The Shimmy 4.21.08: The 2007 WWE Supplemental Draft Analysis

Happy Monday, everybody. Last week I took a look at the 2007 WWE Draft (man, almost typed NFL there). As we saw last week the moves that actually took place on television didn’t really pan out that well over the course of the year. This week I’m going to look at the Supplemental Draft that took place on WWE.com the following weekend (it was actually even less exciting then it sounds). Did the smaller moves make a bigger splash then the bigger moves? Let’s take a look!

SmackDown to Raw: Paul London & Brian Kendrick

When I first saw this move I was excited. London & Kendrick had stolen pretty much every show they were on while during their near year-long reign as WWE Tag Team Champions on SmackDown. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch were breaking out on Raw, The Hardys were around for a while, and there was still a bit of hope for the World’s Greatest Tag Team, meaning there were plenty of awesome possibilities to be had. Unfortunately WWE didn’t seem too interested in exploring those possibilities and L&K fell into the abyss of the Raw tag division. They did manage to win the World Tag Team Titles but it was during a live event tour of South Africa and they lost the belts back before they returned to TV and the States. Perhaps their biggest moment to shine on Raw was in a dark match prior to SummerSlam where they apparently stole the show with Cade & Murdoch. They were turned into job guys for most of their run but seem to be getting a bit more face time in recent months. While their trip to Raw has provided a few memorable moments it is still a hard fall from where they were on SmackDown.

Draft Grade: C

Raw to SmackDown: Kenny Dykstra

One year ago Kenny Dykstra desperately needed a change of scenery. One year later and he needs it again. After having a promising post-Spirit Squad start by feuding with Ric Flair, Kenny Dykstra became a jobber on Raw. By moving him to SmackDown most hoped that Dykstra would get another chance to show his stuff. Instead he managed to become Chuck Palumbo’s personal bitch, Victoria’s new Stevie Richards, and injured. The lone bright spot of his SmackDown run was a surprisingly competitive match with then-ECW Champion CM Punk. For the most part you could say Dykstra’s move was a lateral one but at least on Raw when he was jobbing there was a sense of former importance to him based off his Spirit Squad experience and the Ric Flair feud.

Draft Grade: D

Raw to ECW: Viscera (Big Daddy V)

Normally when I do these types of columns I don’t like to refer to people that changed their names by their former names. Under normal circumstances I would have referred to him as Big Daddy V and left it at that, but I wanted to underscore the number of people that went through gimmick/name changes from this draft. Big Daddy V was a real success story here. One year ago he was just an oversized midcarder that spent time on Heat or oddly fluctuating between face and heel in a losing effort on Raw. With the move to ECW he managed to get away from the not over Viscera character and completely revamp himself as a kickass monster heel that could be a legitimate main event threat. The move to ECW totally maximized the potential of the former World’s Largest Love Machine and is a perfect example of what some of the lower seeded moves are supposed to do. Last year he was teaming with Charlie Haas on Heat, this year he was wrestling for a WrestleMania main event shot inside the Elimination Chamber.

Draft Grade: A+

ECW to Raw: The Sandman

I had almost forgotten about The Sandman’s run on Raw but it was actually nice while it lasted. Sandman was over with the ground and was a great midcard face. He had a nice little feud with Santino Marella and really helped Santino transition into the awesome character he is today. WWE even gave him a bit of a push, having him be one man away from being both Raw General Manager and Mr. McMahon’s bastard son. It’s a shame that WWE felt the need to let him go because he was a good guy to have around and they proved that they could use him wisely on the A-show.

Draft Grade: B-

ECW to SmackDown: Hardcore Holly

This move gets an F because it never actually happened. Holly was injured when he was drafted to SmackDown and the belief was that he would be part of the tag team division with Eugene upon his return. When he returned it was as part of the tag division, but with Cody Rhodes…on Raw. No explanation or anything, Hardcore Holly just shows up on Raw despite being switched from ECW to SmackDown. Personally I like the Holly/Rhodes team much more than I would have Holly/Eugene but it’s still annoying that they didn’t even make an attempt at clearing that up.

Draft Grade: F

SmackDown to ECW: The Miz

Talk about another great move. The Miz wasn’t going to get far on SmackDown, not with his MTV history and his constant burials by JBL on commentary. On ECW however he was forced to step up and become an integral part of the show and he proved that he could more than hang. He really came into his own as a good dick heel during his feud with Balls Mahoney, and that transitioned him into a position where the fans actually selected him for a title match at Cyber Sunday. His fan-forced entry into the title picture would eventually lead to his forming a tag team with John Morrison, a team that has been nothing short of awesome since winning the WWE Tag Team Titles a week before Survivor Series. While The Miz is still often the member of the tag team that gets beaten and WWE obviously (and probably rightfully so) sees more potential in Morrison, The Miz has proven that he’s much more than just a reality star wannabe, he’s the real deal. HOO-RA!

Draft Grade: A

SmackDown to Raw: Daivari

Man, talk about forgettable moves. They decided to move Daivari away from the Cruiserweight division on SmackDown to do, well, nothing on Raw. While the Cruiserweight Title would be retired shortly thereafter anyway, that still didn’t mean the move was a good idea. Truth be told the only thing I remember about his stint on Raw was singing a Grease duet with Jillian Hall. It’s no wonder that Daivari asked for his release not so long after his move to Raw.

Draft Grade: D

ECW to SmackDown: The Major Bros. (Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder)

I’ll be honest, I’ve actually grown quite tired of Hawkins & Ryder being Edge clones and really the whole Edge stable has kind of worn thin in the entertainment department for me. That being said, the team formerly known as the Major Brothers definitely upgraded with a move to SmackDown. While the ECW/SmackDown talent exchange would have eventually let them compete for tag gold in ECW, it was the move to SmackDown that got them the ultimate rub by associating themselves with the Ultimate Opportunist. Despite my own feelings on the gimmick you can’t deny that it was original and that it didn’t serve a purpose to get the two men at least mildly over. Good move here.

Draft Grade: A-

SmackDown to Raw: William Regal

William Regal’s move to Raw has to be seen as more of a quasi-retirement move than anything. While Regal’s screen time has greatly increased while being General Manager on Raw, his in ring time has greatly decreased. It was nice to see that Regal still has it in the ring last Monday and one can always hope to see more of the GM inside the squared circle. Despite his lack of in ring competition, Regal has managed to increase his profile from what it was on SmackDown by being able to play his character so well in some high profile situations. Many people have fond memories of Regal’s work as Commissioner back in 2001 and he’s managed to pick up right where he left off then. Ultimately it depends on how you value Regal’s various skills, but I believe that the move to Raw was a good one.

Draft Grade: B+

Raw to SmackDown: Victoria

Last week I said that Victoria never should have been moved to SmackDown last year and I largely believe that. But over the past week I’ve thought about it and see that Victoria has done an admirable job in helping some of the less polished divas grow in the ring on SmackDown. While she isn’t competing with the actual wrestler divas for the Women’s Title on Raw, she is a focal point of the women’s action on SmackDown and seems to be serving as a training for their less experienced set. I would love to see Victoria back on Raw mixing it up with the likes of Mickie James and Beth Phoenix but I guess I can appreciate the role she is currently playing on SmackDown.

Draft Grade: C

SmackDown to Raw: Jillian Hall

Early on it looked like this move was a good one. Jillian had a gimmick and reports were that she could wrestle. She hasn’t gotten that many opportunities to showcase her ring skills in any kind of high profile way, but she has gotten reasonably over with the bad singer gimmick. I think WWE dropped the ball with her earlier this year and I feel that she should have been the one to team with Beth Phoenix for BunnyMania instead of Melina, but still she has served the brand well as an entertaining but unnecessary addition to the roster. If there is a Divas tag match to fill you have your woman.

Draft Grade: C

Raw to SmackDown: Eugene

Yet another draft move I forgot. I don’t think Eugene did much on SmackDown besides get beat down by The Great Khali and sorta feud with Deuce ‘n’ Domino. I guess it didn’t hurt to try and change things up a bit with him but WWE’s Wellness scare back in September caused good old Eugene to lose his job. He is currently part of the NWA Wrestling Showcase as U-Gene.

Draft Grade: D

Raw to ECW: Johnny Nitro (John Morrison)

And yet another man that transformed himself upon switching brands. Not only did Johnny Nitro get a fresh start in ECW as John Morrison, he ended up winning the ECW Title in the process. While you can argue the timing of Morrison’s title run I think it’s safe to say that it helped the new gimmick get over. Morrison managed to get past the losing he was doing during the tail end of his tenure on Raw and even managed to make CM Punk his bitch for the summer of 2007 (and Elijah Burke smiled elsewhere). After being slightly derailed by the aforementioned Wellness scare Morrison came back and created the great tag team with The Miz. Like I said the team has been nothing short of awesome since winning the straps back in November and a strong showing in both the Royal Rumble and the Money in the Bank Ladder Match indicates that WWE sees a bright future for the Shaman of Sexy. Might King Morrison be in his future tonight?

Draft Grade: A+

In the end I think the Supplemental Draft ended up being a much bigger success than the actual televised draft. Big Daddy V, John Morrison, and The Miz all thrived in their new environments, William Regal gained more face time as a relevant part of the Raw roster and Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder stepped out of obscurity to latch onto the coattails of a main eventer. While the superstars in this draft weren’t as high profile as those that moved on TV I think the Supplemental Draft proved to be the backbone of the whole system. Much like the later rounds of the NFL Draft you found some real steals here that ultimately ended up helping their respective brands more than one might have thought.

The Shimmy Likes It Raw!

What’s on tap for tonight’s show?

It’s the return of King of the Ring! I love the fact they’re having all three rounds on one night because I used to hate the PPVs that only had the semi-finals and the finals. I do hate only having eight people in the tournament though, they should have had qualifying matches on last week’s programming. Still, seeing the King of the Ring make its triumphant return is still cool.

Since they haven’t announced the participants yet it’s kind of hard to make any real predictions but I’ll try anyway. Round One: Chris Jericho defeats Umaga by disqualification (Umaga is still pissed from last week), MVP beats Matt Hardy to even the score before their match at Backlash, CM Punk beats Mr. Kennedy, and The Great Khali beats Finlay. Round Two: Chris Jericho heelishly beats MVP and The Great Khali overpowers CM Punk. Finals: The Great Khali defeats Chris Jericho, gaining some momentum heading into his match with Big Show at Backlash and henceforth being known as King Khali. I know most of you just groaned at that pick but I think it’s a realistic possibility.

I will say that if somehow some midcarder gets a chance to stand out in this tournament look no further than Lance Cade. They’ve wanted to push him forever and it looks like his tag team days may be coming to an end and this could be his opportunity.

It’ll kind of be hard explaining some lower midcard guys like Cade or Palumbo or someone like that mixing it up with the Umagas, Chris Jerichos, and Matt Hardys of the company if they just book the thing straight up, so I wouldn’t put it past them to have a qualifying Battle Royal to kick off the show. The last eight men in the ring are in the tournament and the matchups are determined by elimination. WWE wouldn’t be as foolish as TNA as to actually push seeding being important here.

All this talk about the King of the Ring and everyone is forgetting that “Hillary Clinton” and “Barrack Obama” are supposed to settle their differences in the ring tonight. I never saw the Rosie O’Donnel vs. Donald Trump match so I don’t have quite the fears that most seem to but I still don’t have high hopes. It’s a three hour show though so hopefully we’ll be able to move on rather quickly.

That does it for me. Enjoy the King of the Ring tonight and Backlash on Sunday. Until next time, don’t die. Clark…out.