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James Caldwell: This is Torch asst. editor James Caldwell joined by Torch Smackdown specialist Greg Parks for a discussion of all the happenings from Raw last night and Smackdown last Friday. Greg, we have your ten questions from last night's Raw. I think everyone has their questions on the show. What do you think the overall issue was with last night's show? Was there one specific item or an accumulation of head-scratching moments?

Greg Parks: It was an accumulation, James. There were so many things that didn't make sense last night, and so much garbage that I thought I was watching an episode of Impact.

JC: We had a Reax about that as well. It did seem like an episode of Impact with logic holes, head-scratching storyline decisions by authority figures (apparently Triple H included), and some throwaway matches. I'm not coming down as strongly against the show, as I thought it held my interest for two hours and seemed to build toward something at the end with DiBiase and Rhodes each having their own one-up, but the poor elements really, really stood out at the end of the day.

GP: I mean, the matches that could've been good - the two in the second hour, the qualifying matches - didn't even add up to five minutes of action. Then you had the stupid DX comedy that TNA loves and it really did come across like WWE-lite. I mean, the first 45 minutes of the show was the worst I've ever seen, I think, with the opening segment, the botched spot in the women's match, Jericho stumbling over his lines, and Jillian winning the title. It was awful.

JC: I know you emailed me after that opening segment and said you had a blog ready to roll on how bad that was. It really was bad. I don't know how far in advance WWE knew Shawn Michaels would be off the show or how much time they had to prepare for whatever role he was going to have (which didn't seem like much of anything, actually), but that segment to start the show was terrible. It was Triple H at his "too cool for school" worst, Big Show being cut out at the legs, and Chris Jericho continuing to slip as a heel.

GP: The second hour was better, but not by much.

JC: The second hour was just plain frustrating! But, without a truly bad segment like the opening segment of the show. I haven't seen a quarter-hour break down of a Raw in a while, but I'm sure WWE is sitting there with numbers in front of them that Swagger, MVP, Bourne, Kofi, etc. are channel-changers if they're in lengthy TV wrestling matches, but it's a self-fulfilling prophecy because WWE doesn't ever give them proper attention!

GP: Yeah, and the main event was fine. Of course, they had to hype up Cena vs. Triple H next week as if it was the biggest announcement ever.

JC: That was exactly where I was going next with Randy Orton indirectly putting over Triple H by saying before the announcement that it would be Cena's biggest match ever. I mean, how many more ways can WWE build up Hunter as the greatest wrestler to ever live? It's beyond comical at this point. And I understand it appeals to the casual fans who buy the hype, but it was an accumulation of frustrating Triple H segments on this show that pushed it over the edge this week.

GP: I've never seen the hype they gave to Cena vs. Triple H for any other raw match, including the swirling graphic at the end that put Triple H next to Cena as the official announcement. It was hilarious.

JC: I understand super-hyping a match to help pop a rating next week to see a WrestleMania-caliber match-up, but on a show where Hunter was made to be such an imposing force of mind, body, and strength, it was too much. ... Let's shift gears and talk about The Trade before hitting Smackdown from Friday. Anything jump out at you from the Raw-SD-ECW divas trade?

GP: Well, Eve leaves the side of Cryme Tyme, as they've been together for a while now. Hopefully that means Cryme Tyme can move on - or at least advance - their feud with the Hart Dynasty. If I have to watch another straight tag match between those two teams, I'm going to scream.

JC: I thought it was the funniest thing in the world when I came home from my honeymoon on Thursday night not knowing a thing about what was airing on Superstars and the first thing I saw was an ad for Cryme Tyme vs. Hart Dynasty again. Some things just never change!

GP: Yeah, the feud wouldn't be so bad if WWE actually advanced it once in a while, but it's been treading water for so long because they're not doing anything except throwing them out there in matches.

JC: But, what about the amazing character development for young David Hart? Weren't you blown away by his yo yo yo impression on Superstars?!?!

GP: I think he's done that in like the last two or three matches with Cryme Tyme now, so no. ... Also on the trade, rosa going to ECW is one step closer to her being let go. What happened to having her second Carlito?

JC: What happened to Carlito for that matter?

GP: Like the land of forgotten toys, he's in the land of forgotten wrestlers.

JC: I hear that. All right, Smackdown hot topics. What's your headline or key takeaway from the show from a few days ago?

GP: Well, it's clear that Batista is back at the top of the food chain on Smackdown, and Punk has been sacrificed to put Batista over, presumably as he feuds with Taker next. ... Ziggler got ANOTHER IC title shot and lost yet again. Not sure what he keeps doing to get these title shots, but anyway... And Matt Hardy getting pinned in a low-level tag match was a bit surprising.

JC: Hardy taking a pinfall in a mid-card match is right about where he belongs. Just don't tell Matt that! I look at this show and I see two things. One is that I don't know what WWE is doing with the Taker vs. Punk feud, as it hasn't benefited Punk and they've failed to create much of a resolution that would benefit Punk. This feud won't be making any Top 100 Smackdown moments in ten years. Second is... WWE gave away Rey vs. Jericho and Dolph vs. Morrison again on free TV? I don't understand.

GP: I get Rey vs. Jericho since they're not building to that anytime soon and their hot feud is over with, so it's not a big loss there, but I agree with you on Ziggler vs. Morrison. They had a stand-out match at the last PPV and that's it - a re-match with little to no hype? That's certainly not rewarding two guys who worked their asses off on the Sunday prior.

JC: We now know they wanted to keep the belt on Morrison for the champion vs. champion match at Bragging Rights vs. The Miz, but I don't see where they're going with Ziggler after he lost yet another singles title match. Ziggler and Punk seem to be in the "cooling off" period right now. I think WWE is losing an opportunity to make them bigger stars right now. What was your impression of the Dolph-Maria development? Do you think that's over or still progressing?

GP: Knowing WWE, it's probably over. They didn't even allow fans the chance to really "get into" that story before pulling the plug on it, which is a problem with most of their storylines. They went from A (the two getting together) to B (Maria's friends thinking Dolph is bad for her) to C (Dolph sending her packing) in like two months instead of six or seven.

JC: Again, we're back to WWE programming feeling like an episode of TNA - too rushed, no anticipation, and no true resolution. You end up with Mick Foley & Kurt Angle and Abyss & Matt Morgan as tag partners three months after having bitter feuds.

GP: But remember, WWE is "sophisticated" programming.

JC: Haha, that was the most laughable quote from Vince McMahon in quite some time. I'm sure he meant it in the sense they don't need to depend on cheap tactics to pop a rating like they did in the 1990s, but c'mon, sophisticated?

GP: I know, and the worst part is, fans are going to be pointing to that quote for the next year every time Hornswoggle pops up on screen or WWE does their usual bad comedy

JC: Which we saw a plethora of this week. *sigh* Anything else jump out at you from Raw or Smackdown you want to touch on before we wrap up our weekly chat?

GP: I think that about does it for me...the less I have to think about last night's Raw, the better.

JC: Thanks again for the chat, Greg! Have a great rest of the week! Everyone be sure to check out Greg's coverage of Smackdown this week where Team Blue will pick up a few members for the Bragging Rights seven-on-seven tag match vs. Team Red.

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