The Shimmy 04.27.09: 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft Report Card

Posted by Andy Clark on 04.27.2009

One year removed from the 2008 draft, The Shimmy takes a look at the second day of roster moves. How do these moves look one year later? Read on to find out!

Last week I took a look back at the televised portion of the 2008 WWE Draft. I received some criticism in the comments section for grading last year's draft instead of this year's. To clarify, I'm looking at last year's draft to see how those moves panned out. Did someone benefit from the move? Was someone hurt by it? I can't really assess the 2009 draft yet because it hasn't had any sort of impact. I can tell you how I feel about he basic breakdown (Raw has the stars, SmackDown has the workrate, and ECW is the developmental) but there's really not much to examine yet. Looking at how WWE handled their draft moves last year might be a better indication of how this year's may pan out.

Now, this week we're taking a look at the Supplemental Draft. In 2007 there were some real steals in the Supplemental Draft (namely John Morrison and The Miz). Did things work out well for the midweek draftees this past year?

SmackDown to ECW: Mark Henry

Mark Henry's move to ECW was one of the most successful of the entire draft last year. Henry had been floundering on SmackDown, serving to job to Undertaker and Batista time after time. With a move to ECW he not only managed to turn into a main event threat, but he got Tony Atlas employed and became a World Champion. He even saved the ECW Title and brought it home by interjecting himself into a title match between Raw's Kane and SmackDown's Big Show at Night of Champions. Without the Supplemental Draft Mark Henry would never have become the "World's Strongest Champion" nor do I think he'd have been on the card at this year's WrestleMania.

My Grade: A+

SmackDown to Raw: Jamie Noble

Noble was a comedy heel on SmackDown and moved to Raw to continue being a comedy heel. He started off pretty well feuding with William Regal over Layla, but once that feud was put to rest that was all we saw of him for any extended period of time. At least on SmackDown he had a pretty regular role. It's taken the advent of WWE.com's "Top Rope Theater" to get the Redneck Messiah any screen time in recent months.

My Grade: D+

Raw to SmackDown: Trevor Murdoch

The newly minted Jethro Holladay never made it to SmackDown as he was released shortly after this move. SmackDown's loss was briefly the NWA's gain before he joined TNA this past week.

My Grade: F

ECW to SmackDown: Big Daddy V
Like Murdoch, Big Daddy V never made it to SmackDown as he was released before he made it back to TV. He'd been taken off the shows WrestleMania weekend due to health concerns and he was never brought back. To be fair he spent a good deal of time on SmackDown anyhow even while he was still an ECW superstar so it's not like we never got to see him on the blue brand.

My Grade: F

SmackDown to Raw: Sim Snuka

This grade is probably a bit higher than it should be, but I'm willing to give some bonus points for the slight rub he got from Randy Orton as a would be member of Legacy. Aside from his stint pulling camera duty at WrestleMania we haven't seen much of Snuka on TV as of late so I wouldn't be too surprised to see this second generation star on the "future endeavored" list in the near future.

My Grade: D+

Raw to SmackDown: DH Smith

Nothing against Smith, but what the hell was up with this move? The second generation superstar that your head of talent relations picked as a future WrestleMania main eventer is setup by the Wellness Policy, jobbed out on Raw, and drafted to SmackDown, only to sit on the sidelines for an entire year before he is drafted to ECW. Here's hoping we see a Canadian Bulldogs reunion between Smith and Tyson Kidd.

My Grade: F

SmackDown to ECW: Hornswoggle

Most probably wouldn't give this move this high of a grade but it makes sense. Hornswoggle is one of the most over superstars with WWE's newest key demographic and move him to a show where he doesn't seem too out of place. The leprechaun added some more eyeballs to ECW and didn't seem as overpushed as he would have been on Raw or SmackDown.

My Grade: A-

Raw to ECW: Super Crazy

Super Crazy gets drafted to ECW, then gets "traded" to SmackDown (all the while wearing an "ECW" t-shirt), then gets released. Nice job, WWE. Super Crazy actually has a date with Blue Demon Jr. for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in a few weeks in Texas.

My Grade: F

SmackDown to Raw: Chuck Palumbo

And here we have yet another draft pick that didn't even make it to his new brand. Apparently WWE just wanted to make people log in to WWE.com for an afternoon as they stretched this thing out with people they planned on firing.

My Grade: F

Raw to SmackDown: The Brian Kendrick

While Kendrick hasn't been featured as prominently in recent months he's still getting more of a push as a singles wrestler than I ever thought he would. SmackDown really allowed him to show some personality and he took to his heel role quite well. Hell, no matter what happens for the rest of his career Kendrick can be happy that he was "interim" WWE Champion for a few minutes at Unforgiven last year. That's a lot closer to a World Title than I think most ever expected he would get.

My Grade: B

ECW to Raw: Matt Striker

Striker avoids the F by actually making one appearance on Raw (where he got destroyed by Kane) and because he's just generally awesome. Otherwise this move really made no other impact.

My Grade: D+

Raw to SmackDown: Maria

After getting her big Playboy WrestleMania push and separating from Santino Marella there wasn't a lot left for Maria to do on Raw. Moving to SmackDown allowed her to grow as a women's competitor and even have a pretty decent feud with Michelle McCool. Maria got to be involved in the hunt for the Diva's Title and didn't get lost in the Beth Phoenix-Melina-Mickie James triangle on Raw.

My Grade: B

ECW to SmackDown: Shelton Benjamin

Shelton had a strong run rebuilding himself on ECW as the "Gold Standard" and he made a smooth and successful transition to SmackDown. Over the last year he has had some great matches with the likes of Jeff Hardy, MVP, Matt Hardy and Undertaker, and he had a tremendous run as United States Champion. If WWE doesn't insist on sticking him back with Charlie Haas this could be a breakout year for Benjamin on SmackDown.

My Grade: A

SmackDown to ECW: Finlay

Finlay was able to take that role of player-coach that Chris Benoit was originally slated to have in ECW. He got to work with the likes of Mike Knox and Jack Swagger and help them prepare for moving on up to the big leagues. He also had some surprisingly good tag team matches along with Hornswoggle against Miz & Morrison over the summer. While Finlay still hasn't won that World Title he's always wanted, so long as he's on ECW that is always a possibility.

My Grade: B+

Raw to SmackDown: Carlito

To be honest I don't even remember if Carlito appeared on SmackDown before his brother Primo arrived. No matter really, because Carlito has seemed much more focused since teaming with his brother and it appears as if he's found his niche. WWE.com interviews with the two show a little bit of that old Carlito personality that may one day help him transition to his natural heel role. For now these two as doing a great job as the Unified Tag Team Champions and I'd expect their tag team run to continue for a while.

My Grade: A-

ECW to Raw: Layla

From The Miz's skank to William Regal's skank. She got to be nice arm candy for Regal while he was still getting screen time as Intercontinental Champion. On one hand she has gotten considerably hotter since when she won the Diva Search. On the other hand increased screen time means there is a possibility she could open her mouth, which is clearly not a good thing. Now she'll have an opportunity to wrestle for the Diva's Title on SmackDown.

My Grade: B-

ECW to Raw: Kofi Kingston

And they finished up the Supplemental Draft pretty strong. Kofi had a great run being a big fish in a little pond in ECW and started his Raw run pretty shaky. In fact most of Kofi's time on Raw has been shaky as every time he has a good match or gets put over big they turn around and squash him. I think that after about a year on the show they might be ready to finally cut him loose and let him be a star, if only on secondary programming like ECW and Superstars. This could be a big year for Kofi so long as he isn't lost in the shuffle of a face heavy Raw.

My Grade: A-
So the 2008 Supplemental Draft was not as full of gems and steals as the 2007 version but there were still some nice picks. I suppose in a year's time we can look at this year's version of the Supplemental Draft and see which second day moves actually made a significant impact.

The Shimmy Likes it Raw!

What's on tap for tonight's show?

With Backlash in the past we are on the road to Judgment Day in Chicago. This is the stretch where there isn't a lot of breathing room between PPVs so hopefully we get some info tonight.

Well that does it for this week. I'll see you all next time. Until then, don't die. Clark…out.