These last two picks and the final match are going to have to be pretty darn great to get me into a good mood. Lucky for me, they are.

Match/Draft Pick #9 and #10
The last match is a 15-man Royal Rumble with 5 representatives from each brand. RAW looks pretty stacked but since pre-match RAW had 4 wrestler picks, SmackDown 2, and ECW 1 it’s clear that a SmackDown fighter is going to prevail.

The competitors have matching T-shirts which Mrs. Jabandgrapple thinks are darling. It’s a pretty good Royal Rumble highlighted by a vicious clash of heads between Batista and Edge. Batista’s head is gashed open and he oozes blood. The Animal is dazed for about five minutes before Big Show mercifully lifts him over the top rope. Batista clearly has a concussion. Let’s hope he can fight on Sunday.

The last four competitors are John Cena (RAW), HHH (RAW), Big Show (SmackDown) and Edge (SmackDown). Big Show is a perennial Royal Rumble favorite since he’s approximately 2,000 pounds. This doesn’t deter the RAW tandem who gang up on him and flip him over the top rope. Edge spends much of this time prone on the canvas. He too looks a little dazed and might also have a concussion from the Batista clash of heads.

Cena and HHH can’t contain their anger and attack each other. Edge capitalizes on their impetuousness and knocks them both out of the ring.

After the match and after Vince McMahon gives away $500,000 the stage collapses around him, he’s trapped, and finally wheeled out by EMT staff. We’re thinking amnesia or an altered personality as an excuse to stop giving away the money.

SmackDown Draft pick #1: Mr. Kennedy

Draft Grade: B+ The RAW stable was getting crowded and Kennedy is poised for bigger and better things on SmackDown.

SmackDown Draft pick #2: Triple H

Draft Grade: A- The snarling Cerberus of Orton-HHH-Cena has finally been separated. Thank heavens! The Night of Champions title matches just go a lot more interesting. I say Batista brings the World Heavyweight Championship to RAW while Triple H retains the WWE Title and takes that to SmackDown.

Overall Analysis: B-
The 2008 WWE Draft made a pretty big statement by moving Triple H away from RAW. That could sufficiently shake up the boring re-match PPV scene all by itself. Most of the picks turned out to be swaps of similar wrestlers. The brand landscapes haven’t changed that much.

Who wins the swaps, we wondered:

Rey Mysterio (RAW) vs. Jeff Hardy (SmackDown): PUSH
CM Punk (RAW) vs. Mr. Kennedy (SmackDown): SmackDown
Batista (RAW) vs. Triple H (SmackDown): RAW
Kane (RAW) vs. Umaga (SmackDown): RAW by a nose

So RAW wins by a nose but overall I’d have to give the edge (pardon the pun) to SmackDown.

The real loser was Matt Hardy and the ECW. Matt doesn’t have the ability to headline a brand like Kane or his brother. We can only hope that ECW’s dearth of draft picks means a talent import from other wrestling promotions.

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

WWE Draft 2008 Picks #9, #10 and Overall Analysis