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CALDWELL'S POLL ANALYSIS 5/17: Torch readers pick Rey vs. Jericho or Edge vs. Hardy for Judgment Day favorite May 17, 2009 - 5:45:12 PM
TORCH JUDGMENT DAY POLL ANALYSIS: Which match are you most-looking forward to on the WWE Judgment Day PPV card? Earlier this week and this weekend, we asked Torch readers to pick the Judgment Day PPV match they're most looking forward to.
Showing how poor the build-up to the PPV was on the Raw brand, Smackdown took the two top spots, followed by the ECW Title match. A match that wasn't even announced until six days before the PPV - Rey vs. Jericho - nearly took the most votes.
The top vote was for the Edge vs. Jeff Hardy match for the World Title with 33 percent of the vote. I don't expect it to be the main event because Randy Orton is the star of the company right now, but Edge vs. Hardy certainly merits one of the "final two matches" position on the card.
Their build-up on Smackdown clearly has favored Hardy, which was useful for trying to entice PPV buys by showing the babyface in a position of control. More times than not, it simply means the heel is taking the PPV victory and the babyface has been kept strong on TV to soften the blow of the loss. We'll see how it plays out tonight.
All week, it's been a neck-in-neck race between Hardy-Edge and Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho in their IC Title match for the PPV poll. Hardy-Edge finally pulled away on Sunday, but Rey vs. Jericho received a healthy 29 percent of the vote.
This match wasn't even official until Raw this past Monday, but it has potential to be a show-stealing undercard match. It depends on how healthy Rey is, but we know Jericho should be ready to have a stand-out performance as the heel directing operations in the ring. Should be a fun match.
The ECW Title re-match between Jack Swagger and Christian took the third most votes with 18 percent. They had a nice PPV opener at Backlash last month, but it could have been given more time to reach that ***1/2 to ****-star level as a signature ECW brand match.
Christian with the belt means plenty of moments in the match where he's in trouble and Swagger is on the verge of re-capturing the title. Those nearfalls could really elevate the match if given enough time.
And then there's Randy Orton vs. Batista, which only drew fourth place and 10 percent of the vote. Orton and Batista have been hit-or-miss with their in-ring chemistry in the past and Batista is still coming off a major leg injury. He doesn't quite have his in-ring stamina back yet, which led to that disastrous match against Big Show the Raw after Backlash a few weeks ago.
If Torch readers aren't feeling Raw's main event match, they sure aren't feeling the Raw undercard match of John Cena vs. Big Show. The other equation in that boring match the night after Backlash was Big Show, who's certainly going to slow it down against Cena, who will be selling the injuries from the past three weeks.
Cena vs. Show a/k/a the Greg Parks Friday Night Special of "one move, walk around, one move, walk around" certainly wasn't a Torch fan favorite, as it picked up the least amount of votes with only 4 percent total.
C.M. Punk vs. Umaga is also one of those potential slow-it-down-style match-ups. After WrestleMania, Punk was teasing a MITB title match in his hometown of Chicago for Judgment Day, but that certainly won't be the case if he's planning on announcing his title match intentions ahead of time for his second run with the briefcase.
Poll Results as of 5:30 p.m. CST on Sunday
Randy Orton vs. Batista - WWE Title ... 10%
Edge vs. Jeff Hardy - World Hvt. Title ... 33%
Christian vs. Jack Swagger - ECW Title ... 18%
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho - IC Title ... 29%
John Cena vs. Big Show ... 4%
C.M. Punk vs. Umaga ... 6%
Torch readers write back! How do you see the voting? Have additional thoughts on the poll results? Send in your feedback to pwtorch@gmail.com
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.
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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?
