#199. Potential High School Reunion

If I decide to go to the reunion, then I'm going to ask you to the ballgame.

#198. 2009 Supplemental Draft

Holy crap! For the first time, I'd say the WWE Supplemental Draft was more important than the regular draft, if not for the sheer size of it than the gigantic moves and question marks it raises. To wit:

Raw
Mr. Kennedy - Maybe they actually have a plan for him this time (that untimely injuries won't negate), but this has got to be the biggest mistake of the draft. He's got far more potential on Smackdown than he does on Raw, and Kennedy is a star you don't want to continue wasting.
Primo & Carlito - Actually not as bad as I'd thought, because I'd only seen Carlito's name originally, and you don't want to split the team you just named to the unified tag championship. But Smackdown has long done tag team wrestling better.
Nikki & Brie Bella - Don't really see why they had to move one way or the other.
Chavo Guerrero - Flunked out last time he was on Raw. You really think he'll get better this time?
Hornswoggle - He'll do the same routine either way. Or maybe Kennedy could get his revenge from the whole McMahon-has-a-son angle. The Little Bastard takes a mean Kenton.
Festus - This is pretty much the end of his tenure with WWE.
The Brian Kendrick - Primed for more exposure on Smackdown, but drafted to Raw, where he'll have nothing to do but wait for the axe.

Smackdown
Cryme Tyme - Your strongest tag team, away from the brand with the tag team titles? Seriously?
Alicia Fox - Well, whatever, right?
Mike Knox - Probably a smart move.
Candace Michelle - Torrie Wilson's long-awaited replacement.
Ricky Ortiz - Do they see real potential in this guy, or a chance to burn him off?
Layla - Smackdown has all the fun.
John Morrison - Losing Kennedy is probably worth it if the brand gets the next best thing.
Dolph Ziggler - Aside from a terrible name, he's actually pretty good in the ring. But this is probably another burn notice.
Charlie Haas - Back home, hopefully with stuff to do that doesn't completely involve impersonating legends. Charlie Haasdown!

ECW
Ezekiel Jackson - If splitting Zeke from Kendrick gets one of them some real exposure, it might have been worth it. But then, ask Elijah Burke how well it turned out for him...
Zack Ryder - Former Edgehead and nameless tag team wrestler from ECW (I forget what he was originally billed as), probably another cyal8ter.
DH Smith - Might they finally do Hart Foundation 2.0?
Natalya - Lookin' good...
Shane Helms - Looks like a good time to become ECW champion, buddy.

The biggest shocks were about who wasn't moved, namely Christian and Evan Bourne, but I guess WWE wants to see where their momentum takes them in ECW.

Hopefully next time I won't talk wrestling, but WrestleMania 25 is out on DVD 5/19, about a month away. Maybe I'll post again before then...

#197. 2009 Draft

The 2009 WWE draft did this:

Raw
Triple H (not surprised)
Big Show (hopefully they can do something with him this time)
MVP (the biggest question mark of the draft)
The Miz (breaking up Miz & Morrison was necessary and inevitable)
Matt Hardy (breaking up the Hardys was also a good thing)
Maryse (funny that this is finally happening)

Smackdown
Chris Jericho (woohoo!)
CM Punk (woohoo!)
Melina (back home!)
Rey Misterio (ditto!)
Kane (see: Big Show)

ECW
Vladimir Koslov (hopefully a comparable move to Mark Henry's)

Smackdown is the winner, I'd say, a chance to be more dynamic, less predictable, which is always the point of the brand, while Raw is always supposed to be top-heavy (that's what they keep saying, every single year). The only problem is, the very thing the fans complain about they perennially underestimate, the power of Smackdown. If MVP succeeds, they'll cheer him. But if CM Punk succeeds, I wonder if they'll even notice.

Back when the supplemental draft is announced.

#196. WrestleMania 25 Was Tonight

So, WrestleMania was tonight, and at Wrestleview, at least, it was predictably not enough. Still, I thought what I read was interesting as shit. But I'm usually stupid like that...Can't wait to see!

#195. WrestleMania 25 Preview

WrestleMania 25 being two days away at this point, I just want to get a word in, as I usually do, and remind the Theoretical Reader that I'll have input when the DVD is released later on. But the card look absolutely phenomenal. When did Triple H ever have a main event lined up for himself like this? Oh, right, the last time he was at odds with a former member of Evolution. But this one with Randy Orton looks like it's going to be one of the better main events of the recent past. Cena-Edge-Big Show should also be worth checking out, certainly to see a reprise of Cena-Edge on the grand stage, but to see how Show performs in a big match situation, his first title shot at WrestleMania since 2000. It goes without saying that Shawn Michaels-Undertaker is at least worth the price of admission, and then you've also got the battle of the Hardy brothers, the tag team unification bout between Miz & Morrison and the Colons (love to have John Morrison in the spotlight, and that Carlito finally have his featured position as well), and a Money in the Bank match that might depart from the usual script. Plus, Chris Jericho and divas, lots and lots of divas...Personally, I think JBL-Misterio is a little tacked on, but both guys deserve to be on the card so I'm not complaining. Am I forgetting a match?

That's all for now...