Aside from the Vince goes BOOM part deux ending, with its Shenmue-quality acting and B-movie special effects, I really dug this show (and I loved that segment because it was so bad it was good). The draft picks felt significant tonight, even if it does lead to some temporary confusion as to the status of Raw getting a top belt.
Kennedy going to SD is a fantastic move, as he's done nothing on Raw and could finally be back on track on SD. Jeff going to SD is a good move, as he's lost some steam on Raw, and could be in the main event scene again on SD (although with Hunter there, I don't see him being THE top guy there like he could be if Hunter wasn't there). Rey going to Raw is a good choice match-wise, as Rey's exhausted his list of foes on SD, but he has been SD's biggest Latino market draw since Eddie's death, so his moving to Raw will likely hurt SD's Latino viewership a great deal.
Matt Hardy going to ECW is...something. I'd have preferred it if he and Jeff went back to teaming as the Hardys on SD since Matt's done nothing with the U.S. belt, and now has far less to work with by just being on ECW (and possibly guest appearances on SD until the Raw/ECW tapings start up). Umaga going to SD is a good move, as he's done very little of note on Raw in a long time, and could be revived on SD. J.R. going to SD is a step down for him, and one he was clearly not prepared for, but he and Mick had fantastic chemistry tonight, and a change in broadcast partners could work well for him.
Cole going to Raw seems like yet another attempt for WWE to try and replace J.R., but that's failed every other time they've tried it, so I hope they just let Cole be Cole - one problem with that is Cole is such a geek on-air that he has no credibility - even on the B show, let alone on the A show. They'll definitely have to do some rebuilding for him unless they just plan on trading J.R. back to Raw after a little while.
Punk going to Raw is a fantastic step up for him, and since HHH is on SD (for the time being), I actually have some faith that he could be pushed as the WWE Champion via the MITB case. ECW definitely got the shaft tonight, as they lost not only their champion, but their top homegrown guy, and only got Matt Hardy. If there's a supplemental draft (one wasn't announced tonight), I'd like to see JBL go to ECW, as there's nothing for him to do on Raw, and he'd work well as the champ of the C show at this stage in his career.
The commentary teams were an entertaining mish-mash tonight, with the women's tag having a ton of great stuff in it, and it was fascinating to hear Foley stay in character while trying to console J.R. after he was demoted by the company. While I don't think they'll get J.R. to quit with this (if he could stick around after that Dr. Hiney skit, he'll probably stick around through this), if they wanted to make him come off bad via the trade, they failed, as he was constantly acting as the glue that held this show together. Adamle being Adamle also ruled tonight, as did Khali yelling at the phone. Vince teasing Dwayne Johnson, then plugging the Rock's DVD was an interesting piece of business as well.
The Flair appearance was a monumental waste of Flair (much more of one than last week's deal), and why would Flair shake the hand of the man who not only threw him out of the building last week, but force him into a retirement stipulation that he didn't want? Stupid, stupid, stupid move, and like the Bischoff hug thing, a very poorly thought-out move. (although the Bischoff deal was a far bigger money drawing angle-killing act than this was.)
Match-wise, this show was lean on good ones, but Edge-Cena was fine, although it did make Edge look bad since Cena was able to dominate him so easily at times (at least Edge's ULTIMATE OPPORTUNIST character got a chance to shine with the draft pick battle royal), and Miz/Morrison vs. the Hardys had its moments.
The Vince stuff at the end...ugh. Horrid acting, and we JUST SAW THIS SHIT a year ago, and it took up all the air time for shows.
The only big difference now is that we know Vince is alive (since he moved and spoke) - great, so now we get the mystery of WHODUNNIT and probably Vince in a wheelchair for a few months, leading to nothing that makes money. Well, at least the draft felt significant this time around. The NoC PPV felt completely worthless tonight, despite being the show's password, and having some of its results now hold the future of some brands in its hands. It was completely overshadowed by the giveaway, the draft, and the big angle at the end.
