Those are three words I can't recall uttering in the longest time. And... I'm enjoying it. Man, between that and my Rays just a few games out of being in FIRST in the AL, it's like the Twilight Zone. I just saw C.M. Punk in a tag match with Matt after the nice little draft we had last night teaming against the tag champs John Morrison and the Miz. I imagine C.M. starts his Raw run on Monday from the looks of it. Before I get into the meat of this tasty little blog, let's take a look at the results from the WWE Draft;
Raw gains- Rey Mysterio, C.M. Punk, Micheal Cole, Kane, and Batista.
Smackdown gains- Jeff Hardy, Umaga, Jim Ross, Mr. Kennedy, and Triple H.
ECW gains- Matt Hardy
Oh, and Welcome to Perspectives of the Common Fan. 8OP
Wow, what a draft last night. As I watch a fun match between the "Gold Standard" Shelton Benjamin and Kofi Kingston, I reminisce about a night full of suprises. Sure, I saw some things coming like the moving of C.M. Punk and Jeff Hardy, but other then that I was suprised by many of the other picks. Some made sense, and others made me stratch my head. However, the stratching I'm talking about if the "Hmm, what we are going to see next?" type of stratching. I'm excited for whats ahead in WWE and Vince said we were going to get change... We got it, heh. There were plenty of 'WTF?!" moments too, rest assured.
I've been critical of WWE for a long time. I loved it as a kid, and zoned in and out during the Monday Night Wars. I was a huge WCW fan and when it comes to the current WWE product, I had to warm up to it; or rather, return to my roots. Seeing Wrestlemania 24 live was one of the best times of my life, hands down. I got my passion back for wrestling, heck, I even enjoy quality time with my Grandparents watching it. It's just my guilty release, that I don't feel at all quitly about to be quite honest. I get a very nostalgic feeling watching WWE and lately, It's been great to see the product improve. Maybe I'm just spoiled because when I watch TNA I really see more of their flaws then I used to, but here's a message I want to send to all wrestling fans; Stop being critical and enjoy what you enjoy. Everyone trys to be the best, we know WWE has more technical power and experience with live shows and it's fan base, however, TNA is a rising product that has a ton of potential and great, close to home atmosphere. And the best part is now, I'm seeing just about the same amount of wrestling on both shows, along with fresh, young talent. What's not to like? We all know it's a show, just roll with it peeps.
Getting back on track here, it seems Raw is in a bit of a lack for faces after this draft. Besides JBL and the newly turned Y2J, I don't see a lot of others now that Umaga is gone and "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton is on the sidelines for a few months. Who does that leave now for the likes of faces such as John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Batista, HBK to rival? I think the answer will be a bit of a suprise for some.
...Lance Cade.
Why not? He's young, talented, trained by one of the best ever in Shawn Micheals, and seems to be in a program with Chris Jericho. Breaking off from Trevor Murdoch may have been the best thing for him. But again, asI stated above, the absense of heels is opening the door for a new big heel (I'm a fan of Ted Dibiase Jr. myself, but he's in a tag program at the moment), and/or for a big heel turn from one of the big faces on the show. It's going to be an interesting time, that's for certain.
Moving on to Smackdown, the big shock is "The Game" heading to Friday nights. I was shocked, and my Grandmother made a notion that I was thinking myself at the time it happened; "Why would he be moved? He's the son-in-law of the company, shouldn't he be on the mainstream show?". And the only answer I could come up with is this; Smackdown is on the rise, and won't be in the shadow of Raw any longer. Vince McMahon is no stooge, he knows the show has been struggling, and instead of fold it (I've never been a fan of two shows, much less three, but if done right, with two main shows and a developmental show in ECW, I'm a happy fan.), he wants to build it. And not just Triple H will assist in that; try Mr. Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, and Umaga as well being added to the fold. And Jim Ross? The best commentator in the game? Something is brewing and even "smart" fans need to accept and admit that they're excited. I mean, come on, at least be optimistic that many flaws WWE has (One I think being lack of new and exciting storylines and similiar feuds) are on the way to putting WWE back in the limelight and making wrestling something cool to talk about again. Heck, I think it always is, but that's just me. It won't draw 8 or 9 million people like it did at it's peak, but almost anything is better then what it's getting now.
ECW has always been almost non-existant to me until I realized that Vinny Mac again, is no idiot. I may not like everything he does, but I have to respect that he knows business. Heck, I even understand more about the "Montreal Screwjob" now, but I digress. ECW is a developmental show. You see young talent (Take Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne for example.) getting a chance to be on TV. It's a great concept, and it will polish all those up and comers so that fans like you and me can be entertained to the fullest every week. Rocks if ya ask me. Matt Hardy will no doubt fill in where C.M. Punk was and be the big face on the show to rival the likes of Morrison, Mark Henry, etc. I have to admit, as ECW wraps up, I'm fairly impressed. I've never liked guys like Henry or Mike Knox, but some of these guys aren't bad and the bottom line is you can see who busts their butt every night, and a lot of these talented athletes do, period.
So what do we look out for following this crazy draft? Well, first and foremost, I look for Cena to take the gold from Triple H at NOC on Sunday. This way each brand still has it's gold, which means Show I think will be a two-time ECW Champion after NOC. Smackdown and ECW always exchange talent so don't be shocked to see Triple H helping out the young guys once in a while as a treat for ECW fans. And with Cena leading Raw, you'll have the most marketable face in the business today, which means what? Yes, an epic heel turn is in the making, but not for a while it seems. Mr. Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, and Umaga will make Smackdown very watchable. Jeff vs. Edge anyone? Kennedy as a face vs. Edge? Just some great opportunities if ya as me. As for Raw, I despite Batista, but it'll be different to see him on Raw and I see him and Cena having a program in the near future. Rey will be a fresh face and it seems he'll finally be able to wrestle guys his size. It's about time.
And last but certainly not least... We have poor Vince. What happened? See, THAT'S what he gets for not giving me his money. Jeesh, I tell ya... 8>D
But seriously, this was in my opinion a pretty amusing ploy to end the Million Dollar Mania, which in my eyes wasn't a flop, just not what WWE thought it would be. A lot of happy people came from it and it goes to show ya that WWE can do many things good in this world, and another being the Tribute to the Troops and the Make a Wish events they do on a consistant basis. It's a shame the Media doesnt' give that stuff as much coverage they should.
While many may say this is another "death" storyline, I found it funny and sure, it's stupid, sure it's pretty crazy, but after I got over the shock of "Oh no, he's dead again", lol, I realized it's a great way to end the Mania' challenge as I expect he'll come back saying "Giving money away almost killed me... Never again!", heh. And either way, people will be coming back next week to see the fallout, and I'll be one of them. When you hear him call Triple H by his real name, "Paul", and Edge helping out the good guys when he's a bad guy, it makes some of the "smart marks" question a bit and think it's real. Of course the really smart ones won't be fooled, but this was still a clever way to pull of a storyline ending and ironically, the beginning of another one. I just saw a promo for the Draft saying "The Landscape has CHANGED." and I think that sums up the WWE perfectly right now. What's going to happen next? Your answer is about as good as mine, and I can't wait to see what happens next because when you feel like your a kid again for two hours, it's a pretty cool feeling in my book.
Well that about wraps up my post-Draft issue of POTCF and feel free to send any feedback to my E-Mail at jeatonbucfan@gmail.com or just drop a comment on the good ol' blog. Thanks for tuning in and I hope to entertain again, whenever I feel like it! The Common Fan says May the Force be with you all, and is going to go pwn on GTA IV...
-The Common Fan
P.S. Rays came back to win 6-4 against Florida! wOoT!
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