The Blockbuster 15-man Trade
First, they needed this because RAW desperately needed some fresh new faces to get people to watch again. Smackdown has been the #1 brand since the draft occurred and well ECW was slightly moving above RAW as the #2 brand based on how exciting the storytelling has been on ECW post-draft. There were some surprises in the move as well as some not so great looking moves in my opinion. I'll try to look at each move with its own pros and cons.
Moving To Smackdown:
-Smackdown has been jam packed with talent. Now that Jericho and Edge are the Unified Tag Champs it gives them a chance to move amongst the three brands and have some fresh tag matches. I'm thinking it will eventually lead to Edge's face turn. But for now, we'll see.
With that said, Smackdown needs some IC title contenders now that Jericho and Mysterio is over. I hope so, the matches were some of the best in the past few years, but the story was horribly rewritten. Someone that benefits from this is a victim of what I've come to call the End of Vickie Guerrero Act of 2009, Matt Hardy. Hardy was getting lost in the shuffle over on RAW. His broken hand didn't help him out much either. It was a good angle that got killed once he failed to capture the US Championship. Matt should've won the title it would have added more heat to his already disliked character. But instead he's moved to Smackdown, a show where his brother is the main focus and a show he departed from less than 3 months ago.
Pro for Matt Hardy: IC feud with Rey again.
Con for Matt Hardy: He's going to be in the Jeff Hardy shadow yet again.
-Finlay: There's nothing to like or dislike. He's tweener status right now gets put to the side and he's back as a face I bet. He should've been the next contender for Dreamer's championship now he' going to be looking forward to a feud against possibly Dolph Ziggler.
Pro for Finlay: New feuds with the likes of Ziggler.
Con for Finlay: Lost opportunity to turn heel and face Dreamer for the ECW championship.
-The Hart Dynasty: The best thing going in ECW was how the overly choreographed stable was drawing heat for being the new generation's hart foundation. They were used properly in getting over and mixing it up with the right crowd. Though, with such a small roster on the brand they needed an upgrade. Their move to the #1 show screams volumes for the potential the WWE sees in them. They can draw the heat and they have the talent. The mouthpiece that is Natalya returns to the women's division, as well. Though she won't be a contender since McCool has the title, it's still better than noting.
Pro for The Hart Dynasty: New feuds and a bigger audience. Women's division.
Con for The Hart Dynasty: They're too green when it comes to their entrance. Instead of oozing with charisma they're oozing with disgust in showing how forced their act is.
Moving to ECW:
-The Gold Standard Shelton Benjamin: So, I take it his feud with R-Truth is over. Why Shelton Benjamin? Let him go after Rey Mysterio and the IC championship. He gets completely buried by John Morrison and now he's manhandled by R-Truth. With nothing to show for it. I'm trying to be optimistic in the fact that since the draft he's gotten more mic time and has been improving a bit more. Coming down the ring working the stick says that the WWE is trying to get this man over. For the longest time his stale mic work has kept him down but finally he's showing he can draw some heat. His delivery has been great. Having him feud with Truth was a smart move because Truth needs to get mic time to and they fed off one another. So, that takes me to what he'll be doing in ECW, the WWE's televised developmental brand. He'll be able to work more on the mic because on ECW you only have your promos and matches to get you over; Benjamin has the latter and will build his character more with the given chance to talk more. Yeah, he's been in ECW before and failed to win the ECW championship but this time around with Dreamer being the target I can see Benjamin coming out with some Silver.
Pro for Shelton Benjamin: Ability to talk his way to the ECW championship alá Jack Swagger.
Con for Shelton Benjamin: Chance to fight Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship.
-Goldust: The Raw comedic act is getting shifted to the land of extreme. It fits in terms of the PG rating to add the character of Goldust to ECW. Soon with Hurricane in full return it should add to some interesting backstage segments. Don't get me wrong though, Goldust can still go and will still be able to go as long as he doesn't get too out of shape. He can retire anytime but everyone needs to make a living. See Ric Flair. Anyway, Goldust had nothing going for him on Raw and at least in ECW he can put over some talent.
Pro for Goldust: Backstage segments and continuing to make a living.
Con for Goldust: Nothing really. He's at a point where he'll be the next Val Venis.
-William Regal: A move that works because there seems to be noone left for him to job too. I'm putting Regal into the group that has been affected by the End of Vickie Guerrero Act of 2009. Since the loss of Vickie Guerrero anyone associated with her prior to her departure no longer have a go to segment. Regal needed this because with her he gained the heat to be a contender for Kofi's US title. Though, since his loss in the Four Way at Extreme Rules and the next night on Raw he's had nothing to show for to be a contender w/out Vickie Guerrero. The move gives him a chance to be a world champion and the chance to be the #1 heel on a show that needs a veteran to help the new stars.
Pro for William Regal: ECW championship Silver.
Con for William Regal: not able to win the US championship.
-The Bella Twins: Never was a big fan. I actually started to like them when the WWE split them up during the Mizzorrison/Colons feud. That lasted all of two weeks and then, like everything else in the WWE, they dropped the storyline. Now the Bella's are on ECW and well are still bleh.
Pro for Bella Twins: A chance to shine as being 2/3 of the divas on ECW.
Con for Bella Twins: No championship shots.
Moving to Raw:
-Alicia Fox: She was given a trial run on TV with Edge and Vickie and was good for whatever she had done. Nothing special. She came out with DJ Gabriel and well didn't really get to show off anything other than that she could dance. She then got paired up with Michelle McCool and it helped her ten times more than before. Her pairing with McCool worked for both of them in that it gave McCool someone to do her dirty work as she was building up her legacy; and it allowed Fox some time so shine in the ring with the (then) WWE Women's Champion Melina. It showed that she could go toe-to-toe with the women's wrestlers. Her move to Raw is a bit mixed because her role with McCool worked so perfectly and I was looking forward to seeing her be the champions right-hand (wo)man. Now, she gets tossed over on Raw where she'll be used to put over Kelly Kelly and get to work with Mickie James.
Pro for Alicia Fox: more wrestling with great women's wrestlers (sans Kelly Kelly)
Con for Alicia Fox: A possible championship run after turning or being turned on by McCool
-Gail Kim: This woman has been lost in the shuffle since her return. She has been completely overlooked over on the Smackdown brand and now that McCool had won the title on that brand I was looking forward to a Kim/McCool feud for the championship. Instead, we get Kim moved to RAW where she, you would think, would be a shoe-in for a title shot against Maryse; however, now that James will be the #1 contender @ Night of Champions we can only expect James to win the title and further delaying Kim's eventual title reign. Unless, Kim turns heel in which case they would need another face to counterbalance Kim's heel turn and that would be Phoenix. Till then, I'm happy to see a future bout between Phoenix and Kim.
Pro for Gail Kim: Possible heel turn and we finally get Beth/Gail
Con for Gail Kim: Lost opportunity for a Gail Kim/Michelle McCool title feud.
-Evan Bourne: This moves surprises me. At first Bourne would be a perfect fit to fight Kofi for the US championship, so that's a plus. But the way things ended on Raw with the Big Show it seems like Show will be going after the US championship for the time being. So this leaves Bourne as a floater on Raw with no one to really take on. He was getting stale on ECW, with such a small roster over there and so many different characters needing a victory Bourne needed an upgrade because he couldn't afford to loose. At least on RAW he can go over the likes of The Brian Kendrick and Chavo Guerrero. Other than that he will need time to develop him as a viable title contender.
Pro for Evan Bourne: A future championship run with a title he'll be believable in winning.
Con for Evan Bourne: Not much here to point out, other than him having to wait a while for The Big Show to win the title first.
-Mark Henry: Well, I guess he's a face. This gives Henry's character a much needed facelift. He has done all he could on ECW and it doesn't seem as if he was going to win the championship again. His move to RAW gives him a chance to put over some talent (read: The Miz and Jack Swagger) and also gives him a chance to win the US Championship, once the Big Show takes it from Kofi. I have to admit, however, that his face turn was a complete shock to me. I didn't see it coming and I'm still quite flabbergasted that it did indeed happened. Also, the reaction he got was so shocking to me, I think that's why I'm a bit flabbergasted.
Pro for Mark Henry: A US championship run. A new role for him.
Con for Mark Henry: He looses Tony Atlas, which was the reason he's been so over as a monster heel over on ECW, IMO.
-Jack Swagger: This was the move I was the most excited about. If anyone from ECW needed an upgrade it was this man. Since the draft I admit I was preaching this man need not to be moving out of ECW until after next year's draft. But boy was I wrong. The move for him in one night has made him such a bigger star. The way he came out and stated that he wanted to make an impact was great. He not only drew so much heat for not wanting to wrestle the WWE Champion; but, gained some credibility because the fact that people wanted him to wrestle Randy Orton this past week on Raw shows how much people know this man will be holding the WWE Championship in the near future. I'm still wanting the WWE to go slow on this man's rise to the top. Too fast and it may backfire, though, if you wait too long it too might also backfire. This surprise move gives him a chance to go through the midtier level talent (now that Mark Henry is a face this should be interesting) like MVP and Kofi Kingston and possibly even capturing the US Championship in the process. When Batista and HBK return down the line the potential match ups that those two will bring to the table will just push Swagger beyond what he is now. I think a great HBK rub would put him over the top and ready him for a world championship. I think Swagger's first World title will come sometime after Mania 26, but I think this is the man everyone must watch post-trade. His rise to the top will be the best thing since Edge cashed in his first MITB and beat John Cena at New Year's Revolution.
Pro for Jack Swagger: He's arrived to the big leagues.
Con for Jack Swagger: Nothing. He's the future.
