By Greg Parks, Torch specialist

T.C. Hooligan's was back to showing PPVs this month. I'm not sure why they didn't show Bragging Rights last month. A total of seven of us attended Hooligan's for this: Me, Kurt, Phil, Doug, Dan, and Doug's friends Josh and John. Josh doesn't watch much wrestling at this point, and John is a bit too much of a fan (not that there's anything wrong with that). We got the platter of wings and I went for the pizza rolls again. I won the prediction contest this month, missing only one match (darn Divas match!). Our "crazy predictions" included Triple H turning heel and Hornswoggle returning to Pedigree Triple H.

(1) Team Miz vs. Team Morrison: Good match to start the PPV with. Bourne's knees to Ziggler's face got an applause from Doug. I wondered if we could read anything into Ziggler being eliminated first, coupled with his constant IC Title losses. John picked Matt Hardy and Shelton to survive because they've been with WWE the longest. I told ya. Kurt and I looked at each other after Scott Armstrong's injury, especially when the new ref came in with little fanfare, and asked almost at the same time if it was a shoot. Dan and Kurt did a battle of Drew McIntyre impressions; Kurt is really good at a lot of them. I actually picked all the survivors correctly. Hooray me! (***1/4)

(2) Rey Mysterio vs. Batista: Given the build-up, I was disappointed in this one. Yeah, Batista got the attack post-match, but it didn't "feel" like a grudge match. The food came before the match, so maybe I was just concentrating on wolfing down on my wings before anyone else could get to them. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of these two in one-on-one matches though. (*3/4)

(3) Team Orton vs. Team Kofi: We all agreed that Kofi's attack on Monday was pretty bad-ass. Dan can't stand R-Truth for some reason, so he mocked him as he came to the ring. I was just mentioning how Mark Henry made a big splash when coming over to Raw (beating Orton), but has been mired in the mid-card ever since. And as I turned back to the TV, Henry got RKO'd and pinned. Doug called Kingston "Kofi Johnson" on his way out; like "Summerfest," it gets less and less funny every time someone says it. The waitress had a tough time all night, and screwed up Kurt's re-fill twice; he wanted Pepsi and she brought Cherry Pepsi twice in a row. Dan's crazy prediction then became "the waitress will screw up Kurt's drink a third time." Didn't happen. I heard Striker make a dated wrestling reference, and I said it'd be funny if Vince was backstage and every time Striker would make an obscure reference that Vince hates, he would shock Striker through the headset (like Ghostbusters). Oh, and I got the sole survivor here right too. I shoulda quit while I was ahead. (***3/4)

(4) Undertaker vs. Big Show vs. Chris Jericho: I don't see either Jericho or Show as big enough contenders to the World Title at this point, yet some in the group picked one or the other to win. Not me. Josh began his flirtations with the waitress at this point, as they both recognized each other from somewhere but couldn't connect the dots. I dug the "Where's Carlito?" sign in the crowd. Taker's win got a good pop from the crowd. (**1/2)

(5) Team Mickie vs. Team Michelle: This is the one that broke my streak of right predictions and getting the survivors right. I guessed Beth and Michelle would survive. I didn't think Mickie would, as I thought WWE would continue her "punishment." And Beth has been pushed as a monster lately. Kurt told the Kenzo Suzuki story to John at this point. Almost as good as last year's, actually. (*3/4)

(6) John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels: Everyone was shocked at Michaels taking out Trips right off the bat. But it was cool booking. John actually said I looked like Christian, which I'll take as a compliment. Better than looking like Steve-O, which more than one person has told me. Solid match here, and sets up Raw tomorrow with a "What happens with DX?" storyline. (***1/2)

Thumbs-up show for me. Not a hugely strong one, but it did the job. Nothing terrible on the card and some good advancement of storylines. Both men's elimination tags were quite good, so no qualms from me. I think we were all on the same boat of it being a good PPV.

PWTorch VIP members have first-look access to all of Torch Smackdown specialist Greg Parks's latest blogs in the newly upgraded VIP Forum. His blogs are published first in the PWTorch VIP Forum, and Parks interacts with other VIP members and Torch staff and contributors in the blog comments area afterward. Some of Parks's blog entries will be exclusive to the VIP Forum.

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt