James Caldwell: This is Torch assistant editor James Caldwell joined by Torch columnist Greg Parks for our weekly look at what's happening on pro wrestling TV. Let's start by talking about your experience at the Smackdown/NXT TV taping this week. We won't get into Smackdown spoilers here, but NXT featured three eliminations and three pretty blah matches, I thought. What was your impression of the taping and what went down on NXT this week?

Greg Parks: You pretty much hit the nail on the head with your description. The matches meant nothing to the fans in the arena and even for me, who watches every week. The amount of cuts was a surprise, especially the Daniel Bryan one. Just based on his interview, I do like where it appears to be going from here, however. Seems Wade Barrett is the clear winner now that Bryan is out...right?

Caldwell: To me, WWE made it clear with the abundance of cuts that they're trying to end this NXT season as quickly as possible. I'm not sure if they even recognize the show needs a lot of work going forward, but the "market research" from the TV ratings shows general apathy toward the show. I think it's pretty clear Wade Barrett is being set up to win this thing. As for Daniel Bryan, I like the possibility of him being a surrogate for Bret Hart against The Miz on Raw. I don't know if that's where WWE is going, but it sure sounds good to me. Assuming Bryan stays in WWE, where do you see him fitting in long-term?

Parks: Hopefully, working his way up the ladder, starting with a feud with Miz over the U.S. Title. It'll be tough for them to balance his feud with Miz along with Miz and Jericho's newfound tag team. I'm hoping Bryan, going to Raw or Smackdown, will have a better opportunity to show what got him over in the first than he has on NXT.

Caldwell: I could see a program develop where Miz feuds with Bryan while Jericho incorporates his Rookie, Wade Barrett, into the picture to mix and match some potential match-ups. They could re-visit the Jericho vs. Bryan match from the first NXT episode, feature Bryan as the underdog against Barrett, etc. I think that has potential. We'll obviously see if it pans out! Let's talk WWE Raw from Monday. I think you were higher on the show than I was. Sitting here three days later, not a whole lot stuck with me other than the ridiculous Buzz Aldrin and Mark Henry video. Ugh! But, what did you think of the show and Raw's make-up post-Draft?

Parks: Yeah, I had to sit through that video like three more times on Tuesday at the tapings. Vickie Guerrero is apparently still the GM based on remarks she made at the Smackdown tapings, so her quitting wasn't legit I guess. But that's the biggest thing I took away, was Vickie being instilled as GM, taking power away from the Raw guest hosts. Hopefully this does not mean the return of Santina.

Caldwell: Let's not even go there! After all, I think WWE has Santino busy doing Raw Comedy with Kozlov. But, on the heel GM bit, I am so tired of it. If they continue it, it would seem rehashed, old, stale, and uninteresting. I don't care if Vickie gets tons of heat, I just don't want to see it anymore, especially re-visiting the Vickie/Edge relationship. Part of that angle is Randy Orton's involvement. What do you make of his babyface run right now and is WWE trying too hard to "make him Steve Austin" or do you not see it like that?

Parks: I would agree on the heel GM scene, but at least there will be some consistency in how matches are made now with a GM, rather than the haphazard rules they had for guest hosts. Orton's face turn is certainly going better than Edge's, but it might be a little early for the Austin comparisons. I do see some similarities between Orton RKO'ing everyone regardless of which side of the heel/face fence they are on, and Austin stunning everyone in sight.

Caldwell: I agree on Raw needing a consistent "matchmaker" or internal logic to determine matches and the direction of top feuds, but I think it's a sad statement they don't have anyone else on the roster or another way to present the story without rehashing it yet again. Yes, Orton's face turn is definitely going better than Edge. It was something fans were clamoring for and the momentum slowly built and built and built, while Edge just kinda came back and WWE shoehorned him into a face role. What about John Cena and Batista's program? It seems they'll take the I Quit stipulation a step further and say Batista must leave WWE if he says he quits, but what's your take on where that program is?

Parks: I assumed that Cena would propose a loser leaves town match if that were the case, but maybe WWE thought that would've been too obvious. Three PPVs in a row of Cena vs. Batista is really grating on me, but I can't complain too much, since their first two matches have been really good. The program feels like it's winding down, and at about the right time. I don't know how much more Cena vs. Batista I could take.

Caldwell: Yeah, I don't think we need any more of Cena vs. Batista on PPV, so it's the right time to wind down and also make it a secondary match between Edge and Orton in terms of what's being hyped the most on Raw. What do you think about the rest of Raw, especially with the mid-card and WWE trying to sort out who's who and what's what? I just don't get a sense they have big plans for the mid-card other than perhaps building up that Ted DiBiase feud with Kofi Kingston.

Parks: Yeah, me neither. But at least they're being put out there in hopes something happens that will spark the wrestler or the writing team to find something worth pushing in them. I like Zack Ryder so I don't mind him getting TV time, and I'm not going to complain about Evan Bourne either. It seems a bit directionless but at least it's something. Some of the guys, like Ryder, are new to the Raw roster, so the writers may not be totally familiar with them, depending how much cross-over there is for writers between brands.

Caldwell: You have a good point on WWE trying to get them on TV to see which wrestlers stick with the audience to build upon something. I got the sense from watching that show, though, that WWE was simply trying to fill time in the interim while they sort out who's worth pushing and who should be in that Chavo Guerrero role of always appearing on Superstars. We'll see how it sorts out as they go.

Let's talk about what's happening on Smackdown, without getting too much into Spoilers, if at all possible. Obviously, the Drew McIntyre angle continues to "evolve" from week to week. Do you see the feud leading to a match with Matt Hardy? Also, what do you think of the Jack Swagger vs. Big Show build-up thus far?

Parks: I think at some point, McIntyre and Hardy may revisit their feud. It would be hard not to given the way it has gone to this point. Maybe Hardy will be out selling his injury a while and will come back to challenge Mac at some point. The Big Show vs. Swagger build-up has been fine, we're still in the early stages of the build-up, but it's been OK. Seeing Show in the main event scene is not really something I'm looking forward to, but he has played off Swagger nicely thus far.

Caldwell: I think the issue with the Swagger vs. Show program is that there wasn't this great momentum behind Show to finally get an opportunity at the World Title again. Fans weren't sitting there with anticipation just waiting for Show to get another title shot. And I just don't think it's made for very interesting or compelling TV yet. I think Swagger is great in his role, but the feud just doesn't capture the imagination because there isn't a ton of momentum behind Show's character. Anything else from Smackdown worth touching on without getting into the spoilers?

Parks: Umm...Punk and Rey are continuing to have a nice feud. It's going to be Punk's hair vs. Rey joining the SES at the PPV. Where do you see that one heading?

Caldwell: I like the idea of Punk winning and Rey having to join SES. I thought that should have been the original finish in their first match-up, but they've managed to stretch out the program rather well to build to the stip vs. stip match. I see Rey joining, but it would be rather interesting to see Punk hairless. I really can't even picture that. What's your prediction?

Parks: I'd like to see that too, but I'm predicting a Rey win. Punk winning would make for better TV though, but they would have to explain what Rey joining the SES would entail.

Caldwell: Oh, I'm sure Rey joining SES would include weekly pledges, torture, torment, etc. to keep building heat on Punk and sympathy on Rey. It would be fantastic! ... Let's talk TNA Impact before we wrap today. Impact returns to Thursday nights tonight with RVD vs. Styles vs. Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Title and a bunch of angles. What's your sense of where TNA is right now retreating from Mondays and trying to rebuild on Thursdays?

Parks: I don't know that they should do anything different, really. Well, aside from making the shows better obviously. But what I mean is, I don't think we're going to see a drastic change in direction or anything like that. It has to be a blow to a lot of egos behind the scenes to have to go back to Thursdays, but if anything, this should make them even more dedicated to building up the ratings on Thursday and the TNA name in anticipation for going back to Monday nights again, which I'm sure is still their goal.

Caldwell: Oh yeah, it was a blow to egos in TNA. This was their biggest of the big dangling carrots in a long series of carrots hanging out there as they continued to grow. This was the poisonous carrot, though, as you simply can't re-create the Monday Night Wars trying to be WWE Lite or booking like it's 1999 all over again. So, TNA needs to reset on Thursdays and just get that idea of Monday nights out of their minds. Overall, it just comes down to creative and the product they're putting out. That's the main thing holding this company back. What do you make of the Sacrifice PPV on Sunday? TNA has presented it pretty much as an afterthought, but is it worth ordering or anything that stands out at you from the current line-up?

Parks: I barely even know the current lineup, James, so I really can't speak on that. I think Hardy vs. Anderson is on the card, which could be good.

Caldwell: I hear you. Hardy vs. Anderson had one week of build-up on the final Monday Impact, then I'm sure they'll pick it up again tonight, but it feels like a distant memory and one of those programs where you sit there and think, 'Now, why are they feuding and why am I supposed to care?' I'm sure it'll be a good match, but it doesn't feel like there's a reason for it occurring.

Parks: Welcome to TNA, James.

Caldwell: Yes, yes, indeed. All right, Greg, anything else we need to touch on before wrapping up?

Parks: I think we're all set.

Caldwell: Sounds good. Everyone can listen to Greg on today's PWTorch Livecast and we'll look forward to that!

Parks: Sure thing. Talk to ya next week!

We suggest these recent related articles...

CALDWELL'S WWE "NXT: HOUSTON" LIVE RESULTS 9/17: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Balor, Joe, Bayley, more from debut show in Texas

CALDWELL'S LIVE REPORT - 7/12 Lone Star in Houston, Tex.: Alberto El Patron no-shows, Dreamer vs. Hoyt new main event; plus Duggan, Snitsky, Cabana vs. Mahal, Joey Ryan, Rowe vs. Hernandez, Ivellise, Catrina, Houston Carson, one title change, more

CALDWELL: A Top 10 for 10 Years - Hall of Fame, George, Sweet Tea, Studio B, Duke, Three-Pack, and you!