WWE Draft 2011: Bring Your A-Game or Go to the B-Show

Here are 10 things to watch at this Monday's WWE Draft:

1. John Cena and Randy Orton will both stay on Raw.

Several mock drafts have Orton moving to Smackdown to keep the company’s two super babyfaces apart. However, WWE needs Orton to stay on Raw in case Cena gets hurt or is off shooting a movie.

2. John Morrison and R-Truth will also both stay on Raw.

WWE devoted the first 30 minutes of the London Raw to R-Truth’s heel turn against Morrison. Both men need to stay on Raw so the fans can follow the feud.

These two could elevate each other to the main-event level (like The Rock and Triple H), especially if the feud ends with a great ladder match at SummerSlam.

3. Smackdown’s gonna get robbed—again.

This isn’t like the NFL draft, where you have the Packers, Steelers, Patriots and Jets on the same level.

Raw is clearly the A-Show. It’s live, it’s been in the same time slot for 18 years, and it has been on USA Network for almost that entire time.

Smackdown is a lot of fun, but WWE officials clearly view it as the B-show. The ratings are lower, it’s bounced around several networks, and it’s moved from Thursday to Friday.

Most importantly, it’s taped.

So WWE annually robs the Smackdown roster of its best talent, while sending guys who need a fresh start to Smackdown, meaning...

5. Alberto Del Rio should come to Raw, then win the World title at Extreme Rules.

You can tell WWE wants Del Rio to come to Raw. Ever since he won the Royal Rumble, he has been popping up on Raw almost every week.

The same goes for Jack Swagger. He won’t have to migrate over from Smackdown every week once he gets drafted to continue his partnership with rogue announcer Michael Cole.

Drew McIntyre is another good bet to head over to Raw to show us all why Vince McMahon made him “The Chosen One.”

6. Teddy Long deserves to be the Raw GM.

After years as the figurehead leader of Smackdown (and for a while, ECW), it’s time to Teddy Long to take his place at the main "playa" on Raw.

It would also be fun to have the “anonymous GM” switched over to Smackdown, or even forced to reveal his or her identity in order to stay employed.

7. The Miz should take the WWE title to Smackdown. 

The Miz has been a huge success story on Raw, and he shouldn’t be asked to carry the ratings for Raw.

Let him go to Smackdown and have great matches with Christian, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, and even lower-card guys like Chris Masters and Trent Barreta. The Miz can be the main man on Smackdown.

Send Alex Riley with the Miz, since their partnership works very well, and they haven’t given Riley enough of an identity to stand on his own.

8. The Corre should break up.

It just doesn’t work to have two stables of young guys, and The Nexus needs to stick together more. Heath Slater should move to Raw, while Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett can stick with Smackdown.

Ezekiel Jackson doesn’t fit with The Corre or The New Nexus, because he’s not an NXT alumnus. Instead, he could go to Raw and be the partner of CM Punk. Speaking of Punk…

9. The Nexus should move to Smackdown without CM Punk.

Punk has been the “cult leader” of groups in WWE for too long, first with the Straight Edge Society and now with The New Nexus.

He needs to make a strong push toward the top, with Jackson serving as his muscle. Maybe Joey Mercury can help, too, but Punk shouldn’t be in charge of any more large stables.

So who should run The New Nexus? Ted DiBiase.  He needs something important to do, and this is it.

That way, he can add his brother Brett, as well as Husky Harris (son of his dad’s partner, IRS), and try to make the Nexus a long-term franchise with himself at the helm.

10. Throw in some surprises.

Zack Ryder is getting over with his YouTube show with no help from WWE. Ryder should get the chance to make some noise on Smackdown.

LayCool should both come to Raw and they should stay together as heels. That way, Awesome Kong can go after them when she finally debuts.

Finally, it would be cool to see Chris Jericho pop up as a draft pick, since he has indicated that he would return to WWE after Dancing With the Stars wraps up.

Of course, it would only make sense for him to stay on Raw in order to pick up the fans who are watching him hoofing it every Monday night.

Jeff D. Gorman is the only announcer ever to reach the Big Three in Pro Wrestling (Ring of Honor) and call a live, global MMA pay-per-view (Moosin: God of Martial Arts). Check out his writing and announcing at JeffDGorman.com, hit up his Twitter or e-mail him at [e-mail].