WWE Draft Preview: Old Faces in New Places, Part One

In three short weeks, one of the most anticipated episodes of RAW will hit television sets across the WWE Universe.

That's right: The WWE Draft is quickly coming upon us!

It's always exciting to see which big names will be switching brands, which titles may move from Monday night to Friday night (or vice versa), and which long-standing teams may be split up.

For the next three weeks, I'll take a look at six moves WWE creative should make either during or after this month's draft.

Before we get to the first part of the series, here are a couple draft tidbits to help narrow down the list of potential moves April 26.

Sitting tight : Six men are likely going to stay put when Raw hits Richmond, Va., in three weeks. Triple H, CM Punk, Matt Hardy, and Rey Mysterio have changed shows in each of the last two drafts. John Morrison and The Miz have each switched twice since the draft adopted its current format in 2007.

The edge goes to...Edge? : Since the draft switched to its current head-to-head format, each draft special has featured a battle royale, with two picks going to the winning brand. Edge is the two-time defending champion of the match. Will Smackdown grab two big draft picks thanks to Edge?

Supplement this: Even though the supplemental draft isn't shown live on RAW, it has been important for future up-and-coming stars. John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler made their way to Smackdown last year via the supplemental draft, and Kofi Kingston made the transition to Raw thanks to 2008's supplemental draft.

Without wasting any time, let's get to the first of the six-part series.

Kofi Kingston Moves to Smackdown

Of the six things I'll write about leading up to the draft, I believe this to be the most likely.

Kingston's character is stuck in a rut on RAW. We saw a short-lived Kingston-Randy Orton feud, but that died out quickly. Kingston is due for a push, and it doesn't look like that will happen any time soon on Raw.

The move is a natural one for Kingston's character. Smackdown programming targets the youngest part of the WWE Universe's demographic more than RAW does, and because of that, Kingston's character could be immensely popular on Friday nights.

Furthermore, Kingston could move to Friday nights to begin a feud with Chris Jericho. Edge could get the win Friday night, essentially opening a path to a future Edge-Jack Swagger feud and leaving Jericho without an adversary—until Kingston's arrival.

A feud between Kingston and Jericho would be of great benefit to Kingston's character. When WWE puts a character over they often use an established star to do so. I'm not saying Kingston should go over Jericho altogether, but a long-running feud in which Kingston gets as many pay-per-view wins as Jericho would establish Kingston as a legitimate star in the eyes of the WWE Universe.

If all goes well in the feud with Jericho, Kingston could become a top face on Smackdown. The Undertaker is getting old, and Kingston is well-deserving of a top-level push. Kingston could be groomed as the eventual main event replacement for the legendary Deadman.

Kingston's arrival, and subsequent push, seems to pass over current Smackdown superstar John Morrison. While that may be the way it appears, I've got a much different plan for Morrison...which I will outline in Part Two later this week.