PWTORCH.COM
VIP SIGN-UP JUMP TO VIP
CONTACT US VISIT MMA TORCH




Select Next Article by Category





TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU!

PWTORCH IPHONE APP
Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here
Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.


The Specialists
1/18 WWE Smackdown Hitlist: Coach, VIP Lounge, Main Event
Jan 19, 2008 - 12:59:48 PM


By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Finlay - McMahon: I am a proponent of using less Vince McMahon, not more. So, you might find it odd that I would like to see more of him on Smackdown. His presence lends credibility to the brand that is the obvious B show (a brand that he has largely ignored over the years - other than the early days of the brand extension when he ran it). When involved in a Smackdown storyline, I would propose he should be on Raw less. McMahon should be involved in one storyline at a time, so he doesn’t get overexposed. His involvement on Smackdown at least has been focused on one storyline, his deal with Finlay, and his tough love for Hornswoggle. Having him in just one short segment helps with the credibility, while not having his presence grind on the audience. Plus, this has been an intriguing storyline. It progressed nicely this week as McMahon seemed genuinely concerned for Hornswoggle and upset at what happened at the hands of The Great Khali. I continue to look forward to seeing where they go from here.

VIP Lounge: This was my favorite segment of the show. When Montel Vontavious Porter first announced his intention to end Ric Flair’s career, I was looking forward more to a Flair appearance in the VIP Lounge than I was to seeing MVP vs. Flair (not that I don’t look forward to that as well). This is what happens when you put two guys who the fans respond to (one who they love to cheer, one who they love to boo), who can both deliver very well on the mic, and who both have a great desire to defeat the other, in a ring and let them go at it with great verbal exchanges. Both were very good in this segment. It was great to see them acknowledge MVP’s victory over Flair last year. I loved that Flair called that loss a blemish on his record that he wanted to fix. This is a fairly easy match to sell. MVP wants to end Flair’s career, and Flair wants to keep wrestling. But, when you throw in details like Flair wanting to get revenge for losing to MVP several months ago, you go the extra step to make the feud bigger than it was before. The idea of MVP being a young Flair is interesting also. MVP has to look strong next week to put some doubt in the fans’ minds about Flair’s chances at the PPV.

Main Event: Mysterio & Punk vs. Edge & Guerrero was a good tag team Main Event. It suffered from the traditional WWE tag team formula, but it still delivered plenty of good action. The beginning was very fun to watch, leading to the double dive to the outside of the ring by Rey Mysterio and CM Punk. After the commercial, it dragged with the prolonged beat down of Punk by Chavo Guerrero and Edge. But, it never got boring. They did enough during that stretch to keep things interesting. Punk was good in selling his shoulder injury, and trying to fight back to get the tag to Mysterio. My favorite spot in the match was when Edge knocked Mysterio off the ring apron so Punk couldn’t get the tag, only to turn around and take Punk’s running knee to the face. Edge sold that move very well. It is fun to see Mysterio flying around the ring after a hot tag. The match ended with a disqualification which was a bit of a disappointment. The post-match beat down was well done. WWE is booking Mysterio as the underdog going into The Royal Rumble, as opposed to Jeff Hardy on Raw who is being booked as having more momentum than Champion Randy Orton. It will be interesting to see in the final hard sells of both shows if their fortunes are switched.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Edge - Chavo Agreement: I guess it is good that Edge and Chavo reached an agreement to work together. That gives some explanation as to why they are willing to team up together for the Main Event just a week after Chavo questioned Edge’s relationship with Vickie Guerrero. But, I had been intrigued by Chavo’s tweener character. I was curious to see where they were going with him. Having him ultimately side with Edge and Vickie is o.k., but it happened way too quickly. That takes the intrigue away. Also, it happened for no real reason. Chavo didn’t give a legitimate explanation as to why he was willing to change his mind so quickly. It looks like Vickie is going to end up with her own stable of wrestlers, which is fine, but this still happened too quickly and illogically.

Coach: When Coach was introduced as the new color commentator on Smackdown, I was likely the only person who would give that a Hit. I acknowledged my groaned when he first came out, but I still gave him a Hit. My reason for giving him a Hit was largely based on the fact that I was, “sick and tired of Coach’s role on Raw.” I was happy to seem him doing something different than argue with William Regal and kiss Vince McMahon’s ass. Also, I was worried that he would be his usual over the top and super annoying self, which would grow stale after about half a broadcast. Instead, I was surprised that he toned it down. He wasn’t the normal irrational heel commentator which is a position that has grown stale. The problem is that he has gone too far the other direction. Instead of being too over the top and annoying, he has been watered down and boring. He adds nothing to the broadcast. Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield, and Tazz all have their strengths and weaknesses, but they all brought a sense of humor to the job. There is no humor from Coach. He is bland. I don’t want to hear him constantly bicker with Michael Cole, but he has to at least be insightful, amusing, and interesting. He isn’t any of the above. Lawler plays a tweener role, but he still gives Jim Ross a hard time. Tazz is more of a heel than Lawler at this point, but not to the point of being like the traditional heel commentators of old. He also finds fun ways to give Joey Styles a hard time. You don’t have to be annoying and over the top to add to the broadcast and create chemistry your partner. Coach doesn’t seem fit to do that. When I have suggested that TNA get rid of their announce team, I have always concentrated more on Don West than Mike Tenay simply for the fact that it is much easier to find a good color commentator than a good play by play guy. If that is the case as I believe it to be, then there is no excuse for WWE not putting more effort into finding a better choice.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hitlist Specialist, providing his point of view in the Torch's hitlist format for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.


Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET


For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO


MORE "The Specialists" ARTICLES
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - TNA Impact: CLICK ON THIS LINK TNA, If You Dress Like Hulk Hogan People Will Give You Money, I Use Amazing Red To Floss My Teeth
11/19 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Rosa Mendes, Eric Escobar, Lackluster Show
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/19: Forgotten history between A.J. and Angle, TNA's new cameras, Pope gets referee assist, Numbers - The Rock a horrible tag champ
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 11/12: Review of last week's show before tonight's Impact - Wolfe-Angle build-up, Lethal loses to Niedhart
11/17 WWE ECW Hits & Misses: Intensity, Hurricane vs. Burchill, Regal & Punk vs. Christian & Truth
11/16 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Miz vs. MVP, Piper - McMahon, Kingston's Moment, Survivor Series Hype, JeriShow vs. DX vs. Cena & Taker
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - WWE Raw: Kofi's Boom Drop In The Garden, Triple H Fears Hornswoggle, Piper To Star In John Carpenter's "They Bald" Starring Hulk Hogan
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - TNA Turning Point: Rewarding Main Events, Nash And "The Fingerpoke of Doom" Incident, Why Jay Lethal Should Be A TNA Cameraman
11/13 WWE Smackdown Hits & Misses: Punk vs. Truth, Lame DQ, Ziggler vs. Morrison, Jericho vs. Undertaker
PARKS BLOG: A Mind-Boggling, Legendary Loss for Jay Lethal on Impact
GARDNER'S KEY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Where the Survivor Series build-up has fallen short
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - WWE Smackdown: Chris Jericho vs. Undertaker For The First-Time Ever, Batista Wants To Snap His Friend's Neck, Jim Neidhart Squashes Evan Bourne
WILKENFELD'S TNA Turning Point 2009 PPV Preview
11/12 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Hardy vs. Smith, MVP vs. DiBiase
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/12: Jay Lethal's ridiculous Impact losing streak, More 1980s music quotes, What else does STF mean?, Numbers - top and bottom title averages
PARKS BLOG: WWE could learn something about character development from Food Network's WWE-themed show
11/10 WWE ECW Hits & Misses: Abraham Washington, Ryder's Fantasy, Christian vs. Regal
11/9 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Miz - Swagger, Guerrero vs. Hatton, VIP Lounge, Cena vs. Triple H vs. Michaels Hype
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - WWE Raw: Trust Funds Babies vs. Ex-Cons, Two Things for C.M. Punk Fans To Look Out For, DX and Cena To Break Sensational Record
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - TNA Impact: "Do Not Undermine Mother TNA, Comrades. TNAism Will Crush The Weak And Corrupt North!"

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.

Current Top Ten Staff Picks
Staff Picks
11/21 Hulkamania Tour in Melbourne: Very detailed report on Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair's first matches back, Hogan and Flair bleed heavily, Undercard matches re-create Attitude Era
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: In-depth look at why Vince McMahon is marketing the WWE product as PG family-friendly
WWE News: TOP STORY - "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson working with WWE on a TV project beyond guest-hosting Raw
WWE News: Linda McMahon reveals the McMahon Family's vast wealth in Senate campaign filing
WWE News: Raw TV ratings are in - Did Raw rebound from the 2009 year-low?
WWE News: WWE announces guest hosts for the next four weeks of Raw, including two new names
Hogan News: Watch VIDEO of the Hulkamania Press Conference breaking down into a staged fight (w/VIDEO)
TNA News: SPOILERS - first two matches announced for TNA's December PPV
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
CALDWELL'S WWE RAW REPORT 11/16: Complete coverage of Roddy Piper hosting, DX vs. Cena & Taker vs. Jericho & Show


TORCH QUICK-CLICK REFERENCE LIST
-CLICK TO FOLLOW PWTORCH ON TWITTER!
-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PWTORCH IPHONE APP

-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PODCAST (#1 in iTunes!)
-CLICK TO GET INFO ON BECOMING A VIP MEMBER
-CLICK TO VISIT MMATORCH.COM
-CLICK TO VISIT PROWRESTLING.NET

-CLICK TO EMAIL PWTORCH EDITORS




PWTORCH READER POLL

SMACKDOWN POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/20 Smackdown if you saw the show?
The Undertaker
Kane
Chris Jericho
Big Show
Batista
Rey Mysterio
Matt Hardy
Tyson Kidd
John Morrison
Dolph Ziggler
C.M. Punk
R-Truth
Drew McIntyre
Finlay
Mickie James
Layla
Eric Escobar
Vince McMahon
Teddy Long
Vickie Guerrero
  

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS

ARE YOU VIP? SIGN UP NOW FOR $7.50 A MONTH FOR INSTANT ACCESS TO AD-FREE, BENEFIT-PACKED VIP VERSION OF PWTORCH.COM (see screen capture)
PWTORCH VIP HOME PAGE

INFO ON SUBSCRIPTION TO AD-FREE VIP SITE

INCREDIBLE BENEFITS!
Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...

SIGN ME UP NOW!

Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?

AND NEW FOR 2009!
Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?

SIGN ME UP NOW!


UPCOMING EVENTS LISTING

Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV PICK 'EM CONTEST: Prediction Contest for Sunday's PPV
WWE RAW 11/16: Place Your Bets on tonight's Raw - Week 12 featuring Roddy Piper
WWE RAW 11/2: "Place your Bets" Scoreboard after Week 11 - Review the previous scores before tonight's Raw PYB contest
WWE News
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: Bischoff talks Standards & Practices in WCW before Vince Russo came along
WWE News: What's on Smackdown tonight - Taker & Kane vs. Big Show & Jericho
WWE News: Jim Ross comments on possible WrestleMania 26 return, current WWE contract status
TNA News
TNA News: Spike TV pre-empting episode of Impact in December
TNA News: TNA Impact ratings break down - Inside the numbers on TNA's recent ratings trends
TNA News: Impact rating is in - how did post Turning Point episode fare?
ROH News
ROH News: ROH Title match signed for Final Battle; Air dates for McGuinness and Danielson's Farewell speeches
ROH News: Ring of Honor announces details on Austin Aries's next ROH Title defense
ROH News: Tonight is Bryan Danielson's final ROH match - details on tonight's special ROH TV episode (w/VIDEO)
Other News
Other News: "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson records PSA for NASA as new spokesman (w/VIDEO)
PWG News: Results from Battle of Los Angeles first round matches; final matches scheduled for tonight
PWG News: First round matches for tonight's Battle of Los Angeles tournament - Aries vs. Kendrick; Cabana, Shelley, Strong in action
PPV Reports
CALDWELL'S TNA TURNING POINT PPV REPORT 11/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels
RADICAN'S DGUSA "Untouchable" PPV review - Doi vs. Danielson, Shingo vs. Richards
10/25 WWE Bragging Rights Results: KELLER'S detailed match-by-match PPV report - Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Jericho & Show vs. Undertaker & Kane
CALDWELL'S WWE SUPERSTARS TV REPORT 11/19: Complete coverage of Henry vs. Rhodes on WGN
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 11/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the post-Turning Point show
Arena Reports
11/21 Hulkamania Tour in Melbourne: Very detailed report on Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair's first matches back, Hogan and Flair bleed heavily, Undercard matches re-create Attitude Era
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Second Report - Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels, Chris Sabin vs. Suicide, Amazing Red vs. Homicide
11/14 WWE in Dublin: The Undertaker very limited in the ring vs. C.M. Punk, Rey vs. Dolph, Very interesting John Morrison vs. Matt Hardy match, No Jericho
MMA / UFC Coverage
MMA News: Update on Brock Lesnar's health - how long Lesnar had been dealing with health problems, expected return to UFC
MMA News: Brock Lesnar health update - UFC president much more optimistic than this weekend
MMA News: Brock Lesnar released from the hospital tonight; Lesnar's UFC future in doubt
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER BLOG: WrestleMania goes up to $55, all other PPVs $45 - let the pirate feed frenzy begin
KELLER BLOG: Dixie Carter asks wrestlers to step it up, but what does that mean? Shouldn't their goal to be winning matches and nothing else?
KELLER FLASHBACK: Review of Hulk Hogan's first autobiography - Hogan's political maneuvers evident in who he protects and buries
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL FLASHBACK (Dec. 1994): C.M. Punk's character is the latest Vince McMahon creation responding to criticism of his WWE product
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
MOJO MITCHELL'S RAW 11/2: Stream of My Fourth Grade Hero and The Mid-Card Kicks Main Event Ass
MCNEILL'S TAKE
Get Thru This: McNEILL Previews WWE Survivor Series 2009!
The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down: McNEILL previews TNA Turning Point 2009!
McNEILL BLOG: The Big Questions About Hulk Hogan in TNA
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
CALDWELL'S TUESDAY CHAT w/GREG PARKS: Raw, Smackdown, TNA PPV discussion - MSG crowd, Survivor Series hype, Kofi breaks out, CSI:Miami vs. 30 Rock
CALDWELL'S BLOG: Hitting the hot topics - Raw tonight, Turning Point vs. Survivor Series, Jesse Ventura, Brock Lesnar, Shane McMahon
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: A list of things wresters and TNA fans can support for Dixie Carter
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
RADICAN: Daddy's little girl V 2.0 debuts on Impact
The Specialists
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - TNA Impact: CLICK ON THIS LINK TNA, If You Dress Like Hulk Hogan People Will Give You Money, I Use Amazing Red To Floss My Teeth
11/19 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Rosa Mendes, Eric Escobar, Lackluster Show
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/19: Forgotten history between A.J. and Angle, TNA's new cameras, Pope gets referee assist, Numbers - The Rock a horrible tag champ
Guest Editorials
GUEST EDITORIAL: Disgruntled TNA fan says he's done with the promotion after today's Impact taping (Contains SPOILERS)
GUEST EDITORIAL: The ultimate irony - Hulk Hogan appears on TNA Impact and pre-taped TV sitcom promoting WWE on the same night
GUEST BOOK REVIEW: Hulk Hogan provides strong defense of his public image in new autobiography
Torch Feedback
ECW TV Reax #1: "C.M. Punk scoring the pin in the main event made Smackdown seem more important than ECW"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "While WWE delivered an above-quality show, they still haven't given viewers a reason to order Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "This was NOT one of the best Raws of 2009, but one of the worst..."
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: Death Before Dishonor VII: N2 - Storm-Hero, Ryan-Cabana
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
Torch Flashbacks
KELLER'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 5 YRS. AGO (11-14-04): Benoit & Orton & Jericho vs. Evolution & Edge, JBL vs. Booker T, Team Angle vs. Cena Dream Team
PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 1 YR. AGO (11-21-08): Final Survivor Series build-up to Undertaker vs. Big Show casket match, Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H, Morrison & Miz
KELLER'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 10 YRS. AGO (11-14-99): Big Show vs. Triple H vs. The Rock, Edge & Christian & Hardys team, Chris Jericho vs. Chyna
VIP Exclusive Features
11/20 Wade Keller Hotline - Guest Bruce Mitchell: Survivor Series Match by Match Preview & Predictions (20 min.)
11/20 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show: Listener Questions - How Vince McMahon was perceived before he took over, Outlaw Promotions stories, Sting Flips off Bruce, Albano Craziness (45 min.)
PWTorch Newsletter #1117/1118 (31 pages!): Raw at MSG, TNA Victory Road PPV Roundtable, Mitchell on Russo-Hogan, Keller on Dixie Speech, more
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
SMACKDOWN POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/20 Smackdown if you saw the show?
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/19 Impact if you saw the show?
ECW MVP POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/17 ECW TV if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
11/4 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Format change to the show, new guest host, upcoming shows
FREE FOR ALL: 10/27 Bruce Mitchell Audio Special: Hogan-Bischoff-TNA story from all angles including Monday Night War II possibilities (32 min.)
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart