Thanks for the Fish

Watch them book Punk to turn him MITB for an IC title shot.... Also regarding DH Smith as the potential mystery partner - recall that when there was talks of the Hart Foundation v2.0 that Teddy Dibiase was always linked as part of it. Means nothing really but the writers have pictured them together previously.

It seems that the SD! womens title will not be crowned tonight which is too bad as I think it would have added certain prestige. I really am in favor of getting a women's title on SD! to give the girls something to do other than stand around and look damn fine( not that there is anything wrong with that). I do wish that SD! would have got another wrestling woman from Raw in the draft, maybe Jillian Hall as her bad singer gimmick has ran it's course and she's a pretty good wrestler. I might have moved Victoria to Raw in that she seems pretty played out on SD! it's too bad because I think she could have been built up as a real challenger for Beth Phoenix if given a push. Cherry is a indie wrestler, though she hasn't really impressed me in the ring to tell you the truth. Victoria and Nattie or course are wrestlers, Michelle McCool is actually getting pretty good and seems dedicated. Maryse and Alicia (the wedding planner) have both been training in wwe developmental for years. Lucky SD! will probably without explanation add Ashley when she's due back from injury. Mickie vs Katie could be a really good match, though Mickie is sloppy at times. This is one match I'm actually interested in seeing. It's too bad Melina was hurt, because I liked the idea of a non-title womens division feud. When is Candace due back? I'd have Mickie go over here, but keep the feud with Katie front and center, so I guess it couldn't be a clean win, unless a roll-up or due to interference. There at least needs to be two title changes in my opinion. It will be interesting to see who of Edge or HHH drops the gold tonight. I think it would make more sense for HHH to lose the title to Cena, maybe with Edge costing HHH the title in some way. HHH wants Batista to go monster heel and eventually face Cena at WM, if that is the plan as of today it would make more sense for Cena to keep the title as well, because Batista could play the friendly face for the time being before finally heeling and demanding his shot at Cena in the fall. However Raw is short a top heel right now, Jericho is the defato top heel it seems, but he's tied up in a program with HBK and Lance Cade. Who does Cena feud with if he retains? Does Edge/Undertaker need the title? Ideally I'd keep the title on Edge and have HHH demand his shot, only for MVP to tell him to get in line behind him, which would lead to a feud between the two. I'll predict Edge and Cena walk out of NOC with the titles. But it could easily go the other way with HHH and Batista wearing the gold. Edge (with La Familia) after HHH for the title only to be side tracked by a returning Undertaker would make certain sense as well. There is also rumors that a certain "Edge and Alicia (the wedding planner) sex tape" will be discovered that will cause the Edge and Vickie break-up and Vickie face turn. Now HHH being behind this unveiling makes the most sense, however it would make more sense to use this to get Edge out from hiding behind GM Vickie and defend his title against HHH Anyways I'm rambling... Miz and Morrison better not drop their tag titles. I don't think they will because Dibiase and Mystery Partner should be beating Rhodes and Holly tonight. I think they mystery partner could still be DH Smith and the draft was just a smokescreen because it was expected. I initially hoped DH would stick on SD and team with TJ Wilson, as he has been doing in FCW lately, however while the powers that be recognize TJ Wilson as talented and that DH Smith is much more comfortable as a tag wrestler at this stage of his development, The Canadian Bulldogs forming in WWE doesn't seem likely. There was an idea that Dibiase would buy a draft pick during the draft that was eventually shot down - what if he just buys DH Smith from Vickie Guerrero outright? Dibiase and Smith win the tag titles tonight, and in a return match down the road Cody will turn on Holly and join them. Smith does add certain prestige to the Legacy stable as he is a Hart. So Miz and Morrison retain and DH Smith is the mystery partner and he and Dibiase win the titles from Rhodes and Holly. With Kane a Raw wrestler, he's dropping the strap. It just depends to whom, either Henry or Big Show. With the ECW move to Raw happening in the fall(if ever) either Show or Henry could win the title given the talent exchange agreement between the two brands. I think Henry should win it as he needs it more for credibility. Nobody on ECW could beat Big Show for it either. Chavo vs Matt Hardy is a crap match. Hardy is retaining. Jericho vs Mystery opponent - Jericho should retain. It shouldn't be HBK here, just some random match. Kofi Kingston maybe. An interesting possibility would be Paul London in that London did train under HBK, but he was a later class than Cade, and if this was the plan it would have been better to keep Spanky (same class as Cade) and ship London to SD!. To recap - Cena beats HHH for the title Edge retains over Batista Dibiase and DH Smith beat Cody and Holly Matt Hardy beats Chavo Mickie James defeats Katie Lea Miz and Morrison keep the titles over Finlay and Hornswoggle Jericho keeps his title. Mark Henry wins ECW title in Triple threat. Three title changes - Henry wins ECW, Dibiase and Smith wins Raw tags and Cena wins.

I don't think there is a belt issue. Kane drops the ECW title to one of Big Show(SD) or Mark Henry(ECW). One of HHH or Edge drops their title to give Raw a ME title. Miz/Morrison vs Finlay/Hornswoggle is an all-ECW match, as is Hardy vs Chavo, and both belts will likely be jobbed over to a SD! talent (via the talent exchange) before ECW moves (as will the ECW title on to an ECW talent if Big Show wins it at NOC).

Full article - http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2008/06/27/6006136.html I wonder if Santino talking about all of this means it wont happen. I'm betting the new girl will be developmental Milena Roucka if it still happens. The Bella Twins would make sense as well, but they have the whole twin angle to play. I'd rather see Santino taken a bit more seriously in the ring, however the head raw writer loves comedy and Santino is his pet project at the moment. I could see Nic Nemeth fitting in a Santino led and/or managed stable as well.

To piggyback off of the arrivals/departure prediction thread, there are rumors that tonights Raw will lay the groundwork for Draft '08, pegged to take place on April 21st, shich is a 3hr Raw broadcast. Of course Backlash is the 27th, so that date could be a problem, and they could hold the draft the night after Backlash. To Raw - CM Punk - This is strongly rumored right now and it makes a lot of sense. Somebody in the wwe brain trust is really high on Punk and wants him to be the face for the kiddies. Punk could have fresh feuds/matches with the whole of the Raw roster most importantly HHH, HBK, Cena, Orton, JBL, Jericho. That's almost two years worth of fresh feud potential. Montel Vontavious Porter - Much like Punk, it's because of his fresh feud potential, I guess you could say that about everybody. It will suck to see him leave SD! where he is used properly and he could end up like Ken Kennedy, but MVP vs HBK, MVP vs HHH, MVP vs Cena, MVP vs Orton are all money feuds. Matt Hardy vs MVP will culminate at Backlash (which would be a shame, as it once held so much promise). Finlay - He's basically already there anyways, but there really isn't anything for him on SD! and once he is a fresh feud for the aforementioned Raw top players. I'd personally love to see Cena work with him for awhile. Mark Henry - There was rumored a Umaga/Henry switch in the works, so this move was being considered. Kelly Kelly - VKM seems to think she has a lot of potential. They'll probably try and groom her for the Playboy spot this time next year. To SD! Umaga - Probably a lock. He's played out on Raw and does have fresh feuds waiting for him on SD! both in continuing his fued with Batista, and with The Undertaker down the line. Jeff Hardy - This will be his punishment of sorts, but also gives Hayes something back for poaching MVP, and gives Jeff a better support system. The Hardy Boyz could be treated much like DX is over on Raw, in the sometimes/special appearance tag-ups. DH Smith - Hayes wants a face tagteam. I think he'll put together a Bulldogs inspired team, hopefully with TJ Wilson. Smith is lost on Raw, is really too green for any individual push. Elijah Burke - Lost on ECW. Could be a solid midcard guy on the bigger roster. Mickey James - Just to switch things up for her. To ECW - Paul London - If Punk is off the show, they'll really need a face infusion. I'd like to see London given the chance to run with the ball here. Trevor Murdoch - Cade and Murdoch are played out, time to see if they can sink or swim as individuals. Kenny Dykstra - I think the kid could be a star, just needs the ringtime/exposure. Should get it in ECW's shallow roster Raw Upper Card - HHH, HBK, Cena, Orton, JBL, Jericho, Kennedy, MVP, CM Punk, Finlay SD! Upper Card - Undertaker, Edge, Batista, Big Show, Umaga, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy ECW Upper Card(?) - Kane, Benjamin, Morrison, Dreamer, London, Murdoch, Miz, Dykstra

Hell judging by the photo's up at gerweck I might have been fooled. Here are the look-a-likes pics - http://www.gerweck.net/news/1214529180.shtml

Vince doesn't like JR, but he has nobody to replace him with. If JR had any guts he would have quit years ago.

There is 5-6 black wrestlers down in FCW. Black Pain, Charles Evans, Imani Lee, Ryklon Stephens, Tyrone Evans are all under developmental contracts, I believe Bryan Kelly is as well. It's just that their website is horrid. The whole developmental is an utter fiasco. It boggles the mind how some company as big as the wwe can't run a developmental from the ground up.

I count the Torch and Observer because unless you pay you are not getting their news, so combine those two along with pwinsider and those are the "pay sites" I refer to. Now I'm not well versed on news/rumor sites but believe that the vast majority of fanboy news sites rip their news directly from one of those three pay sites. I could be wrong of course.

The rules Hate to be a hard ass, but if you don't source, everyone complains. I figure it better for me to say so now so that nobody bitches at you. Fair enough. This particular snippet I got from Rajah who credits prowrestling.net who credits Powell. So who gets credited - Rajah where I originally saw the "news", prowrestling.et, who Rajah credited or Powell who prowrestling.net credited? I think I'll just stay out of the news business. EDIT: Okay so Powell IS prowrestling.net? That what it seems like. Wasn't he at one of the pay sites before? Or is this a different Powell?

Likely poached from a pay site, so I'm not going to link the board I'm gleaning this from - I wonder how far they'll go with "de-savaging" Umaga considering he has went out of his way with tattooes to live the gimmick. Regarding Killings, that's good news as well because Kwik Killings was a horrid name. I'm surprised TNA didn't have "The Truth" trademarked. There was a rumor that Killings could debut teaming with D'Lo, I don't know how much I'd like that. Killings is a shit rapper though, hopefully they don't go that route with him.

Maybe they were told to get the ratings up by the new network and then moving to Thursday would be something they'd consider. I think moving SD! back to Thursdays would be a boon for TNA, because you'd have a wwe wrestling audience that could better be enticed to flip to TNA, during commercials or whenever, whereas to get them to go out of their way to watch TNA is a much tougher sell.

I'd be much more excited about SD! if HHH wasn't there. Of course they wouldn't have had this killer "draft" if HHH wasn't there. Maybe HHH could blow another quad or something...

Raw is without a Gm right? ECW and Raw merge with Long being GM.

Tazz has to be PISSED!!!!!11!! He should rant and rave in a blog like JR to get his ego stroked.

So ECW has Miz, Morrison, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourn, Tommy Dreamer, Finlay, Colin Delaney, Nunzio, Boogey Man and Stevie Richards?

How will they explain the draft for SD! this week? Same deal as Punk appearing on ECW without anything said? Assume to be their final match sorta deal?

Layla is actually really improving in the ring. I'm surprised it wasn't Kelly Kelly though. One more pick to go?

I wonder if they'll just completely fold ECW into Raw, and just have Raw "3rd Watch" or something on Tuesdays.

Carlito to SD!

Carlito to SD! Another tag team (of sorts) broken up. Carly would have rather stayed on Raw after seeing how this draft is going.

Long is going to end the talent sharing agreement with Vicki and sign one with Raw to explain the new taping schedule. With ECW being taped on Mondays, I wonder if we could get a live SD! airing down the line...

Dammit Finlay to ECW. Means more silly hijinks from the Belfast Brawler I guess... No money matches waiting Finlay on ECW really. Would have been better suited heading to Raw for HBK, Punk, Jericho etc.

Haas is dangerously close to being "endeavored". Benjamin can be a player on SD! I mean he wouln't look out of place in the ring with MVP, Umaga, Finlay, Big Show and even HHH, Undertaker and Edge.

Shelton Benjamin to Smackdown. Not bad. SD! is getting stacked. See HHH heading there was a good thing. You knew one of Kofi or Shelton were moving after last nights extreme rules blow-off. It was good while it lasted. Last pick in the draft will be Raw gets ECW talent sharing contract!