Around the pulse
A Modest Blog on the 15 Superstar Trade
By Aaron Glazer - June 30, 2009 | Email the author

WWE has decided to shake things up once more. Donald Trump, while he owned Raw, made a huge 15-person trade. First let’s see who went where, then we’ll look at what it means for each brand and performer.

Traded to the RAW brand: Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, Alicia Fox and Gail Kim
Traded to the ECW brand: Shelton Benjamin, Goldust, William Regal, Brie and Nikki Bella
Traded to SmackDown: Matt Hardy, Finlay, David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd and Natalya

Raw, naturally, got the very best of this deal. They lost Rey Misterio in the last draft, so now they get Evan Bourne, the small flier that the WWE books and uses in almost the same way. The best prospect on ECW was Jack Swagger, the big, cocky heel who can work amateur and is a poor man’s Brock Lesnar. He goes to Raw to help fill out the uppercard since Hunter, Cena and Orton can’t face one another forever, despite what the WWE might have you believe. Last is Mark Henry who hopefully comes with Tony Atlas. With a good mouthpiece and his ECW improvements, he’s been shown to be quite a good monster… of course, what you do with Henry and the Big Show on the same brand remains a mystery. For the individual wrestlers, this move can only hurt Bourne and Henry. Bourne is now likely to get lost in the midcard shuffle, if even that high up. Kofi and MVP already fill his spot as faces, so he’s left below them on the card. Henry might be fun for awhile, but he’s a poor man’s Big Show while the Show is still around. Finally, unless Swagger is unlucky, this is his big break. He proved he can work and now gets to go out and have memorable feuds with Kofi and MVP on his way to the main event.

ECW gets screwed, as usual. First they lose their top young guy in Swagger, then their top heel stable in the Hart Dynasty, their top vet in Finlay, and finally their top young face in Bourne. The replacements are, at best subpar. Women on ECW mean nothing, so we’ll just move past that. Shelton replaces some of the in ring work of Swagger, so that should be, at worst, watchable. Goldust is terrible comedy and I don’t expect him to get much time. Regal does his stint in ECW to replace Finlay as the “player coach.” Ultimately, the WWE’s most entertaining show just got gutted. Ideally some new prospects now come up and fill in the void like this last group did when Morrison, Punk, and Kofi all left, but that remains to be seen. Shelton going back to ECW is a clear demotion. Maybe he’ll get Tony Atlas and become a star; one can hope. Goldust seems to be on his way out, and Regal isn’t being demoted, he’s just doing what Benoit (was meant to) and Finlay have done before him. Ready for Low Ki and Dos Caras, Jr, William?

Smackdown gets some great stuff here without losing anything of note. Finlay is a jack of all trades and immediately replaces Shelton, at absolute worst. He can slot into a feud with anyone from Punk down to R-Truth. Jericho and Edge having the tag belts takes them to Smackdown, which is great news for the Hart Dynasty who now have something to do. As all heels, a third team would need to be involved, but Cryme Tyme is free, as is any thrown together team (yet again) involving Rey Mysterio- I suggest John Morrison. Matt Hardy is hurt for the time being, as he was his whole time on Raw, which was a washout. He’s back on Smackdown and is a Smackdown guy. Now he can go back to screwing over Jeff… unless the WWE run with the reunion idea from yesterday, which is now set up.

For more from me check out daily content at The Examiner and please subscribe. You can also follow me on Twitter. Finally, for more draft coverage check out <a href=http://www.examiner.com/x-1734-Pro-Wrestling-Examiner~y2009m6d30-Analysis-of-WWE-15-person-roster-trade target=new.

Comments
  1. I dunno if I can agree that Raw got the best of the deal. Evan Bourne is hit or miss on Raw, I could see him becoming a big deal or getting lost in the shuffle. Swagger’s great for Raw and Henry is Henry, but the crowd was behind him, so I’ll give them the point. Kim & Fox don’t really add much.

    ECW is fine, don’t know what everyone is freaking out about, this is what the show is supposed to do, get kids ready for the big time. Bourne & Swagger were ready for a promotion months ago and ECW was getting way too crowded for The Hart Dynasty. There’s not really anything for them to do unless the Tag Champs come down to ECW, but then that just takes time away from other young talent on the brand. Besides, they still have Christian.

    Smackdown truly won out here. The Harts, Finlay and Matt Hardy? Yeah, those are blockbuster moves.

    Posted by Razor | June 30, 2009, 12:11 pm
  2. To add to what Razor said: Benjamin didn’t get demoted, he’s got a make it-or-break it scenario. The guy has been “on the verge” of breaking out for YEARS now. I think he’s about to get the Matt Hardy treatment and be given his big run in ECW to see if he can take the ball and run with it. Matt did a decent job as a top-dog, so they gave him the run he deserved on Smackdown. Benjamin has a shot here to up his game, get his mic skills at their peak, and finally get a damn personality outside of the Gold Standard B.S.

    Posted by Michael Crow | June 30, 2009, 3:08 pm
  3. Gail Kim. Huh. Much like her last stint in the E, I didn’t even remember she was around. She’s so boring she makes Charlie Haas seem like The Rock.

    Speaking of….I don’t know about this Shelton Benjamin demotion. I think he got that treatment WEEKS ago when he was placed again in tag action yet again with HAAS. Benjamin is one of my favorites, but for some reason Vince and crew have no faith in him. Otherwise he would have gotten the ECW title in his last run on the show. At least he’s still with the company, though. Maybe he’s just destined to be a Tito Santana and hand around the mid upper card throughout his career. Could be worse. He could be Mr. Kennedy.

    Posted by Joe | June 30, 2009, 6:57 pm
  4. I think Shelton’s current status was made painfully clear after tonight’s episode of ECW…damn, demotion indeed.

    Posted by Nick M. | June 30, 2009, 9:44 pm
  5. As it was ECW had the best show thanks to a simple booking approach, no one getting overexposed across weeks of television and an amazing roster. Now they’ve been bled, but tonight’s show was a relief in that it featured so many rookies.

    Christian, Regal, Dreamer and Benjamin can put on a heck of a show. It’s up to management to make them refine the rookies and keep the machine of a good program going.

    Posted by John Wiswell | June 30, 2009, 9:50 pm
  6. I like Gail Kim a lot, but I can see how people forget she’s in WWE. She took Victoria’s role on Smackdown as a jobber to the fitness models. Hope she gets more to do on Raw, although it’s more crowded Diva wise.

    Also, Shelton’s job was in a Razor vs. Kid kind of match where he didn’t take Tatsu seriously and paid for it. I get the feeling he’ll get his win back soon. Whether he’ll be winning the big silver belt any time soon is sure in doubt, though, especially since Kozlov looks like he’s next in line.

    Finally, I just had a nerdgasm over the possibility of Mysterio/Morrison vs. Edge/Jericho. Just wanted to share.

    Posted by Brad Curran | July 2, 2009, 9:30 pm
  7. [...] Glazer gives his own analysis of what the big fifteen person roster trade meant for everyone involved. [...]

    Posted by This Week in ‘E – Big Trades and Hurt Heels | Pulse Wrestling | July 6, 2009, 1:14 pm
Add Your Comment



Saturday, March 20

Live Events
!Bang!
Television Taping
Ocala, FL – 7:00 pm

CHIKARA
“Wit, Verve, and a Bit o’ Nerve”
Palmer Community Center
Easton, PA – 6:30 pm
Matches include Eddie Kingston vs. Pink Ant and Los Ice Creams vs. Daisee Haze/Sara Del Rey

Florida Championship Wrestling
Orlando Armory
Orlando, FL – 7:30 pm

Jersey All Pro Wrestling
“Wild Card”
Rahway Rec Center
Rahway, NJ – 8:00 pm
Matches include Samoa Joe vs. Kazuchika Okada, Teddy Hart/Jack Evans vs. Generation Me, and Dan Maff, the Heavy Hitters, Sara del Rey, Devon Moore, and Bandido Jr. will all defend their titles against Wild Card opponents

NWA Anarchy
Television Taping
NWA TV Arena
Cornelia, GA

Ohio Valley Wrestling
Davis Arena
Louisville, KY – 7:30
This event is a fundraiser for the Sertoma Foundation.

Ring of Honor
International Centre
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada – 7:30 pm
Matches include Kenny Omega vs. Davey Richards, Chris Hero vs. El Generico, and Colt Cabana vs. Steve Corino

World League Wrestling
North County Middle School
Deslodge, MO – 7:00 pm

WWE Raw
Tucson Convention Center
Tucson, AZ – 7:30 pm

WWE Smackdown
Visalia Convention Center
Visalia, CA – 7:30 pm

Television Broadcasts
AAA Lucha Libre
Television Broadcast on Galavision – 4:30 pm eastern

NWA Anarchy
Television Broadcast on AMG-TV Network – 7:30 pm eastern

Ohio Valley Wrestling
Television Broadcast – WOBZ-TV9 – 9:00 pm
Television Broadcast – WKYT-TV – 11:00 pm

Sunday, March 21

Live Events
CHIKARA
“Testimony of Evil”
Knights of Columbus Hall
Fairfield, CT – 3:30 pm
Matches include Team Frightening vs. Bruderschaft and Eddie Kingston vs. Lince Dorado

CMLL Lucha Libre
Television Taping
Arena Coliseo
Mexico City, Mexico – 5:00 pm
Matches include Mistico/ Hector Garza/ Blue Panther vs. Taichi/ Mr. Niebla/ Negro Casas and Toscano/ Hijo del Fantasma/ Valiente vs. Euforia/ Vangellys/ Okumura

TNA
Destination X
Impact Zone
Orlando, FL
Matches include Beer Money vs. Morgan/Hernandez and an Ultimate X match

Television Broadcasts
Florida Championship Wrestling
Television Broadcast on Bright House Sports Network – 6:00 pm

TNA Destination X
Live Pay-Per-View broadcast at 8:00 pm
Matches include Beer Money vs. Morgan/Hernandez and an Ultimate X match

WWE AM Raw
Television Broadcast on USA Network – 2:00 AM

If you would like your promotion to be included on the weekly calendar, please send an email to davidb@insidepulse.com with either your upcoming schedule or a link to your upcoming events on your website.

Authors
Categories
Archives
Polls

Monday Night Wars - what are you watching this week?

  • RAW (44%, 136 Votes)
  • TNA (33%, 102 Votes)
  • Recording and watching all (9%, 28 Votes)
  • Flipping around (8%, 26 Votes)
  • None (3%, 9 Votes)
  • ROH (2%, 7 Votes)

Total Voters: 308

Loading ... Loading ...
Twitter

Majors
Inside Pulse Wrestling - Wrestling news, rumors, reviews and commentary, from WWE to TNA to ROH and everything in between…

Dashboard

Part of the Inside Pulse network copyright 2004-2009. Inside Pulse is proudly powered by Wordpress. Inside Pulse also uses and recommends the following technologies - Blubrry Power Press for Streaming Audio Podcasts and streaming video.