So if Edge is a heel again where does that leave him with Jericho?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Sunday was the blowoff match to their feud. I imagine they'll be kept apart for the most part on Raw.

Randy Orton is just horrible as a babyface. He has a negative connection with the fans. God forbid you show a little fire or charisma, Randy.

so by my count, the only ones left on smackdown is swagger, cm punk, christian, kofi, mysterio, big show, and mvp and cody rhodes through the supplemental draft. undertaker was only back for a night because the wwe was short for raw. not a lot of star power, but at least we'll be treated to some quality wrestling.

morrison will officially now be jobber to the stars, as far as i can tell. edge, jericho, cena, orton, sheamus on Raw will dominate the action.

maybe trips will head to smackdown when he comes back. who knows. but Raw is LOADED.

or maybe NXT rookies will head to smackdown after that show is done.

I wouldn't get ahead of the angle here and conclude that Edge is definitely back to being a heel yet. There could be an explanation given next week to let him save face and remain one.

At least I'd hope so! Edge is stale as a heel, and he has no credibility as a heel champion.

Albeit, all of Edge's feuds are stale too except a program with Randy Orton (although I wouldn't mind seeing Edge/Jericho play out another month or two).

Hmmm, I'm beginning to think that if Edge is in fact a heel again, then WWE would be better off letting TNA pick him up.

I think Edge might be a face with the heel tendencies like Orton is. I like the idea of having 2 or 3 of them go at it.

When is MIZ going to defend the US Title? In other words, when was the last he DEFENDED it?
Where's Cody Rhodes??
Did I hear Lawler call David Hart smith, the British Bulldog during his match?

Two quick questions: How in the world did Miz and Show fake that punch? It looked painfully real on tv. And was it me, or did Morrison slap Swagger for real when they were on the apron?

" I really don’t understand why WWE doesn’t want to put these guys in a program together..."

Here's a hometown analogy for you...Matt vs. Jeff Hardy is to Albert Belle as Edge vs. Christian is to all the big time free agents Angelos has failed to try to spend on since.

At 1 time the O's/Angelos spent $$$ out the whazoo (pretty sure they are the last team to outspend the Yanks). Then Albert Belle came along, a bad luck injury hit, he didn't pan out & the O's have been gun shy ever since. I think WWE is the same way. Matt vs. Jeff should've/could've been a year's worth of PPVs. 1 so-so match @ WM killed it. So WWE is now scared to do a similar storyline.

I'm hoping that Christian going to Smackdown can open up a feud between him and Punk. The times that they have been paired up have been excellent (In-ring and verbal confortations).

I thought the line of the night was the King's comment on Joey Styles. He said something to the extent that "Joey Styles is going to be drafted to future endeavors"

To me, the biggest surprise was that both Jericho and Edge switched. I was sure that the last pick was going to be Punk; he is, after all, just about the hottest thing going, and feuds with Cena, Orton, Hunter when he returns would all seem fresh. Jericho has feuded with all of them in the recent past, and let's face it, much as we love him, we know Jericho isn't going over any of them. It's not his way.

I wonder now if Jericho might be in line for a face turn as well, if Edge has indeed gone back to the dark side (and I'm not convinced of it yet, since Cole and the other dummies didn't really sell it like that) that would make the heel side on Raw too strong. Jericho's certainly due for a face push; his "last honest man" character has just about run its' course, and he's starting to get a little too much of a babyface pop. That way, if Edge has turned, they can keep the animosity between them alive without keeping an angle that's played out going.

The two guys I thought were most in need of a switch, Christian and Kofi, went. Christian's been misused terribly since coming to Raw; I don't think he's cut a promo since he got there, which is kind of like having Velvet Sky not turn around. You've got to put your best assets forward. He's never going to be just another midcarder, because the fans don't view him in that way, but he's never going to get a shot at the top with the big boys on Raw. On Smackdown he'll probably be one of the top babyface challengers to Swagger.Kofi had a rough year, going from borderline main-eventer in a big feud to babyface bridge for the heels to beat up before they got to their intended target. Oh, and he got called "stupid" in between. On Smackdown he'll get a chance to get his heat back.

BTW, was it me, or did the crowd seem to just die at some point? They were really hot at the start, and popped huge for the tag title switch, but by the main event they were dead. I think it was somewhere in the Morrison/Swagger match that they went to sleep. That can't be a good sign.

Ziggler picking up Hornswoggle by the neck was pretty dangerous looking. First an attack on Josh Matthews, and then this; it kind of reminds me of Sheamus getting heat by attacking the time keeper and whatnot.

I think Edge attacked Orton because he got the title shot against Swagger instead of Edge.

They are certainly clearing the path for McIntyre on Smackdown. It may not be right away but with most of the main event talent on Raw- which I have no idea how they will manage- it's only a matter of time before "The Chosen One" gets put in the World Title picture.

I also assume that the winner of NXT will go after the World Title, since there is no way anyone will believe he will beat Cena- unless Daniel Bryan wins and goes after Miz but I don't see that him winning NXT based on the last few weeks (bigger pushes for Otunga, Barrett, and Slater)

Raw obviously got the better end of the draft and now appears loaded with title contenders. How much of this do you think is an attempt to deliver a death blow to TNA?

I thought Cena's best line was "And that's why I wrestle in jean shorts" after pulling out his cell phone.

Also - Sunday night when Cena came out at the PPV, he looked at the camera and said "Home of Natty Boh!" Thought that was pretty cool (even if it is technically incorrect now)

Why dont they have more Tweeners in WWE?? or in Wrestling period?? I think a good 2-3 Tweeners in a compnay is good for business, as they can fight EVERYONE on the roster... I think both Randy Orton and Edge could be perfect Tweeners, esp Orton.

P.S. :Kane is a Tweener, and it wokrs well for him....

I guess Big Show and Miz don't get a re-match for the titles. By the way, does Big Show get drafted every year. I have a hard time keeping track of these drafts when they'll just go to any show at random anyway. Jericho might as well have been on the Raw roster most of last year. I was hoping for an Edge, Christian program too. But it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon.

"Did I hear Lawler call David Hart smith, the British Bulldog during his match?"

I didn't hear that but I did hear him say Baby Bull.

It looks like Punk, Swagger, and McIntyre will be given the chance to headline Smackdown.

So Raw now has no less than 7 any time legitimate top title guys and Smackdown has Taker?

Biggest loser of the draft - John Morrison.
From possible breakout on Smackdown to probable jobber to the top guys on Raw. Fantastic.

"The deal in which Hart had to acknowledge that ShowMiz was the greatest tag team of all time was handled well. After honoring the stipulation, Hart then sarcastically said that he also thinks The Mountie is the greatest Intercontinental champion of all time and David Arquette is the greatest world champion."

When I heard those words come out of Bret's mouth I had to wonder...did Vince Russo come back to the WWE?

I was lucky enough to be at the Extreme Rules PPV in Baltimore and the Draft in Richmond. Both shows were fun to attend but it's funny how different the crowds reacted for some of the superstars. With that said, there is a reason that Cena is the face of the WWE despite what the internet community says. The live audience goes nuts for the guy. I'm not sure the ratio of love or hate but they were screaming loud at both shows. That is why he is champ. Plus, he was pretty funny in Richmond and the PPV finish was unique and entertaining.

I did notice the almost zero reaction in Richmond for Swagger. It was kind of uncomfortable. This is probably due to the horrible booking as of late but its not good to hear crickets chirping when the World Heavyweight Champion arrives. Orton was great but the crowd was getting restless in Baltimore with the lack of "extreme" in the extreme rules match.

I agree the strap match was pretty bad but it was crazy hearing that strap pop when it was used. JTG should be the break out star of the two. He is very talented in the ring.

Bret and THD got great reactions in both arenas. I'm glad they got the tag titles, but if there is only one team whats the point. With MizShow broke up, which I'm not opposed to, there isn't much competition. The Miz is on track to be a big breakout star. No one is better on the mic right now and he is above most in the ring.

The crowd was going crazy for CM Punk in Richmond. Loud chants for Punk in his match were heard during his match. I'm not sure if the "mystery man" was Mercury or not but he almost ran me over trying to get out of the ring side area. Whoever it was did have a shaved head but I don't think I could pick him out of a police line up.

The Mickie chants were pretty cool in Richmond although I thought they would have more through out the show rather than just the Diva's match.

I think the reason Raw came out so strong in the Draft was the current ratings. They need to be stacked to do better than they have in recent weeks. This does give some different guys a chance to shine on Smackdown if they were smart.

I thought it looked like Edge might not be a total heel as it looked like he had something to explain on the next Raw. He didn't come across as the devilish heel he used to play even if he did cost Orton the match.

Overall both shows were fun despite the WWE's lack of good booking as of late.

Why dont they have more Tweeners in WWE?? or in Wrestling period?? I think a good 2-3 Tweeners in a compnay is good for business, as they can fight EVERYONE on the roster... I think both Randy Orton and Edge could be perfect Tweeners, esp Orton.

P.S. :Kane is a Tweener, and it wokrs well for him....

I agree with Jason, this is not a good move for Morrison. He never really was able to break out and move to the top of the card on Smackdown, and there's no chance he'll do so on Raw. His character just doesn't work well as a face; they'd be better off turning him back. Also, putting him on Raw is only going to remind people that the Miz has actually somehow managed to outshine his tag team partner, despite all logic suggesting the opposite would be true. Maybe they're hoping to get a bit of his heat back by having him feud with the Miz. They'd be better off teaming them back up.

The draft pretty much made sense to me, well other than the JTG "mistake." I mean honestly, his first appearance on either show would have been mid-ring with no intro and Cole/Grisham could explain in 10 seconds how he was traded for a 6ft sub that went in the catering area.

Other random thoughts I had were that Edge's turn is about as buzz worthy as RVD winning the TNA World Title (0.5? Ouch). His constant injuries are a message from God, "you're not interesting...at all."

I was also thinking as the human light bulb walked to the ring about how Jack Swagger dropped the chest pounding part of his gimick. Two guys wanted it to be their trademark, but only one got to keep it. One guy has obviously done it before the other made everyone look for their Brett Hart sunglasses to protect their eyes at live events, but instead WWE went to the Who-Do-You-Know Tiebreaker. One superstar's biggest backstage supporter is Good Ole JR and the other's is HHH. I just can't imagine why that didn't work out better for Swagger.

Lastly, the whole guest host thing makes as much sense as the plot to the MacGruber movie. Since last week MacGruber mentioned that he was told by Vince what the main event would be. Then Cena could take over this week without Vince and next week Wayne Brady will just be confused about why there is a gorilla behind the curtain instead of a zonk.

I'm kind of looking forward to Wayne Brady next week. I'm hoping for the heel "Wayne Brady's gonna have to choke a bitch" version and not the "I'm from former Royal Rumble entrant Drew Carey's horrendous improv show and about to do a scene where I can only use words that start with the letter A."

Ok Great review!
My Points:
1. Most importantly, the Raw Dominance of having Cena, Edge, Orton, Jericho, Triple H (though injured) and Sheamus. With HHH injury, Edge turning heel just leaves Cena and Orton as the babyfaces. Jericho changing character will be good but will seem suddenly too radical, of having Jericho now babyface and Edge heel, just after Edge blowed their rivalry as a babyface.
2. With Undetaker not always on Smackdown! due to its age, there is no stars more. CM Punk will definitely be now te top heel. It will be completely awkward to see a switch in Big Show's character. The main objective for Smackdown will now be to push new superstars to new horizons like Kofi, McIntyre, Christian, Rhodes, Swagger and MVP. Good to see a show boosting so many fans request of having more charismatic young wrestling stars. It would not surprise me the future NXT winner lands into Smackdown!
3. Just hope that Sheamus do not get lost into the RAW stars crowd.
4. Million Dollar belt will perhaps get some importance now and US title gets back into play with Miz losing his Tag Team titles. Good!
5. Ziggler's loss to Hornswoggle doesn't put him sadly in the list that WWE will push in Smackdown.
6. I do not really think that Morisson with be a jobber on RAW as I think that he will be getting more push from WWE as a tag team with R-Truth. Yes, its surely not the breakout push.
7. Finally, I also heard that Joey Mercury signed a WWE contract and i'm pretty sure that he will be introduced as the Extreme Rules intruder who will like to devote himself to Straight-Edge. Sadly for Darren Young, the vacant place for a push in the SES will be booked.

John Cena stole the mic show with his line on Sheamus on the also-talented Miz. I'm surprised though that despite being WWE champion [RAW World champ], Cena has not fought for RAW Draft picks.
The Draft now has no real purpose as sometimes supertars just change Brands by themselves. At least, it has the merit to leave us confused!

A few words:

I like that Swagger brought up his academic education in finance. I still want to see him be more cocky but it'll be good if he keeps adding layers to his persona.

I was surprised and hugely pleased at the crowd reaction to THD winning the tag titles, it really feels like they're an important title in good hands right now in terms of crowd reaction.

I think Raw got the better end of the draft because they lost Shawn Michaels and are about to lose Batista.

Finally I want to say something about John Cena that's not specifically regarding this episode but it was demonstrated in the show:

John Cena, as far as I can tell, loves the WWE more than possibly anyone ever has in the history of the business. And he has more fun doing his job, in every aspect, than anyone I've seen.

People can say whatever they want about John Cena's abilities on the mic (which he has so much fun with that I always enjoy his promos even if they're written silly), they can say whatever they want about his in-ring ability, his kid-friendly appeal, whatever - John Cena overflows with a legitimate love for the WWE as a business and for every fan out there, even the ones who don't like him.

When I was a little kid, Hulk Hogan was that super hero type character that always told us to take our vitamins and stay in school blah blah blah. That has tarnished over the years learning about Hogan's personal life. John Cena strikes me as a kid who saw Hogan as a young man and really wanted to be like him - to not just be a star but be a role model. Except I believe he does it so much better than Hogan ever did.

Cena is a man who gives and gives and gives and seems to carry no ego about it, he drips with gratitude for where he is in his life. He doesn't even need to say it, it's all over his face every moment.

Is he my favorite 'character' in WWE? No - that would be Orton (whose current tweener status is exactly where I always wanted him). But John Cena is my favorite person in WWE. In or out of the ring, in or out of WWE, the man is so full of joy and so full of passion for what he does.

I come from a performance background - I'm a dancer myself - and my entire family is filled with actors and performers (a large part of my fascination with wrestling is their ability to tell stories through body-language and facial expression while "fighting").

There is an axiom in performance that says that if the performer enjoys what they do, the audience will enjoy watching them do it.

There is no one in WWE currently, and I would argue ever in professional wrestling, that enjoys doing what he does more than John Cena.

Kevin thoughts?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I think you said it all. Well done.

Actually, wasn't some of Edge's heel turn teased at Extreme Rules when he brutally attacked Jericho's foot?

It seemed to me that we were supposed to have a bit of sympathy for Jericho as he was nearly in tears while Edge went a bit overboard. I even thought I heard some crowd boos.

What do you think, Eck?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I didn't feel that way, as I thought it was just Edge giving Jericho was he deserved since Jericho went after Edge;s injured ankle.

"When Edge was drafted to Raw, one of my first thoughts was that we can now get either an Edge-Christian feud or a reunion – perhaps both. But then Christian was drafted to Smackdown. I really don’t understand why WWE doesn’t want to put these guys in a program together. …"

I'm disappointed that those two aren't going to be on the same show too, but based on Swagger's reaction when Christian walked out I can see the probable logic behind the decision.

The first championship belt Swagger ever held was the ECW title. Christian was the guy who finally beat him for that title. So when Swagger got an "oh no" look on his face, he was probably thinking "Crap, that guy got the better of me all the time when we were on ECW together, and now he's going to be on the same brand as me. He's probably going to want to challenge me for my title, and I've never been able to beat him before!"

If this leads to Christian winning a world title, I'm cool with that; he's earned it and has never held anything more important than the IC strap during his time with WWE. Which is not to say that I don't want to see Swagger built up more, and back to back clean wins over Orton and Morrison is a good start to repairing the damage done by all of those losses. If WWE creative is smart they'll have him defend the title against somebody other than Christian at the next PPV. Let's say Big Show. If Swagger can defeat Show, he'll have cemented himself as a proven main eventer, and then the feud with Christian can start and he can ultimately drop the belt to Christian.

Kev, is there real life heat between Bret Hart and Jacques Rougeau? I know their characters feuded, but it just seemed like of the 100+ men (including Chyna) who have held the IC strap, there were more embarrassing and less-deserving wrestlers than The Mountie to pick on.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I believe Bret wrote about Rogeau being somewhat of a jerk in his book.

To Xelpzat who said above that WWE won't pair Edge and Christian together because they are afraid it'll be a bust like Matt vs. Jeff was...

I really don't think that's the case. I think it all boils down to the fact that Vince McMahon doesn't view Christian as a major league player and that he doesn't have any business being in a storyline with Edge. During their tagteam days, these two were midcarders (upper midcarders at best). Edge is a money player now. Christian went to TNA. That, coupled with the fact that Vince doesn't really see much in him, is the reason why we won't see this feud.

Is it just me, or have the Intercontinental & United States championships been forgotten about? Someone made a good point above...when WAS the last time they were defended?

I have to agree, I didn't see Edge's SPEARing of Orton to be his heel rebirth. I can see this as the beginning of Edge, week-after-week, going after the top guys until he's in the title picture. I say Sheamus gets it next week. And by 'it', I mean a SPEAR.

Show clearly turned. He was playing to the crowd hard when he got drafted.

Draft picks were overly predictable, but in a good way - WWE clearly identified a lot of talent who the audience also considered stale on their current brand - Truth, Kofi, Edge, Show, even Kelly Kelly. I would say the one move I really don't understand is Y2J. He's basically carried Smackdown for the better part of a year (along with Punk - who I thought was coming to RAW for sure). Let's face it, Jericho can make ANY program he's involved in successful. That's why I felt he has more to offer a brand that needs him, in Smackdown.

I'm loving every Matt Striker/King exchange. It seems like they really don't like each other.

One good thing to come out of the draft: with Chris Jericho gone and Edge making his heel turn after being drafted to RAW, it leaves CM Punk as unquestionably the top heel on Smackdown.

I thought the mid-air codebreaker on Christian was a PPV quality "holy s...t" spot. I was very surprised Jericho busted it out on free TV.

I also agree with you, Kev: I was impressed with Sheamus. Monday was the first time he looked relaxed enough in the ring, both in action and on the mic, to make me believe he could hang with the main-eventers. I actually think Cena/Sheamus could be a good, fresh program after Batista leaves.

I doubt Show's punch to Miz was a shoot. Yes, the replay showed that there was actual contact, but it also looked like Miz rolled with the punch. I think they just wanted it to look as real as possible. A full impact bare-fisted punch would have left Miz with missing teeth and Show with fractured knuckles.

I was actually at the show Monday night...really good show for the $45 tickets I had.

Why is it that they've "unified" the tag team titles? They should go back to having 2 seperate tag team champions on the two seperate shows...

I'll be glad if edge goes to the dark side again.i'm not buyingbuying him as a babyface at all. i wanna be the only one who loves him in the ring

I find it really stupid that all the top superstars are on raw. Smackdown is just a total disaster, only christian and punk are recognisable.

i was so disappointed that edge got drafted before anything happened between him and vickie(i was really dying for some action between them).

i feel edge is going to fade into the others on raw. Smackdown was meant for him. Now he will hardly get title shots and he will be messin with them superstars,cena,hhh,orton,sheamus,jericho its just too much.

I think if jericho turns into a babyface that it going to be SO STUPID becoz who doesnt want to hear him call the audience gelaptenous tapeworms,germ incubators,hypocrites,parasites? All that adds flavour to the wwe.

I'm really starting to become a "cena-hater" now.who gave him the permission to host raw just because there wasnt a guest host? who gave him the right to just come out and tell you your the luckiest man on earth after winning a title and that your not championship material.

I'm sorry KnightKIJ but john cena thinks he something special.And by the way he is not the most passionate about the wwe, edge is, he has the most come backs after injuries in the history of the wwe.FACTS!