The Piledriver Report 04.15.09: The Greatest Wrestler to Never Win a World Title- Final Four Results and Championship Round Match-up. Plus, a Review of the 2009 WWE Draft Lottery

The field is now narrowed down to the top two wrestlers in the tournament. Before the results are given, I would like to thank everyone who has voted thus far. I have received 458 e-mails voting on the tournament. Thank you again.

Along with the results, I will be including how many votes each wrestler received in parenthesis. Next, will come the Championship Round match-up, which I will need you to vote on. I will end the column with the wrestlers I had picked to win in the Final Four round.

PLEASE E-MAIL ME WHO YOU THINK WILL WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH BY SUNDAY, APRIL 19th, 2009 at [email protected] or by entering your choices in the Comments Section.

FINAL FOUR RESULTS

BRUNO SAMMARTINO REGION HOGAN REGION
10. Owen Hart (37) over 1. Davey Boy Smith (24)

RIC FLAIR REGION LOU THESZ REGION
7. Ted DiBiase, Sr.(58) over 7. Greg Valentine (3)

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-UP
BRUNO SAMMARTINO REGION
10. Owen Hart
vs.
RIC FLAIR REGION
7. Ted DiBiase, Sr.

MY FINAL FOUR PICKS
BRUNO SAMMARTINO REGION HOGAN REGION
10. Owen Hart over 1. Davey Boy Smith

RIC FLAIR REGION LOU THESZ REGION
7. Ted DiBiase, Sr. over 7. Greg Valentine

This past Monday night, the WWE presented their annual WWE Draft Lottery. I love the yearly WWE Draft, even though it no longer makes any sense for the WWE to have a draft. Why should the WWE hold a brand draft when wrestlers from one brand show up on another brand each week. While there has been cross promotion lately between the 3 brands, that was because of the build up to WrestleMania. That’s acceptable. My problem with the brand split is that the WWE doesn’t just have cross promotion for special occasions. They do cross brands whenever they feel like it. Just look at last year. How many times has the tag team of The Miz and Johnny Morrison appeared on RAW, ECW, and SmackDown during the same week? With that being said, let’s take a look at the draft pick-ups.

MVP moved from SmackDown! to RAW: This is a good move for MVP. It’s time for MVP to move up to the next level. RAW IS the next level. My only concern is that the last time RAW drafted an up and coming SmackDown superstar, who was ready for the next level, it was Ken Kennedy. Unfortunately for “Mr. Kennedy…….. Kennedy!,” we all know how that turned out.

The Big Show moved from SmackDown! to RAW: To me, this is a lateral move. No matter what brand the Big Show is on, he usually stays at the same level. Plus, it should be interesting to see what the RAW creative team has in store for the giant now that he will be reunited with his “lover,” Vicki Guerrero.

Melina moved from RAW to SmackDown!: For SmackDown’s first pick of the draft, I expected so much more. With all due respect to the Divas in the WWE, but the company could have waited until the supplemental draft before they moved any female competitor to a different brand. As for Melina’s impact on SmackDown!, it was a good move by the WWE, as SmackDown! usually has a large Hispanic following. Well, at least when Rey Mysterio was on the show. The move should give Melina a bunch of fresh opponents to wrestle, which may rejuvenate her career as she hasn’t been the performer that she once was.

Matt Hardy moved from SmackDown! to RAW: This pick surprised me, especially after they announced the next selection. If the RAW creative team pushes Matt Hardy as an upper level character, I love this pick for RAW. When Matt was on the entrance ramp, he taunted John Cena by shaking his hand in front of his face mocking the champion’s “you can’t see me” trademark. That was hysterical. Hopefully, his reign on RAW will be even more entertaining. Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling Matt will get lost in the shuffle thanks to the next pick, which is……

Triple H moved from SmackDown! to RAW: With MyNetwork TV going down the tubes, SmackDown! is becoming less of a priority. That means that Triple H goes back to the “A” show. Triple H heading to RAW was probably the easiest selection to predict. After having a year of The Triple H show on SmackDown! and The John Cena Show on RAW, it should be very interesting to see which wrestler gets top billing on the Monday night show.

CM Punk moved from RAW to SmackDown!: This move made perfect sense. After all, in his first year on RAW, CM Punk accomplished everything that you could accomplish on RAW. He won the tag team titles with Kofi Kingston, the Intercontinental championship, and the World Heavyweight belt. With both the World belt and WWE championships on RAW, this would be the perfect time for CM Punk to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. At Backlash, if Randy Orton wins the WWE World title, Punk can cash in the briefcase, beat Orton, and finally get revenge on the “viper” for costing him the World Heavyweight championship last year. If Edge beats John Cena, Punk can cash in the briefcase for the second time against the “Rated R Superstar,” thus starting up a feud between the two. Either scenario makes perfect sense from a storyline standpoint. Now, if Triple H and John Cena retain their titles, then that changes things.

The Miz moved from ECW to RAW: This pick surprised me. If anyone from the Miz/Morrison tag team were to switch brands, I would have put my money on John Morrison. Despite my feelings that The Miz moving to RAW is probably not a great career move, as he should get lost in the shuffle. I fear he will be destined to live in the land of the mid-carders, where he will not be able to rise above the glass ceiling, and eventually be released. However, he has gotten off to a good start with his turn on tag partner, John Morrison.

Kane moved from RAW to SmackDown!: To me, this is a carbon copy of the Big Show move. Everything I said about the Big Show goes the same with Kane. No matter what brand Kane is on, he will remain at the same level. Big Show to RAW and Kane to SmackDown! is basically a trade off.

Chris Jericho moved from RAW to SmackDown!: While Triple H is the biggest name to move from SmackDown! to RAW, Chris Jericho is the biggest name to move over to SmackDown!. With John Cena and Triple H now on RAW, along with Randy Orton taking on the role of RAW’s #1 heel, Chris Jericho would be slipping down the ladder. On SmackDown!, Edge is probably the #1 heel. However, Chris Jericho can easily step into that role, or he could move into the top babyface spot. Either way, look for Jericho to maintain his position as a main eventer.

Vladimir Kozlov moved from SmackDown! to ECW: ECW gets their lone draft pick of the night in the form of Kozlov. The most notable thing about this pick is how the mighty have fallen. The WWE had high hopes for Vladimir. After several failed attempts pushing Kozlov in the main event picture, the WWE has finally realized that Vladimir is not ready for prime time. Thus, Kozlov was moved down to ECW to help improve? I think.

Maryse moved from SmackDown to RAW: Like the Big Show/Kane picks, this is another trade off pick. The RAW Women’s champion moved to SmackDown!, so it was inevitable that the SmackDown! Divas champion would be RAW bound. Like the Melina pick, this selection could have easily been saved for the supplemental draft.

Rey Mysterio moved from RAW to SmackDown!: Ever since Rey left SmackDown! for RAW last year, SmackDown’s Hispanic ratings have fell dramatically. The way SmackDown! is shaping up after the draft, it appears that the show may be heading back to its roots as the “wrestling” show. Rey is a great addition to the brand. Plus, with MVP moving to RAW with the United States championship, the SmackDown! brand needs a secondary championship. Since Rey is the Intercontinental titleholder, he was the perfect choice to move over to SmackDown!

This article was written and posted before Wednesday afternoon. Therefore, the supplemental draft had yet to take place. There are several moves that I would like to see take place on Wednesday. I would like Christian to be reunited with Edge on the SmackDown! brand. I would also like to see John Morrison and Evan Bourne move to SmackDown! as well. Jim Ross should have moved over to RAW this past Monday. Since he wasn’t, the supplemental draft would be a good spot for him to make the switch. DH Smith would be a nice addition to RAW, and hopefully the Legacy entourage. So, which brand is the big winner? While RAW was strengthened with big name talent, and SmackDown! added some good workers, both shows appear to have improved with the moves. If it turns out that they truly did, then the fans will be the real winners of the draft, and that’s the way it should be.