WWE Draft 2011: 10 Wrestlers Guaranteed to Benefit From Switching Shows

The WWE Draft has come and gone, and a total of 30 superstars are switching brands.

Some household names like Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio have new homes, but so do lower and mid-card guys like Daniel Bryan and Curt Hawkins.

For some of these guys, the move means more misery, just on a different brand. For others, though, it means a fresh start.

So, which wrestlers will fall into which category?

Well, let's take a look at 10 WWE superstars who will benefit from swapping shows.

10. Ted DiBiase

I hesitated to put Ted DiBiase on this list because he’s been buried so far down on the roster that I’m not sure he’ll ever really dig himself out of the huge hole he’s in.

Yet, I’ve got him here because the WWE draft is a tricky thing. You might expect one guy to crossover to a brand and receive a huge push, but that may not happen. Or vice versa.

For example, no one really expected Dolph Ziggler to be in a world title match at the Royal Rumble just a year and a half after being drafted to SmackDown. But he was.

However slight the chance may be, there is indeed still a chance that DiBiase will make his way up the SmackDown latter.

At the very least, though, I think he’ll get more TV time than he did on Raw.

9. Natalya

Given that there’s only one Divas championship and Divas seems to appear on both shows whenever they want anyway, Natalya’s move to SmackDown isn’t an Earth-shattering one for the WWE.

But here’s the way I look at it: two of the company’s most beloved face Divas, Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix, just moved over to Raw, while Eve is the Divas Champion.

That means that, at best, Natalya would have been the No. 4 option on the face side of Raw. At least on SmackDown she’s a little higher up the food chain.

8. Daniel Bryan

When Daniel Bryan made his way to the WWE, wrestling fans who followed him on the indy scene were worried about how he’d fare in the biggest wrestling company in the world.

And so far, there have been mixed results.

While Bryan’s had some very good pay-per-view matches as well as a run with the United States Championship, he hasn’t gotten much mic time or a legitimate chance at competing in the main event scene.

Now that he’s on SmackDown, though, Bryan’s right where he belongs: on a show that tends to focus more on actual wrestling.

7. Jack Swagger

After a brief World Heavyweight Championship reign last year, Jack Swagger’s inflated ego reportedly cost him his spot in the world title scene.

Well, now he seems to be working his way back up the card with his involvement in the feud between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. Some are expecting a face turn for the All-American American, but all I’m expecting is a bigger heel push.

Being paired with one of the top heels in all of the WWE (Cole) has gotten Swagger over as a hated villain, and the creative team could/should keep that ball rolling.

6. Mark Henry

It pains me to put Mark Henry on this list because I don't really think the World's Strongest Man brings anything to the table other than the fact that he looks like the Kool-Aid guy.

But it appears the WWE creative team may have plans to push Henry as an upper mid-card (or even main event) heel on SmackDown.

Why do I think that? Two reasons: One, he was drafted on Monday's episode of Raw rather than on the "supplemental draft" on WWE.com. And two, he turned heel during the main event time slot.

Maybe I'll wind up being wrong, but for now I think Henry is going to get his chance to shine on the blue brand.

5. Beth Phoenix

This isn’t to say that Beth Phoenix is going to get a tremendous push that will make me care about women’s wrestling again now that she’s on Raw.

I mean, this is still the WWE Divas division we’re talking about here.

But with Phoenix heading to Monday nights and Kharma, a.k.a. Awesome Kong, expected to debut soon, maybe there’s a very slight chance that the Divas will get some more TV time.

After all, having Eve as the face of the Divas division isn’t really working out all that well.

4. Sheamus

Who’s up for tea time with Santino Marella? Apparently not Sheamus anymore.

The Celtic Warrior was drafted to SmackDown yesterday, and it’s probably the best thing that could have happened to him.

After a monstrous push when he first came to Raw that included two WWE Championship reigns, Sheamus fell victim to the de-push after winning the King of the Tournament. But after the latest bump on his roller coaster ride, Sheamus is now the United States champion.

That’s a step down from his main event days, but he’s needed on the blue brand now more than ever. With Alberto Del Rio now on Raw, along with CM Punk and The Miz, Sheamus has a very real chance of becoming SmackDown’s top heel.

3. Alberto Del Rio

Sure, Alberto Del Rio's already the top heel on Smackdown, but Friday is traditionally one of the worst nights of the week for TV viewership.

And even though he was the blue brand's No. 1 villain, Del Rio's going to benefit from his move to Raw where he will certainly have his shot at overtaking The Miz as the show's biggest heel.

After all, the rumor around the Web is that current creative plans call for Del Rio to face John Cena at SummerSlam.

Sounds like ADR will be just fine on Monday nights

2. Randy Orton

In my book (and most other people’s), Randy Orton is the No. 2 face in the company, behind only John Cena.

But when Orton was on Raw, he was never going to be THE face of the show. That role’s reserved for Cena as long as he’s a member of the Raw roster.

As one of SmackDown’s newest superstars, though, Orton will take over for Edge as the face of Friday nights.

1. Sin Cara

Though there are reports he has some backstage heat and he’s not having the easiest time adjusting to the WWE style, Sin Cara’s gotta be jumping for joy now that he’s on the blue brand.

Why? Well, it’s pretty simple really: Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio have moved over to Raw.

Since SmackDown tends to have a large Hispanic viewing audience, they’ll always have a Hispanic face of the brand so to speak.

And luckily for Sin Cara, he’s now that guy.