Off-Kilter Draft Preview: Ideal Smackdown Roster (I.E., Making It the "Action" Show)

If I had my way, this would be the top SD feud.
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The Draft is on tonight's edition of RAW. I could write a preview about who I think is going where, but everyone else is doing that. So, instead, I will posit to you a dream roster of sorts. Traditionally, it's always seemed that in the parsing of the phrase "sports entertainment", RAW was the "entertainment" show and Smackdown the "sports" show. Those edges have blurred over the last couple of years, as RAW has gotten a lot more wrestling on the show, and Smackdown has been developing its own sense of "entertainment". Not that either is bad, per se, but I think that differentiating the brands would make for better contrast, which is what they were striving for from jump, I suppose.

The following is the roster I think would be most conducive to getting Smackdown to this level again. It probably won't shake out this way at all, but again, a guy can dream:

Main Event - John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Christian, CM Punk, Alberto del Rio, Jack Swagger, Undertaker*

Cena gives the roster ultra-star power, but he's also the best worker amongst the WWE's current Big Three (Orton and Trips being the others). He's shown that he's the most capable of working long, TV main events, and the main event heel foils on the other side of the ring are guys who are capable. Cena and Punk have had at least two or three really good free TV matches in the last two years. Mysterio and Christian are natural fits as well because DUH they're Mysterio and Christian. Besides, I doubt that Rey gets moved from Friday nights until Sin Cara makes it big, because he's key for the Latin audience.

Speaking of Latin audiences, I'd love to see del Rio stay put and have the rumored del Rio/Cena SummerSlam main event unfold on Smackdown. Punk obviously provides a strong heel presence that can work. The last main event spot has Swagger there (mainly because of the rub Cole gives to him), but it could rotate amongst Sheamus, McIntyre or Ziggler as well.

Finally, while Undertaker only seems to be a great worker come WrestleMania anymore (since that seems the only time he's really active), I'm really not sure you can take his association with Smackdown away until he retires. So he's here.

Upper Midcard - Daniel Bryan, Chris Masters, Goldust, Evan Bourne, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Heath Slater

The US Championship comes back to roost on Smackdown, and I think that eight-man lineup competing for it would provide some fireworks for matches. If you add in Mysterio or Swagger slumming it sub-main event, it only gets better. Goldust is a veteran pick that may not even come back to active duty, but if he does, then he'll only bolster the division. I'd probably feud him with Slater, who has the tools to become a competent WWE worker but has only shown it in flashes.

Bryan is really self-explanatory (and honestly, who WOULDN'T want to see a Bryan/Punk program?), and my love affair with Masters' in-ring abilities has been on display for the last year or so. I'd love to see him get more of a stage to do his thing. Bourne would serve a dual purpose. He'd be there to make guys ahead of him on the pecking order look good, but he'd also be given some higher profile matches and feuds as well. I think keeping him and Sin Cara on separate brands would help both guys, and I'd love to see Rey and Bourne team up as a threat to the Tag Titles every once in awhile.

Lower Midcard - Justin Gabriel, Yoshi Tatsu, Skip Sheffield, Byron Saxton, Trent Barretta, Curt Hawkins, Tyson Kidd, Zack Ryder, Brodus Clay, Alex Riley

Honestly, there's no reason why Justin Gabriel should be a heel other than he's always been associated with Nexus. While the concept of a heel high-flyer sounds intriguing on paper, it's one of those things that never works because fans, by and large, want to cheer for high spots. When you do them regularly, it makes you a babyface by default. Yoshi, Barretta and Sheffield as face workers work for me, but if Sheffield went heel when he came back, that'd work too. From the little I've seen of him in the ring, he seems very versatile. Saxton has the most athletic look of the NXT netherlanders, and he's got a lot of charisma. He could also work either way, but they seem to be positioning him as a face on NXT right now, so why not? The heel side looks pretty standard issue as well, with Riley being the exception. I'd rather see him as an entity all his own rather than as Miz's job absorber, because he's got great mic skills. While he'd definitely be the weakest worker on his brand in my estimation by far, I think this would be a great opportunity for him to grow.

Divas - Awesome Kong, Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Nattie Neidhart, Gail Kim, Layla, Naomi, AJ Lee

Yes, this turns RAW's Divas division into the drizzling shits. No, I really don't care. This is the best group of women's wrestlers to prove once and for all that the WWE isn't a joke when it comes to the fairer sex getting down in the ring. Plus, there's serious dream match potential with Kong vs. Phoenix, Kong vs. Nattie and the TNA rehash feud that everyone seems to want to see, Kong vs. Kim. Naomi and AJ would get shots on the main roster here, as they both seemed like they were good on their season of NXT.

So, there you have it, the roster for Smackdown that would be most conducive to it being the "sports"/wrestling brand again. Again, this probably won't happen, but again, it's good to dream, isn't it?

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