by Richard Gardner, PWTorch specialist

WrestleMania was once the night when everything changed. As well as being a night when the WWE's major storylines concluded, the following evening would determine the direction of the product for the rest of the year. Since moving into the brand extension era however, Draft Night has been the WWE's methodology for shaking up its three rosters, offering the opportunity for Vince McMahon to press the reset button when things get stale.

This has lead to some tense evenings for WWE personnel, with the drama heightened by the wrestlers not knowing whether they would be changing rosters until it was announced to everyone in the arena and at home. Vince McMahon's Machiavellian characteristics were most exemplified last year when Jim Ross was drafted to Smackdown without his prior knowledge.

There were no moments like that this year. The last draft was made with knowledge that the Smackdown roster needed to be strengthened in anticipation of having to build a new audience on a new network. This year, with WWE seemingly giving up on MyNetworkTV, the draft was predictable to the point where Wade Keller laid out all the major picks in a column published the day before it took place. In addition, it seemed that the wrestlers were given the courtesy of being informed whether they were switching brands ahead of time. Nevertheless, Draft Night is one of the most important of the year, and this Monday's edition of Raw certainly shaped the topography of the WWE landscape for the rest of 2009.

Triple H returning to Raw was the biggest move of the night. His move to Smackdown was surprising last year, but as the gulf between WWE's top two brands increased, it seemed inevitable that he would return to the WWE's flagship show. Not only does this signify that his feud with Randy Orton is far from over, it also gives Triple H the chance to feud with The Big Show, who also returned to Raw on Monday. Matt Hardy will also be applying his trade on Monday nights, although with the huge amount of star power that the brand had, he may have been better served to have stayed on the Smackdown roster.

In order to compensate for the loss of Triple H and The Big Show, Chris Jericho and C.M. Punk were moved to Smackdown. Jericho will no doubt benefit from a change of scenery, where he can be the top heel. Punk will also be higher up the card after his move to Friday nights; ideal after his main event push petered out into an Intercontinental Title challenge. Rey Mysterio moving back to Smackdown is also an excellent move, as his move to Raw did not benefit him. His return plus Vladimir Kozlov's move to ECW will vastly improve the quality of the show.

The most disappointing aspect of the WWE draft was that John Morrison and The Miz were separated. With their genuine chemistry, The Miz and Morrison have evolved into the WWE's best tag team. Splitting the two of them up seems unnecessary, as their worth as a team was far greater than the sum of their parts.

Of course the draft raises wider issues about the WWE product; such as what is the point of separating the wrestlers into three groups when the top three matches at WrestleMania were inter-brand rivalries? Considering the boundaries between the three brands are so blurred, it made the Draft feel like less of an event than in years past. Yet the draft, predictable or not, noticeably shook up the three rosters to reinvigorate the three shows.

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