The concept of a yearly draft lottery has always intrigued me, it offers up a real dose of unpredictability that, at times, the WWE lacks. Last year's draft was great, but in retrospect it has lost some of its luster. IT was a one-night shot, HHH never ACTUALLY left Raw, and Smackdown was Neutered beyond repair. This year, we have seen 2 picks per show and so Far things seem to be as even as we can expect from the WWE, although I believe Smackdown has, yet again, gotten a "Raw" deal.

Raw picking up the WWE Champion John Cena and perennial upper card superstar Kurt Angle has left Smackdown pretty much directionless. Smackdown picked up Chris Benoit and Randy Orton-both big name guys and former World Heavyweight Champions-but neither truly impact players as of late. Benoit has lost much of his luster since losing to Orton at Summerslam, and Orton is hurt and won't be back full time until October. While Orton is an Obvious pet project of Vince and Co. his fan reaction isn't all that hot outside of the 14 and younger female set. So This begs the question...Is Smackdown doomed for good this time, or are we in for a few more big shockers in the young draft lottery of 2005?

Many speculate that Christian or even Chris jericho will be moved to Smackdown after dethroning John Cena at Vengeance, thus restoring the WWE Championship to Smackdown. Others say we will see either Triple H or Batista-whoever wins- moved after the hell in A Cell Match, essentially swapping belts to the opposite show. A third school of thought has recently crossed my mind, however.

Smackdown has floundered for much of the last 2 years, mainly due to the company's own view of the show as a "B" show. Could we be witnessing the last days of the Smackdown Brand? On this week's television-coming off of a Red Hot ECW Pay per View, very little mention was made of it on Raw, Smackdown, on the other hand, started off the show with a long-winded "shoot" promo about ECW by our beloved JBL. Could this be the first sign of an ECW "invasion"---now, I know you just cringed, I did too, and I'm sorry for using that word, but what if...what if, Vince sees those dollar signs in his eyes? Maybe Vince looks at the success of ONS and Paul Heyman and says..BINGO! What if ECW wins? With Smackdown moving to Friday's this fall on UPN it would be a bit of a Hardcore Homecoming (Sorry Mr. Douglas, Mr. Borash) for our beloved Black and Purple crusaders, wouldn't it?

Til next time,

Gabe