Sunday, JUNE 29 - 1:02 P.M.

-I'm excited about tonight's WWE Night of Champions pay-per-view thanks in large part to the WWE Draft. Monday's events shook things up and created some mystery regarding the two World Title matches. I accused Vince McMahon of trying to upstage his own draft with his stunt at the end of Raw, but it looks like his decision to book a stunt at the end of the draft show backfired.

There's no buzz over Vince's stage angle. I think most fans see it as a watered down version of the limo angle that concluded last year's draft. I'm beginning to wonder whether WWE officials realize how corny the angle was given that they limited the followup on ECW and Smackdown to having the general managers address the situation at the top of the show.

I'm guessing there won't be much followup on tonight's pay-per-view, and it will be interesting to see where it goes tomorrow night on Raw. They tried so hard to make the angle believable by having Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and others break character to help Vince, yet the followup has been totally unconvincing. Monday's Raw is an important edition as far as the future of the angle goes. WWE needs to do something to get people buzzing about the angle if they hope to make the same type of splash they had with the limo angle last year.

-The big question heading into the show is whether Chris Jericho will defend the Intercontinental Title. The buzz is that he will defend it since all titles are supposed to be on the line. I'm holding out hope for Rey Mysterio, but I admit that could be wishful thinking on my part. If nothing else, I'm surprised that WWE didn't announce that Jericho would defend his title on the show. I know they've been advertising that all titles will be defended, but fans have been conditioned to be skeptical.

-It's been a bad week for online wrestling video content. No new "Heyman's Hustle." No new "Santino's Casa." No new "Dirt Sheet." What the hell?

-For those who have asked, The Ultimate Warrior defeated Orlando Jordan in his return match for the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion in Spain earlier this week. Believe it or not, the match lasted 15 minutes. Warrior won the NWE Title, but he forfeited the strap afterward. 14,000 fans showed up and I haven't heard any stories about the Anti-Warrior group (which gained notoriety only because Warrior's web team gave them exposure) getting involved. You can read a story about Warrior's comeback at the UK Sun.

-I took my girlfriend to the movie WALL-E last night. Great flick. If you enjoy the Pixar movies then you should love this film. I was amazed at how entertaining the first half of the movie was even though there was very little dialogue. The spastic hyena girl who sat in front of us couldn't even spoil this movie. Her laughing (which sounded like she was having an asthma attack) and clapping were so over the top that my girlfriend and I just assumed she was mentally challenged and I was happy to see how much she was enjoying the movie. However, I was stunned when she stood up at the end of the movie and spoke to her group of late-teen friends in a normal manner.

Anyway, WALL-E really is an excellent movie that kids and adults can enjoy. Oh, and you know how some movies include an extra scene at the end of the credits? Not this one. Just thought I'd spare you some time.

Friday, JUNE 27 - 4:00 P.M.

Check back tonight for my "Live Coverage" of the Smackdown show.

-A trusted source expressed doubt that WWE will follow through with the idea of the ECW tapings moving to Monday nights. The logic behind the move was that it would give the company an extra day to produce the Tuesday night show. However, the source pointed out that it would be a headache to hold a Tuesday night show before the Monday night show takes place because it could lead to more production trouble than it's worth.

This might explain why WWE didn't move John Morrison and The Miz off ECW. Keep in mind that they their Night of Champions opponents are fellow ECW wrestlers Finlay and Hornswoggle. In other words, the tag champions will be ECW wrestlers no matter who wins on Sunday.

For what it's worth, the WWE schedule still lists some non-televised Raw/ECW events for late August, but they also list Smackdown/ECW tapings into September. At this point, I'd be surprised if WWE makes the switch.

-If the ECW tapings stay on Tuesday and WWE continues to allow some crossover between the two brands, then Mark Henry isn't a lock to win the ECW Title on Sunday night. My guess is that Kane won't retain since he was moved to Raw, but Big Show is a candidate to win the match since he's a Smackdown wrestler. I'll save my pick for the Night of Champions preview and predictions article that I will be posting this weekend. If you can't wait for a preview, check out the one I wrote for UGO.com by clicking here.

-I hope you're all enjoying Rich Twilling's new blog. Rich is a straight shooter who brings a different perspective to Dot Net via his blog. I'm sure those of you who read our television reports have noticed that Rich and I don't always share the same opinion, so I'm excited that he'll be offering his perspective on all wrestling topics. If you haven't checked out his most recent blog in which he labeled Jim Ross a crybaby, you can do so by clicking here.

-I'm really looking forward to tonight's Smackdown show given all the changes that took place due to the WWE Draft. It will be interesting to hear J.R. on commentary given how upset he initially was regarding the switch. I was told that he was in a better mood on Tuesday, so I'm guessing it will be business as usual for his first night on commentary with Mick Foley. That team has some serious potential. Plus, it will be fun to see Triple H in a Smackdown ring again after all this time. Feel free to watch the show along with me, as I will be covering it live tonight here on Dot Net.

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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