Down in Numbers

Monday night World Wrestling Entertainment hosted the sixth edition of their draft. This edition was arguably the most surprising and most prolific. Raw, which has always been the poster brand for WWE, came out on top with five picks that included the returning Rey Mysterio, ECW cornerstone C.M. Punk, longtime Smackdown announcer Michael Cole, Smackdown's No. 1 Contender Batista, and ECW Champion Kane. With one less pick, Smackdown would gain Jeff Hardy, "The Samoan Bulldozer" Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, and WWE Champion Triple H. However, ECW faired dismally in numbers by gaining one sole wrestler in the United States Champion Matt Hardy, leaving us to believe more was in line for the Tuesday night show going into the Supplemental Draft staged on Wednesday afternoon. That was not the case as Raw and Smackdown gained six and seven picks, respectively, with ECW gaining a disappointing four, signaling where WWE's priorities are. The four superstars that were rewarded to ECW on Wednesday weren't exactly shocking or needed. Super Crazy, a talented veteran, joins the small roster yet he will most likely be used only to be a jobber. Finlay, Hornswoggle, and Mark Henry also become members of Extreme Championship Wrestling. This is a result of their involvement in ECW Storylines prior to the draft. Among losses for ECW were several of the stars including C.M. Punk, Kofi Kingston, Big Daddy V, Shelton Benjamin, and ECW Champion Kane. There are now twenty-four members of ECW roster, eightteen of those are male wrestlers. Even though the show is an hour and that talent might be shared with Raw sometime in the future, ECW has become almost completely irrelevant. Just a few months ago, WWE stated that ECW might become a training ground of for potential stars of Raw and Smackdown. With the addition of Finlay and Mark Henry to the roster, that seems unlikely. It is no longer Extreme Championship Wrestling, it is a sometimes enjoyable, less important extension of Raw. I suggest that WWE tries to put the least bit of effort into the third brand which would transform it from a watchable show to a fairly entertaining show. Hopefully sometime in the near future WWE will make a decision: pull the plug or set forth care. Eventually the former will occur.