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James Caldwell: This is Torch asst. editor James Caldwell joined by Torch specialist Greg Parks for a new feature here on PWTorch.com - a weekly lunch-time chat on Smackdown and Raw on Tuesday afternoons. Greg, how goes it today?

Greg Parks: It's a beautiful day here in Brockport...not too hot, not too cool, just perfect...and I'm recovering from my birthday yesterday so all goes well.

JC: On my birthday, I had Shaq hosting Raw. Greg got Bob Barker. I'm not sure who won out, as I think both were the best two hosts thus far with Dusty Rhodes a close third. What was your impression of the Price is Raw show last night?

GP: I was surprised at how well Barker did...at his age and probably not being familiar with the product, I thought they'd keep him in pre-tapes, but he did well out there, save for the confusion over the bodyslam challenge winner, which I can't totally blame on him.

JC: Yeah, I think he was subconsciously just trying to save the audience from an impending disaster with another Big Show vs. Mark Henry match and tried to stall for time for WWE to change their minds. But, seriously, I thought Barker was excellent, especially his face-to-face with Chris Jericho. Really strong performance. What did you think of the Breaking Point PPV hype?

GP: I thought it was odd they'd end with hype of DX vs. Legacy over the championship match, but they did do more of Orton vs. Cena at the very end, though it felt sorta tacked-on after the DX/Legacy brawl

JC: I felt like the ending was WWE unable to decide what they wanted to sell the PPV with, so they tried to mix as much together and hope something would stick with the audience. Ya know, what is your selling point - a re-re-re-match between John Cena and Randy Orton or a Summerslam re-match between DX and Legacy? Both are something the audience has already seen, so the formula was create enough chaos for the audience to pay money to watch it resolved on Sunday. I thought the ending "quieted the chaos" momentarily to create some clarity with Orton standing tall over Cena. Do you see Cena winning the WWE Title on Sunday?

GP: Absolutely - that was even before Orton stood tall on Monday, which is almost surely a sign Cena will reign on Sunday, and it'll probably be the right move for now- but who steps up to challenge Cena? Orton again?

JC: Dear God, not another round of Cena vs. Orton. Hopefully they would get the mandatory re-match out of the way the night after the PPV on Raw, but it looks like they would take the feud to the Hell in a Cell PPV in October. I don't see who else steps up. No one from the mid-card is positioned to be a top contender. Jack Swagger was two months ago, but now he's in Superstars purgatory. It looks like Cena vs. Orton one more time.

GP: You could always turn Hunter or Michaels coming up, and have one of them face Cena. I know there were rumors of that a month back, but that sounded more like Internet wishful thinking than anything WWE would ACTUALLY do.

JC: Yes, I even wasted...er...wrote an entire column on Shawn Michaels turning heel on Triple H to set-up a new program. They will be in Montreal, after all, where the infamous Montreal Screwjob went down with Shawn Michaels at the center point. But, it does sound like wishful thinking.

JC: Switching gears to Smackdown, which you cover on a weekly basis, what was your impression of Friday's show featuring the TV classic between Morrison and Punk, plus the return of The Undertaker to TV?

GP: It certainly was a classic, as Morrison is hitting on all cylinders right now. It was a one-match show, but what a match it was. Punk vs. Hardy was okay, but they seemed to have a more mat-based match, perhaps because of Hardy's injury. And don't get me started on advertising Undertaker's return all show, then have it be at the very last moment, as if everyone knew it was going to happen...

JC: The advertising of Taker was ridiculous. From a viewer's perspective, if I didn't read spoilers ahead of time to know at what point in the show Taker was coming back, I would have been pissed. It also killed the heat on the main event. Audience had been told for an hour and 30 minutes before the main event that Taker was coming back. Well, let's just sit on our hands and wait. It was counter-productive, bad for business, and killed the suspension of disbelief. How did WWE know Taker would wait until the finish of the match, how did they know Punk would be on the outside, how do they know Punk would cause a DQ, etc., etc.? Just really bad storywriting.

JC: But, all that said, Morrison vs. Rey was an absolute classic.

GP: That's something I think everyone can agree on.

JC: We'll wrap up real quick with your quick take on Punk vs. Taker at Breaking Point - how do you see this match going down? ... And why is it taking place in the first place?!

GP: I just don't see how they're going to get Taker to submit- there's no way Punk should lose the belt this quickly, so unless they do a screwy finish and have Punk retain, I'm going to be sorely disappointed. ... Yeah, the build for this match has been quite odd - doesn't really fit Punk's character to all of a sudden have a problem with Taker, or vice-versa. Of course, we haven't heard from Taker yet, so we're really not sure his position.

JC: Yes, Taker has been deemed mute in trying to establish an issue. Perhaps he's a proponent of RVD's lifestyle to counter Punk's straight-edge. Who knows. But, I agree they're booked into a corner. Taker can't tap out on his first PPV since returning and it would be too soon for Punk to lose the belt. Taker vs. Punk in Hell in a Cell seems inevitable. Only conclusion is a screwy finish on the undercard so the audience isn't too upset on Sunday.

JC: And that concludes our first Tuesday afternoon chat on the most-recent editions of Smackdown and Raw. This was a brief "whet your appetite" chat before we talk longer and dive deeper into Raw and Smackdown on future weekly chats.

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