By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

- Welcome to a brand new feature on the Torch that I'm starting with the goal to update on a daily basis. It's part Ticker, part Cube, part commentary on the happenings in pro wrestling for the day. When you stop by the Torch every day for the latest news, be sure to check out the Daily Word for relevant analysis and live features on what's happening in wrestling.

Updated Monday, October 20 - evening update

- We're looking for a live TV report from Raw in Corpus Christi tonight. Also, Smackdown has a house show just across the border from Mexico in Hidalgo, Texas prior to tomorrow night's SD/ECW taping in Laredo, Tex. We're looking for reports from all three WWE shows to start the week.

- Wade Keller posted his five-years-ago Raw TV report headlined by Shawn Michaels against Goldberg for the World Hvt. Title. The match was interrupted by a much-younger-looking Batista, who made his return from injury and joined Evolution instead of Maven or Jindrak. Imagine how different those three careers would have gone if the call was not made to begin Batista's mega-push with Triple H, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton. Video from the five-years-ago main event is below.



- TVSquad.com published a story on cable channels experiencing "channel drifting," which is best exemplified by the classic story of MTV starting off with music videos in the early 1980s and drifting far, far away from that in the present day. Sci-Fi is identified as having moderate shift from hardcore sci-fi programming to including ECW on Tuesday nights under the direction of NBC Universal. TVSquad has this as a successful shift due to ECW becoming one of the more popular programs on the channel.

Following the lead of TNN, which went from The Nashville Network to The National Network to Spike TV, there is CMT. Although Country Music Television hasn't gone to the extreme of changing its name, the channel has gone from 24-hour country music videos to country-based programming to including Hulk Hogan's reality wrestling show and re-runs of Trading Spouses.

What we might end up seeing in the future is wrestling programming being found on more random channels with the major corporate owners of these channels wanting to expand its offering like broadcast networks. Back in the day, it was absurd to think of Raw on TNN. Recently, it seemed absurd to find Hogan and wrestling on CMT, but channels are trying to re-brand in an effort to grab audiences when there are thousands of cable channels to choose from. TVSquad article link.

And just for the heck of it, the extended Hogan Celebrity Wrestling trailer. Nothing like watching life-long reality stars Screech and Danny Bonaduce picking a fight with each other, Eric Bischoff over-stating his significance in life, and Dennis Rodman offering career advice.



- TNA sent a press release with details on the text voting for the Monster's Ball re-match for the live Impact on Thursday night. From now until 9:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, voters can submit a text vote to determine the order of wrestlers appearing in the match. Wrestler with the fewest votes enters first. Wrestler with the most votes enters last. Details are that you text Hernandez, Homicide, Storm, Roode, Devon, Ray, Morgan, or Abyss to 81676 corresponding to the chosen wrestler.

TNA has made this a completely open-ended deal where there really is no clear criterion on who to vote for. So, if you want to see one wrestler spend the least amount of time in the ring because you really don't want to see him on your TV, then vote early and often for that wrestler. In an effort to make this very complicated, TNA has created a voting system where strategy is required when casting a vote.

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Monday, October 20 - afternoon update

- WWE continues to hype PPV main event-level matches for Smackdown in their debut month on MyNetwork TV. Despite the final Raw before Cyber Sunday coming up tonight, the current headline story on WWE's website is a preview for the Triple H vs. Undertaker match for Smackdown next Friday night. Currently, MyNet doesn't have enough viewership during the week to crack the overnight Network ratings, but WWE is apparently determined to deliver a PPV main event match every week to build a consistent audience for not only Smackdown, but the entire network.

Over time, WWE should be able to raise MyNet's prestige among the network channels, but the problem is the same problem that CW focused on. WWE viewers check in for WWE programming, but they immediately check out and don't stick around for other TV shows. CW president Dawn Ostroff cited that as her chief reason for deciding not to negotiate to keep Smackdown.

Meanwhile, MyNet president Greg Meidel believes Smackdown will be a "promotional locomotive" for the rest of the network. It will be interesting to track the monthly numbers of the other MyNet programming before and after Smackdown came on board to see if Meidel's optimistic outlook will hold true.

- Catching up on some news from last week, Ric Flair was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in Corpus Christi, Tex. after not being part of the initial ceremony in Atlanta this past summer. Flair gave a brief speech and hinted that he might become involved with the NWA. "Hopefully I'll be working with them very closely to help them gain the prestige and stature they deserve," Flair told the crowd.

Flair certainly wants to be part of the wrestling business after retiring from a WWE ring and leaving WWE all-together. This past weekend in the U.K., he hinted at wanting to wrestle a big money match or two in Japan, but he could really give the NWA a credibility boost if he came onboard to help promote their shows and tours in any capacity. Flair's promo is in the video below.



- WWE did big business over the weekend in Mexico and Puerto Rico, with Jim Ross reporting 15,000+ for both of Saturday night's shows. That's a great number in isolation, but could WWE draw that number or about 10,000 for a TV taping once every few weeks in the same market? There's no way, as the audience is paying for the novelty of seeing WWE once a year. CMLL consistently draws 10,000 in the same market on a regular basis, but WWE's business isn't built to run a market regularly.

That's one of the reasons why it would be difficult for WWE to create individual promotions in select international markets. WWE isn't designed to function like a territory-era promotion with shows held once-a-week in the exact same market. WWE can successfully tour 5-10 international markets per year with the current roster of Raw, Smackdown, and ECW stars, but it would take a completely different company philosophy on how to present and promote matches and angles if they are to expand beyond the current international approach.

Meanwhile, the lovely Maryse (a personal favorite of the C&R audio update) was photographed in traditional Mexican clothing while on the tour. The shot of her sporting the La Parka mask and WWE's attempt to caption the photo is worth checking out. Photo gallery.

- I have not seen the debut of Hulk Hogan's new show, but Sean Radican has a detailed take on the debut episode that aired on Saturday night. After reading Wade Keller's detailed report and reading Sean's take, it sounds like a very messy show where the ultimate goal is to win the equivalent of the Cruiserweight/European/Hardcore Title. In other words, a title belt that means absolutely nothing with zero lineage or historical quality to it. Hogan and Friends simply made up a title belt and suddenly Danny Bonaduce is "coveting" the title.

I think this goes to the point Sean said in his take: "The producers walked a fine line of respect and contempt for what they were presenting." Not understanding what a title belt represents and buying into the classic Russo idea that title belts are just props, we arrive at a show where the prize lacks value, which makes the entire journey a fruitless endeavor.

- Some independent highlights coming across the Torch Newswire... Championship Wrestling out of Tennessee is promoting a show on Saturday, Nov. 1 in Kingsport that they are calling "one of the biggest nights in the 60 year history of wrestling in Kingsport." The show is headlined by AWA champion Brian Logan vs. Tony Givens, but the headline wrestler is Beautiful Bobby Eaton in singles action. Championship Wrestling airs on TV late on Friday nights at 2:00 a.m. on CW 4 in the Tri-Cities. Website and card details. ... Pro Wrestling Ohio will be featuring Greg "the Hammer" Valentine on its Sunday, Oct. 26 episode of PWO TV, airing on Sports Time Ohio at 11:00 p.m. Season 2 of PWO TV debuts on Nov. 2 with new weekly episodes to air all season. PWO TV website.

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