James Caldwell: This is PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell with PWTorch columnist Greg Parks with the return of our weekly chat after a brief hiatus. Greg, we're talking just before tonight's NXT and after last night's Raw. What did you think of last night's show coming off the MITB PPV?

Greg Parks: I can't remember the last show that has been as universally praised as this one. It was a solid show, with only the Santino segment as something that wasn't really my cup of tea, but at least it's somewhat of an ongoing angle. They've set things up nicely for Summerslam so far, I'd say.

Caldwell: If you look at it from segment to segment, it was really the near-perfect episode of Raw delivering big moments, at least one very good wrestling match, a nice surprise or two, and some solid PPV build-up. It was just a very strong episode. Out of everything on the show, what stood out the most 24 hours removed?

Parks: Well, to be fair, the show may have had a nice surprise or two, but nowhere on the level of "Nice Surprise" Tommy Dreamer. What stood out most was Cena's battle of words with NXT and the attitude he had going into the main event segment. It was kind of a ruse in WWE suggesting he may join Nexus, but it worked. A seven-on-seven match at SS should be interesting, especially to see what happens with Bret Hart in the next few weeks- do you think he'll actually be in the match, or will Nexus take him out prior to the event?

Caldwell: Yes, there was no way they could surpass the "nice surprise" last month. I liked the big tease for Cena potentially joining Nexus. It find his character perfectly and the audience ate it up. I figure Hart will make it to Summerslam, if for no other reason than to strengthen the PPV sales pitch in Canada. But, I wouldn't be surprised to see Nexus try to take out one of the other team members between now and the PPV. I think there are so many interesting ways they can go with this after last night's Raw. I question not including Evan Bourne in the group. That surprised me. What do you think of the sort of theory floating out there that perhaps Hart will turn on Team Cena and reveal he orchestrated the whole thing with Nexus?

Parks: I read that in passing today, but I don't know that Bret would want to come back to play a heel at this point in his career. I don't think it'd be worth it. And if Nexus is going to take somebody out, I'm rooting for it to be Khali. That was one member of Cena's team that I didn't get, in storyline terms. He hasn't been a real threat to anyone in some time, so other than "he's really tall," I don't know what other reasons Cena would have for picking him.

Caldwell: Perhaps Cena and Ranjin Singh worked out some sort of deal where they'll drop the comedy routine to save the sanity of everyone watching Raw in exchange for being part of Cena's team. Kidding aside, there has been some criticism of booking a 14-man tag match for Summerslam, especially when they could have gone with Cena vs. Wade Barrett one-on-one. I don't have a problem with the 14-man match, but I want to see how the rest of the build-up goes. What do you think of WWE booking that big match? Is it a necessity because most of the Nexus group haven't been put in a position to have a credible singles or tag match on WWE TV?

Parks: I think that's part of it, and at this point, the whole is greater than the sum of the Nexus parts, so why not keep them together on screen and in the ring for as long as possible? I'll admit, this has the making of a better Survivor Series match than Summerslam, but they can't wait that long for this. It really does make you wonder how and when WWE will try to establish these guys as singles wrestlers.

Caldwell: At this point, it seems like WWE will get as much out of the group as a unit, then pick two or three guys they want to keep from the group to feature on the roster after the angle plays out. Barrett is a keeper, I think Skip Sheffield is a keeper, Justin Gabriel is a keeper, and then the rest of the group are going to have to stand out to stay on the active roster. But, I think that might be a while from now, as WWE could really stretch out the Nexus angle until the fall. On the WWE Title match subject, what's your first impression of the Sheamus vs. Orton match-up for Summerslam?

Parks: It doesn't totally feel like a repeat since Orton is pretty much a full-fledged face now. Plus, we've got the Nexus cloud still hovering over things as it relates to Sheamus and his "deal" with Nexus, though that may have been a way to keep Nexus' focus on their match and not have to worry about writing them into interfering in the title match. And The Miz! Buy or selll his false-start of cashing in his MITB shot last night?

Caldwell: I think Sheamus vs. Orton is a strong match-up considering how much momentum Orton has behind his babyface character right now. The timing was right to get Orton in the title mix again. I really liked Miz's tease of cashing in the briefcase other than it almost made him a babyface and R-Truth a heel for one night. Miz has to be more heelish with it going forward and I would be a fan of him teasing that cash in for a few months. WWE also gave the audience a taste of a potential Orton vs. Miz title feud, which would be (a) very fresh and (b) a potentially great mic battle. Miz still doesn't have that signature career match on his resume, but Orton vs. Miz is my pick to headline a PPV down the road.

Parks: That would be pretty entertaining to build up to. What do you think of Miz as an in-ring performer right now? Is he main event caliber or does he still have a lot of work to do, do you think?

Caldwell: I think WWE has protected him considerably during his main event rise that I don't know if we've seen main event caliber work in the ring yet. He had that match with R-Truth at Fatal Four-Way that didn't light the world on fire. Perhaps working with Orton will help him have that break out match to take him to the next level. I just haven't seen enough from Miz in the ring to say if he's main event caliber. I would certainly be interested to see them match-up, though. What else from Raw jumped out at you last night or have we covered everything?

Parks: I agree on Miz; I think he shows great promise as far as his in-ring work, but he just hasn't had the chance to showcase it yet. The other thing from Raw was Orton winning the triple-threat over Edge and Jericho, and the new GM having a lesser role. What are your thoughts on those items?

Caldwell: The triple threat was very strong and I liked Orton winning to set up the title match at Summerslam. Good booking there led to good booking in the post-match when Edge and Jericho continued their feud, which setup Nexus attacking them. That of course led to Edge and Jericho putting their differences aside to join Team Cena vs. Nexus at Summerslam. I thought WWE hit all the right notes with everything there. And then toning down the involvement of the Raw GM was a good decision. It was to the point of utter annoyance, so the less the better. It was just plain good booking, which was a nice sign for the Raw writers.

Parks: Agreed on both counts; I don't think Jericho or Edge, at this time, would be as strong a matchup for Sheamus as Edge. And the GM deal is really dragging as the person hasn't made very many controversial decisions, so there's no real feeling from fans that they really want or need to know who it is

Caldwell: Unless there's a bigger story to play out after Summerslam with the Raw GM, I think it's best to tone down that story, reveal it, or drop it all together to let the focus be on the Summerslam hype. Agreed there! Greg, let's briefly touch on Smackdown before NXT tonight. We'll talk more about TNA next week after seeing the ECW Invasion angle follow-up this week. With Smackdown being your beat on Friday nights, what's your take on Kane's World Title victory at the PPV?

Parks: I'm not a fan of Kane, but at least his character has been freshened up by this Undertaker angle. I'm still not a fan of him in the ring, but the title win seems to telegraph that he'll be behind Undertaker's attack and will face the Dead Man at Summerslam.

Caldwell: That seems to be the very logical conclusion, which we'll find out pretty soon if it's accurate. I think it's a nice gesture to Kane - the so-called gold watch for his lenghy run in WWE. With Summerslam seemingly set up for Kane vs. Taker, where do you think that leaves other top players e.g. Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, C.M. Punk (if healthy), and some of the mid-carders who were in the MITB ladder match on Sunday?

Parks: Good question. With Raw probably only having two matches, Smackdown may be asked to carry the undercard. Perhaps some sort of multi-man match to figure out a number one contender or something.

Caldwell: I was thinking along the same lines with a #1 contender type match. Mysterio has his re-match clause, which I suspect will come into play on TV. During the MITB match from the Smackdown side, did you see anyone with a break-out performance or just an overall impressive performance where WWE might slot that person a little higher going into Summerslam? To me, Cody Rhodes is on the rise and I thought he had a strong PPV day. I'd like to see a Kofi vs. Cody IC Title feud, but Drew McIntyre still seems to be in the mix.

Parks: I thought the "Dashing" gimmick for Rhodes would be a death knell for him, but it's working nicely for him- and it doesn't hurt that creative is getting behind him too. Figuring out what WWE is doing with Drew McIntyre is a fruitless endeavor, I've learned. But yeah, Cody seemed to be the rising star in that match.

Caldwell: Agreed on Drew. Smackdown this week feels like a reset show, as Big Show has to be in the mix, Mac is in the air, Punk's injury could affect Summerslam plans, and perhaps they continue the Hardy vs. Christian program from the MITB build-up. Smackdown on Friday should be interesting. Greg, anything else we need to cover before NXT starts?

Parks: The past few episodes of Smackdown have not been my cup of tea, so I'd just as soon leave it at that.

Caldwell: Yes, I could tell from your review of last week's show! We'll see if the show improves this week. Greg, thanks for the chat this week. Good talk as always.

Parks: Absolutely, James.

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