1 - Edge beats John Cena at Backlash to ensure Smackdown has a World-level Champion.
2 - CM Punk cashes in Money in the Bank at Backlash to ensure Smackdown has a World-level Champion.
3 - They unify the titles after Backlash (lol).
Since three is almost a lock not to happen, I think one of the two above will take place. The big question is, which one? Would they dare inject CM Punk into the top storyline to strip it of the title and maybe let the WWE Championship have its own thing going? If they were going to do that, then Randy Orton would have to win and take the fall, since you know Trips ain't laying down for CM Punk. He didn't lay down for Jeff Hardy; what makes you think he'd do the same for someone smaller, less tenured and less over?
That leads me to believe CM Punk will be the World Champion after Backlash. It doesn't exactly telegraph who's winning the Edge/Cena match, since they have been subtly teasing a heel turn for the Straight Edge superstar. It would be frigging awesome if he came down, waylaid John Cena with the briefcase and won the belt, but something tells me they're going to slowburn the heel turn after the title win, which you know always works with an over babyface *rolls eyes*
One thing that bugged me about the whole thing was the abruptness of Mizorrison's separation and Miz's turn on Morrison. This was very unlike the recent WWE and was just one of those changes for the sake of changing. Sure, they hinted in the last few weeks that it could happen, but it just felt so random. If you're going to split a team like that, I think you need to have build. It's the same reason why the Dudleys split didn't really work. It felt random, and then BAM the next week, D-Von changed characters.
Now, Miz probably won't change characters, but it still felt anti-climactic when it was announced. Maybe I'm nit-picking, but I would have preferred this scenario laid out by A1Wrestling.com poster tillrules:
I've been an advocate of a real sports styled draft since its inception. Make it a yearly tradition with it always falling the Monday before the NFL draft. Then build to it like the NFL draft, with storylines that lead to it. If you don't want to take away from the McMahon TV time, then have the storylines be on WWE.com in text pieces.
For example, you know you want to build to a Morrison & Miz split. Why not start it with a story where JR (in the role of the WWE's Mel Kiper) does a story analyzing the singles potential of top tag teams. He puts over one or the other as a potential franchise player, starting the seeds of Miz's turn. Then you can lay foundation in promos where the subject comes up indirectly.
However, what's done is done, and I think both Morrison and Miz will shine as singles competitors. I also think that Miz will make an excellent US Champion sometime this year when he gets a chance to run with that title. In fact, bookmark this page and show it to yourself when he does win that title so you don't have to wait for me to say I told you so.
The two moves I liked best from this draft were MVP to RAW and Kozlov to ECW. Firstly, MVP is going to be a centerpiece main eventer some day, and I think that day is coming sooner rather than later. Moving him to RAW so he can work with the "big talents" is a huge step and one that he needs to capitalize on in order to show the company that he's got the stuff of draws.
Kozlov to ECW is a great move and one that I advocated ever since he was soundly beaten and pinned by Undertaker in the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out. Kozlov's cache as a monster heel has been diminishing ever since he was put in the program with Triple H. Unfortunately for him, he's very limited and works best in context as an indestructible foreign heel. If he were kept on Smackdown or moved to RAW, there'd be nothing else for him to credibly do. In ECW though, he's allowed a lot of face time to devour midcard faces like Finlay and Tommy Dreamer (whom I think is going to win this Elimination Scramble and beat Jack SWAGGAH~! for the ECW Title at Backlash), run with the ECW Championship and restore his monster aura.
Of course, the Kozlov move would have worked so much better if Mark Henry was drafted to another brand. With Kozlov being moved there, Henry has become redundant. Besides, he's done all he can do in ECW for now. ECW has worked wonders for Henry so much that I think he needed to get out of there and onto one of the major brands. I think he's ready to jump into feuds with main eventers and have the fans actually buy that he's a threat this time. Let him go over Undertaker and Rey (after Rey loses the IC title, of course) on Smackdown so he can become a credible challenger to whomever is holding the World Championship at the time of his push.
Other than that, I thought they were just moving parts around. The MVP-for-Rey and Melina-for-Maryse trades were predictable, and it goes to prove that this draft set-up rather than the more sports-based draft set-up is more a deus ex machina to make change for the sake of change rather than what they're selling you in kayfabe, and that's to make things ZOMG UNPREDICTABLE~!
I'm also afraid that Matt Hardy is going to be lost in the shuffle on RAW. He has so much momentum coming out of WrestleMania, and he needs to have a sustained push. With Triple H, Orton, Batista, Cena and now MVP on RAW and given that RAW is traditionally the McMahon family spank rag, how much camera time will be left for Matt after the big players get theirs? One saving grace is that no matter how many big names there are on RAW, there always seems to be some time for guys like William Regal, Kofi Kingston and Mike Knox to get face time, so maybe all's not lost for the Black Sheep Hardy after all.
All in all, I thought it was a fairly mediocre way to spend three hours. There was some good action, but for what could be potentially the final WWE Draft, it wasn't memorable at all. When I say final WWE Draft... rumor has it that MyNetworkTV may not last the year, which means Smackdown could end up being with out a home. That could signify a forced end to the brand split, or it could end with SD moving to another network, like maybe WGN or possibly a network like NBC in a longshot.
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