The WWE is set to make some roster shifts, as it has been announced by sources that the upcoming 3-hour RAW on 6/11 will be the 2007 Draft Lottery. This will create a ton of buzz, as to what wrestlers will be making the switch, and if nothing else, this show will be one of the must see RAW’s of the year. In year’s past, the draft has been a great source of buzz for the company, and it will be interesting to see what direction they go with this one.
Two years ago, they did a lottery with both champions trading brands, as John Cena went from SmackDown to RAW with the WWE title, while on the final night of the trades, as it lasted several weeks, Batista went from RAW to SmackDown with the World Heavyweight Title. While I don’t expect them to do that kind of radical switch again, they will have a few big names trade brands, as its the only way to really create some new feuds.
The first draft lottery took place shortly after WrestleMania 18, when they were making the two brands, RAW and SmackDown, their own. It was done between the two GM’s at the time – Vince McMahon for SmackDown and Ric Flair for RAW. That had to be done since they wanted each brand to be on its own, and not have wrestlers on both shows anymore.
Now the shows are a bit different, as we have wrestlers, like Matt and Jeff Hardy, on RAW on Monday and then back on SmackDown on Friday. In other words, the strict past of guys or gals not being on both shows as much has been thrown out the windows the past few months. Now with the draft, it will be interesting if they go back to having wrestlers appear on just one show.
There has been some names bantered about as moving brands for quite some time. The two that appear most likely to move would be Chris Benoit from SmackDown to RAW, and Randy Orton from RAW to SmackDown. After that, I would not be stunned to see Mr.Kennedy move from SmackDown to RAW, and a fourth guy that could make the move based on the recent past would be C.M. Punk making the jump from ECW to SmackDown. Just a hunch on each one, but one thing is for sure – more than a few guys will be on the move.
