Five Thoughts and Questions From Monday's WWE Draft

I usually don't do post-RAW recaps but last night's WWE Draft edition had me head-scratching for a bit after the show.

WARNING: There is a spot or 10 of negativity here, but last night's show was just very frustrating to watch. This draft idea used to have legs, but I'll be damned if they haven't just skinned down those legs to the point they are just fragments of bone.

1. Why didn't John Cena stay down when Edge jumped him from behind?

So after Triple-H got drafted back to RAW and he and Cena were doing the awkward post-selection staredown (those were fun all night), Edge did a run-in and attacked his rival Cena from behind. Fine.

But why did Cena have to get right back up and save face? Shouldn't the idea be that Edge gets one over on Cena, dings him up pretty badly and that builds interest in seeing Cena get his revenge at the Backlash PPV?

Instead, the attack was more like a pat on the head that was more of an annoyance than anything. Keep in mind this was after a 15-minute war with Jack Swagger (where did he end up during all this?).

Worse yet, Edge won a battle royal a bit later and Cena didn't attempt retribution. So much for being blood rivals.

2. Why is Batista being forced to sell for Shane McMahon?

At this end of the moronic three-on-two match, McMahon gave Batista a spear to get him out of the way and clear the creative path for HHH to get the win and the much-anticipated (yawn) rematch with Randy Orton next week.

Please re-read that sentence again, perhaps with more commentary?

A late-30s VP that is not an active wrestler speared and took down a 260-280 pound man who is a trained pro and could probably rip said VP in half.

However last night, the office worker was feeling extra-strong and managed to take out the giant scary man with a single blow. Seeing Shane stand alongside HHH and Batista was perhaps the most embarrassing visual of the night.

Shane had a run a few years ago with random stunt matches, but that time has passed. He's not a wrestler and to have his demure stature next to near-500 pounds of muscle in HHH and Batista looked foolish.

More after the jump...

3. Didn't HHH, Rey Mysterio and Kane just get drafted last year?

The answer is yes, but that's not all. So did CM Punk. So did Matt Hardy. We'll see what happens on Wednesday with the supplemental draft but it seemed like last night was just a way to correct last year's mistakes.

It felt stale and overly rigged; the Miz just happened to be drafted after his match? Both women's champions and secondary men's champs just happened to be swapped in random order? I know it's wrestling, but come on now.

It's no surprise that RAW is the dominant brand, but Monday cemented that in a way that is almost insulting to the talent on Smackdown and ECW.

With talent still competing on all shows, you tend to wonder if the brand extension is even worth it anymore and whether it's a better idea to just go with one brand and use that group across the many hours of TV they now have to fill.

4. Jack Swagger and Evan Bourne were fresh air in a smoky room.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Swagger/Cena match and the Evan Bourne/Mysterio tilt because they both felt new and fresh. Swagger has size, great in-ring capability and is going to be a top player if WWE takes their time with him.

Bourne is simply fun to watch and has an energy to him that is undeniable. He and Tyson Kidd in the next few months are going to put on some great matches, but who's next after that?

Leaving them on ECW for the next year is probably best as they'll have plenty of time to interact with the RAW/Smackdown brands if this past year is any indication. But where are the rest of the young guys and why is developmental now producing less-and-less talent?

This speaks to a much-larger and more troubling issue which is...

5. The current product and talent is cold.

Throughout the entire three hours, that thought kept running through my head. Orton—who was so over just five or seven weeks ago—has flatlined. There was a buzz and then with the phantom punches from Shane, it all died.

Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase are being made to look like fools when WWE needs them for the future. No one cares about the Big Show or Vlad Kozlov. The dead silence in the arena for that final match was deafening—no one cares about this talent anymore and it's barely two weeks past Wrestlemania.

Dave Meltzer brought up a great point today on the Wrestling Observer Monday night show when he basically said the same people that are on top now are going to be on top at next year's Wrestlemania.

I 100 percent agree and that's why I'm scared for what's ahead because I don't think the current booking philosophies are going to change anytime soon.

WWE is doing the anti-NBA thing now by pushing the brand instead of the talent within it. But what happens when people turn on both?

Josh Nason - josh [at] ropesringandcage [dot com] - has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. He has been with Bleacher Report since 2007 and achieved Columnist status in 2009.