Nate Manzo of Plainville, Conn. (7.0): I thought this show was good but not great. The drafts picks weren't much of a suprise to me, but it's a nice change for each show but once again ECW looks like the loser in this draft. The big reason for the high score was the battle royal and the Vince McMahon angle. It looks like it's gonna be who tried to kill Vince McMahon for weeks to come. If I had to pick the suspects it would be in the family - Shane, Stephanie, or Linda McMahon. I hope this angle plays out great on TV, but like always Vince will drag it out and it will lose steam. Overall not a bad night, but it could of been better.
Mike Hautamaki of Virginia, Minn. (8.0): Best Segment: McMahon and Khali giving away the monayyyy. Worst Segment: The obvious matchups (Triple H vs. Mark Henry, JBL vs. Kofi Kingston). I must admit, it's been a while since a wrestling segment left me guessing about whether it was legit or not, but it appears the breakdown at the end of the show was just a way to end the million dollar giveaway. Wouldn't a simple "that's it, no more money for you" have sufficed, Vince? It wasn't as over the top as the exploding limo, but I can't help but wonder how the TNA crew will react to seeing you rig a set collapse and fake serious injury. As for the draft, the two guys I didn't wanna see go (Kennedy and Jeff Hardy) did, but Rey Rey, Batista, and C.M. Punk should freshen things up on Raw with Triple H out of the picture. ECW is set to fade even further into obscurity, while Triple H will probably prevent Kennedy from being a serious title threat on Smackdown. The absolute highlight of the night, though, was the Great Khali assisting Vince in the "Mania" giveaway, from the guy blurting out "Wrong number!" to Khali yelling at the phone. That was likely the first and last time I will ever be entertained by Khali.
Jon Gargis of Cartersville, Ga. - Newspaper journalist: I have to say that this year's draft really surprised me with its big moves. Though many talented stars moved, I'm not sure if all moves were the right ones. Rey Mysterio was probably the best move and most surprising. Had his move come sooner, I think he could've feuded with Vince McMahon as I believed he had put him in a match against Mark Henry ages ago, but since Vince is seemingly a face now, I don't think such a program would work (At least the sabotaged set isn't another death angle a year after Chris Benoit's murder suicide, altough the timing of it seems mighty suspicious.). Triple H to Raw was one of the biggest surprises of the night but will probably be a good move in the long run, as Smackdown needs his star power. Both Mysterio's and Triple H's moves seemingly create some fresh matches. Hardy's move to Smackdown can make him a big fish in a small pond. I suspected C.M. Punk to move, but I had expected him to move to Smackdown to feud with Edge without the barrier of the two being in separate brands. Matt Hardy to ECW seems like a step down, but since ECW and Smackdown are still tied together, does the switch really matter? Umaga's move to the blue brand should have been fairly expected; Kennedy's move, however, wasn't. Maybe his program with Paul Burchill wasn't going anywhere, but since Kennedy seems to be fairly over, why move him to the number two brand? Batista and Kane have seemingly moved around too much in recent drafts and pay-per-view stipulations, while Michael Cole and Jim Ross should not have moved at all. Both are voices of their respective shows - why switch them? But perhaps McMahon or Ross himself plans to make Cole Ross's heir apparent. The best move not made tonight was MVP to Raw, as his character is stagnant on Smackdown, he would be a fresh face (er, heel) and his matches are rarely phoned in (if ever). Tonight's wrestling was okay, though Holly/Rhodes vs. Santino/Carlito seemed sloppy at times. And why not promote some of these crossover matches (like Cena-Edge) to pull in viewers? Sunday's PPV and beyond should make for some interesting months of WWE programming.
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