TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU! Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.
TV Reports
WWE SUPERSTARS ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 10/15: Caldwell, McKinley, Parks rate and review Oct 16, 2009 - 9:05:30 PM
Solid episode for the D-Level weekly WWE show. WWE delivered a solid Smackdown-quality main event between John Morrison and C.M. Punk that was enhanced by The Miz's appearance on commentary. Miz was the star of the match playing an awesome heel and really delivering some quality lines on commentary to enhance his match against Morrison at the Bragging Rights PPV. He made you want to spend money to watch the match.
Miz also did more work promoting the Smackdown vs. Raw 14-man tag match than WWE has done thus far. WWE has used empty lines and empty promotional tactics to build interest in a brand vs. brand match when that element is non-existent the other 11 months of the year in WWE storylines. Miz's first-person perspective on a rivalry between the two brands was exactly what WWE needed to explain the logic-challenged foundation for the PPV main event.
Mark Henry vs. Chris Masters wasn't that good, but the match benefited from having something tangible on the line, which usually isn't the case for a Superstars match. Nice placement of a meaningful Bragging Rights qualifying match on the Thursday night offering.
Shane McKinley, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)
You didn't need to read any Superstars spoilers to know ahead of time that Mark Henry was going to be the last grappler on the Raw team. As soon as Mark Henry vs. Chris Masters was announced, Henry was already the winner. Masters isn't even considered to be involved in the Chavo vs. Hornswoggle program. Dreamer vs. Kozlov? 'Nuff said. With every Morrison match, I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan. However, even with four shows under their belt, WWE is rushing to cram all of their Bragging Rights PPV hype under the deadline, and they ain't going to make it. You want to take a quick survey, WWE? Your PPVs are too close apart. Sorry, but the Raw vs. Smackdown match might as well be a pie-eating contest. Oh, crap. I just gave them their next gimmick PPV: "PieArmageddon".
Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Columnist (6.0)
They say that one out of three ain't bad. Well, that was the theme of this show. Morrison vs. Punk was the match you'd expect from these two, who could wrestle three-star matches in their sleep. Miz's commentary was effective for hyping not only his match, but the theme of the Bragging Rights PPV. Speaking of, Mark Henry earning the final Raw team spot was a no-brainer. The match stunk though. Dreamer vs. Kozlov was slightly better than one would expect, but that's not saying much. Dreamer has taken a big fall since being involved in the ECW title picture. I figure they could put one of the younger guys against him to work with them.
Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
INCREDIBLE BENEFITS! Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...
Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?
AND NEW FOR 2009! Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?