by Erin Anderson
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

They Got it Right

Much to my surprise, the draft lottery was handled beautifully by WWE on RAW. The shows were given good shake-ups without completely destroying the separate identities the brands had worked so hard to develop. Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman gave us top-notch performances. Tag teams were broken up. Edge switched brands and immediately made his mark by killing Eric Bischoff. Heyman quit. RAW got a welcome addition to its constantly improving women's division. Major champions stayed in place. Triple H was given a much-needed change of scenery by being sent to Smackdown! And the post-match interpromotional brawl was the most memorable visual the company has seen since the Big Show and Brock Lesnar collapsed the ring with a superplex. 

Even through all of that, the fans were still able to see a couple of good wrestling matches, the return of a superstar just on the cusp of main-eventing, and the hint of a Shawn Michaels heel turn. And to top it all off, Smackdown! suddenly became must-see, with a new General Manager and the news of talent trades to look forward to.

Bravo, WWE. Well done.

But what struck me most about the show was a sense of competition and loyalty. It's odd that WWE would play up such a competition between the two brands when part of the reason for the lottery was to help eliminate "brand loyalty" among the fans, but somehow it worked. In playing up the competition between RAW and Smackdown!, WWE gives single-brand viewers a reason to tune in to both shows, especially if their favorite superstars have been traded or drafted.

But the wrestlers' loyalty to their specific brands is what stood out the most on the show. We'd seen fierce competition before between Stephanie McMahon and Eric Bischoff, but that never translated to the wrestlers. Until now, that is.

Of the twelve draftees, only two seemed truly happy with their fates: Edge and Nidia, and both with good reason. At this point, Edge is happy to be in the ring no matter what brand he's on, and Nidia finally has the opportunity to wrestle regularly. Most of the rest showed distaste, and, in some cases, outright rage at being removed from their shows. WWE may have slipped up slightly by having RVD on Smackdown!'s side and Tajiri showing up with the rest of the RAW reinforcements at the final brawl, but those instances are easily overlooked in the melee that was the final minutes of RAW. The tension between the shows would be enough to get even Austin and Bischoff to stand together in solidarity.

The next night, wwe.com announced the new Smackdown! General Manager and his subsequent talent trades. Suddenly, all of the excellent planning that went into Monday night's show fell apart.

Booking Committee Motto: "Flying by the Seat of Our Pants While Smoking Crack"

I was never more shocked than when I found out Kurt Angle was the new GM. This is not the problem: Kurt will make an excellent authority figure, one with stellar mic skills and the kind of in-ring credibility that will prevent other wrestlers from pushing him around. As I read the online announcement, I wasn't impressed much with the roster trades: A-train and Johnny Stamboli for Rico and Miss Jackie? There was nothing earth-shattering there, except a startling lack of faith on WWE's part in Jackie Gayda's potential as an in-ring competitor.

Then, my eyes scanned the last paragraph of the "press release." I actually swore at my computer, this time for something other than being a slow piece of shit.

Why? Why? Sure, I'd heard a few grumblings from the IWC that Triple H would just be sent right back to RAW, but I didn't put much stock in them. If anything was apparent in the current state of WWE it was this: Smackdown! needs heels. Not Bradshaw-level heels, but Triple H-level heels.

It would have worked perfectly: Triple H had already run through everyone on the RAW roster, and his issues with Shawn Michaels were finally wrapped up with one last superkick. His in-ring performance has recently started approaching something resembling his pre-quad injury self, reminding us that he could definitely hang on the workrate-intensive Thursday show. His match with Eddie Guerrero was his best singles bout in two years that didn't involve Shawn Michaels, and the schmozzy ending assured a continued feud between the two while Kurt Angle gets his neck problems taken care of.

Instead, he gets sent back and replaced by a freshly-turned heel Booker T. I like Booker, and a heel turn and roster switch is a good move for him. Unfortunately, he simply doesn't have the same prestige in the eyes of fans as Trips, and his rationale for turning heel ("This is a second-rate show") is a little too close to reality to be effective. The best villains always believe that they are right, but the fans shouldn't be able to agree with them. I also have to question the wisdom of WWE deliberately portraying Smackdown! as a pale imitation of its flagship Monday night show; since when is "We suck!" an effective marketing strategy?

Just for a little perspective, here is a list of Smackdown! wrestlers who could main-event a pay-per-view without fans batting an eye, now that Kurt Angle is inactive:

1. Eddie Guerrero
2. Undertaker

And for the moment, the Undertaker is a face and Kurt Angle is busy making boneheaded trades, leaving Eddie to fight mid-carders rather than tried-and-true main event material. Here is the list for RAW:

1. Chris Benoit
2. Shawn Michaels
3. Triple H
4. Chris Jericho
5. Edge (yes, he belongs here after his big return)

Smackdown! is already out of its depth, and things are even worse when you look at the upper mid-card/possible main-eventer side of things: they have Booker T, RVD, John Cena, and the Big Show. And no matter how hard you try, Bradshaw doesn't belong on that list. RAW has Randy Orton, Ric Flair, Christian, Kane, Rhyno, and Matt Hardy, who could easily hold the IC belt despite his recent case of jobberitis. Throw Stone Cold Steve Austin and possibly Mick Foley into the mix, and RAW still blows Smackdown! out of the water from a roster standpoint.

Putting Edge on RAW seemed like a fine idea when we all thought Triple H was gone, but now the roster is still just as overloaded as ever while Smackdown! is desperately in need of some star power. Booker T was right: he is on a second-rate show, and that fact was glaringly obvious in the absence of the Big Show, Rey Mysterio and the Undertaker. The wrestlers are not at fault here, but The Powers That Be have some serious 'splaining to do.

Nice work, WWE. In attempting to balance out your rosters and eliminate some of the brand loyalty among your fans, you have succeeded in making things even worse. Bravo, indeed.
  

E-MAIL ERIN
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Erin Anderson is an Atlanta native and a student at Georgia State University. Since writing about wrestling didn't go over too well with her English professors, she vents here at Online Onslaught.

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