Draft Results & Night of Champions

WWE held their 2008 Draft on Monday night and I was zero and whatever in picking who was to be drafted. I'm ok with that. So, some of the big names changing brands include HHH to Smackdown, Batista to RAW, Matt Hardy to ECW, Umanga to Smackdown, Kennedy to Smackdown and Kate to RAW. The biggest surprise of the night was the announcer swap of Jim Ross to Smackdown and Michael Cole to RAW. I can wrap my brain around the swap because Cole is the person to shoulder the announcing duties of the WWE for the next ten years. Corporate just needs to find the modern day equivalent of Jerry "The King" Lawler to do color commentary. I like having Mick Foley doing the color duties on Smackdown as he is very knowledgeable about the biz and I think Foley and Ross will do well with each other. I just hate not having Good Ole JR on Monday Nights.
HHH going to Smackdown makes sense as Stephanie runs the show and with her about to have a baby, HHH will most likely take over some of the creative duties. Which leads to this Sunday's Night of Champions PPV.
Now that almost every title holder (save Edge) has switched brands, this Sunday's PPV should see oodles of title changes. The marquee match (HHH vs. Cena) will most likely see a title swap and maybe an injury angle on HHH's part as he is expecting a new child (Mozel Tov!). Edge vs. Batista could see a title change as well to get a main title on each show.
The Tag Team Championship (Bob Holly & Cody Rhodes) should change hands to Teddy Jr. and his secret partner (rumored to be the son of Davey Boy Smith). I think the WWE should create a stable of the sons (and daughter) of WWE Legends. Have Randy Orton be the leader and then bring back their parental units (Davey Boy RIP) to battle it out.
-Wrestling Geek

2008 King of the Ring Thoughts

On April 21, WWE ran a three hour RAW on USA Network. It was during this show that a new King of the Ring was crowned. At one point, the King of the Ring was a WWE Pay Per View event. For the last couple of years, the WWE has stretched the KotR tournament over a few weeks on RAW. On Monday, they returned to the single night format.
I believe King of the Ring has found its identity on RAW.
Now, to the gripes. It would have been nice to have the KotR determine the #1 contender for a title. It seemed like most of the superstars in the tournament already had storylines going for them. CM Punk was the winner of the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV. MVP has a feud with Matt Hardy. Chris Jericho is the Intercontinental Title holder and will be the special referee for the Michaels/Batista match at Backlash. William Regal is the current General Manager of RAW. It would have been nice for some of the talent who didn't have ongoing storylines to participate in the KotR.
William Regal winning the tournament isn't horrible for me. I can see how the new title could play into his role as GM of RAW. I was really pulling for Finlay as this could have been the start of a new angle for him as his WrestleMania XXIV opponent JBL is working the fatal four way at Backlash. We'll see what King Regal does at the PPV.

WrestleMania 24 is over, now what?

WrestleMania is in the books for another year. The spectacle of all spectacles is the culmination of storylines and feuds that started with the Royal Rumble or before. The Royal Rumble begins the Road to WrestleMania, No Way Out should continue the WrestleMania storylines, WrestleMania is the biggest event of the year and then Backlash serves as a postscript to the big event.

The week after the Backlash PPV should serve as a fresh start for the company. On each of the three flagship shows (RAW, ECW, Smackdown), the WWE should conduct a weeklong draft. Each show gets five draft picks. The draft picks would come from the two other shows.

I was very against the brand separation when it began a few years ago. Lately, I’ve been seeing lots of WWE superstars crossing over. Is this due to the brand separation not working out or was it because of the lead-up to WrestleMania? Now that the three shows have their own identity, it makes sense that the superstars keep to their own shows. So when a superstar does go on one of the other shows, it means something.

New faces and new storylines would be a great new start for WWE fans.

WrestleMania Fever

The week leading up to a WrestleMania typically is the best week for Wrestling every year. The shows (RAW, ECW, Smackdown) are usually lighter on the matches and heavier on story development so as not to flame out (or even worse) injure the talent just before the biggest show of the year. We’ll usually see some of the “dark matchers” pick up the slack to fill the TV time. Each day, WWE has something going on in the host city leading up to WrestleMania. From Fan Axxcess to the Bacon, Bagles & Biceps Brunch to various wrestling appearances, the WWE has a busy week this week, almost too busy to do things like… blogging.

Of all the events that can take your time, aside from Sunday’s WrestleMania 24, there is one that you can’t miss. That is the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This has become one of my favorite events. No ring, no storylines just some of the greatest in the business telling it like it is and telling it like it used to be. Some of the most recent inductees could care less to be on that stage, others more than deserve to be there. Some of the more touching memories of the ceremony include the “One more match” chants for Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair’s Road Stories. Of all of the members of the Class of 2008, I am most looking forward to Flair’s induction. There is one person I could sit and listen to all night. Not to slight the other inductees, but I hope event planners give him an adequate amount of time to tell his story. I will have the Kleenex ™ standing by.

Why Jeff Hardy, Why?

Reports are coming out today that Jeff Hardy has been suspended by the WWE for 60 days for violating the company's drug wellness policy. This comes as a shocking surprise as the rainbow-haired warrior was enjoying a big push by the WWE. Hardy was doing everything right in breaking out as a mid-card wrestler and becoming main-event worthy.
He enjoyed a huge push for the No Way Out pay-per-view for challenging Randy Orton for the title in the main event. His Swanton Bomb off the scaffolding on RAW will be on the 2008 highlight reel. He was doing everything right.
That's why his loss of the Intercontinental Title to Chris Jericho on the 3/10 episode of RAW was such a shock. It makes sense now, Jeff will be off the air for two months. And it couldn't have come at a worse time for him. He was to have competed in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania XXIV... say goodbye to that payday and to a match at the Backlash PPV. I was really pushing for Jeff to win this year's MitB match and get another shot at the title. Meanwhile, the company is less likely to push you upon your return, if you return at all.
On the positive side, Hardy has two months to sit at home and heal up and then explode on his return to the WWE. On the negative side, he has 60 days to loose his fire and realize there is life outside of wrestling. I am hoping for the former.

What's Our Theme Music Again?

One thing the WWE has been able to do is able to do is find great PPV theme music. Take the past few WrestleMania shows. Shinedown's "I Dare You", Saliva's "Ladies & Gentlemen" and even Peter Gabriel's "Big Time" all worked for promoting the shows. That's why I was a little worried when the WWE announced that the Red Hot Chili Peppers "Snow (Hey Oh)" was the official theme song of WrestleMania XXIV. As much as I love the Chili Peppers, I'm just not seeing Jeff Hardy jumping off the top of a ladder while "Snow" is playing. It just lacks the edge of past songs. Unless the WWE has the Chili Peppers playing live at WM24, they should just drop the song. Besides, there are other Chili Peppers songs that would work.

Thankfully, somebody at corporate saw the problem. Now, Rev Theory's "Light it Up" has been added as "one of WM24's theme songs". This song is the "edge" song that is befitting of the Granddaddy of Shows. "Light it Up" has been getting lots of spins during RAW/ECW/Smackdown broadcasts and "Snow" has been pushed to the background.