James Caldwell: This is PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell joined by PWTorch columnist Greg Parks immediately following tonight's Smackdown, which Greg covered, to break down the week in WWE TV programming. Greg, I'm not even going to ask you what stood out the most this week. I'm going off the script and asking you first off whether Evan Bourne's mega-push on Raw was a one-week wonder or do you think there's some life behind the sudden Bourne push?

Greg Parks: My initial thought was that it was a one-week deal. WWE has done this before, so I wouldn't be shocked if that was the case. I mean, he could be in line for a Kofi Kingston-like push, but even Kofi got scaled back when he was about to reach the summit. I can't see them getting behind Bourne right now as much as they got behind Kingston several months ago.

Caldwell: I had the exact same thought earlier this week that Bourne had his "Boom Drop in Madison Square Garden" type moment, which is why I stressed the importance of follow-up in my Raw report. It could be a case of WWE just trying to quiet down the "roster depth concerns" for one week or perhaps trying to really, truly get behind a new, young star. I don't know yet. Like you said, WWE has a history of one-week big moments for young stars with weak follow-up. The other big angle on Raw was the return of Vince McMahon to apparently set up another program with Bret Hart. What do you make of McMahon returning to TV?

Parks: It was certainly surprising, but it probably shouldn't be. As you noted, ratings are down, and that tends to draw the McMahons out of their hibernation. On the other hand, they really did need to address why Vince would hire Bret as GM, and they kinda did the Sting thing where Vince alluded to it, but didn't outright come out and say why, leaving everyone still guessing.

Caldwell: Nice analogy on hibernation. That's worth a good laugh. It's one of those things where I don't know if they really can explain it, so they tried to walk that fine line of "creating mystery" to see what the follow-up is next week and the week after on how the story plays out. The way the confrontation played out was very interesting, as Hart seemed to be booked to look weak and almost pitiful "bowing" to McMahon. What your impression of how that verbal exchange played out?

Parks: It was tough to make out, because I've felt that sometimes, Bret's facial reactions haven't matched the situation, so I don't know if I could read too much into his body language here. Vince seemed to come off heelish, but not as much as usual. I don't think they knew what they wanted out of this segment, but knew they had to address it in some way.

Caldwell: And they've made it clear these exchanges aren't pre-scripted, or at least aren't as pre-scripted as other verbal exchanges, so with a live show and Hart still a bit rusty in these types of segments, it was just an odd exchange overall where things didn't seem to be what they intended. It will be interesting to see if they try to clean it up on the three-hour Raw on Monday. Speaking of the three-hour Raw, what do you make of yet another Raw & Smackdown Supershow on Monday, with the "attraction" of a Taboo Tuesday-type concept?

Parks: They kinda do need concepts for these three-hour shows, in order to make them seem interesting to casual fans who may question whether three hours is too much for them to sit through a wrestling show. I'm surprised they only allowed themselves one week to advertise the show, but perhaps it was a last-minute decision.

Caldwell: I think the three-hour Raw has been on the schedule for over a month, at least on USA Network's schedule, but I believe WWE has this idea that they can't advertise a big episode of Raw in advance or they'll confuse the audience. I don't agree with that mindset, but it seems to be their mentality. There were some other pretty notable events on Raw Monday night. What else jumped out at you from the show?

Parks: Zack Ryder got a nice push in having a little deal with Ashton Kutcher, though the punchline fell flat. Really, really flat. Also, R-Truth beats Jericho cleanly? What do you make of that result?

Caldwell: Ryder getting tons of TV time was good. The payoff to that segment was absolutely horrible and fell completely flat. It was MacGruber bad. I'm really intrigued to see where Jericho's character is going on Raw. I remember his post-match reaction more than Truth actually winning. It seems like Jericho's character is being set up to either snap and start going nuts after losing matches recently or he's going to "walk away" and play up some sort of angle with Jericho teasing retirement. Truth is sloppy in the ring at times, but WWE is strongly behind him, which is good to see a newer star in a prominent position. What do you make of where Jericho's character might be going?

Parks: I wasn't sure until I heard he got a hosting gig on network TV, then I put two and two together. They may not have anything to do with each other, but it also may be a way to give him a short hiatus to do the show. I just hope they aren't going in the direction of a losing streak gimmick. Really, with as much as Jericho already loses these days, it wouldn't seem much different.

Caldwell: I wouldn't be surprised if it leads to a short hiatus for Jericho. I'm not sure what the TV taping schedule is for the new ABC show, as I don't know if these are live shows or pre-taped bits, so it will be interesting to see if that does indeed affect his current run on Raw. All right, let's move on to NXT and talk about the Season Finale on Tuesday. Wade Barrett won to the surprise of no one, they went soft on the Cole-Miz-Bryan follow-up after Bryan pinned Miz on Raw, the Pros bickered at the end, and they set up Season Two. What jumped out at you the most from the finale?

Parks: The fact that they didn't pull a switcheroo and have Otunga win after (a) Barrett has topped almost every poll to this point and (b) the pros were talking about him winning before it was even announced. In wrestling, those are usually signs a swerve is coming, so I kinda expected Otunga to win.

Caldwell: I would have been shocked if they had Otunga win. I think they can do more with him having that "chip on his shoulder" believing the Otunga-Hudson family is always overlooked before getting more over than everyone else. Where do you see Barrett fitting in? Is he a Raw guy or a Smackdown guy? And who does he challenge for a title per winning NXT?

Parks: I'm not sure about Barrett. Unlike some of the other guys, I don't see a ready-made feud waiting for him. He could team with Jericho and try to go after the tag belts, but I feel like they haven't explored the Miz/Jericho team as much as they could have. I'm sure they want Barrett on Raw, where he'd get more exposure and do more for the NXT brand by starring on that show.

Caldwell: I could see Barrett going after R-Truth's U.S. Title as a "steppingstone" for the WWE Title, especially after Jericho lost to Truth on Raw. Like you said, there isn't a natural place for him to go, so that seems to be one option that makes sense. What do you make of next season's line-up? Are you ready for 15 more weeks of NXT?

Parks: I don't know that I'll ever be ready for 15 more weeks of NXT, but I don't mind the lineup for this coming season. Joe Hennig and Windham Rotunda should be fun to watch (I refused to call them by their gimmicked names), and Kaval with LayCool could provide some good comedy moments. Then again, this is WWE, where the term "good comedy moments" isn't in the lexicon.

Caldwell: Yeah, hopefully they'll save the "comedy" for Raw. I'm effectively lowering expectations and hoping to be pleasantly surprised with some necessary tweaks to the show's format and the use of in-ring wrestling. I don't want to see a bunch of FCW matches. At least there's some quality wrestlers in this bunch, but I'm not looking forward to watching Mark Henry in tag matches with Kaval every week. Anything else from NXT stand out? Is William Regal the most under-utilized talent on the roster?

Parks: Now that Haas and Benjamin are gone, I'd say so. Dude can talk and wrestle, so I don't know what the deal is. Cosmetically, he doesn't have the look WWE likes, and he's got a spotty past, so I guess those would be the two real big things holding him back.

Caldwell: And his age. Just look at Finlay being taken off TV...until tonight. That's what you call a segue to talking about tonight's Smackdown, which you just covered. Obviously, the big story was Undertaker being written off TV. It's funny looking at random headlines from entertainment blogs, including one headline, "Is The Undertaker of WWE Dead?" or my favorite, "What happened to The Undertaker is he died?" Ugh. Anyways, what do you make of Taker's write off and Rey replacing him in the World Title match at the PPV?

Parks: First of all, those posts are silly because the Undertaker was dead in the first place; as Jerry Seinfeld said, once you're dead, you're dead. You can't be more dead. They really had to write around not saying that Taker had "died," which was tough given the casket and the entire memorial service that Kane set up. If it energizes his character a bit, I'm all for it. But for some reason, I had a bad feeling he'll end up being the one who did it. Maybe it was Wade Barrett?

Caldwell: Nice with the Seinfeld reference. I imagine it's leading to a Kane heel turn and a revelation that he made up the whole story and Taker really wasn't in a "vegetative state." And, commence edition #395 of Taker vs. Kane. It would be great if it's Barrett to instantly set up his first big WWE angle. As for the four-way PPV match, is Swagger the favorite to retain or do you think there's a title switch in the works? Or...do we need more time to make a prediction?

Parks: Well according to the announcers, Swagger can't possibly be the favorite, as he would only have a 25 percent chance of retaining. Screw waiting, I'm taking a stand and going with Swagger!

Caldwell: There ya go, Greg! As for the big match on tonight's show, Kofi retained the IC Title over Drew McIntyre with some help from Matt Hardy coming through the crowd with the distraction. Where do you think this angle is leading?

Parks: I suppose it could lead to a three-way, but unless things change, I don't like the outlook for McIntyre here. He may get booted down the card for a while as WWE tries to humble him a bit. Kofi should be the long-term IC Champion, waiting in the wings to move up to the main events as a strong babyface.

Caldwell: WWE pushed Drew too fast, too hard, so it will be good for him to slide down the card a bit and not be shoved down the fans's throats. He has a long career ahead of him, we assume, so WWE just needs to be patient with him. Who do you think Kofi feuds with next assuming he moves on to another feud? Dolph Ziggler seems like a good candidate in his new "Eric Escobar role" with Vickie Guerrero.

Parks: I think I even made reference to that in my report tonight. I would be in favor of a Ziggler vs. Kingston feud, as I've been high on Ziggler for a while now. But for now, I don't think Mac vs. Kingston is over with quite yet.

Caldwell: After Drew vs. Kofi is settled, I'd like to see that Ziggler vs. Kingston feud. Perhaps WWE will actually pull the trigger on an IC Title run for Ziggler. We'll see. What else from tonight's show is worth discussing? Do you sense WWE is cooling off C.M. Punk at all or is he in a good spot being in a PPV World Title match later this month?

Parks: I think he's in an okay spot right now. This mask thing is not a main event championship-worthy gimmick, so we'll have to wait for it to play out before we can seriously consider him as a title contender.

Caldwell: Agreed on that. Greg, anything else we need to cover or look ahead to before we wrap up?

Parks: That about does it from my end

Caldwell: Sounds good. All righty, I believe it's officially time for the weekend. Good talking to you, as always, and we'll catch you on the Livecast next week!

Parks: Sure thing, James!

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