

[tap-out]

FILLER
Well Rounded Veterans: Val Venis / Hardcore Holly
Comedy Figures: Hacksaw / Balls Mahoney
Squash Flyers: Funaki / Super Crazy
Tough Guys: Snitsky / Mike Knox
Other: Finlay, Tommy Dreamer, Trevor Murdoch, Charlie Haas, Taylor, McIntyre, Highlanders, Boogeyman, Nunzio, Steven Richards, Khali

How is Finlay a filler? He is arguably one of the best straight up wreslters on all of the rosters.

I just hope we get some refreshing new feuds and looks on the shows. They are in need of them. Lets also hope the WWE starts to develop these younger guys they keep signing and develop some nice additions.

 

[RandyKO]

I hated the 2007 draft. It was pointless, seriously what was the point in it?
I just want ECW to dissapear and to never come back on the face of the Earth ever and for RAW and SmackDown just to have everyone on each show, it would be so much better!
The Undertaker, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy, Kane, Batista, MVP, Mark Henry, The Great Khali, Ric Flair to RAW.. A few of the Divas
get rid of everyone else.
Sorted!

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

How is Finlay a filler? He is arguably one of the best straight up wreslters on all of the rosters.

I just hope we get some refreshing new feuds and looks on the shows. They are in need of them. Lets also hope the WWE starts to develop these younger guys they keep signing and develop some nice additions.

Oh I didn't type that the right way, lol. What I meant by filler wasn't "useless guys that I don't care about" (though Khali sure does fit that bill, lol), but I meant "guys I'm not sure where to place". Bad choice of words on my part. Finlay is definitely a top midcard guy, I just have no clue if they want him to be a solid face or a tweener or what.

 

[Shocky]

The WWE Draft/Lottery, whatever the hell it is, has tried to be different ever year. Last year it was the winner of a match gets a draft pick, a few years ago was each GM got any five picks they wanted. The best one was the 2002/first version of the draft. Everyone goes on the board, and anyone can be chosen. That's a draft, period.

You'll never see HHH on Smackdown! Triple H, (at least in his own mind) thinks he is the franchise and should always be on the number one show. That being said, you'll never see the Undertaker on Raw. His entrances are too long, and Smackdown can edit those to make them look much shorter then what they actually are.

I'm not exactly for a draft this year. Sure the 2007 version was a fucking nightmare and none of the picks turned out, but you still want to keep them somewhat important. Having them every summer simply diminishes the imortance of the draft.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Wrestlers change show for no reason, so frequently, as and when they please, that the draft is pointless. If somebody needs to move brand then they can just have a talent exchange in an episode. Edge for about 10 other superstars or whatever. I don't think there has ever been a brand pick that has been really great. If they're intresting the wrestler either leaves the company, moves brand again, or murders a few people.

 

[JGallops77]

Triple H will never be on Smackdown, because he's still a top draw. He wants to be on a show where fans HAVE to tune in to see what he'll do, not be able to read about it days in advance.

Shawn Michaels won't be on Smackdown either. Why? Because his best friend is Triple H. They won't be on separate shows, especially with the thought that Triple H may turn heel once again, and he'd want to fued with HBK one more time.

John Cena, obviously will stay on RAW. He's their big money guy, and he's got to be on the A show.

Taker won't be on RAW because his entrance is always too long, and because of all the special effects he uses.

Guys like Khali, Henry, and Big Daddy V won't be on RAW because they suck in the ring. On Smackdown/ECW they can edit the mistakes.

I could see Bobby Lashley going to Smackdown to fued with Edge for the WHC. Batista will come to RAW, but before the draft (if the reports are true).

As for the midcarders, they'll be shuffled around, but it won't do any good. Most of them just aren't over enough, and the ones that are will be main eventers soon.

 

[LMaruko]

As I mentioned in a previous topic, the WWE needs this draft, and soon if Mr. McMahon wishes to keep Smackdown alive and pull ECW from it's grave. It seems to me that ECW is turning into what Velocity and Heat were/is, and if things keep going the way they are, SciFi will pull their contract.

Since JBL is running off to RAW, that takes away another key from Smackdown. I say that each GM gets to choose 10 superstars from a different brand like they did before, including champions.

Championship-wise, I think that the Women's champion should represent all three brands, making more diva action and give more opportunity than the small amount of divas that are around on RAW. The Hardcore championship should come back, also representing itself on all three brands. Give RAW the WWE Light Heavyweight belt while Smackdown keeps the cruiserweight and ECW gets the TV championship. Bring back the ECW Tag Team championships and give ECW European championship (or change it's name to something else)to coincide with the Intercontinental and US championships for mid-carders.

 

[JGallops77]

As I mentioned in a previous topic, the WWE needs this draft, and soon if Mr. McMahon wishes to keep Smackdown alive and pull ECW from it's grave. It seems to me that ECW is turning into what Velocity and Heat were/is, and if things keep going the way they are, SciFi will pull their contract.

Since JBL is running off to RAW, that takes away another key from Smackdown. I say that each GM gets to choose 10 superstars from a different brand like they did before, including champions.

Championship-wise, I think that the Women's champion should represent all three brands, making more diva action and give more opportunity than the small amount of divas that are around on RAW. The Hardcore championship should come back, also representing itself on all three brands. Give RAW the WWE Light Heavyweight belt while Smackdown keeps the cruiserweight and ECW gets the TV championship. Bring back the ECW Tag Team championships and give ECW European championship (or change it's name to something else)to coincide with the Intercontinental and US championships for mid-carders.

The thing is, you can't have too many titles. What WWE needs to do is get rid of the Cruiserweight title all together, and give ECW the Television Title. This will give ECW that second tier title, and the big cruiserweights can go to ECW and that could be a title they go after.

 

[ceeennnaaa]

okay in the first place they dont have as good of superstars any more....not talent wise but fun to watch feud like cryme tyme or kurt angle.also if they wanted ecw atleast givem some talent.big daddy v and cm punk is there best talent.dont we all rember a couple years back viscera.viscera is big daddy v.we he was on raw he sucked.get the hardys back in the same division.dont everyone want that.im tierd of main events on raw bein a non title match like snitsky and orton vs hhh and hardy.i think tat was it a couple weeks back.i want main events like the hardys vs dx for the tag team title.tag teams tese days suck.cryme tyme was cool but count wreslte.lance cade and treor mudoch can fight not entertain. get tags like mysterio and cena. so my opion is DO A FULL SUPERSTAR DRAFT WERE RAW PICKS ANY SUPERSTAR THEN SMACKDOWN THEN ECWAND COUNTINUE

 

[Lyez. D]

Oh please do not sit there and say that Big Daddy V and C.M Punk are the best that ECW has to offer. Dude what ECW are you watching? John Morrison? The Miz (still getting there)? Elijah Burke? The pending arrival of Kofi Kingston? Those names ring a bell to you? Yeah ECW. Shelton Benjamin. An athlete. ECW. ECW has a shit load of talent.

The rumoured 2008 draft is probable gonna be in Smackdown's court this time around since they lost prospects this year. And with the ECW/Smackdown talent exchange this benefits them even more though I don't see ECW getting any actual names through this draft, but I do see them benefitting from Smackdown's choices unless the creative team decides to screw them over and send divas although Jillian was a nice acquisition for RAW.

 

[Bagasuck1993]

Here's what they need to do. Instead of a planned draft, left the draft be completely random, without anybody knowing where anyones going. Make it like a raffle.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Here's what they need to do. Instead of a planned draft, left the draft be completely random, without anybody knowing where anyones going. Make it like a raffle.

If they did that, they'd end up with a horrible product. Would you watch say, ECW, if the main lineup was Mark Henry, Super Crazy, Hacksaw, Steven Richards, and Khali? Lol. For the sake of a better product, they need to fix the lottery or else that kind of stuff would happen. Now, there are other ways they could show us the choices but still have it rigged, aside from the thing they used last year - which I thought was hilarious because it showed about 12 wrestlers but random people not in that group of 12 would show up, lol. I expected them to have little tiny pictures of every superstar and have it cycle through highlighting them...at least for the simpler minded people in the crowd, it would look more randomized.

More than anything, I think they need to focus on providing the BEST product, as opposed to just providing a NEW product. They have a golden opportunity now with the ECW/Smackdown exchange to build up their lower ranks. Raw should have the slight edge over Smackdown in the # of well-established stars (ie, maybe one or two more main eventers and a strong midcard to go with it), while ECW should only have like 2 or 3 "main event superstars". Smackdown gets a few less main event stars than Raw, because they can switch between the few on ECW, so essentially they have it balanced. Since Raw would have a stronger and more solid midcard, that's balanced out by ECW/Smackdown sharing MORE midcarders. Instead of having Super Crazy on Raw where he gets no action and is taking up the space of someone who could help out their Intercontinental division, switch him over to Smackdown/ECW in exchange for someone who is big enough for the midcard titles...someone like Kenny Dykstra, who is overlooked by sheer #s on the other two brands.

 

[MC Damn]

Every draft is the same(apart from the wreslters,duh)

You draft a(some) main-eventer(s)
Two/three Mid-carders
And 4 to 5 filler.

ECW should be given the cruiserweight title.Jamie Noble,Shannon Moore and Gregory Helms could be used good down there.And Chavo seems to be down there already.Hell Rey could be sent down there becasue of his orginal roots.

SD! were big losers last year and should be given a good year this year.Kennedy badly needs to go back.He looks so much better when his matches are edited.Eljiah Burke needs fresh feuds so he could be a good higher-mid-carder.Umaga also needs fresh feuds.Jeff could have a good feud with his bro or MVP.

RAW!Mark Henry should go just to let him see out his contract.He also needs Yes Fresh feuds.Kelly Kelly needs to get more spotlight(the girl tries and tries.Im a big fan) so let her come for the Womens divsion.I can,t think of any more possible raw draftees right now.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I think (and I'm hoping) that this year with the draft, they're going to try to solidify the purposes of the three brands:

Raw - The "A-Show" with the biggest names. This is the staple that holds it all together.

Smackdown - The "B-Show", just shy of matching the big names of Raw. Mysterio is 100% perfect for this show and would probably never be drafted out of it. He's one of their "popular draws" like the Undertaker, Batista, Cena, and DX. If he were on Raw, he'd start to get buried, but on Smackdown, he gets to be one of the top men. Smackdown will be the sort of step up the ladder. This is for the guys that they feel could be ready, but they don't want to risk it just yet.

ECW - The up and comers that need some more work before they get their push + the old guys that are past their prime for their push. This works out perfectly. A guy like Kane would get lost in the Raw and Smackdown shuffle, but he could be the top man and long running champ at ECW. Chavo is another example of the older guys. He would do nothing on Raw, and on Smackdown he was just the Cruiserweight champ, which was virtually nothing, but on ECW, he could have some great feuds putting over some younger talent.

Preliminary Predictions: (Note: These aren't necessarily how I'd do it, nor what I particularly would want to happen, just how I think they'll do it)

D.H. Smith [to Smackdown]
Kenny Dykstra [to ECW]
Kane [to ECW]
Chavo [to ECW]
Drew McIntyre [to ECW]
The Miz [to Smackdown]
John Morrison [to Smackdown]
CM Punk [to Smackdown]
Elijah Burke [to Raw, Intercontinental scene]

*Possible stars that will switch: Palumbo, Finlay, Charlie Haas, Highlanders, Trevor Murdoch, Super Crazy, Deuce & Domino, Shannon Moore, Jimmy Wang Yang.

Also, if they really want to move Batista to Raw, I think they'll move Jericho over to Smackdown to balance it out.

 

[kennywry666]

Originally posted by:Nofate007
D.H. Smith [to Smackdown]
Kenny Dykstra [to ECW]
Kane [to ECW]
Chavo [to ECW]
Drew McIntyre [to ECW]
The Miz [to Smackdown]
John Morrison [to Smackdown]
CM Punk [to Smackdown]
Elijah Burke [to Raw, Intercontinental scene]

This would be Irrelevant considering the Smackdown/ECW roster barrier, where smackdown superstars can show up on ecw and vice versa... but, anythign can happen at a draft... either way, it'll be nice to see how they shake things up.