By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

I'm filling in for Torch specialist Jon Mezzera this week on the Hits & Misses. Check back for Mezzera's return columns next week.

NXT HITS

Vickie Guerrero: Vickie took a bad situation and made it entertaining. WWE continues to exploit her size because she doesn't look like a 20-something former model and make her the butt of every joke at the audience's amusement. Through it all, Vickie continues to rise above with strong performances taking on the "heel Santino or William Regal" role allowing the egg to drip off her face as the laugh track plays.

Kane-Taker video: WWE filled about five minutes of TV time with two separate video packages hyping the Kane vs. Undertaker feud, including a full-length video taking viewers back through their long history. It's too bad no one is seeing these videos hyping the Night of Champions PPV.

Potential chaos: Perhaps the only reason to continue watching NXT Season Two is the potential for more chaos and truly bad television courtesy of WWE's idea of a practical joke on the viewing audience. With Michael Cole out of the picture as the lead chaos-starter, who replaces him on next Tuesday's show as they reach the end of NXT's run on Syfy? Matt Striker sliding into Cole's announcing seat would turn this into a "Miss" removing the potential for more chaos. WWE has hinted at Joey Styles replacing Cole - with the announcers name-dropping him during the NXT broadcast. Styles being produced to come across "unfiltered" could enhance the chaos factor or be another distraction from the actual goal of getting over the talent on the show. It depends on how WWE produces it.

NXT MISSES

Overall Show: This season of NXT has been a mess, a waste of an hour of TV, and a failed opportunity to actually build up the women's roster. So far, it seems like the only purpose of this season has been to get over Michael Cole's split personality and Vickie Guerrero's storyline drama on Smackdown. Naomi was positioned well on Week 1, but she was an afterthought on this show.

Michael Cole's gong: Why was this positioned ringside as a prop? It's one of those head-scratching "scripted" elements WWE simply goes along with. They fail to acknowledge what viewers are thinking, which is "Why is a gong suddenly ringside when it's never been there before?" It's similar to R-Truth conveniently having a new song ready to go on Monday's Raw despite "not knowing ahead of time" he would be involved in a Song & Dance "match" against Ted DiBiase. WWE often-times tries to create its own rules with the internal logic, but this was yet another flawed example.

Michael Cole's walk-out: Cole's "walk-off" was set up throughout the show (really, going all the way back to the end of Season One) as he tried to play a sort of tongue-in-cheek "voice of the Internet fan" ripping the entire NXT concept. It's an orchestrated act to get a rise out of the hardcore audience buying into the shock - shock! - of on-air announcer actually ripping the "bowling-shoe ugly" product. But, it hurts the show when the emphasis should be on the talent.

Contests > Matches: In case the audience forgot from Seasons 1 and 2, WWE reminded viewers that in-ring matches mean nothing on NXT. Winning matches on this season does not give the Diva Rookies any points in the imaginary "Immunity Standings." This week, the only point-earning opportunities were a stand-up comedy routine and an obstacle course. WWE's continued de-emphasis on wrestling outcomes is concerning.

-- READ MORE: CALDWELL'S NXT TV REPORT

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