By Tony Donofrio, PWTorch specialist

WWE

-- I find it ironic, but maybe I shouldn't, that the two major matches that I find myself most interested in right now leading up to WrestleMania are the ones that aren't getting too much time on Raw and Smackdown. Those are the World Title matches involving Chris Jericho-C.M. Punk and Sheamus-Daniel Bryan. That doesn't mean that I'm not really enjoying the build up to John Cena-Rock and Triple H-Undertaker. However, I have to applaud the former four on doing so much right now with comparatively less mic time to build the feud, particularly in the case of Punk and Jericho.

While Rock, Cena, Taker, and Hunter are getting in-ring segments that are eating up more than a quarter-hour themselves, Punk and Jericho are doing a great job selling me on their match in exchanges that take up half the time. Exchanges like this should be proof to Vince McMahon that these small building blocks can still be used to create longer, better feuds. Not all feuds need to have a short shelf life of 2-3 months. I feel like so much can be said in the small windows that Punk and Jericho have been allotted. In turn, that can help keep feuds going longer while still telling a great story.

-- WWE has announced two Hip-Hop stars will perform at WrestleMania - Flo Rida and Machine Gun Kelly. Kelly is supposed to perform Cena's entrance theme "Invincible" (how fitting, right?), while Flo Rida is set to perform two songs. It's likely he'll do Rock's entrance. Right now, Mania is sitting at eight matches. I used to pine for the days when there were nine, even ten matches again.

However, the Top 4 seem like they can't miss in terms of quality and/or excitement. So, I can live with eight. I just hope nothing else gets packed into this. I'm not a fan of added entertainment by way of musicians at any wrestling show. If time is available to let these guys sing/rap, then I'd rather see another decent match go on in it's place. Unfortunately, WWE hasn't built any other feuds worthy of Mania to this point and instead it seems they'll offer musical filler.

TNA

-- Even in a week where TNA had a PPV, there's not much to speak of again. I'm not exactly sure why Dixie Carter was brought back into storylines Sunday at Victory Road. Cheap heat? Other than that, what's the point? Maybe criticizing before I see how this plays out is unfair, but Carter really does nothing for me on TV and I'm not a fan of her on-air character.

With that said, I've been encouraged the past few months by TNA's patient storytelling and featuring younger talent. There not being much to say about TNA is a double-edged sword for TNA, though. TNA wants people to be talking about the product. However, most of what has been said about TNA over its 10-year history has been critical. Perhaps what we're seeing right now is a slow turn towards more people talking positively about the product. A lot of the negativity surrounding TNA has died down in the past few months. Is this TNA finally turning that proverbial corner? We'll see...

Independent Wrestling

-- I'm excited for Lance Storm's ROH in-ring return on March 30. Sadly, I'll be working that evening, but perhaps I'll order an encore version of the show. Storm has engaged in a Twitter and on-screen feud with Mike Bennett, who is an up and coming star, a real "blue chipper," as Jim Ross would call him. I think this match will be good for Bennett and I think Storm can be the quality opponent that he really needs to help to push him to the top of the card.

-- ROH has been doing a nice job thus far promoting the two-day "Showdown in the Sun" Internet PPVs on their weekly TV program. I still feel like ROH has lost a lot of luster in the past ten months, but I'm enjoying the product the past few weeks and Mania Weekend should be a good showing for the company.

-- Local to me (Pittsburgh market), the International Wrestling Cartel crowned a new champion about ten days ago and I'm proud to say it's someone that I personally know from a gym that I work out at. Congratulations to Logan Shulo on becoming the new IWC World Heavyweight Champion. Past champions in this promotion have been big names like C.M. Punk, Colt Cabana, Shiima Xion (TNA's Zema Ion), Sterling James Keenan (FCW's Corey Graves), The Sandman, and Balls Mahoney. Other top talents like Christopher Daniels, A.J. Styles, and Raven have also been regulars in the past. Locally, I would say IWC is the best independent promotion. You can check out their website for videos, history, and more at IWCWrestling.com .

Social Media Moment of the Week

-- Kurt Angle is at it again! Angle last night went on another Twitter rant that had many questioning his state of mind again. He said a lot of immature things to fans that were questioning him and went on to brag that it only took him one year to achieve main-event status while it took Legends like Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels up to 15 years. (He later apologized earlier today).

Angle did have nice things to say about C.M. Punk and "B Daniels" (Daniel Bryan?) and said he'd love to work with them someday. He did also state that he is a heel and later said that Twitter was supposed to bring out being a "personality." While I'd agree with Angle here, I think he did take things a bit too far, especially with some of the insults being hurled towards fans. I'm not against using social media to further get over a character being played on TV. But, a nice mix of work and shoot can better be done than how Angle used his account last night. To view the series of tweets he sent out, check it out on this PWTorch page .

Non-Wrestling Thought of the Week

-- A few NFL news items broke as I wrote this Wednesday afternoon. (1) New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for a whole year and the Denver Broncos were in the process of trading Tim Tebow (originally to the Jets and now - destination unknown). These are two huge news items. I'm surprised Payton, as the HC, was suspended a whole season! That's a major blow to a team like the Saints who were expected to be Super Bowl contenders. However, any coach that allows a bounty system to go on should take heed.

As for Tebow, I'm surprised at the Broncos and feel it's a major gamble going with Peyton Manning. I don't feel like Tebow was the answer, at least not immediately, but is Manning at this point in his career? I still feel he's no guarantee and is one hit away from his career ending. At least with Tebow, you knew what you were getting and could try to groom him into a decent quarterback. As for the Jets, we may never know what it would have been like for Tebow and Jets HC Rex Ryan to be on the same team, as trade rumors continue to swirl and Tebow may not end up on the Jets after all.

Tony Donofrio is a Specialist for the Torch covering a variety of topics and promotions. You can reach Tony at TonyDonofrio@me.com or follow him on Twitter @TonyDonofrio

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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