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6.30.2009

"SmackDown!" Officially Tha "A" Show

As announced last night on “Raw,” there was a 15 person trade -- “orchestrated” by Donald Trump in his last move as owner of the Monday night brand -- affecting all 3 brands. WWE.com announced the complete details of the trade after “Raw” went off the air:

To “Raw”
Jack Swagger
Evan Bourne
Mark Henry
Alicia Fox
Gail Kim

To “ECW”
William Regal
Goldust
Shelton Benjamin
Nikki & Brie Bella

To “SmackDown”
Matt Hardy
Finlay
The Hart Dynasty – Tyson Kidd, Natalya, and David Hart Smith

Essentially, it was another Draft – only the title was different. (In fact, several of Monday’s changes reversed the changes that were made in April’s Draft. Maybe think the moves through before the next Draft?) Even the results were the same as a regular WWE Draft – Raw improved significantly (most notably adding two future stars in Swagger and Bourne), while, of course, ECW took a beating.

But perhaps most newsworthy of all was that “SmackDown” improved even more than “Raw” did. Now, more than ever, “SmackDown” will be known as the “wrestling” show, as the roster includes most of the best-working Superstars in the company: Edge, Jericho, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Undertaker, and Kung Fu Naki. This trade adds Matt Hardy, Finlay and the Harts, now putting the best wrestling show over the top.

Of course, the trade didn’t solve the lacking of elite-level babyfaces on Friday nights (why not move Christian to “SmackDown” too?), but “SmackDown” will still improve significantly.

The Hart Dynasty moving to one of the big shows is, for me, the most exciting move of all.


2 comments: on ""SmackDown!" Officially Tha "A" Show"

Christopher Casúr said...

ECW got raped big time. They lost 7 workers, and they picked up three. Why isn't Tiffany more pissed off about this? Oh well, maybe Vladimir Kozlov will finally get used in a storyline now.

Swagger to Raw is a move I like. He's got all the potential in the world, and as subpar as the product has been at times, "Raw" is still the show that gets the highest rating, so that's where he'll get a chance to shine.

Bourne moving to Raw...I'm hoping they're building him as the next Mysterio.

Regal and Benjamin to ECW...good move in my opinion. Neither man was doing much on their prior show, and they're both great workers, so hopefully ECW will be the environment they need to get a push.

Matt Hardy to SmackDown! is an intriguing move, or at least, will be when he returns. If Jeff Hardy is staying, I'm sure this will lead to future Hardy vs. Hardy matches, which I could take or leave. But, if Jeff is taking time off, it makes me wonder if WWE is going to try to have Matt fill Jeff's shoes in the meantime.

Finlay to SmackDown! is a lukewarm move to me. He's not going to hold a world title anyway, so this is a lateral move more than anything else.

It wasn't very hard to figure out how Andrew felt about this move, and indeed, I may be the lone writer who doesn't feel this way, but I wouldn't get too excited about The Hart Dynasty moving to SmackDown! just yet. Yes, they're all tremendous workers, and yes, they were having matches against the main eventers of ECW (and yes, they're Canadian), but that was ECW, and more importantly, they're a tag team, and we know how WWE loves to treat tag teams. I think if they saw either of these men as the breakout star of the group, they'd have pulled the trigger on it long ago. The clock is ticking until they begin to languish Highlander style.

Andrew Gray said...

According to the spoilers, the Hart Dynasty lost to Cryme Tyme on Smackdown this week. Cryme Tyme!!?

Damn you, Casur!