WWE Draft Night: Stylistically Breaking Down the Events of Last Night
So after watching the WWE’s version of a retcon in the draft, I am left shaking my head.
Retroactive continuity (often called retcon) refers to the alteration of previously established facts in a literary work.
Retcons may be carried out for a variety of reasons, such as to accommodate sequels or further derivative works in the same series, to reintroduce popular characters, to resolve chronological issues.
The retcon was John Cena being the first and last draft of the night.
But with that being one of the weirdest and most draft-devaluing events ever, a lot about Monday Night Raw felt off.
The Battle Royal
1 of 10
20 mid and lower-carders punching and kicking their way to a draft pick to open the show.
This was odd because it was involved the largest number of participants for the least amount of draft picks.
The show also opened with this match in progress.
It also turned out to be completely useless as the draft pick chosen was completely nullified at the end of the show.
John Cena Being Drafted to SmackDown
2 of 10
Shocking? Yes.
Pleasing to the members of the audience ages 15 and above? Yes.
A great way to give credibility to the draft? Absolutely.
But in the end, utterly pointless. I'll go more in depth later in this slide show.
R-Truth's Promo
3 of 10
The weird thing here is that this promo was actually good.
He had a few moments where it dragged and he definitely should have quit after he said "Deuces." Which led me to believe John Morrison may have missed his timing.
I have never been a fan of R-Truth, but I did agree with a lot of what he said. I can also understand that some of that promo was truth, rapping and dancing never got him any titles.
His only singles title was really a booking decision meant to put The Miz over.
His reaction to that overly annoying "What" chant was hilarious.
Then to have John Morrison attack him was completely awkward, John Morrison truthfully does not look like he could win a fight. I had to agree with Vince McMahon after watching him attack Truth.
It was also awkward to see Morrison focusing on Truth when he has a WWE Title shot in 6 days.
Morrison is earning his nickname as "The Segment Killer."
KHARMA!!!!!
4 of 10
Honestly, nothing wrong with this to me.
I loved Awesome Kong, and I will be a Kharmaniac when she debuts.
I chose a pic with her not in her DIVA destroying attire.
The Diva's Match
5 of 10
First off, I hate the fact that Michael Cole talks over the Diva's matches.
Secondly, I hate the fact that none of the Divas have done anything about it.
It's not like Michael Cole should look strong, so having a diva beat him up would be entertaining to the vast majority of the audience.
Layla finally attacking Michelle McCool, and having a breakdown while doing it was genius. It could lead to a Dive actually having a gimmick again.
Hopefully, Layla comes out on top on this feud. She could use the boost much more than the constantly treading water Michelle McCool.
Michael Cole vs. Jim Ross
6 of 10
Now some people were happy to see Cole get bloodied.
I was, but everything about this "match" should have been done in a promo.
The actual in-ring action should have taken place at the PPV. I don't like this match either but it is already there.
Adding the stipulation of "Country Whipping" is only going to make this match worse, because Michael Cole will not take all of the lumps and no one wants to see the King or J.R. getting whipped.
Randy Orton
7 of 10
Randy Orton should not speak.
He works best as a silent killer. He is Batman to Cena's Superman. Superman can make speeches and public appearance, while Batman leaves people unsure of when he will strike.
Randy Orton's shortcomings on the mic are further exposed when he speaks after CM Punk.
At least he avenged his loss to Dolph Ziggler from the Gauntlet match.
Randall Keith Orton has physical charisma. His charisma is in what he does not what he says.
His mannerisms are always spot-on, he looks like a dangerous person, and he backs it up. WWE needs to play to his strengths not his weaknesses.
Mark Henry's Heel Turn
8 of 10
Unprovoked mid-match heel turns always look awkward when the person that turns actually participated in the match.
It's like saying we're cool, but for some unexpected reason five minutes later, we're not anymore.
Mark Henry should have never been tagged in, and that would have given a better reason for the heel turn.
John Cena's Re-Drafting
9 of 10
This was clearly done for two reasons:
1) To keep Cena on RAW
and,
2) To show that the draft was unpredictable.
Here's what it actually accomplished.
A while back, another writer wrote about how John Cena was completely unconcerned with events that happen to him.
Mark Henry just attacked Cena, and he got off scot-free. So Cena gets drafted and attacks the heel team just for being there?
So, that's the new rule, even if they fought cleanly (no A-Ri interference either) they get attacked just for celebrating their win.
They didn't even cut to a shot of Mark Henry walking off after attacking two of the main eventers for this weekend's PPV.
John Cena is a bully, the IWC shouldn't be asking for his heel turn because he made it months ago. He just still gets cheered.
Conclusion
10 of 10
The Draft was a bit predictable.
The show around it was entertaining, but it was a bit of haphazard booking. There were parts that had me scratching my head. There were parts that had me shaking my head.
Extreme Rules already seems like an afterthought. I think they hyped the Rock's birthday party way more than the PPV.
All in All the draft didn't feel special. But it all depends on where they go from here.
The only thing that seems truly intriguing was the shot of Miz, ADR, and CM Punk celebrating after their win.
The three of them together would make for an amazing heel stable since each of them individually are capable of beating Cena and that's really all that matters in the WWE nowadays.
Thank you for bearing with my first slide show, all comments are appreciated.
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