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Last night's 2008 WWE Draft presented many exciting and surprising moments, but it was the conclusion of the show which received the most attention.
The Million Dollar Mania contest continued, as Vince McMahon awarded five-hundred thousand dollars to a lucky fan near the evening’s conclusion. Following the giveaway, the Raw set began to collapse and Vince was injured when a metal production structure fell on top of him (apparently to mark the one-year anniversary of 2007‘s Draft limousine explosion). The show closed with the WWE Chairman telling Triple H, “I can’t feel my legs”, setting the stage for a paralysis/attempted murder angle.
Chris Jericho cut a promo and presented a video package of Shawn Michaels betrayals, beginning with the Marty Jannetty Barber Shop incident in 1992. Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy graduate Lance Cade appeared on the TitanTron and said he was aware HBK would pretend to be his friend until one day turning on him as well. Michaels’ music played and Shawn hit the ring to brawl with Jericho. As the two battled on the arena floor, Y2J pulled Michaels into an announce table and apparently re-injured his damaged eye.
It’s a shame that the McMahon incident had to overshadow what was arguably the company’s most significant draft since the original brand split in 2002. Each pick meant something and there were no mid-to-lower level wrestlers involved.
I’m sure many fans will be less than receptive to the Jim Ross/Michael Cole trade, but I feel it could be a refreshing change to both Raw and Smackdown. Obviously, Cole is no J.R., but I find nothing wrong with shaking up the announcing scene after so many years. Besides, if the experiment is a flop, Ross and Cole can easily be returned to their respective shows via next year’s Draft or some sort of angle.
Depending on your opinion, Night of Champions has either garnered more intrigue following this show or become a complete mess. With both World Champions now technically competing on the same program and Edge‘s PPV challenger traded to Raw, I think it’s safe to assume that one titleholder will be dropping his belt on Sunday. My money is actually on Triple H, but either way, I expect a Hunter-Edge program in the very near future.
Match Results: WWE Champion Triple H over Mark Henry via pinfall in a non-title match … Finlay and Hornswoggle over Santino Marella and Carlito via Hornswoggle’s pinfall on Marella … World Tag Team Champions Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes over Bam Neely and Chavo Guerrero via Holly’s pinfall on Chavo … WWE Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison over The Hardy Boyz via Morrison’s pinfall on Matt … WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James and Melina battled Victoria and Natalya to a double-disqualification … John Cena over World Champion Edge via countout in a non-title match … MVP over Tommy Dreamer via pinfall … JBL over Kofi Kingston via pinfall … World Champion Edge won a tri-branded battle royale.
Draft Results: Rey Mysterio to Raw … Jeff Hardy to Smackdown … CM Punk to Raw … U.S. Champion Matt Hardy to ECW … Jim Ross to Smackdown … Michael Cole to Raw … Batista to Raw … Umaga to Smackdown … ECW Champion Kane to Raw … Mr. Kennedy to Smackdown … WWE Champion Triple H to Smackdown.
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