By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SUPERSTARS HITS

Carlito vs. Bourne: This seemed like a case where two mid card wrestlers got a chance to have a 13 minute match and decided that this was their opportunity to steal the show. Carlito and Evan Bourne had a great match. It was better than any match on Raw so it likely did steal the show at the Raw taping. It has been the best match of the week so far in WWE with a good chance of keeping that title. This is the most offense that we've seen from Bourne in a long time and it was a good reminder that he can do more than just a few really impressive high flying moves. I love his leaping kick and knee strikes. Carlito looked rejuvenated. These guys usually get only a short match on Raw to try to fit in their signature spots and tell a story. In this longer match, they weren't rushed. They were able to go back and forth and spread their spots out in the context of a real match.

SUPERSTARS MISSES

"Steals One": I am so tired of Michael Cole. This week he got to call two matches on Superstars, and in each, he used a variation of the term "steals one" to describe a moment in the match in a totally stupid way. The first came at the end of Alicia Fox & Katie Lea Burchill vs. Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres. Fox did a perfectly legal move in using Kelly's momentum on a cross body block to roll through and get a leverage pin for the win and Cole exclaimed that Fox had stolen the victory. How is that stealing? She didn't cheat. The match went back and forth, so it isn't like her team was dominated and barely got the win in the end. It was a stupid thing to say. On an aside, the match itself was solid. I almost gave it a Hit, but felt that I was only going to do that as it was longer than the usual Raw Divas matches which isn't a strong enough reason to give it a Hit. 6 minute tag matches should be the norm, not the exception. The second time Cole used the phrase was during Carlito vs. Bourne. Towards the end, after Bourne had gotten in plenty of his own offense, he hit a high impact move and went for a cover. Cole said something to the effect of "is Bourne going to steal one?" Again, how would doing well in a match and hitting a high impact move for a three count be stealing one? I don't think he gives any thought to the words that are coming out of his mouth. He has a cliché list and his own pet phrases (vintage whoever, controlled frenzy, etc.) that he has to get into every broadcast.

NXT: Yeesh. I had read that this was going to be the name of the new WWE show which will replace ECW in a few weeks, but this was the first time WWE gave the name on one of their shows, so I am going to talk about it here. We still have no details on what the show will be or how it will be the most innovative show ever (or whatever superlative they use for it). But, my gut reaction is that I am sick and tired of X being used for a wrestling show or league. It reminds me of the XFL. It reminds me of independent leagues that use the X for Extreme, since X is cooler than E. It is like Attitude Era WWF when they used a z instead of an s in Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz. Who knows what NXT will stand for (if anything). But, I have to go with my gut reaction as first impressions do count. One of the first things I thought of with that name is that it is basically a comment on how WWE's ECW differed from the original Extreme Championship Wrestling as in Non Xtreme Television.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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