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| Squared Circle #5 - Looking at the Draft | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 6 2007, 02:37 PM (286 Views) | |
| administrator | Jun 6 2007, 02:37 PM Post #1 |
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Administrator
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Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this special Draft Edition of the Squared Circle blog. For those of you who have been living under a rock,(not The Rock,) for the last month, the WWE will be staging it's fourth non-annual Draft "Lottery" this Monday night in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Of course, this Draft procedure would have been annual had WWE run with their original plans to run one in September 2006 as opposed to pushing Edge and John "Vanilla Ice" Cena. On the same note, look at how the WWE Programming suffered last fall/winter as a result. We have had the exact same rosters per show now since July, 2005. Inevitably, the only decent times that the WWE have had since the last draft lottery have been the January-May periods in 2006 and 2007; and as these are the "WrestleMania Period", this is expected. For the remaining 7 months of 2005 and 2006, WWE Programming has been lackluster at best. Highlights include John Cena's Domination of the Championship, minor celebrities taking major roles in WWE Events, poor pay-per-view booking, and a plethora of poor television shows. Because I sound like I am criticizing the WWE all of the time, and this is not the case, I will state that when WWE have got it right in the last couple of years, it has been very good for the most part. WrestleMania's 22 and 23, and the run-up period from the Royal Rumbles onwards were enjoyable. Mysterio, Edge, Vandam and Angle being pushed to championships was entertaining and refreshing, and some of the angles such as Undertaker vs Kennedy and MVP vs Benoit have been exceptionally good. However, especially on RAW, since Backlash this year, the product has been practically dead. Following that horrific pay-per-view back in December, ECW has been well and truly dead and never recovered. The only WWE show which has consistently delivered solid programming is SmackDown, but SmackDown as a brand, is not the most profitable brand. With all this being considered, the time is definitely right for the WWE programming to be shaken up with a draft lottery. With all the injuries it makes even more sense, and even the excitement a draft lottery brings with it will boost WWE programming in the short-term even if the long-term objectives fail. What I'm getting at here, is that the draft is the best idea the WWE have had in a very long time. Let's hope the good ideas continue herein, and make the product more entertaining for all. I have no idea which way the WWE will swing the majority of the attention on the draft, however, I would suggest that the best draft picks will fall upon RAW. RAW, being the WWE's flagship show, the most watched of the three shows, and also the brand which generates the most pay-per-view and merchandise sales, it makes sense to strengthen RAW; Especially given the current state of RAW. I think the priority from this whole draft should be to bring a credible heel to Monday nights to take John Cena's Championship. Kennedy would be perfect for this, however his next logical feud is with Edge on SmackDown. King Booker will be returning soon, and he could fill this role...Well he is certainly still more over with the fans than Orton ever could be. My major concern with this Draft is that it may only serve to bury SmackDown again by stealing star names over to RAW. Even though I feel SmackDown, as a professional wrestling show, has benefitted from having WWE creative concentrating more on Raw, as it has allowed the guys on SmackDown to go out and put on the quality matches fans now expect of the brand. With respect to the ECW On Sci-Fi brand, I still see no future for the show as a television show, despite talents like CM Punk and Elijah Burke on the brand. Unless CM Punk moves to SmackDown, which I wouldn't rule out at this moment in time, I think ECW can only stand to get stronger from this draft. With that being said, unless ECW push the Originals vs New Breed storyline, and CM Punk as a strong singles star, the brand will still collapse because of Vince McMahon being an on-air talent there. Looking at the superstars involved now seems the logical step. As much as I am praying every night that Randy Orton gets drafted to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the draft only includes WWE brands, and he doesn't look like moving away from RAW. RAW will take one top-tier star from Smackdown, which could be Ken Kennedy, but will almost certainly be Chris Benoit. King Booker would also be the logical choice for RAW (or ECW for that matter). CM Punk may be RAW or SmackDown bound, and the majority of the Draft will probably focus around the mid-card. They should try and put Jillian Hall on RAW to complete one of the strongest womens divisions in decades. The Cruiserweight Division are not likely to be drafted anywhere, as this is still SmackDown's feature, and there are no stars who need drafting into it. It is also unlikely that any World Champions will move this time around, and if they do, they certainly won't take their championships with them (I include this with reference to Lashley and a move onto Raw). The Tag divisions have potential again for the first time in years due to decent booking of RAW's World Tag Titles. Smackdown's title will always be decent when they choose to use it. Clearly, what is really needed is more United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship contenders, and so strengthening the mid-cards of Smackdown and RAW must be priorities. ECW's midcard is stronger than their main event, so this isn't an issue in this section. William Regal is set for a move to RAW, which could develop into something entertaining. Regal is a character I always liked on RAW, he has a humourous side to his character which will shine out on the "Entertainment" show, and he can wrestle very well too. MVP Will almost certainly stay on Smackdown, which can only be good for his future at the moment. Dave Finlay, Kane, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy and The Miz constitute SmackDown's mid-card stars, and this is a healthy amount of stars to have. RAW have Masters and Marella at the moment. Admittedly, Carlito, Flair, Nitro, Benjamin, Haas, Super Crazy, Dykstra and Orton are all there and should be decent mid-card stars. Even the draft isn't going to change WWE's Inability to book talent, this is something they must deal with themselves. This shake-up is vital if WWE are going to continue to make 80% of their total sales revenue from pay-per-view sales. It may have escaped the braintrust in the Titan Tower, but WWE are no longer the market leader in sporting pay-per-view. Professional Wrestling now face a more dangerous, harder-hitting, more impactful competition from outside the industry than any professional wrestling company has ever provided. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is now outselling Wrestling on pay-per-view by about 3:1 every month, and this is what I will be commenting on in my next blog!! Hope you all enjoyed reading this blog, and enjoy the WWE Live Draft THIS MONDAY at a special start time of 8/7c Exclusively Live on USA Network. |
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| MarcusCorVon | Jun 7 2007, 11:53 AM Post #2 |
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Smackdown General Manager
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I enjoyed tha blog very much but I have one issue with something u said. The womens division is the strongest it has been in decades? Are u kidding me? Have u forgeten the time when we had Trish, Lita, Molly Holly, Jaquiline, Victoria, and Ivory? I mean look at that list then, then look at todays. Melina is a decent wrestler. Candice is improving but still not the best. Maria rarely wrestles. Torrie cant do anything. Victoria is the best diva they have and should be womens champion. But I digress now lol. Very nice edition of the Squared Circle. |
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8:36 AM Jul 11