Dot Net TV reporters Rich Twilling and Chris Shore meet up at the water cooler and discuss the hot topics in professional wrestling.

Today’s Topics: The 2008 WWE Draft, Vince McMahon giving away his millions

Rich: With the draft taking place tonight, it got me to thinking of the last time WWE had a draft. I remember that one being very disappointing. I have my eyes on MVP, Mr. Kennedy, and Jeff Hardy, who are ironically not involved yet in the upcoming PPV. Then we have guys like C.M. Punk, Elijah Burke, and Batista who could possibly use a change of scenery. What are your thoughts on the draft?

Chris: I would like to see a lottery like we had in June 2005. If you remember, both champions switched places and a lot of people moved over the course of the month. Now I don’t want a month long draft, but I would like to see major names move around.

I’d like to see Triple H/Edge, MVP/Jericho, HBK/Batista (in a real feud, not a one and done) and Kennedy/Jeff Hardy. I like Punk and Burke too, but they have been so diminished recently that they need a decent push after the draft before I would care. There are also guys like Paul Burchill and Vladimir Kozlov who I think could be fun to watch once given the chance.

Rich: I guess it depends on if they are looking to give some underutilized stars an opportunity, or if they just want to freshen up the main event scene. Hopefully it is a mixture of both. I like your idea of a Triple H vs. Edge feud, however, with both of them being champions; I do not see that happening right now. I would not mind MVP vs. Jericho, but I would love for it to be over a world championship, not a secondary title.

Chris: Oh I don’t expect any of my ideas to come to fruition due to who has what belts, but it’s what I want. MVP vs. Jericho could happen for the IC belt. I agree, though, I want to see both of them in a World Title hunt. Whoever moves, I want to see new feuds up and down the card, not just main eventers. And if it is just main event matches they are changing, then I want to see new main eventers, even if they don’t win the title this time around.

Rich: In order to create new main eventers, the creative team has to make a conscious effort to get behind some of these guys. In TNA, Kurt Angle, Abyss, Christian Cage, Rhino, A.J. Styles, and coming soon, Samoa Joe, are all former TNA World Heavyweight Champions. They continue to be used as main eventers.

WWE does not do this very well. As for the draft, they can give guys opportunities. I am wondering what is going to happen to someone like Lance Cade. I would like to see him stay with Jericho and get the rub from him.

Chris: You’re right, once you are on the losing end of a title feud you’re not main event for a while. Whenever Triple H isn’t involved with a title storyline, DX comes out to keep him “fresh” for his next run. Everybody else disappears to the mid-card stage. Hell, look at Jericho’s return. He immediately gets a shot at Randy Orton, gets cheated out of his chance by JBL, and is still wallowing in the second tier, albeit as the champion of that tier. I see nothing wrong with putting the strap on a guy for a couple of months just so we can think that anybody can win the title, not just the same six or seven guys.

Rich: Six or seven? I wish there was that many. I think Jericho could be primed for another main event run, but throwing away his first match in a long time vs. Triple H with no buildup was very disappointing.

Speaking of disappointing, how long do you think Vince will continue to give away money? I was thinking this would be the last week, but if the ratings continue to rise, I could see him doing it for awhile.

Chris: I give him one more week after the draft before he stops. The whole purpose was to get fans in by the giveaway and then hook them with the draft. If the television is good the week after the draft, I think he stops. It can’t go on much longer if it really is his money.

Rich: If the ratings keep rising, he is crazy enough to keep it going. Tonight’s show is going to be very busy with the draft, the money giveaway, and it being the Night of Champions go home show. You would think they would have waited to do the draft until after the PPV.

Chris: Unless the draft plays into it somehow. The top stars in the company are either the title holders or competing for the titles—in most cases. Some of those stars have to be moving. That could change some of the matches, also causing a higher buy rate.

For example, what if John Cena got drafted to Smackdown and MVP got drafted to Raw. Suddenly, we have a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Title as Cena is added to the match and MVP will replace him against Triple H. How cool would that be? I would buy that PPV even if I didn’t originally plan to do so.

Rich: They made it a point to say the matches would remain as they are booked even if people get drafted. It could be a nice way to blow off some of these feuds for the immediate future. Once again, I would want them to build up MVP a little bit. They could push him and have him red hot by Summerslam, as a face or heel.

Chris: Oh please let it be as a heel. And let Vince be done with the money soon; it’s interrupting my wrestling.

Rich: I think tonight will answer a lot of questions. Let’s meet up here soon and talk about it. Sound good?

Chris: You got it. See you soon.

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