James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (4.0)

Granted, this was the second taping last week for Superstars on the fourth straight day of TV, so they couldn't book too many big names on the show to give them a break right before two major international tours right after the taping...but this show was Sunday Night Heat. When your main event is Chavo vs. Hornswoggle, it's official.

Vince McMahon making a strange cameo on the show was an attempt to boost the show's "star power" considering all mid-card-level matches, but I think the presence of his character actually managed to drag the show down. As Shane McKinkley mentioned in his Absurd Report, McMahon sitting there talking about a triple threat match on the phone as if he discovered the cure for cancer was quite ridiculous. I'd like to know who was on the receiving end of that call. Perhaps an investor he was trying to sell on WWE stock with this great idea he had for a title match that will surely boost PPV buys and company revenue.

I actually liked a Ricky Ortiz match. Shock. Ortiz vs. R-Truth was a nice little opening match. Ortiz showed good fire cutting off Truth's repeated comebacks and he looked good before taking a loss. His offense stood out more than losing, which is what you want if you're booked to lose on TV. ... Zack Ryder vs. T-Reks was a solid outing. Slow in the middle, but Ryder made up for it with that awesome evil look on his face post-match that really got over his character. He's on his way to the top.

Dominick Mayer, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

Mostly a strong show. R-Truth continues to convince me he'll be main-eventing in about a year. The man just has charisma and talent to burn. Ricky Ortiz, who I couldn't stand watching on ECW, also looked really strong here. His character just works so much better as a cocky, annoying heel than as a face. The Reks/Ryder rematch also worked really nicely, as both improved on their good match last week, which is really what you have to ask for with this show.

Special shout out goes to Matt Striker and Todd Grisham, who were absolutely hysterical on commentary during this match. Much better than they've been on ECW lately, sadly. However, a show I was about to give a 7.5 dropped two points when Chavo Guerrero on his knees vs. Hornswoggle was deemed the necessary main event. It was pretty embarrassing and went on far, far too long. That was a clunker to conclude an otherwise strong edition.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

Ricky Ortiz had his best match in WWE on this show. Given his performance in the past, that's not really going out on a limb, but I figured it was a good attention-grabbing first line. And hey, give him credit, he really had his working shoes on last night in probably the longest one-on-one match he's had in WWE. R-Truth deserves some praise too for working well with Ortiz.

Zack Ryder is growing on me. At first, the only thing I liked about him was his theme music, but I'm slowly coming around on his character. He had a decent match with newcomer Tyler Reks. Chavo vs. Hornswoggle.....why? Can't Horny be a non-wrestling character? Why does the company have to ruin people by having them "wrestle" him? I know it's cute and fun and all and fits in with WWE's new target demo, but it gets real old real quick. He's not a long-term star or anything, and you're damaging guys who have more of a future than he does. Or maybe I'm still bitter about The Brian Kendrick having to job to him.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax