Positively Raw 04.26.11: 2011 Draft Edition

Welcome to the 2011 Draft edition of Positively Raw, as always I’m James Cooke, and to kick things off today I’m going to make my predictions for this year’s draft. But first, I’d quickly like to thank Guest#9219 from last week’s comments section for clearing up for me that while R Truth’s smoking was edited out of the UK broadcast of Raw, that it was still shown in the States.

The following was written on Monday, before Raw aired:

From Raw to Smackdown
Randy Orton – Everywhere I look, I see this same prediction, and it makes complete sense to me. With Edge gone, and with Undertaker making only sporadic appearances, The Blue Brand needs a new top face, and with Raw pretty much being Cena’s home, Randy Orton would fit right in and would be given fresh new feuds, as The Viper has done almost everything that he possibly can for now on Raw over the last five years.

Sin Cara – Another common prediction, and again, one that makes sense in that the newest Mexican Superstar can hone his skills to fit the WWE style on the tape recorded Smackdown. He could even begin a feud with Rey Mysterio, or potentially team with his fellow masked grappler.

R Truth – With a new character comes a new beginning. I could see R Truth rise up and conquer all as a badass, smoking heel on Smackdown.

Zack Ryder – Maybe then he’ll get a push. One can only hope, right?

From Smackdown to Raw
Cody Rhodes – I predict that the feud between the formerly dashing one and Rey Mysterio will end at Extreme Rules, and that Rhodes can rise to further prominence on the ‘A show’.

Beth Phoenix – With Kharma soon to be unleashed amongst the diva’s division, they’ll need somebody to stand up to the awesome force.

Kane and The Big Show – In a match that would determine two draft picks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the tag-team champions both being ‘randomly’ selected to head over to Raw together to dominate the flagship week-in and week-out. An inter-promotional feud over the tag titles between the monster team and the masked team of Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio would be potentially incredible.

Those are my picks, now on to the show!

It’s time to shake things up again!

1. What‘s Up?

After his deranged heel turn on Morrison after their match last week, R-Truth emerged onto the stage during Raw this week to address the WWE Universe. He began with his usual ‘cheap pop’ of shouting the name of the town they were in, before replacing the ‘what’ with ‘shut’ in his ‘What’s Up?’ catchphrase. The crowd were chanting ‘What?’ between each of Truth’s sentences spoke, and to this R-Truth told the crowd that they were really starting to piss him off. (I don’t know about you guys in the States, but there was some pretty shoddy sound cuts here in the UK, as we heard the word every single time, and then the following 5 seconds or so would go silent). Raw’s newest, non-drafted heel then went into a little routine in talking to imaginary friend ‘Little Jimmy’. He told Little Jimmy that he was now out for himself, as singing his song wasn’t putting any championships around his waist. When he had said his piece, and stated that the truth had set him free, John Morrison attacked his former friend in retribution for last week.

The Positive – Just a few weeks ago, who’d have thought that R-Truth would become one of the most talked about acts on Raw? I wouldn’t have for sure. But here we are, and R Truth delivered here what in my opinion was a different, yet fantastic promo. His attitude was spot on, and his ill-reasoning was perfect for a newly turned heel. After all the debate that ran rampant about his evil smoking ways from last week, I wonder if WWE will this week find themselves defending Truth’s swearing as also being due to him being a bad guy. All of these rather immoral acts on a PG show are really starting to make Truth stand out from the pack, and the ‘Little Jimmy’ bit added a little more to the somewhat insanity of Truth’s character. He’s basically lost the plot. As for Morrison’s jumping of Truth after the promo, that’s good in that it continues the feud that began last week. All I question now is how things will continue with Morrison being involved in the Cage match for the WWE title at Extreme Rules… No doubt Truth will be interfering. This could well be one of the top feuds over the course of the summer months.

2. Announcers collide

Sir Michael Cole, with his Cole Mine now covered in Royal Family decor announced at the end of the divas contest that he was to warm up for his match with JR. Later on, Cole would return to face JR. Sir Michael would stall for minutes at the beginning of the match, and even referred to JR as an animal after the BBQ fanatic shoved him over. The match would break down quickly, as after receiving several vicious punches from the True ‘Voice of the WWE’, Sir Michael would try to escape from ringside, only to be thrown back into the wrath of Good Ol’ JR by Jerry Lawler. The King would then be taken out by Swagger, who then caused a DQ for Sir Michael by attacking JR. Having removed JR’s belt, Swagger applied the ankle lock, while Sir Michael began to whip JR with his own belt. Thankfully and mercifully, King would rebound to make the save, sending Swagger flailing from the ring, and retrieved JR’s belt, turning the tide on Sir Michael. It was then announced that their tag-team match on Sunday will be a ‘Country-Whipping match’.

The Positive – Initially I wasn’t going to pick this segment to cover as one of my ‘positives’, but looking back at the show, the rest of it all kind of fits in with the draft proceedings. I can, and will spin this into a positive though, so here we go: Michael Cole… Sorry, Sir Michael Cole is probably the most despised of heels in all of wrestling right now. This was testified by how loud the crowd reaction was when Jerry Lawler grabbed a hold of the belt and managed to get a few shots in on Cole. People want to see Sir Michael get his comeuppance and I have a good feeling that we’ll be seeing it on Sunday. I was beginning to wonder if Booker T would get involved, and when he didn’t I suppose it’s to show that the Booker man is a professional, and for now won’t be getting involved physically while he is still new and proving himself behind the commentary table. However, with news of JR’s hand being in a rather bad way, could we see a last minute substitution?

As for the decoration of the Cole Mine, not only does it keep the WWE in the loop of external current affairs such as one pretty major event taking place in London town at the week’s end, but it also set up talk of said event and a comparison of that to next week’s Monday Night Raw which will be a celebration of the People’s Birthday, The Rock’s birthday. It was a nice little segue into promoting next week’s show, while also continuing the storyline of Michael Cole’s supposed knighthood.

3. The 2011 Draft

Raw kick started in quick fashion this week, as an over-the-top-rope battle royal was in progress. It was Raw vs. Smackdown, with the winning team gaining the first draft pick of the night. That first pick would go to Smackdown who would win themselves… JOHN CENA. That’s right, the first pick of the night mirrored 2005, as John Cena was heading home. Then, after the divas battle between Eve and Layla, Raw would pick up Rey Mysterio, meaning that arguably the two biggest active faces on each brand had switched. A little later on, in another shocker – after Kofi Kingston downed Sheamus with two Trouble in Paradises – Smackdown stole Randy Orton from the flagship. Raw was sinking, and fast. Orton would later compete for Smackdown against Dolph Ziggler and his new haircut, and would RKO his way to two new draftees to Smackdown. Those men would be Sin Cara and Mark Henry. Following this, Rey Mysterio, now representing Raw, would defeat Corre member and IC champion Wade Barrett, helping Raw to rebound a little to pick up Big Show and Alberto Del Rio. The main event of the evening would then be a six man tag match, as Raw’s main event heels (Miz, Punk, and Del Rio) would take on Smackdown’s team of faces (Christian, Mark Henry, and John Cena). After Mark Henry turned on his teammates, The Miz would capitalise, hitting one of his upcoming cage opponents in John Cena with a Skull-Crushing Finale for the 1-2-3. The final draft pick of the night, picked up by The Miz would be none other than… JOHN CENA… AGAIN! Cena then ended the show, once again a member of Raw by cleaning house.

The Positive – I always enjoy the annual draft, and although shorter than usual this year, I feel that the show delivered both in terms of entertainment, and of surprise draft picks. The initial drafting of Cena to Smackdown certainly shocked me, and at that moment I felt that maybe Cena was heading to the land of blue and white, leaving Orton to be the face of Raw. Then, when Orton got drafted too, I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. It felt like Raw was left with no more heroes, although I couldn’t help but think that maybe this was what Raw needed in order to help build up the newer stars without Cena and Orton around. Just imagine the heights Zack Ryder could have finally reached! While many may see Cena’s drafting to Smackdown and his later drafting back to Raw as two wasted picks, I don’t. For nearly two hours they had me hook, line and sinker believing that Cena was going to Sy-Fy. His redrafting was also well played out, as it was ironically The Miz who earned that draft pick from Raw after having been gloating about how he was ever going to have to put up with Cena ever again. As for the other picks, Mark Henry’s heel turn has me intrigued, and a I sense a possible feud with Christian if Captain Charisma were to win the World Title on Sunday. Meanwhile, Big Show’s move to Raw without Kane opens the tag division right up, and will hopefully regain some of its past credibility as it did in the JeriShow era. The moves for Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara do make sense, as it seems that WWE wants to have one of their masked lucha stars on each brand, and with Sin Cara requiring a bit of adjusting on Smackdown, it makes perfect sense to send the seasoned Rey to the flagship, leaving his nemesis Cody Rhodes to move on.

What did you all think of the draft? Let me know by commenting below! Until next week, take care and Stay Positive!