On a weekly basis, PWTorch staffers James Caldwell and Greg Parks have a Lounge-style chat reviewing the week in TV wrestling and looking ahead to what's next for key storylines, matches, and future events. An occasional "Seinfeld" or "The Office" reference is also mixed in for good measure.

James Caldwell: This is PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell joined by PWTorch columnist Greg Parks for a weekly chat on TV wrestling. Greg, let's start off with Monday's Raw, which seems like a distant memory to me right now because I still feel indifferent to the product right now. Refresh me, what was your main takeaway from Raw and what was your overall evaluation of the show?

Greg Parks: My main take-away was WWE giving away Punk vs. Cena 3 for free and with no hype. Surprising, and it has to be a bad sign that the ratings for this episode were not good. Other than that, I thought Alberto Del Rio had another strong performance in the ring, plus the Cena vs. Punk match, which was solid but of course not on par with the other two. And nothing really was cleared up in the Nash situation, so they strung that out for a little while longer. Problem is, they've gotta start giving out a few answers sooner or later otherwise the angle is going to turn out like Lost where fans were frustrated that questions were brought up every week, yet none seemed to get answered. And that's the only time I'll ever compare WWE story writing to "Lost."

Caldwell: Yeah, that might be a bit of a stretch! You touched on the main reason why I still feel indifferent to the product: still too many unanswered questions and undefined characters. The other was what I thought were some below-average promo exchanges on Raw - the opening Cena, Punk, Del Rio segment that felt like Take 1 on what needed to be a few takes and the Nash-Hunter "conversation" that was so random. Hunter just comes across so uncomfortable in the role, Nash hasn't delivered on the mic through two weeks, and Punk is being over-exposed right now with three full segments on this week's show. Do you think WWE will start answering those questions next week or keep stretching it out? And, it seemed like Stephanie was the clear choice to be behind "Textgate" last week, but now I'm leaning toward Vince. What do you think?

Parks: Like I said, I feel like WWE needs to start answering questions - that doesn't mean cut the storyline short, but more questions can crop up once others are answered. But they need to give the fans SOMETHING here. I'm still thinking Steph, but Vince seems to be just as good a guess at this point, other than Steph has been on TV since this started and Vince hasn't. And don't ever call it "textgate."

Caldwell: Haha, I can't stand it either! When Cole was produced to be so adamant about calling it that on Raw, I just rolled my eyes since absolutely no one was thinking of that. It's classic WWE over-stating something or being over-the-top with hyperbole. I think the biggest burning question, though, is whether John Laurinaitis was lying or simply given bad info to pass along to Triple H. (I can't believe he's a central figure in a top WWE storyline in 2011.) In any event, do you think his character was in on the con, maybe knew something was fishy but did what he was ordered by a mystery man, or was conned himself and thought he was passing along legit info?

Parks: I gotta think he's in on it, but I totally expected him to get involved in the finish on Monday night, allowing Cena to win. How about you?

Caldwell: See, here's what my thinking is. If Laurinaitis were conned, wouldn't they have shown his reaction ringside with like a look of shock when Nash appeared on the stage? And, wouldn't he have been more concerned with Nash returning than breaking up Del Rio's post-match attack on Cena? So, it makes me think he was in on the con, but they never showed his reaction when Nash came out, and I don't know whether to read into these clues because it could just be an over-sight on WWE with their inconsistent, C-Level writing. So, assuming Laurinaitis is working with a mystery figure, an Nash is part of the con, I'm thinking Vince (possibly through Stephanie) ordered the "hit" on Cena or Punk at Summerslam, which they're still stuck explaining two weeks later. Do you see it that way, too, or is this angle going a different direction? ... I see Vince's motivation to screw with Hunter being Hunter claiming "the family agreed with him" on removing Vince from power, with Stephanie being the dissenting voice.

Parks: I definitely agree with the motivation. As to how they get there, your guess is as good as any. There are so many threads weaving in and out of each other, WWE is going to have to straighten them out at some point, but unfortunately, they don't have the announce team to relay the intricacies of this storyline to the fans.

Caldwell: That's so true. WWE doesn't have a credible lead (Cole) to guide the audience through this, which I think is part of the confusion. Let's look at Del Rio for a second. They're obviously trying to turn him into a killer heel to try to erase the "unworthy" or "weak" heel champion, but they shouldn't have had him job clean to Punk in four minutes the week before Summerslam. It's typical short-sighted WWE and I don't believe the audience is "there yet" receiving Del Rio as a top star despite a consistently strong push (with bumps in the road here and there) over the past eight months on Raw (counting his weekly Smackdown cameos). Yet, I thought Del Rio was presented strongly at the close of the show, which WWE needed. But, then there was Cena's "I make average look great" promo line that was so needless and I thought hurt Del Rio. So, how do you think it balances out with Del Rio as champion through two weeks?

Parks: Actually, it was "I make average look awesome," in what some saw as a shot at Miz, and Miz came back with one of his own later on in his promo. That's something that bears watching, IMO. As for Del Rio, I'm sold on the guy, and I've been sold on him for a while. But, I understand why some others are not sold on him, and there are many of them out there. They think his promos are repetitive and

Parks: he only has good matches with Rey Mysterio. That's what they nay-sayers think, and they're not 100 percent wrong. But I like that WWE has gotten behind a new superstar and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with him.

Caldwell: Yeah, that Cena-Miz issue seems to be brewing again. I still think (and I think Torch readers want it, too) Miz and Truth are going to be part of something bigger than just talking about a random conspiracy and the announcers patting them on the head saying, "Yeah, that's nice." I say Torch readers since the #2 vote-getter for which Raw question people most wanted answered is what Truth and Miz's conspiracy is (trailing who sent Nash the text). As for their work this week, I thought Truth and Miz blew away the other big promos on the show. They totally owned that segment and Miz has done great work two out of the last three Raws (removing the Subway bit last week). I'm ready for Miz to be back in the title picture now. Maybe even Truth, too. Do you think we're any closer to a reveal of their "conspiracy" or there's nothing to it and it's just a method to keep them in the main event picture?

Parks: I'm tempted to say there's nothing to it, and they just THINK there's a conspiracy. Isn't that what they've hinted toward, portraying Truth as crazy for it? If it turns out to be real, he's not crazy, and that blows his whole gimmick. As for the promos, I thought they were fantastic and like you said, blew away the other promos on the show. The only thing I didn't like was them acknowledging the "what" chants. Only encourages it in the future. And that's no good for anyone.

Caldwell: Yeah, that's true about Truth's gimmick being blown if the conspiracy is true. Or, the offenders could just downplay Truth's claims and "discredit him" by saying he's nuts, so nothing can be taken seriously. I think they could stretch that out for a while depending on how it's handled. I agree on the "What?" chants. It's so hard to not play into those, too, and it's almost become an accomplishment to get the crowd so involved that they're doing the chants. It's a no-win situation! I feel like we need another week to sort through the top of the Raw storyline picture and perhaps get some answers on Monday, but anything else on the top of Raw before looking at other items?

Parks: New tag champions? I wrote a blog on it last night in the VIP forum - I hope this is a re-dedication by WWE to the division, since they have a lot of spare parts in terms of wrestlers that they can match up into competent tag teams, like they've done with Kofi and Bourne.

Caldwell: I'm not sold on this being a resurgence yet, as WWE needs to actually make some legitimate tag teams to compete with Kofi & Bourne. Now, if they hypothetically brought in the Kings of Wrestling, Tyler Black & Richie Steamboat, and Beer Money on Monday, then I'd change my tune in a second. My concern is Kofi and Bourne were just thrown together because WWE doesn't have anything for them. But, WWE has pushed them hard on their website this week since Raw, so perhaps there is something to this. I hope there's optimism for the division, if only because it would allow WWE to present some main events on TV that don't feature top stars in PPV-quality matches (or Cena-Punk III with no pre-advanced hype) because WWE has no other options. I'll be watching closely on this one!

Parks: yeah, the other concern is that with Night of Champions coming up, they're just pushing the division to make the titles seem relevant so they can be defended on the PPV and produce a quality match, then the push will be dropped afterward. Certainly a concern of mine, but I'm also excited to see Kofi and Bourne defend the tag titles live.

Caldwell: Good point there on Night of Champions. I sure hope it's not Kofi & Bourne vs. Mike & Otunga at the PPV in the re-match. Perhaps the Usos in a Raw vs. Smackdown match? Also of interest is the DIvas Division. It looks like Kelly will be defending against Natalya or perhaps Beth Phoenix in a re-match in her hometown, but I think WWE wants to protect Kelly's crowd pop, so I could see Kelly vs. Natalya at NOC. What do you think?

Parks: I know there's been discussion going back a few months about Beth vs. Kelly at Night of Champions, but you're right about the crowd pop. I guess it depends on how much WWE is worried about that. Kelly seems to be getting the biggest push since Lay-Cool, so you'd think WWE wants to protect her. The again, they may not care that much about the Divas division to even take this under consideration.

Caldwell: As long as it's not Kelly vs. the Bellas X, I think it should work out for the Divas. Greg, the other item interest from the Raw mid-card was another round of Swagger-Riley with Vickie and Dolph involved. It was randomly thrown out there, Riley didn't even get a ring intro, and there are too many moving parts right now. WWE had to shoehorn the segment into the show before Hunter-Nash talking, but what did you make of that presentation?

Parks: It just seemed like a segment they had to cut for time. There's always one of those segments per show and this had the unfortunate luck of being the one this week. It's something for these guys, though, which is good to see.

Caldwell: Do you think Riley's stock has dropped or just an off-week for that group?

Parks: No, his stock has definitely dropped. WWE didn't prepare him enough for life after Miz, so once that angle ended, he seemed to be caught out there with nothing to do and no other real connection to any other wrestler. He'll be on Superstars before long unless his feud with Ziggler and Swagger picks up.

Caldwell: Agreed there. We talked about that for weeks after the Riley-Miz started that WWE had to give the audience something to get behind Riley and telling Vickie her breath smells like death won't cut it. Greg, anything else on Raw this week worth breaking down?

Parks: I think we've covered it.

Caldwell: How about our good friends at NXT? They reached the magic 25-week mark, so everyone taking the "over" on our Chat Bet wins a free trip to ESPN with Todd Grisham! I didn't care for this week's episode, as it felt pointless (more so than usual) and they've really drifted away from this being anywhere close to a Rookie show. Your thoughts?

Parks: Ugh. It's hard to have any thoughts on this show. It's just "there" without any semblance of moving forward in any way. It's almost like the writing team is told each week that there's going to be a new episode, hoping that each week is the last one, but they're only told a little ahead of time that they have to make a new episode. As long as Tyson Kidd brings it each week, I know there's going to be a highlight.

Caldwell: Should we put a new line on how long this season lasts or just wait to see how long it plays out? Perhaps WWE was just waiting for Maryse to have surgery and return so she could announce the winner. I have no idea at this point what the hold-up is. As for the actual Rookies, who do you think is the Top Rookie at this point, aside from fan popularity voting?

Parks: Darren Young. Not that it matters. I'm convinced WWE is waiting for the new network to start up in 2012 before beginning a new season.

Caldwell: Or to find a new TV home for NXT and then have the Epic Conclusion to Season 5 feeding into the start of Season 6 on a new TV home. I think we're on to something there. Greg, any thoughts on Grisham's departure and/or a prediction on who takes over commentary going forward? Cole and The Gong?

Parks: Cole on three shows? God I hope not. I'm thinking Striker and Regal. Or maybe Korpela/Stanford get promoted. Is NXT really a promotion over Superstars though?

Caldwell: Hm...good question. Neither one qualifies as a C-Show behind Raw and Smackdown, so we'll call them dual D-Shows. But, Superstars has a stronger roster on a typical week, so it probably gets the night. But, NXT gets first dibs on the Raw Replay, so does that count? Eesh. Anything else on NXT before we tackle Smackdown?

Parks: Never.

Caldwell: Firm! Okay, Smackdown has a lot going on right now. Mark Henry is new #1 contender, Bret Hart is advertised as GM For The Week on Friday, there's a live Smackdown special next Tuesday, and there still seems to be unfinished business between Orton and Christian. What do you make of the State of Smackdown right now?

Parks: I'm wondering if Orton vs. Christian is REALLY over, or if this Mark Henry feud is just a detour. I can't imagine, as strong as Henry has been portrayed lately, that WWE would bank on a long-term Henry vs. Orton program. Besides, Sheamus still has unfinished business with Henry too. It's complicated, but at least not as complicated as on the Raw side.

Caldwell: It seems like WWE can't decide which way to go right now. It's almost like they wanted Henry to go ahead and pick up an official #1 contender label so they could play that card when it's convenient, but they're not ready to go all the way with Orton-Henry for the reasons you said. It seems very week-to-week right now. Do you think it's a roundabout way to get to the multiple-man match at Night of Champions we've talking about for a Smackdown PPV main event for months?

Parks: Could be. It looks like Raw is settling on Cena vs. Del Rio, leaving a multi-man match available for Smackdown, and I could totally see a three-way or a four-way at Night of Champions. However that would kind of nullify Henry's #1 contender status - he earned it, so why should he share the title with two other guys who didn't?

Caldwell: WWE could try to come up with something where Henry is guaranteed a title shot as #1 contender, but he might be forced to "share it" with Christian (playing up his "my attorneys will sue you, Teddy Long," bit) and/or Sheamus, who could find a way into the title picture. It would seem like Henry was cheated out of a one-on-one title shot, but it could also give Teddy Long a way to stand up to Henry and not be pushed around. Otherwise, you're right, it would seem like Henry, a heel, was legitimately cheated... What else stood out on Smackdown following Summerslam?

Parks: Yeah, I'm not sure WWE is really interested in having Teddy stand up to Henry. I'm sure there more interested in his ongoing wooing by Aksana. Not much else on Smackdown post-Summerslam. Zeke Jackson has really been taken down a notch. Gabriel vs. Kidd was a nice match. And D.Bryan and Del Rio had a good match too, to make up for the nonsensical squashing of Bryan by Del Rio the previous week. I just don't get the booking of that.

Caldwell: Yeah, Bryan vs. Del Rio was quite the PPV-quality match on Friday. That was worth checking out. I think the booking is indicative of WWE's week-to-week booking issues that plague Raw and Smackdown. Then, you have the hot/cold, start/stop with Ezekiel Jackson. Smackdown offers a wide variety of examples on a weekly basis! Anything else on Smackdown, Greg? Or, we can move on to the latest from Impact Wrestling.

Parks: Let's move on to Impact.

Caldwell: All right, so Ric Flair returns with no advanced hype, has a weird promo exchange with Sting, hugs it out with Hogan, stalks Sting backstage for five minutes, and there's no indication of when the teased Sting-Flair match is happening. Could there be any greater symbolism for TNA than promoting a feud centered around the main event of the final WCW Nitro, only ten years later? What was your take on Flair's return last week?

Parks: I was not impressed at all. Flair didn't look good, and TNA sure didn't help in the way they scripted him. He just came off as an unstable ranting lunatic. I think fans like Flair and want to see him, but not necessarily in the ring.

Caldwell: And not in that role. Some of the time, it comes across as intentional misuse of his character. Other times, just creative incompetence. It's a fine line in TNA. We'll find out at tonight's Impact tapings, but my sense is TNA will try to "draw a number" at No Surrender with Sting-Flair leading to the match-that-I-would-be-shocked-to-see-happen between Sting and Hogan at BFG. All the while, the under-40-crowd is being overlooked as the top stars in the promotion. What do you make of Kurt Angle's heel turn, explanation, and current feud with Crimson?

Parks: Crimson really had a nice promo exchange with Angle last week on Impact, perhaps his best to date. But I think it would be best to have Crimson continue to blow through the BFG series and meet the champ at BFG or whenever rather than start some kind of feud right now.

Caldwell: Yeah, it seems like TNA could be planting seeds for a larger feud between Angle and Crimson leading to BFG, but, I agree that it seems like the promos and feud they're having right now should have been saved for next month after No Surrender. We'll see. Your thoughts on Jeff Hardy returning to TNA tonight before we wrap up the TNA discussion?

Parks: Could there be any worse timing for this? Gosh, I just don't get why "now" is the right time to bring him back, other than for this special taping. His presence is needed on Impact, but only if his head is on straight, which I'm hoping TNA has some sort of proof that it is.

Caldwell: And he still has the felony and misdemeanor charges hanging over his head. There has to be some sort of assurance that will/has been worked out. I still question bringing him back, too. It will be interesting to see on tonight's Impact whether they promote the heck out of Hardy's return on next week's show (taped tonight) or if they only give a slight mention. If they want to bump that rating up after coming close to below a 1.0 last week, they should be talking about Hardy in every segment tonight. All right, Greg, we'll go ahead and wrap up here. Give readers a plug for what's coming up on Gonzo and The Greg this weekend.

Parks: In honor of WWE (hopefully) pushing the tag teams more, we'll be listing our top five greatest tag teams. It should be posted some time Saturday afternoon.

Caldwell: Is that WWE-only tag teams or all tag teams?

Parks: All tag teams are eligible.

Caldwell: Very good. Looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say. Well done, sir! Thanks for joining me on the Chat and we will talk again Friday on the Livecast.

Parks: Sure thing, James.

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