5/7 WWE Superstars TV Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (7.0): Best: Cutting Edge. Worst: Santina/Kelly vs. Rosa/Beth. This was a bit of a throwaway show, but it was hardly made up of scraps. The Cutting Edge probably wasn't enough to draw a mass of new people, but it was well done. Both Edge and Jeff are being portrayed as tortured souls looking for their own personal redemption. Dabbing their feet into their even deeper history well was nice, and they did so without hitting the jugular on Jeff's past shortcomings. The finish of the segment probably told us the finish of the Judgment Day match (Edge retains), but there is still time for a something to level the playing field. Considering that the commentators are on the same page about Santino(a), the page-turner on revealing Santino looks to be coming. And WWE still hasn't made any focus on Beth's losing streak of late. I'm scratching my head over what to think of Zack Ryder. He enters with something resembling "I Wear My Sunglasses at Night," and there is talk all match about pomade and his coif (a la "O Brother Where Art Thou"). He played his new gimmick well at the expense of his in-ring ability. I'm hoping this match was for him to introduce himself and his new gimmick, and the follow-up matches will show us his repertoire. Morrison-Jericho had some sloppy moments in ring and with editing. But it was a pretty good appetizer for what looks like a possible Jericho-Benjamin-Morrison three-way at Judgment Day (maybe for IC or World contender). I'm still bugged by the too-short loss of Benjamin last week, but his distraction made sense. Not a bad outing for something lacking heavy McMahon ties.

5/7 TNA Impact Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (6.0): Best: Beer Money vs. Eric Young/Jethro. Worst: equal servings of predictability and "HUH?" A lot of stuff was going on, but the only thing that was happening was me rolling my eyes. By assumption, Angle is now one of Foley's opponents for Sacrifice. But this assumption was backed up by the mass loads of build last week leading to it. For reasons unknown on the broadcast, Daniels no longer has a first name. It's beginning to look a lot like there will either be an X Title defense or a multi-tag team match where Daniels or Kaz is revealed as Suicide. Taylor Wilde's new storyline is a secret admirer who may or may not be a wrestler. Just not looking forward to that one. Meanwhile, the crowd calling for multiple Implant Busters on Velvet could be taken as either (a) they're behind Kong big time or (b) go-away heat against the Beautiful People. Kong says her first words: "dumb blonde...dead blonde." Those four words did her a mis-justice. I would have rather wanted a she-Beast than a she-beast. Daffney is in the first Knockouts Monster's Ball with a female roster of pretty girls. Their "hardcore Knockout" Roxxi is out, so who's going to get their hands dirty for this one? And why is Stevie forcing Abyss into Daffney's corner if he's trying to teach non-violence, all the while using violence and intimidating to get his message across? What was with "tweaking" Matt Morgan vs. Mafia Security into a handicapped match? Really made the bodyguards look weak, and they chumped out Morgan confronting him afterward. From the minute Sting met up with Jarrett, I knew Sting was joining the Sacrifice match. I guess there was supposed to be some irony in Sting pinning Mick in the main event after Mick meets Barbie, but the writing on the finish was already one the wall. It's looking like the four-way will be Angle (MEM godfathership) vs. Sting (career) vs. Foley (TNA title) vs. Jarrett (TNA itself), since no one else on the roster has been built up to have something important enough to lose. All four possibilities could lead to something interesting after the fact, but I'm seeing Sacrifice come down to title vs. career. Sting should end his career somewhere more prestigious and larger venue wise, but I'm setting my countdown clock on him.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on these shows for a "TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Superstars and Impact, click here.

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