On a weekly basis, PWTorch staffers James Caldwell and Greg Parks have a casual, yet insightful, 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 our weekly TV wrestling chat. Greg, I think we have to start with this week's...trendy...topic - the return of Dr. Funk Brodus Clay. As I said on the Livecast yesterday, I'm in wait & see mode, but your thoughts on the debut and where do they go from here?

Parks: My first thought: It entertained me. That said, is there money in it? Until WWE can find a way to make money by trending on Twitter, then no. We speculated yesterday on the Livecast about how this character could be used as a bridge to a more serious Brodus Clay down the line, sooner or later. Whether that's the direction WWE intends to go (or will end up going), only they can answer that question. Too often WWE tries comedy that's groan-inducing and makes no one laugh; they succeeded in making me laugh here, which is perhaps why I think of it more highly than I normally would.

Caldwell: One of my biggest questions on Clay is - is he supposed to be a heel or a face? Or, is that TBD? He's always played a heel and he was hyped by heel authority figure Laurinaitis, but seemed to "go against Laurinaitis" by debuting a different character, unless it's disclosed in the follow-up that Dr. Funk was Laurinaitis's idea. Plus, he was opposed by lower-card heel Curt Hawkins, so that puts a mark in the face column. Where does he fall?

Parks: Gotta be a face. He's too funky to be a heel, James!

Caldwell: Well, when you put it that way, I guess so! As for the other recent return, Chris Jericho Week 2 consisted of an even more over-the-top mock babyface bit. Greg, how far can Jericho push this and (a) when do you think the audience will figure it out and start booing and (b) when will Jericho talk?

Parks: I'm not really sure when the audience figures it out. I'm tempted to say "when he makes his second rounds to some of these arenas." We all know fans love to cheer for the returning superstar and in every city, he's still "returning" even if he's been on TV, so I think there will be at least a pocket of fans who cheer him for some time. He tweaked his performance this week by adding the fake tears, and I think we'll see a few more tweaks for the next couple weeks before something (more booing?) finally makes him open up.

Caldwell: My pick to win the Rumble is still Orton, but could you imagine if Jericho goes another two weeks without talking, then wins the Rumble? It would be Santino's trumpet celebration for a runner-up finish times 15. I don't know if that's money-making material, but it would certainly be a method to ramp up Jericho's speechless, overwhelmed, mock babyface return in anticipation of him finally talking or someone else trying to get him to talk. It's pretty good stuff through two weeks, I think.

Parks: Can you imagine the celebration, the overwhelming joy Jericho would feel after winning the Rumble? How would he celebrate THAT? He might spend the entire first hour of Raw soaking in the applause after that one.

Caldwell: It would be like him listing 1,004 moves from a print-out on WCW Nitro - Raw starts with Jericho soaking up the crowd, they cut to break, and come back with him now in the crowd shaking hands with every fan in the arena. Endless possibilities! As for something that most people hope will end soon - See No Evil 2 starring Kane, Cena, Ryder, Eve, and a tire iron. Greg, your thoughts on this week's Kane-Cena feud, which was featured in I believe seven segments on Raw?

Parks: I was not a huge fan of it. And that's me being nice. Zack Ryder is, shall we say, not the greatest actor in the world, and asking him to show the range that was required of him for Monday was a little too much. Same with Eve, for that matter. Whenever WWE tries these movie-like scenarios, their "superstars" get exposed for being terrible actors, which make suspenseful situations turn into laughers. I'm not sure how or why Ryder is fitting into the Cena-Kane deal, other than WWE wants to give Ryder more TV time due to his vocal fanbase.

Caldwell: Do you get the sense Ryder is supposed to be a bad actor? Like, he knows he's so over-the-top playing the "awkward high school kid" role? I figure Ryder is being used in this feud so Kane can attack someone besides Cena to keep him on the chase for Cena, to build up his monster credibility, and, like you said, give Ryder more TV time since he is popular with the audience now.

Parks: It might be, but it's hard for me to get engaged in storylines like that, where the only purpose seems to be to knowingly expose your talent as bad actors; what advantage is there to that? We talked about this yesterday James, but do you see Cena vs. Kane as a singles match at Royal Rumble? Or do both men enter the Rumble and continue their storyline within the match?

Caldwell: I just don't know how they translate this feud to a match unless it's something we half-kiddingly suggested on the Livecast like an Inferno match. A standard match won't solve anything since they're so over-the-top and so far away from anything having to do with wrestling. So, unless there's a stip added to a Cena-Kane match at the Rumble, I see them just continuing the feud in the Rumble match itself. It would be an "out" for Cena to be eliminated without really losing. Then, they continue the feud in the Elimination Chamber match to keep this going until Cena faces Rock. But, if they continue with Cena-Kane all the way to the Chamber, and possibly through the Chamber, I don't see how they end the feud. Kane can't just "disappear to Smackdown" at this point. How do you think they actually end this feud before Mania hype kicks in?

Parks: I saw it as just a detour until the hype for Cena vs. Rock amps up, but like you said, they're so over-the-top with it, how does it possibly end? Does Kane go out in one, last, big blaze of glory? I doubt it, but unless they do a special gimmick match at the Rumble to blow it off (and even that would feel rushed), I don't know where they go with it.

Caldwell: I'm with you. It felt like a simple storyline to get Cena to "think about embracing the hate," but now it's become a full-blown feud. So, I guess we'll see how long this story arc lasts. Elsewhere on Raw, Greg, the C.M. Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler title match hype seemed to take a backseat. Your thoughts on where the Punk-Ziggler feud fits into the Raw brand right now?

Parks: I don't think WWE has confidence in Punk and/or Ziggler to draw ratings right now, which is why it hasn't been in the main event spot the past few weeks. The WWE title is once again in the background, similar to how it was presented when ADR was champion. At least we'll get some good matches out of the Punk vs. Ziggler feud (if you can call what they're doing knowing "feuding).

Caldwell: Perhaps they're keeping Punk away from Ziggler so the temptation isn't there to script one of those promos where Punk cuts the legs off Ziggler, rendering him ineffective, like Miz and Del Rio. I'm somewhat facetious saying that, but Ziggler will probably benefit staying away from a Punk promo. As for Miz, he continues to take beatings from R-Truth. And, they continue to get sympathy on Ricardo Rodriguez. I just don't know what they're going for with Miz, Truth, and Ricardo.

Parks: I don't either. It feels like the writers know they need to get these guys on TV, since they are in the upper mid-card, yet don't know what to do with them. That's especially scary since Truth and Miz have a ready-made issue, yet with WWE preoccupied with the title situation and Kane, Cena, and Ryder, it almost feels like they just slapped together the Miz-Truth-Rodriguez stuff the last few weeks (even though Ricardo was entertaining when he sang and it was cute that the crowd cheered him - but it means nothing if he doesn't turn face).

Caldwell: Yep. It feels like a wasted opportunity. And, only designed to get something to trend on Twitter at the expense of good business sense. Greg, there were also some Smackdown-related items on Raw leading into tonight's episode. Your thoughts on how they set up Bryan-Show for the World Title after Bryan beat Kofi Kingston in 90 seconds?

Parks: I didn't like that Kofi lost in 90 second, but hey, gotta save time for showing Ryder changing a tire for the third time! I think Bryan's performance as a heel-ish character is better than I would've expected, but I'm not really getting into this feud with Big Show. The story is solid, but man, I just don't care to see Show in the main events. Plus, and we've said this before, it seems like they've skipped several chapters by turning Bryan heel already and having to build a story around Henry's injury rather than have him face babyface Bryan again (admittedly not WWE's fault).

Caldwell: You mentioned them skipping chapters. It's so odd, too, because babyface announcer Lawler is still defending Bryan and delusional heel announcer Cole is still ripping on Bryan like he always has. There hasn't been that "Christian heel turn moment" where Cole suddenly flips to supporting Bryan against Show. So, I don't know what to make of this until we see where WWE is going.

Parks: Yeah, I wouldn't say Bryan has turned yet, so maybe they're waiting on that before the announcers switch sides, but it's also ridiculous for the announcers to keep harping on the same lines about D.Bry, acting like nothing has changed.

Caldwell: Very true. Also, Greg, Jinder Mahal continues to be yo-yoyed by the writing team, as he took a decisive, clean loss to Santino in a tag match on Raw right before Mahal faces Sheamus tonight on Smackdown. Wade Barrett is also in the mix until Randy Orton comes back to TV. So, long-term, Greg, what are we supposed to make of Mr. Mahal, and can Sheamus buy a feud with someone, anyone?

Parks: Well, you could consider this a feud with Mahal, granted, a quite one-sided feud. It's good for Mahal because even though he's losing, he's still working with upper card guys. That said, Sheamus has been stuck in neutral ever since Christian's injury. I don't have a huge problem with him picking up wins here and there and not being stuck in a permanent feud, because as we know, injuries could strike at any time, and you want a guy who you can move into the main events. Sheamus is just such a guy, with main event experience who can be "promoted' up the card at a moment's notice now, and they won't have to prematurely end any feud he's in. Perhaps he's in limbo while WWE sees how Randy Orton's injury shakes out.

Caldwell: I'll look at this measuring stick - is Jinder a guy who could be one of six wrestlers in Smackdown's Elimination Chamber match? After the dust settles from the Rumble, I still anticipate half of the field will be filled by Bryan, Show, and Henry. If Orton wins the Rumble, then perhaps he's not in the Chamber. So, Sheamus, Barrett...Jinder? Or, is that pushing it for him?

Parks: I think that might be pushing it, but he's closer to being in the match now than he was when he was feuding with Ted DiBiase. I think you can throw Cody Rhodes into that match.

Caldwell: That's true, even if he's still IC champion. Speaking of the IC Title, now that it seems like the Rhodes-Booker feud is over, is there someone waiting in the wings for an IC Title feud with Rhodes, or do you think they completely shift to a Cody-Dustin family feud that isn't related to the IC Title?

Parks: I'm tempted to say it's too early to start a full-on Dustin vs. Cody feud if their match is to take place at 'Mania, but without singles matches between the two need at the next two PPVs, it could be doable. That's an awful long time to make the IC title relatively inactive, though.

Caldwell: I think it captures two issues - no depth on the roster to find Rhodes an actual full-time wrestler as an opponent and the title isn't valued since established stars aren't exactly lining up for a title shot. The poor IC Title is stuck in Smackdown purgatory. Greg, elsewhere on Smackdown, Drew McIntyre has two strikes on him going into tonight's show. Where do you think this program is going, or is it as simple as Three Strikes and Mac is gone from WWE?

Parks: There are a few wrestlers who could fight for the IC Title on Smackdown, but they'd be lower card guys like Justin Gabriel, who could use a credibility push in feuding over the IC Title. As for McIntyre, the losing streak gimmick never works, but if this somehow gets him to be more motivated in the storyline and to get that killer instinct back, I'm all for it. I think he has value as a mid-carder at the least right now, so I hope they can find something for him to do other than losing every week.

Caldwell: Doesn't seem like Smackdown has a total of five storylines - losing streak, whining face turns heel, Jekyl & Hyde from Festus given to Brodus Clay, interchangeable Big Show feud, and foreign terror? It's quite amazing. Greg, anything else from Smackdown worth breaking down from the last week of Raw & SD TV?

Parks: Nothing.

Caldwell: Oh, Smackdown. All right, Greg, let's wrap up with some quick thoughts on Impact following the Genesis PPV. Your thoughts on TNA presenting the PPV main events on Impact and another non-finish to Roode-Hardy?

Parks: I thought presenting the two top PPV matches again on free TV was awful, and again, the main event has a non-clean finish. Bobby Roode has so little credible as champion, it's laughable.

Caldwell: It sure seems like the objective to make Roode as non-credible as possible, but there has to be a foundation for why he would even be in the World Title position for the audience to care about all these cheap finishes for Roode to save his title. TNA really needs to build that foundation with some nice, clean, decisive victories on TV to build him up. I don't get why WWE and TNA continue to run away from that, and the idea that "wrestling fans will tune out in droves for a star vs. non-star match" is a complete fallacy.

Parks: I think they're stuck on the idea of everybody being even-steven. Nobody loses credibility if it's a screwy finish, but the downside is no one gets over either.

Caldwell: Yep. And no one stands out to be the star that drives the company. All right, Greg, we're in the ninth quarter-hour over-run. What's on tap for this weekend's Gonzo & The Greg VIP audio show?

Parks: This weekend, we'll list our top five favorite returning superstar moments. Note that's RETURNING Superstar, not debut. I'm sure we'll have some qualifications based on that to hash out before our show!

Caldwell: I think the qualifications should be part of the show, too! I want to hear the arguments! But, it sounds like a very good show this weekend. Greg, as always, thanks for the Chat and we'll talk again next week.

Parks: A pleasure as always, James.

We suggest these recent related articles...

CALDWELL'S WWE "NXT: HOUSTON" LIVE RESULTS 9/17: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Balor, Joe, Bayley, more from debut show in Texas

CALDWELL'S LIVE REPORT - 7/12 Lone Star in Houston, Tex.: Alberto El Patron no-shows, Dreamer vs. Hoyt new main event; plus Duggan, Snitsky, Cabana vs. Mahal, Joey Ryan, Rowe vs. Hernandez, Ivellise, Catrina, Houston Carson, one title change, more

CALDWELL: A Top 10 for 10 Years - Hall of Fame, George, Sweet Tea, Studio B, Duke, Three-Pack, and you!