HISTORY SHOWS TONIGHT'S DRAFT LOTTERY IS JUST WWE HITTING THE PANIC BUTTON, NOT A LEGITIMATE ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THEIR COMPANY
By Billy Paige on 6/11/2007 1:01 PM
The WWE says it's time to "shake things up again." I say it's time for WWE to hit the panic button again. That's all that tonight's Draft Lottery is, WWE panicking due to having a severe lack of bona fide main eventers on their Smackdown and ECW rosters.
Since the brand extension started in 2002 WWE has claimed to have 2 (3 since ECW re-launched last year) distinct and equally strong brands. That has never really been true. They currently have Raw and the "B-shows." Smackdown has NEVER been treated as Raw's equal. Prior to the roster split, it was okay to treat Smackdown differently, as it was obviously the secondary show to Raw. The Smackdown is inferior to Raw mindset has never left WWE's thinking. It's obvious by how they have always stacked the Raw roster with main eventers.
During the 2005 Draft Lottery Raw gained WWE Champion John Cena, Kurt Angle, Carlito, Big Show, and Rob Van Dam while Smackdown gained Chris Benoit, Randy Orton, Muhammed Hassan (with Daiviri), Christian, and World Champion Batista. Cena, Angle, and Big Show were all main eventers at the time. Carlito was getting popular, and RVD is always a fan favorite. WWE has never really treated Benoit as a main eventer. Randy Orton is someone they want to push, but can't seem to get him to where they need him. Hassan was a gimmick. Christian was never used well enough and left as soon as he could. Batista was just sent over to fill the gap left by Cena. Again, Raw got the true main eventers and Smackdown got upper mid-card talent and a World Champion.
Further proof that WWE has never taken the Brand Extension seriously enough is the amount of roster changes that have happened. Randy Orton started on Smackdown in 2002. After being injured he made his re-debut on Raw a few months later. After failing as World Champion on Raw in 2004, he was drafted to Smackdown. Once his contract "expired" he immediately went back to Raw, making it appear that he never wanted to be on the Smackdown roster to begin with.
Matt Hardy was originally drafted to the Raw roster. He jumped to Smackdown a few months after the roster split and became on the brightest stars on the show. When he back to Raw in mid-2003 he was annihilated by almost everyone he faced, making it look like a Smackdown Superstar couldn't cut it on the Raw roster. In 2005 he lost a "loser leaves Raw" match to Edge and was pretty much banished to Smackdown. Since then he has won Raw's tag team title with his brother, while still being a Smackdown superstar. Just last week on Raw, Jerry Lawler asked "what would happen if the Hardys were split up in the draft?" Jim Ross replied with "I don't know, King." I think the true answer is, "they're technically already split, so does it matter?"
Hardy is not the only person to lose a "loser leaves Raw" match. Kane also lost one of those matches to Umaga. Like Hardy, he showed up on Smackdown. The only people to be forced to leave Smackdown were Johnny Nitro and Melina, who immediately shot up the Raw roster, due to WWE wanting to push them. Nitro was Intercontinental champion on a number of occasions and Melina is currently the centerpiece of the WWE Divas.
WWE Cruiserweight competitor, Super Crazy jumped to Raw once his Smackdown "contract expired." Why would a cruiserweight go to Raw when the Cruiserweight title is on Smackdown? Other Smackdown Superstars to have their "contracts expire" include: Elijah Burke, Sylvester Turkay, The Great Khali, and Daiviri. When the Rock was given the option to appear on whatever show he wanted by Mr. McMahon, he left Smackdown and went to Raw. Hulk Hogan was a Smackdown Superstar, but once his star was big enough again, he was placed on Raw. Chris Benoit and Daiviri have switched rosters at least five times each!
In order to create DISTINCT brands, the WWE needs to have SEPARATE brands. So far I've only mentioned examples that show WWE isn't serious about the Extension, but I do have one example of a situation that shows it can work, and work well. In the 2005 Royal Rumble there was a moment when their were 8 Superstars in the ring. 4 from Raw and 4 from Smackdown. The 4 from Raw lined up on one side of the ring and the Smackdown guys lined up on the other side before squaring off in the center. The crowd ate it up, as they realized this was a pretty big deal. It gave the illusion of a true inter-brand fight. The best part of this sequence is that NONE of the Superstars in the ring were main eventers at the time.
Further confusing the rosters is the lack of identity any one Superstar has with a particular brand. I've touched on this already, but of all the wrestlers consistently on the WWE roster from day one of the brand extension, only 2 of them have never switched rosters. Those two are Ric Flair on Raw and Funaki on Smackdown.
More examples of how Raw Superstars are generally made to look better than Smackdown Superstars is how on a few occasions a "surprise" Raw Superstar has beaten a Smackdown Superstar for a title. Gregory Helms jumped to Smackdown during the 2006 Royal Rumble by winning the Cruiserweight title. And both Kurt Angle and Edge were moved from Raw to Smackdown to solidify the main event roster of Smackdown by winning the World Heavyweight title. All of those examples make Smackdown look inferior.
Tonight's draft is WWE's attempt to right the wrongs. It's an attempt to re-solidify the main eventers. It would be very nice to see them get it right this time. They very well could make the rosters look a bit more even after the draft, but how long will it continue? Will they learn from their past mistakes and strengthen their bench? Will they create more stars on Smackdown so they won't have to pull from Raw every time someone goes down? I would like to say yes to all of that, but I'm sure that next year's draft lottery will prove they haven't learned a single thing.
