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 Tuesday, October 21 - afternoon update

- We're looking for a live TV report from Raw in Corpus Christi last night. Off-air notes, Kiss Cam, crowd reactions to the Cena-narrated WWE propaganda video, etc. Also, Smackdown ran a house show in Hidalgo, Tex. last night. We're looking for a report from that event as well as TV taping notes from Smackdown/ECW in Laredo tonight.

- ESPN's E:60 Newsmagazine show will be airing a significant story on Brock Lesnar tonight. This is a chance for UFC to put a good foot forward representing MMA on the day news broke that EliteXC is basically out of business. The story on Lesnar will be used to promote UFC 91 on Nov. 15 and discuss Lesnar's road through amateur wrestling and WWE to UFC. In a preview of what will be airing tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST, the press release has a quote from Lesnar on pain pill addiction.

Says Lesnar: "Did I take too damn many pills? Yeah. Did I drink too much? Yes. Did I become aware that I was drinking and taking too many pills? Yes, I did." Press release. Video preview is below.



- ROH is booking the blow-off to the Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs feud over the course of three shows to end a contender for Feud of the Year in 2008. They're booked for an Anything Goes match on Oct. 25 in Edison, N.J., a Dog Collar match on Nov. 8 in Toronto, and an I Quit match on Nov. 22 in Chicago at a PPV taping.

Fortunately, ROH isn't asking anyone to cast any vote for which type of match people want to see, but delivering all three matches in three different markets. It's a good hook to see one of the best wrestlers in the world, Aries, against a future star in ROH, Jimmy Jacobs, as they conclude their feud that has spanned several PPVs. ROH has a brief look at the feud here.

- I performed my civic duty this afternoon by standing in line forever to early voting for the November 2008 U.S. elections. I will not disclose my votes on the big money races, but I will say that I voted for my buddy running on the Libertarian ticket for some sort of city tax assessor position.

In any event, we ran two polls on the main listing Monday night and we have some interesting results to analyze. First, 87 percent of Torch readers believe Jeff Jarrett is a liar. Second, Torch readers believe Santino Marella can do no wrong.

Let's start with Jeff Jarrett. Over the weekend, the Daily Star in the U.K. published an interview with Jarrett where he claimed to have no prior knowledge that Kurt Angle would introduce his late wife and three daughters into their "personal feud" that was playing out on TV. He even claimed to let the producers of the show determine whether or not to edit Angle's lines off the broadcast.

We asked in the poll: "Do you believe Jeff Jarrett when he says he didn't know Kurt Angle was going to bring up his late wife Jill to add heat to their recent PPV match?" The simple yes/no response has generated 13 percent in favor of believing Jarrett and 87 percent believing Jarrett is not telling the truth.

Why does such an overwhelming majority of Torch readers believe Jarrett has created his own story to explain a controversial TV angle? I want to hear your thoughts with an email to pwtorch@gmail.com but I have my theory. Once the angle played out on TV prior to the Bound for Glory PPV, the angle didn't stop. It wasn't a one-week angle where Jeff's family was name-dropped in poor taste, then never mentioned again.

Jarrett's family was mentioned again at the BFG PPV, then mentioned again on TV this past Thursday after the PPV. TNA has taken the angle and run with it to generate heat for the feud. That has created a perception that Jarrett planned this all along, otherwise he would have put an end to the family involvement and simply made it about the two men in the ring.

As for our second poll from Monday night, we asked who was the MVP of last night's Raw. Santino Marella held a huge lead on Monday night, but now he's holding onto first place with 26 percent of the vote and Chris Jericho a close second with 18 percent.

Now, I am a self-admitted Santino apologist. When he comes to the ring, I'm anticipating greatness. Last night, though, I tried every possible way to justify a positive spin on his segment, but his promo just didn't click with me or the audience. I shocked Greg Parks in Raw audio last night with a less-than-thumbs-up opinion of the promo, but the truth is that Santino failed to connect with the audience. And when trying to sell a PPV, the TV audience is going to pick up on whether the live audience is connecting with the promo.

Santino has certainly deserved MVP votes past weeks, but I think this week was an indication of Santino getting the benefit of the doubt from Torch readers. Looking at the Raw Reax we've posted online, there are mixed reactions to Santino's promo, but an overwhelming positive response has been for the Miz & Morrison vs. Punk & Kofi tag match. That's not reflected in the MVP polls, where the teams don't even combine for 10 percent of the vote, but it's clear that the team of Miz & Morrison is slowly winning over Torch readers with strong performances on a weekly basis.

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