Smackdown Draft Predictions

Marcos TollensJun 23, 2008

Smackdown

Candice Michelle- This draft pick is a hard one to make. Last year Candice vastly improved on her way to her first women's title. After losing the belt to Beth last year she suffered a devastating injury (broken clavicle) in her rematch that has sidelined her for nearly 9 months with a short-lived return in the weeks leading off to Wrestlemania. This is where the difficulty of the pick occurs. If she returns to Smackdown she can be the lead face along with Michelle McCool. However, if Candice is drafted to Smackdown and her injury effects her performance or worse it ends her career this can really hurt Smackdown.

Jilian Hall- Jilian can be seen as a very good performer if she wouldn't ruin her image with the horrible singing she does. Since I have Victoria going to Raw, Smackdown will be short on heel divas for the title. Jilian can be a formidable foe for Michelle as she continues to improve. She will also add some credibility
to the Diva's title as well.

John Cena- John Cena going to Smackdown is probably the only thing that could stop the shows ratings from dropping to the high 1s. John Cena is probably WWE's most marketable superstar and moving him can definitely improve ratings. He can reignite his vicious feud with Edge that ended with Edge being thrown off the ladder onto two tables. He could have other feuds with Matt, Rey, and Punk. Cena can even take Vladimir Kozlov to the next level in his career. All I know is that if this pick isn't done then Smackdown's ratings will be going downhill very quickly.

Umaga- This pick is pretty much obvious. He's been on Raw his whole career and its time to be on the move. There have been rumors that he was moving to Smackdown for a long time to have a feud with Undertaker. Since Smackdown's main event division isn't as strong as Raw's, expect Umaga to be brought up to the top and start feuding with the big dogs. I can see him being put in with feuds with Finlay or Hardy. Possibly having feuds with the members of the ECW roster. I can even see him in a short-lived tag team with Edge where Edge uses Umaga to get what he wants, similar to how he uses Vicki and La Familia.

Maria- There's not much to write about Maria. The Smackdown women's division is pretty light on Smackdown so we need to add one more girl to it. Don't expect Maria to be winning any titles on the show, she’s just here for Natalya and the others to beat up on her.

Trevor Murdoch- Since Lance Cade is receiving a push on Raw, it's safe to say that Murdoch is going to be moved. It will probably be best to move him to give him a fresh start and make fans forget him teaming with Cade. I really doubt he'll receive the push Cade's getting, but look for him to be stuck in the mid-card division with Matt, Finlay, and other guys.

Elijah Burke- Elijah needs to reinvent his character. From what I've heard from some people he has a new gimmick he debuted a while back in some dark matches, possibly a "black pope" gimmick he has referred himself to in his blogs. His previous "new breed" gimmick worked at the start but it all went downhill from there after losing to CM Punk so many times. A trip to Smackdown can help rejuvenate his career. Elijah is great talent as I consider him one of the most underrated superstars in WWE. He has the mic skills and the ring talent to be very successful. Now its up to the writers to help his career out. Maybe a feud with Matt in the mid-card division would do just that.

CM Punk- It's about time this guy goes on to a real brand (sorry ECW but your pretty much a d-league). Punk going to Smackdown is pretty much inevitable now with all the teasing that's been done with Edge and Vicki and their wedding. And it's pretty much guaranteed that he's not going to cash in the money in the bank opportunity on the ECW title. Punk on Smackdown can do great things for the show as well. A Punk feud with Edge, Cena, Hardy, or even Mysterio can make very awesomeness matches.