WWE Draft Preview 2011

The WWE’s annual draft is this Monday, meaning things are about to be shaken up.  With the event rapidly approaching, today I’ll take a look at some guys who I feel are likely to change brands.  While Alberto Del Rio is a leading rumor now, I don’t see him jumping ship.  Although he’s been on Raw a lot already, I feel that he’s too important to the Smackdown brand to make the move.  I’ve heard rumblings of John Cena or the Miz changing shows as well, but I can’t imagine either of them being removed from WWE’s flagship program at this point.  Anything is possible in the WWE though, and we’ll find out who’s going where on Monday night.

For one, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cody Rhodes find himself on Raw in the immediate future.  I might be forming this opinion with my heart more than my head, but I feel like his feud with Mysterio has run its course and he’s due for a new beginning on a different show.  Feuds with John Morrison and Daniel Bryan seem like a likelihood to me, and maybe Rhodes could even help pull former partner Ted DiBiase from the gutter on Monday nights.  To counter this Raw draft pick, I could see Smackdown drafting the newly heel R-Truth.  Losing Rhodes is no small blow, but gaining another upper-midcard heel talent would certainly help soften it.  Smackdown is more geared towards kids than Raw, and I think that Truth is the kind of heel that will have an easier time generating heat from the younger crowd.  After over a year of wandering in Raw purgatory, it’s about time he finds himself a better role in the company anyway.  A few other possibilities, including one very big name, after the jump. 

The most established star I see changing shows next week is Randy Orton.  With Edge’s departure from the industry, Smackdown is in need of a major new good guy.  While I can’t see Cena making the transition, Orton is next in line.  His feud with Punk will have just about run its course after Extreme Rules, and there’s not much else for him to do on Raw.  He’s too recently removed from the WWE title scene to feud with The Miz again, although he’d be a fresh face to tangle with Alberto Del Rio on Fridays.  Smackdown could reciprocate by sending someone like the Big Show to Raw, since it wouldn’t be a huge loss for the show, and he could at least run a brief WWE Title feud with the Miz.

I think that both the Nexus and the Corre will be disrupted during this draft.  While I don’t think the groups will be totally disbanded, I do think that they’ll each lose a member.  Big Zeke to Raw and Mason Ryan to Smackdown seem like natural progressions for me.  They are both in line for singles pushes, and I feel like a brand switch could prevent their current allegiances from standing in the way.  I could buy Ryan continuing his feud with Orton upon their arrival on the blue brand before moving onto other things.  Zeke could get over on Raw either as a heel or a face, and he’d have a fresh set of feud partners either way.  I’d love an elongated rivalry between he and Sheamus.  Meanwhile, this would leave both the Corre and Nexus as three-man teams consisting of a leader and a tag team.

With his recent losing streak on Raw, I expect Evan Bourne to begin again on Smackdown.  He, like Truth, will have a much easier time getting over on WWE’s more kid-centric show.  I’d expect him to do a lot of teaming up with Rey Mysterio or Kofi Kingston, and to hop into a feud with Wade Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship almost immediately.  To offset the loss of Bourne, Raw seems likely to acquire Drew McIntyre.  I’m a big fan of McIntyre’s work and would love to see him “promoted” to Monday nights.  A reformation of the Celtic Connection would be cool, as would a feud with Sin Cara.

As with any draft, expect at least a couple of divas to change brands.  My money would be on Melina heading to Smackdown, due in no small part to her backstage antics.  It’s no secret that there’s been some heat on she and real-life boyfriend John Morrison recently, so I could see WWE splitting them up on the road as a disciplinary action.  If that’s the case, I would expect Beth Phoenix to replace her on Raw.  I’m tempted to pick Kelly Kelly as the Raw-bound diva, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it ended up that way, but I’m going with Beth due to the potential feud between she and the yet-to-debut Kharma, who I believe will be on Raw.

Wrapping the whole thing up will be Michael Cole heading exclusively to Smackdown.  I believe he and King need to be split up, and with his move to the Friday night show, King and JR will resume commentary duties on Raw.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cole step away from the table on Smackdown, leaving the announcing work to Josh Matthews and Booker T, and focus primarily on being the manager of Jack Swagger.  Since this isn’t a real pick, I don’t expect Raw would get much in return.  For the sake of it, I’ll say Brodus Clay to Raw.  Del Rio would be doing just fine with only Ricardo Rodriguez in his corner, so Clay is kind of expendable.  I could see him serving as the heel counterpart to Mark Henry on Raw, appearing as on oversized obstacle for the good guys to overcome to get themselves over.

So, now you know what I think might happen at this year’s draft.  What do YOU think?