Powell's Blog Is Smackdown suddenly the A-brand in WWE? More roster moves to come? By Jason Powell Jun 24, 2008 - 10:03 AM CLICK FOR BIO Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing Tuesday, JUNE 24 - 10:03 A.M. -Is it just me or has Smackdown suddenly become WWE's A-show? The brand now features big names such as Triple H, Edge, MVP, Big Show, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, Umaga, and even top announcer Jim Ross. I guess we have to consider Undertaker a free agent right now, but the assumption leading up to the draft is that he would return to Smackdown to resume his feud with Edge. Meanwhile, the Raw crew's top performers are John Cena, Batista, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, JBL, C.M. Punk, Shawn Michaels, and Rey Mysterio. The Dead Man and Triple H have tried to avoid one another politically over the last few years, so I guess it wouldn't surprise me to see Taker end up on Raw somehow. I think Smackdown was given a big boost last night. If nothing else, the two rosters look much more even than they did before the draft. Meanwhile, ECW isn't even the junior varsity squad anymore. It's the damn freshman team. I think Matt Hardy will add something to the mix, but WWE made it difficult to take the brand seriously by making so many of it's wrestlers look week during Raw last night. -I'm still holding out hope for a supplemental draft or a trading period to shake up the mid- and lower tiers of all three rosters. They still have to find a way to get John Morrison and Miz on Smackdown unless they have them pegged to lose the tag titles. Please tell me they won't lose them to Finlay and Hornswoggle this week. Ugh. Carlito would be a nice addition to the ECW roster. He hasn't been happy with his push and he could at least play a big fish in a small pond on the Tuesday night show. One would think that Chavo Guerrero will still end up on Smackdown somehow unless the plan is to scale back on La Familia. Why is Super Crazy being wasted on the Raw brand when he could at least get some television time on ECW? Are they really going to keep Mark Henry on the same brand with lead writer Michael Hayes? I know they've made their peace, but you'd think the company would split them up just to be on the safe side. Do Kane and Matt Hardy just trade titles now? I'm guessing they'd like to keep the ECW Title on ECW, and with Smackdown wrestler Big Show challenging Kane at the pay-per-view one would think there must be some type of trade or quick title change coming to get the belt back with the matching brand. -My guess is that WWE is going to let the draft picks sink in or 24 hours before either announcing some moves tonight on ECW or at least letting viewers know that trades and/or a supplemental draft will take place sometime soon. I still believe there were a couple of moves that were made strictly to shock viewers, so don't be surprised if there is more roster juggling to come. Monday, JUNE 23 - 12:37 P.M. I spoke about a most of the items covered in this blog in more detail in today's Prowrestling.net Podcast, but I wanted to get the basics out her for those of you who don't listen to the podcasts. -This is one of the most nerve wracking days of the year for most WWE performers. The draft is fun for the fans, but most wrestlers have no clue heading into the show whether they will be wrestling on the Raw, Smackdown, or ECW brand. It might not seem like a big deal since all three brands are owned by WWE, but moving from Raw to Smackdown changes everything from schedules, to driving partners, to backstage romances. -There's plenty of buzz heading into tonight's draft regarding the possibility of John Cena moving to Smackdown. I've spoken with several people in the industry about the potential of that move and they all agree that it seems like a logical move for the creative team to make. As I mentioned in my WWE Draft scouting reports last week, it would also explain why they rushed into Cena challenging Triple H when most people assumed that match was being saved for SummerSlam. For that matter, it also explains why Cena's storyline with Mickie James didn't get any attention last week. -The other move that's garnering the most speculation is Batista moving from Smackdown to Raw. I like this idea because Batista needs fresh opponents and I like the idea of an eventual New Evolution vs. DX feud. I also like the idea of keeping Cena and Batista on separate brands, which could make their next (WrestleMania?) match feel special. For that matter, I'd keep MVP away from Cena for the same reason. I'm sure it's tempting to rush right into these programs because they would be fresh and have money potential, but WWE needs to think about creating big money, future WrestleMania matches in addition to spicing things up right now. -It must have been a long weekend for the WWE creative team. Keep in mind that a number of high-ranking WWE officials (including Raw lead writer Brian Gewirtz and WWE vice president of talent relations John Laurinaits) took some vacation time last week and were not at Raw last week. Plus, Smackdown lead writer Michael Hayes recently returned his suspension. With the vacations and the suspensions, it's hard to imagine the creative team had many draft plans locked in prior to last week. -I didn't include the announcers in the WWE Draft scouting reports because I don't expect there to be any changes. Jim Ross has made it clear in his online blogs that he and Jerry Lawler don't want to switch brands. As such, I wouldn't be surprised if Vince McMahon and Brian Gewirtz try to get a rise out of Ross and/or Lawler by announcing that one of them has been drafted only to trade them back later in the night. I don't expect any permanent announcer changes, though. Ross and Lawler are longtime travel partners and get the bulk of the pay-per-view work for the reason. Cole and Mick Foley are improving, and Tazz is probably stuck with Adamle. -RIP George Carlin. Thanks for all the laughs. Check back tonight for a double dose of Raw live coverage that Rich Twilling and I will be providing here on prowrestling.net. 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