-- 4/12 WWE Raw Reax

Josh Watts of Lexington, Ky. (4.0): Best Match: John Cena vs. David Otunga. Worst Match: Eve vs. Maryse. The show started out pretty well. Older fans probably enjoyed seeing KITT from Knight Rider more than anything else we saw last night. Hasselhoff was charismatic, over with the crowd, and solid on the mic. The announcement that Randy Orton of all people would be facing Jack Swagger at Extreme Rules confused me, but I still want to see the match. However, the first match was an immediate plunge downhill. Eve has been shoved down our throats too long now, and this was just the painful climax. When Sheamus and Swagger were given titles, they hadn't paid their kayfabe "dues," which led to appropriate heel heat, but having an undeserving babyface win with a roll-up makes no sense. Maryse may also move stiffly in the ring, but she oozes charisma. Things did get better with ShoMiz's great segment, and the Harts matched them well. However, the outcome of the following match was odd. So the Harts don't get a title match, and Bret has to say ShoMiz is the greatest team of all time? I'm already bored with Bret refusing to say it before it even happens, and I certainly hope WWE finds a way to get Dynasty a tag title match. Cena vs. Otunga was the match of the night. It was short and Cena dominated from the start, but still just being there and having that match did so much for building up Otunga. Everything Batista did during the bout was great for building Dave's character and building to the Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules. Also, Kingston vs. Sheamus was good until it ended abruptly. The Bourne-Carlito match was a close second to Cena-Otunga for best match. It was simple, but it featured two talented performers who tend to get lost in the shuffle, and I loved the promo afterward with Carlito and Kozlov. The Baywatch match was silly and unnecessary, of course. The final match between Orton and Batista was good, even with the run-ins. However, it wasn't enough to leave me feeling good about this Raw. Hopefully the Draft will help freshen up the show soon.

-- 4/12 TNA Impact Reax

Jimmy Eaton of Kissimmee, Fla. (5.0): Best Match: Kaz vs. Shannon Moore. Worst Match: The Band vs. Team 3D. +1 automatically for no Rob Terry! I've been very critical of TNA in the past, and still am, but I think a 4.0 isn't a horrible score considering last week I would have given it a -6.0. I thought some decent storyline progression was made with the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair feud and there was some decent wrestling. I actually saw BUILD-UP to a match for the PPV apart from the main event on some occasions too! Doug Williams on commentary during the X Division match was one of the highlights for me, but TNA still suffers from confusing booking, way to much complexity, and a lack of character building. I seriously doubt anyone knows who Kaz is still! The build-up for the X Division match was fine for me, but who are these guys? It just doesn't make sense. The Band needs to not be in the ring anymore either. Ever. Nor should Bubba be on my TV. Ever. It's just sad, even Team 3D is doing the same shtick with the over-use of shots to the head. ... I enjoy watching Beer Money and seeing them in any kind of main event picture works for me. I tune in for those guys and the likes of Pope, A.J., Wolfe, Angle, etc. when they're given time to wrestle. The Guns also fall into that category, but after an explanation by Mike Tenay of the #1 contender issue, who in their right mind wants to follow that complex of a story? Too much thinking for me personally. Again, wrestling doesn't have to be believable all the time, just sane for the most part. I want TNA to succeed and want to see people given the chance to perform. ... The women were the usual eye candy but at least it's building to something that didn't have too much over-the-top sleaziness. Overall, a vast improvement from last week and while I won't order a TNA PPV for any reason right now, I give them credit for a stronger show. Also, the Reaction show is a good concept, but they need to focus on one thing at a time. That can be applied to Impact as well.

JJ of Oshkosh, Wis. (8.5): Best Match: Matt Morgan/Amazing Red vs. MCMG. Worst Match: Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky (even though I didn't mind watching it). I thought this was a focused and driven episode of Impact. It did a great job promoting Lockdown and also filling (attempting) in some storyline holes, although TNA Reaction did much of that as well. This episode saw some of the best in-ring action on Impact in quite some time. The Kaz-Moore match helped re-establish the X Division's presence again. It also made both challengers for the title look strong with good use of the 10-minute time limit draw. Hardy-Roode was really good as well, as Roode continues to prove he is one of the best in-ring workers in the company. The fireball thing was maybe unnecessary with a big PPV on Sunday. They're playing up the "underdog" card up big time with Abyss getting hit by a car, RVD's beer bottle shot last week, and Hardy's fireball to the face this week. It looks like the babyface team is going to pull out the "win against the impossible odds" on Sunday. I absolutely love what they are doing with Matt Morgan. You could see the turn on Red coming, but it was done extremely well on each end. This storyline is adding a ton to his character. My only question is, why is he not on the PPV defending the titles? No Mr. Anderson or Kurt Angle was disappointing and some sort of promo besides the strong video package would have been nice. My only other complaint is that I feel that Pope has lost the momentum he had after his tournament win two months ago. The fans were behind him big time the following week on Impact, but I don't think they've done enough to present him as a serious threat to the title. That being said, this episode was much better than last week's show and I hope they use this formula for Impact moving forward.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on these shows for a "TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw and Impact, click here.

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