2011 WWE Draft Analysis
By: Andy Napier
4.30.11

So here are my thoughts on the 2011 WWE Draft (Lottery).

On the RAW babyface side…

Teasing John Cena going to Smackdown, talking it up for nearly two hours, and then pulling it back at the last minute reeks of “Haha, you smart marks, that’ll show you” booking. It doesn’t make me angry, but it’s a prime example of WWE focusing on stupid things that seem to be on the show to amuse themselves rather than to get someone over or sell a pay per view. I actually really would have liked to see Cena on Smackdown, interacting with a lot of new characters.

Rey Mysterio to RAW I actually really like, especially swapping him for Sin Cara. Rey as the number two babyface on the brand is a great spot for him considering his injuries, and if they want to do an occasional super-team with he and Cena I think that would be a lot of fun. One thing I was hoping for was, after he was “drafted”, was to have he and Sin Cara team up to take on Slater and Gabriel, or really any two heels. The masked men would do their big spots, win impressively, then IMMEDIATELY have Sin Cara drafted to Smackdown, which was the end result anyway. This way you tease a great new team and have people actually wanting to see them together, which you give them down the line. And Sin Cara on Smackdown, given that it’s a taped show, just makes sense while he’s still getting the hang of the size of the WWE ring and working with real ropes as opposed to cables.

Big Show is a lateral move, and he’s allowed to be on both brands right now as half of the tag team champions.

Kofi over to RAW is tough, because he already wasn’t getting pushed on Smackdown, where there’s less depth. I don’t know what he did or who doesn’t like him, but he’s woefully underutilized.

Chris Masters to RAW is meaningless.

JTG to RAW is meaningless.

Beth Phoenix seems to be coming over to RAW to set up whatever they’re going to do with the incoming Kharma (Amazing/Awesome Kong), so they seem to at least have an idea behind it, which is a positive.

Kelly Kelly moving over is probably good for her, as she’s very likable and seems to have star potential in some capacity.

On the RAW heel side…

Alberto Del Rio coming over is a big deal for him and possibly disastrous for The Miz, as he seems poised to take the top spot. He’s just more impressive than The Miz in almost every way, and a big part of it is that I believe that he’s a bad ass who can back up his talk. Miz is not very imposing, nor does he ever do anything particularly clever, and to be an effective heel, you kind of need at least one of the two. ADR versus Cena is a program I can actually get myself revved up to watch, whereas I’m begging for Cena versus Miz to end already.

Jack Swagger to RAW seems kind of pointless as he’s mostly been utilized as Michael Cole’s stooge and thus was often on RAW to begin with. Add to that, Cole commentates on both shows. Will we continue to see Swagger on both brands? If so, why move him in the first place?

Drew McIntyre’s switch to RAW I see as the heel version of Kofi Kington. He wasn’t doing all that well on Smackdown and RAW is a bigger league. He did have a budding romance story going with Kelly Kelly on the old brand, so perhaps they’ll follow up on it here and give them both something to do. Probably not.

Tyler Reks to RAW. Didn’t even know what brand he was on to begin with as he never appears on TV. Meaningless.

On the Smackdown babyface side…

Randy Orton joins the brand and is immediately in the top spot, something he really couldn’t lay claim to while sharing a show with John Cena. Maybe this will light a fire under Randy as he’s been killing me lately with his promos and his matches. It does immediately marginalize Christian, but hopefully it will just lead to him going heel and feuding with Orton on top.

I covered Sin Cara in the Rey paragraph above, but I’ll reiterate that I think he can really flourish on this show.

Daniel Bryan moving over to Smackdown is, next to the Rey for Cara trade, my favorite move of this year’s festivities. Smackdown is a lower pressure environment, and also features longer average matches. Daniel Bryan may actually get a chance to improve his lot and make something of himself on Friday nights. Here’s hopin’.

Great Khali is generally only around part time anyway, and pretty much a non-factor at this point.

Yoshi Tatsu is sadly another one that is probably meaningless, but he’s very underrated by WWE.

Natalya making the switch might be good for her, but it’s hard to say. They seemed to be pushing her fairly well on RAW last year before suddenly giving up.

Tamina moves, nobody cares, her romance with Santino appears to be over. Boo hoo.

And finally, on the Smackdown heel side…

Sheamus moves over as the United States champion in a bit of a surprise, if only because it puts both secondary titles on the same brand. Maybe they’ll unify them into one belt soon, though Sheamus versus Wade Barrett would be an odd feud indeed. Generally, I think Sheamus will do well if only because Smackdown really needs good heels and he can be, and has been, a top guy before.

Mark Henry comes to Smackdown on the heels (no pun intended) of a turn Monday night. I like Mark Henry as a heel, actually. I think he can be very effective in that role, but he’s been around since 1996, and never really gotten over at a high level. I just think he’s too associated with being a midcard act to really break through as a main event guy now. Though I’m sure they’ll give it a try for a few weeks.

Alex Riley has been moved over, separated from The Miz, his safety net. They’ll probably try something with him short-term, it won’t work, and he’ll be wrestling prelims until being sent back down to developmental for seasoning.

Ted DiBiase, non-factor. He’s been buried for months.

Tyson Kidd, ditto that for him. At least Ted’s usually on TV.

William Regal being drafted I was surprised by, just because I don’t think he actually wrestles anymore, even on Superstars. He’s the color commentator for the NXT program. Now, him being drafted may mean someone saw him on an official roster list and just decided to move him, or it could be that someone came up with an idea for him on Smackdown. I’m badly hoping it’s the latter as I think there’s still plenty of life in Regal as a useful, contributing member of the roster.

Jimmy and Jey Uso: WWE doesn’t care about tag teams. They are a tag team. May not be a bright future for them.

And finally, Alicia Fox comes over on the Diva side. Probably better, Smackdown is thin on heel women, especially with LayCool splitting up and one of them presumably coming out on the wrong side of a Loser Leaves Smackdown match at Extreme Rules.

PHEW. There it is, my analysis of every roster member moving around Monday and Tuesday in the 2011 WWE Draft.