WWE Draft 2011: A Pick-by-Pick Analysis

If nothing else, the WWE Draft always brings intrigue. Armchair bookers come out of the woodwork to prognosticate or, more likely, tell how they would write the storylines that follow the major roster shifts. It’s also a time for whiny IWC smarks to cry about how Smackdown gets pillaged after being the most entertaining show each week. The sad part is that this happens every year, yet Smackdown continues to be more smark-friendly. If they haven’t figured it out by now, Smackdown is good because it’s booked toward wrestling, not storylines, and that’s not going to change with different names on the card.

So, even though the rosters are continuing to change as I write this with the on-line supplemental draft occurring at the moment, I think it’s fair to begin some analysis. Below are my thoughts on each draft pick’s final destination. It will be updated as needed with new moves.

John Cena (RAW)—The company’s biggest draw belongs on Raw. It only makes sense. For a moment last night, it looked like the creative staff had actually decided to put their support behind Randy Orton while allowing Cena to boost the Smackdown ratings, but by the end of the show it was clear that Cena is still the "A" main event face while Orton is second.

It would have been interesting to see Cena on the Blue Brand because he could have worked more, longer matches against a completely different cast of opponents. He’s been working with the same writing staff for a half decade right now, and I’d be curious to see what the Smackdown team would have to say about his character and direction.

Lastly, with the eventual Rock-Cena Wrestlemania feud, it wouldn’t matter which show he was on because come that season, brand affiliations go out the window. For now, Raw is still Cena’s show.

Randy Orton (Smackdown)—WWE’s bad boy good guy has been a babyface for a little over a year now, but he hasn’t been the focus of the show. Last summer he was the top face chasing the belt, but feuding against Sheamus on a show dominated by the Cena-Nexus storyline didn’t give Orton the chance to be the focal point of all creative meetings. Other than simply having an extended run with the title, I’m more interested in seeing if this means Orton will get extended promo time.

During his entire face run, he’s rarely had solo interviews for more than two minutes. His character is built on physicality, not verbosity. While refreshing, it is still critical for him to be able to hold the attention of the audience with the mic in his hand in the middle of the ring by himself for him to eventually be viewed as Cena’s equal.

Rey Mysterio (RAW)—This was somewhat puzzling, but I’m willing to give it a shot. Since Smackdown has moved to SyFy, though, it starts to make sense.

Mysterio has been a mainstay on Smackdown for years, due to his draw among the Mexican fanbase and the fact that Hispanics generally have lower incomes and less access to cable television. With the move from UPN/MyNetwork to SyFy, that goes out the window.

Rey fits the WWE’s Raw program, which is more catered towards kids. With Orton out and the combo of Cena and Mysterio, you can count on more high-pitched squeals on Monday nights. I don’t see Rey battling for the belt much aside from the occasional multi-man match. He’s likely there to serve as a stepping-stone for midcarders on their way up much the same as he did wonders for Cody Rhodes.

Sin Cara (Smackdown)—Once Rey was Raw-bound, you knew Sin Cara was heading the other direction. These two can’t be on the same show right now. Cara is far too early in his introduction to the WWE audience to allow there to be any confusion between him and Rey.

While Cara can bust out the high-flying moves that Rey hasn’t in years, Mysterio still works circles around Cara when it comes to performing a WWE match. Smackdown is the best place for him right now. His matches can be edited as he learns how to work a WWE match and, fingers crossed, how to speak English well enough to cut simple promos.

Mark Henry (Smackdown)—Not every pick could be something that impacted the main event scene, and this was the cool down selection. It seems each year there is a tease that WWE is going to push Henry as a main event player, but it quickly falls apart and he’s back where he belongs.

He’s been around long enough that he is going to be cheered unless creative goes out of their way to make him sinister. He’s a good stepping-stone for guys trying to break in, and Smackdown tends to be where those types first arrive. He’s a solid hand to have in the back.

Big Show (RAW)—Meh. Big Show hasn’t been interesting in years, especially since he became the world's largest teddy bear. He’s better than the Great Khali. Sure. But he’s never going to work a star match and for some reason creative has been resistant to letting him lose clean. He is a midcard babyface right now that will participate in short-term feuds, get a big pop from live crowds, but generally be forgettable.

Albert Del Rio (RAW)—Prior to the Draft, I thought this would be a good move, but as part of the rest of the results, I can’t say I’m a fan. ADR has money written all over him, but on Raw right now, I don’t see where he fits. It’s like when Jericho and Edge were drafted to Raw and then had nothing to do for months.

With Miz remaining on Raw, ADR will presumably lose to Christian at Extreme Rules, arrive on Raw on a losing note and not have any ready-made feuds unless they rekindle the Mysterio rivalry for a larger audience on the ‘A’ Show. He’s ready for the main event. I would have loved to see an Orton-ADR rivalry run through the summer. Instead, he’s now in the mix with Punk and Miz as fresh faces to the main event scene. I think these three are the backbone of WWE’s future, along with Cena and Orton, but they need to be split up on the shows, in my opinion.

Supplemental Draft

Daniel Bryan (Smackdown)—Probably the best, most logical move other than Sin Cara. Bryan will fit perfectly into the Smackdown landscape where he can wrestle 10-12 minute matches on television and get over on his ring work. Raw is promo heavy and doesn’t set aside the time for matches. Mic work not being Bryan’s better attribute, Smackdown will let him throw some stuff kicks, slap on nasty finishing holds and make some suckas tap out.

Jack Swagger (RAW)—Not a big fan of this move. While previously I said that ADR now gets lumped in with Punk and Miz, Swagger is going to be battling R-Truth for that next tier and I don’t think that bodes well for either guy. Swagger has the Cole-factor in that he’s attached to the male version of Vickie Guerrero and if WWE realizes that the long-term money is in Cole rubbing off on Swagger and not Swagger being a prop for Cole, they will have something. Since Cole appears on both shows, I don’t know why Swagger can’t just stay on Smackdown. I love myself some Swagger, he’s a great worker and an underrated talker, but I don’t see where he fits on Monday nights.

Great Khali (Smackdown)—Did they really need to use a draft pick to move him? They could have just switched his bio page on-line and nobody would have noticed. I honestly didn’t know he was on the Raw roster anyway.

Jimmy Uso (Raw)—Umm. See Khali, except it’s more likely Jimmy won’t have a job in a few months, while Khali doesn’t look like he’ll ever be fired.

Kelly Kelly (Raw)—I think you just saw Kharma’s first victim. If there is a Divas that personifies Barbie Doll better than anyone, it’s Kelly Kelly. She’s over with the crowd and hasn’t shown any hesitance in taking a bump. Her only role is to get destroyed by Kharma and I can’t envision a better way to get her over.

JTG (Raw)—Oh, please let this be part of a plan for R-Truth to pull in JTG as the Chavo to his Eddie for two angry black men that have been held down. I can see Truth talking him up, using him as a lacky, winning the tag team titles from Big Show and Kane only for Truth to finally turn on JTG for losing faith in his cause i.e. SXS and move up the card. Unfortunately, he'll most likely just continue to be on Superstars and make an occasional appearance to get wrecked on Raw and a few dark matches.

William Regal (Smackdown)—Don't I recall William Regal retiring from the ring while on tour in England last year or am I completely imagining that? Regal hasn't been on television in a match in months. His best role right now is on the announce table, but that seems to be said about everyone at this point. I'd really rather just see Regal get sent down to FCW and give him a job as a head trainer because the man is a wrestling machine, a lifer and an overall talented guy. He may have had a chance to be something 15 years ago, but that day has gone and it's time for him to move on to a new role.

Yoshi Tatsu (Smackdown)—And the run of unremarkable Superstars regulars continues. There is a contingent of Tatsu fans here, but he has no legitimate chance of becoming even a midcarder in WWE unless they reintroduce the Light Heavyweight title and we get battles with Sin Cara and Evan Bourne.

Drew McIntyre (Raw)—Unless this all ends with Sheamus moving to Smackdown, I don't understand what they are doing on Raw with the glut of midcard heels. This means we now have Truth, Swagger and McIntyre all grouped together with only John Morrison as a viable midcard face, but he's even a step above these guys since he's, you know, fighting for the WWE Championship in the main event of Extreme Rules. I could have gone for a McIntyre-Bryan feud on Smackdown. I have a bad feeling Drew is going to get lost in the shuffle here.