WWE ready for draft lottery

So Vince McMahon is resorting to giving away money to bolster ratings, saying he’s going to give away the ‘sum’ of $1 million in the coming weeks? Since when did ‘Monday Night RAW’ become National Bingo Night? Silly me, I always thought we wrestling fans tuned in for something called WRESTLING! Granted, if I win a million bucks I’ll change my tune and take each and everyone of you out to J’s Restaurant for a rib eye, but myself, I tune in for the action and drama. While the McMahon million-dollar announcement will garner some media attention, the thing which got my attention is his announcement of the draft lottery, set for June 23 on ‘RAW.’ These lotteries are always interesting to me because they provide us with fresh feuds for the coming year when they are done right. First started when the brand extension began in 2002, when ‘RAW’ and ‘Smackdown’ became two distinct rosters. There have been four draft lotteries since that time, the last coming last year where, for the first time, all three brands including ECW were represented. The draft, while for the most part used to shuffle mid-carders around, has had its impact over the years, none greater than 2005 when then ‘Smackdown’ champion John Cena was moved to ‘RAW’ along with his WWE title while then ‘RAW’ champion Batista was moved to ‘Smackdown’ along with his World Heavyweight championship. What this did was shake up the rosters as Cena, fresh off his feud with John Bradshaw Layfield (hmmm, how some things never change given their pending match at ‘One Night Stand Sunday’) had new challenges such as Triple H at ‘RAW,’ while Batista, after his prolonged feud with Triple H on ‘RAW,’ was off to ‘Smackdown’ for classic showdowns with the Undertaker. While the draft lottery can be impactful, last year’s lottery was more of a stacking of ‘RAW’ than anything, as I suspect it will be this year given the planned move of ‘Smackdown’ from CW to the former UPN. Last year we had Bobby Lashley move from ECW to ‘RAW,’ dropping his ECW title with the move. Lashley has since crossed over to mixed martial arts. We also had Ken Kennedy come over but his trouble with the Signature Pharmacies controversy has left him just now digging out of the hole. We also had Chris Benoit drafted by ECW but that ended in tragedy with his murder/suicide occurring on the eve of his title shot for the ECW strap. And, before you say it, Edge was not a draft pick, he crossed over on his own after winning Money in the Bank from Kennedy and beating Undertaker, who was to be out with an injury. The big question going into next month’s draft will be what big names will cross over. We have feuds which are now becoming stale. First off, at ‘One Night Stand,’ we have Edge-Undertaker 4, we have Triple H-Orton 5, and Jeff Hardy-Umaga 3,042 it seems. Don’t even get me started on how long Matt Hardy and MVP have feuded on ‘Smackdown.’ Conventional wisdom is that we will have Undertaker coming to ‘RAW’ and Umaga going to ‘Smackdown.’ However, after that, it’s cloudy and likely still being discussed by the writers. With that said, here’s what I’d love to see come of the lottery. Since we all know Triple H will eventually go heel, let’s go all the way and reassemble Evolution by sending Batista to ‘RAW’ to join Trips and Orton, to be led, not by Ric Flair, who is now permanently a face, but instead someone like Eric Bischoff, William Regal (post suspension) or even the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. We even had ground laid Monday night when Orton told Trips that he ‘keeps HBK close to him because he knows Shawn Michaels can beat him.’ Let Michaels, John Cena, Jeff Hardy and Ken Kennedy, and maybe even C.M. Punk, be the chief faces that are tormented by Evolution and perhaps another heel stable compiled by JBL. Right there you’ve got major feuds enough for a year on ‘RAW.’ In closing don’t forget about the FTW show on June 7 at the Mega Market as they will build on the super show they had there last month. And, look next week as I discuss my new segment at the live FTW shows, Standard Protocol, in which I put myself in harm’s way to give you an inside look at local wrestling.