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, let's start with Monday's Raw where one of the big pieces of intrigue was follow-up on C.M. Punk's apparent heel turn. What did you think of his promo to start Raw explaining his actions?

Greg Parks: I liked it - it was unique and memorable, but I don't know if it went far enough to really make him a heel. He basically talked about how he had been overlooked as champion, which is true. We talked here last week about if they will be able to turn the hardcore Punk fans against him, or if they even wanted to try. What was your take on how he was booked Monday as far as if he'll still be a face to his fans, or if WWE is seeking to turn him 100% heel?

James Caldwell: I think there will still be a segment of his fans that will cheer him no matter what he does. But, aside from that group, there was the point at the end of Raw when Punk seemed to act like a "WWE Heel" throwing a fit about A.J. booking him in a three-way WWE Title match at Summerslam. It seemed like Punk went from reasonable tweener with a smug attitude to somewhat of a crybaby by the end of the show. But, I still feel like he'll be a tweener going into Summerslam since Cena and Big Show are in the match. After Summerslam, though, I could see more emphasis on him as a heel. Do you see the same thing of a tweener leaning heel or do you think he'll largely remain a tweener leaning toward face?

Greg Parks: Like you said, his attitude seemed to be heelish at the end with AJ, but I don't think his commentary during the main event was overly heelish (except for a few digs at Lawler). Punk is one of those examples of a character who has become hard to relate to - what he stood for in the last year with his pipe bomb and everything is no longer what he stands for, and I don't think the reasons are strong enough for him to do a complete 180. It's like how some people have said that the Punk of last summer would be disgusted at this version of Punk and what he has become. It's like A.J. becoming somewhat normal as GM now after she had been built as being so crazy for so long. WWE just flips switches on these characters to make them do whatever the writers want them to do, which hurts their relatability to the fans.

James Caldwell: It's like the objective ends up being "let's make these characters really stand out for being different, quirky, crazy, outspoken, etc., etc.," and then once the characters get over, WWE evens them out to being more normal to try to appeal to everyone, which goes against the exact reason why they were popular to begin with. So, you're right that I don't really recognize this Punk character. But, yet, it's hard to analyze this because WWE could simply flip the switch the other way next week on Raw and then we're back to where the characters were before, but with these two or three weeks where they were "normal." Part of why I felt kinda "okay" about Raw was that I'm not sure how to feel about Punk's character right now. WWE would make the argument of "Oh, wait to see how it plays out," but if there's no consistency during the journey, then how can anyone get excited for the end? Any other thoughts on Punk's big week?

Greg Parks: Not really; like you said, the coming weeks and Summerslam should tell us more about the character. Speaking of Summerslam, John Cena and Big Show have been inserted into the title match to make it a Triple Threat. The question: Why Big Show? He's done some nice mic work, but is his character really adding anything to the Punk vs. Cena situation? Will he really add anything to the match? Or, is this just one of those deals where Cena or Punk can winning by pinning Show, thus not damaging the other loser of the match?

James Caldwell: I think Show is in there to take a loss so neither Punk nor Cena has to take a loss at Summerslam, but I also see Show in there to deflect some of the expected boos for Cena and cheers for Punk when WWE wants to make sure this storyline gets over with Cena the top face and Punk the tweener pivoting between face and heel. It's kind of like throwing an independent candidate with no chance of winning into a political race to sort of "take the fall" for another party's loss. Answering your question on whether Big Show really adds anything to the match, I don't think he really adds much, but I think he'll continue to be the voice in each guy's ear trying to get Cena and Punk to rip each other apart, which - in his character's mind - would make it easy pickings for him to win the title. So, I think he could be entertaining on the mic in the PPV build-up, but is that worth putting him in a title match? Eh, maybe not.

Greg Parks: I would agree, too. I'm not sure he's really a main-eventer anymore, at least long-term. He got his PPV pay-days against Cena, time to shuffle on back down the card a little bit. One of the bigger stories I alluded to earlier was A.J. on her first night as permanent Raw GM. What did you think of her performance and how she was used, and in a related note, where do you think her relationship with Daniel Bryan goes from here? She needled him on Raw leading to his visit with a psychiatrist (which I thought was hit-and-miss).

James Caldwell: It's one of those things where I'm trying to be patient to see how A.J. as GM plays out, but I feel like the character took a sharp right turn into reasonableness and sound thinking and booking like every other GM in history. I'm kind of waiting for her character to snap and act irrationally, but perhaps she's acting rationally as the latest twist in her craziness - that she can make herself seem normal. It's another reason why I was kind of "eh" on Raw waiting to see how another big item plays out. As for Bryan, I thought he had an all-around amazing night in the ring with Sheamus, on the mic, and in those sort of goofy doctor segments. I thought the doctor segments could have been reduced to one, maybe one-and-a-half segments, but the price of three-hour Raws is doubling or tripling the recipe. Bryan did the best he could, but I agree it was a bit much. To me, Bryan is the top all-around wrestler and performer in WWE right now. Do you agree or have someone else in mind who tops him?

Greg Parks: I think he has competition from Ziggler, Sheamus and Punk, but I'd put him right there with them. He's really shining in backstage segments and interviews, which was supposed to be his weakness. Just goes to show when you find the right character, almost anyone can show personality. One more thing from Raw I want to touch on is the three-hour concept. This was the first "real" three-hour show, one that will look more like the others than the Raw 1,000 show. After this episode, does it give you any more faith that WWE can pull off three-hour Raws over the long-term?

James Caldwell: Good company for Bryan on Ziggler, Sheamus, and Punk. I would put Bryan ahead of Sheamus as an all-around performer right now because Sheamus isn't asked to do much on the mic, ahead of Punk because we're not sure where his character is going right now, and ahead of Ziggler because Ziggler was just recently placed in a spotlight program with Jericho after idling for a while, whereas it seems like D-Bryan has been in big, spotlight programs since the end of 2011 when he cashed in MITB. As for the three-hour shift, I think the obvious concerns are the abundance of video packages, too much social media, and matches that shouldn't be 7:00 going 7:00. But, same with the Punk and A.J. directions being up in the air, I'm trying to be patient to see what "Raw 1,008" looks like rather than put too much emphasis on the first three-hour Raw that's not a special episode. This week felt like a comedown show from Raw 1,000 where they knew they couldn't match the previous week and just wanted to "reset the bar" of what to expect, then be able to surpass that down the road. But, the concerns are still there in the back of my head. What did you take away from it?

Greg Parks: There was some good, and some bad. I'm concerned about matches that should be squashes going long, as you said, but that's evened out by matches that shouldn't be squashes getting more time. I think the Bryan-doctor segments worked over multiple segments, whereas on a two-hour show, it'd probably have been relegated to one segment. My main concern, as you said, was the Tout and video package stuff. There's a fine line in replaying video packages between doing it to make the segment seem important to going overboard into overkill. Especially for videos on stuff like the pre-Raw fire, which has no bearing on anything and just seemed to fill up time. One video of that should've sufficed. Anything else on Raw to touch on?

James Caldwell: Yeah, the Raw fire deal went way over-board. It's like they wanted to own the story by just burying it into the ground by re-visiting it over and over again, almost to make it a non-story so they didn't feel too embarrassed by it happening. I think one big-picture item related to where the time could be spent outside of video packages is developing solid undercard divisions. WWE hasn't emphasized those divisions in recent years, but I think now is the time to be willing to take a hit in some quarter-hours trying to build for the future. As I said on the Livecast, the Astros are taking some major lumps right now trying to build for five years down the line. Granted, WWE doesn't need to trade away the entire roster or be that dramatic, but I think for this three-hour era to stick, there has to be support from underneath with a solid Tag division, a solid IC division, a legitimate U.S. champion, and a solid women's division. If it takes a few months to get people to care about those divisions to undo years of WWE's self-inflicted damage, then I think now is the time to try to start that process rather than sitting here in three months in the middle of fall TV competition and have nothing of substance from Q3 to Q7 of Raw each week.

Greg Parks: I think the fear with that is that as a publicly traded company, they can't afford to pull an "Astros" and take their lumps now for the future; there may not be investors left for the future if that's the case. That's why John Cena is constantly front and center in WWE: Because he's the one proven draw WWE has at its disposal. But yeah, in principle, I agree with your comments.

James Caldwell: It does seem like they've - rightly or wrongly - made a conscious decision to put 95 percent of their effort into the Top Tier or Top 3 or 4 stories, and be willing to have a few down quarters featuring mid-card talent. I think they were able to get away with that in a two-hour environment, but I don't know if they can in a three-hour environment over the long haul, especially when it could lead to guys like Cena or Punk or Orton or Sheamus over-exposed. Speaking of Orton, Greg, Randy made his return on Raw as the Killer of the Legends Jobber, Heath Slater, as predicted…right here…in the Chat Lounge. (Cue up the Mick Foley pause.) What did you think of Orton's return and what do you expect from him going forward on Raw and Smackdown?

Greg Parks: I thought his return was perfect as far as taking out Heath Slater. That really should be the end of Slater's challenges, because it would be tough to follow up getting taken out by the Legend Killer himself. I would expect him to be on the top tier of Raw and especially Smackdown despite his transgressions, and despite the fact that he was kicking around the mid-card the last time we saw him. He's a much fresher opponent for Sheamus than Alberto Del Rio, that's for sure.

James Caldwell: Oh, Del Rio. Yes, perfect transition to the latest events on Smackdown. Greg, Del Rio became #1 contender to the World Title again last week on Smackdown. And, instead of perhaps having the Sheamus-Del Rio title match on Smackdown before Summerslam, they're having the match at Summerslam. Is it just a matter of they don't want to move Del Rio out of the title picture and they're going to stick with Del Rio in this role until they figure out something equally important? Or, what's the obsession with Del Rio as World Title contender?

Greg Parks: I think there are several reasons for Del Rio to still be in the main event: First, there are no other strong heel challengers, thanks to them constantly having Sheamus beat Ziggler; plus Del Rio theoretically can draw in the Hispanic audience that WWE covets. I don't think he'll be the huge star they had in mind when he first debuted, especially with him constantly making rumblings about quitting the business in a few years, so perhaps WWE is going to squeeze all the juice out of him before he departs. After last month though, I really don't see anyone buying Del Rio as a credible challenger, no matter what he does to get his heat back. And, another loss to Sheamus at Summerslam will do even more damage.

James Caldwell: A Livecast caller described it as Groundhog Day - Del Rio becomes #1 contender, Del Rio loses the title match, Del Rio gets re-built by beating Santino, Del Rio becomes #1 contender, Del Rio loses the title match, and repeat. I think it really does touch on the lack of heel depth, like you said. Even when I saw the line-up for the four-way #1 contender match last week on SD, there was no one there besides Del Rio who I could see WWE choosing to win - Rey isn't going to face Sheamus in a face-face match, Bryan is far away from the World Title picture, and Kane is sort off in la-la land. So, it had to be Del Rio based on the four guys WWE put in that match. Elsewhere on Smackdown, Greg, WWE continued to build up the Jericho-Ziggler feud, presumably for a Summerslam match, since Jericho is advertised for Summerslam. Do you see that feud leading to a singles match at SS, and if so, do you think it's pretty clear-cut that Jericho puts over Ziggler on the way out of WWE for the time being to tour with Fozzy?

Greg Parks: Yeah, I would imagine. Jericho could always win and get beaten into oblivion by Ziggler after the match, sending Jericho out for some time off and giving the fans something unexpected with a Jericho win. But if there's anyone who needs a credible win, it's Ziggler, and Jericho has certainly been in the business of giving folks wins since his return.

James Caldwell: Definitely. And, that's pretty much the basis for this feud with Jericho losing all the time lately. Greg, I know you avoid spoilers to cover Smackdown fresh every week on PWTorch.com, but have you come across the new Smackdown GM information that's been tough to avoid this week?

Greg Parks: I have, and I'm intrigued. I'm hoping this gets him away from the announce desk, but then again, a GM who doubles as an announcer would make for an interesting dynamic. I wonder if they go to the two-man booth or add a third man to replace Booker if he's done there. I'll say this: Booker makes more sense in the GM role, even taking the Mike Adamle route, than A.J. on Raw.

James Caldwell: I imagine they go to a two-man booth, at least initially, especially with Michael Cole toning down his heelish commentary as of late. I do wonder how it would affect PPVs - I don't see a booth of, say, Mathews, Cole, and Lawler. Not even Striker in Booker's place, so I'll be curious to see how they handle the commentary position on both Smackdown and PPVs going forward. I'm not even going to venture a statement on Jim Ross filling that PPV slot because it's too wishful of thinking. On Booker T as GM, I agree that it makes more sense than A.J. as Raw GM. I'll be interested to see how it plays out. A few more Smackdown topics to touch on, then we'll grab TNA Impact from tonight. On Smackdown, what do you make of Damien Sandow being Sandow, Antonio Cesaro going after Santino, and Ryback possibly entering a legit feud with Jinder Mahal right now?

Greg Parks: Sandow was awesome as usual. They kinda teased us with feuds with Tyson Kidd and Zack Ryder, both of which would've been fine, so hopefully he has found his first feud to really sink his teeth into. I'd like to see Antonio Cesaro in meaningful action, and it would make sense for his non-title win over Santino to lead to a title feud. And you mentioned another possibility for someone's first legit feud, that being Ryback. He could do worse than Mahal, as Mahal can get relatively chep and easy heel heat, making it easier for Ryback to get over as a babyface.

James Caldwell: It feels like another building block for a fragile Ryback character. He still hasn't shown the ability to have a long-form match, but we haven't seen him in a long-form match to speak of, so this could be a way to slowly build to that point and not have him lose the audience. This is definitely a project and I feel like WWE will at least try to see it through to the end. Greg, anything else from Smackdown or WWE to break down?

Greg Parks: I don't think so, so let's move on to Impact. It felt like what some would call a "maintenance show." We had no Aces & Eights attacks after being all over the last two weeks' shows. I think this was a good idea to pull back a little bit. James, we saw Wes Brisco in a backstage segment, and he has participated in Aces & Eights beat-downs the past few weeks. We know that not everyone involved in the beat-downs are likely to be a part of the group, but do you think the introduction of Brisco will lead to him being revealed as one of the men responsible for the attacks?

James Caldwell: If it's merely a supporting role, then I could be okay with that. Otherwise, it's typical TNA where they introduce characters out of left field and expect the entire audience to know this person's background a la Claire Lynch, who still, after eight weeks, is still struggling to execute a proper facial expression, but that's another topic. On the Aces & Eights group, Greg, I'm sure you're surprised that the group still did nothing for me this week despite not appearing in the flesh this week to bother me. I'm just not intrigued by this storyline until there is more info on the group's motivations, purpose, identity, something. So, in the interim, it continues to feel like a distraction from the rest of the show. And, the whole "let's jump to conclusions and point the finger at James Storm because Bobby Roode has sooooo much credibility as a heel" storyline doesn't work for me, either. I'm saying all this while still thinking the show was an improvement over last week, overall, but I'm still not engaged in TNA's top storyline centered on Aces & Eights.

Greg Parks: I understand that, and I do share somewhat your distaste for the accusations toward James Storm. If anything, it just seems like it gives him something storyline-wise to do while he's in the BFG series. Plus, it keeps him vs. Roode at the forefront for whenever he gets his win back down the line. You mentioned Claire and I gotta bring her up for her ridiculous reactions screaming into the camera this week. The less Claire, the better, but Daniels and Kazarian continue to shine. Isn't there a way to keep the focus on those two and A.J. Styles rather than Claire?

James Caldwell: Oh, we can only wish that to be the case! Like you said, Daniels is great in his role as a slimy heel, but it seems like the Claire character gets more unintentionally comedic by the week, especially throwing in a replay from a few weeks ago when she talked so unrealistically about "it was all night, A.J." and "c'mon, baby, I know how you like it." I was ready to tap on this storyline this week, and I think the audience was ready to tap, too. I could see the tourists in the crowd reacting like, "How many chapters of this story did I miss, and why am I really, really, really glad I don't know the background on this?" It's time to start building to the pay-off on this thing and move on. Hopefully A.J. will discover some "secret information" in Australia that will reveal the real relationship between Daniels and Claire. Elsewhere, Greg, there was a main event of Storm vs. Angle, Bully Ray picked up some BFG Series points, Earl Hebner continued to compromise his integrity with no repercussions from Brooke Hogan, whose character is apparently unfit to do her job, and ODB & EY strategized a way to keep the KO Tag Titles forever. What did you make of some of the underneath stories this week?

Greg Parks: I brought up the same issue with Brooke not disciplining Earl (or at least not allowing him to ref Madison's matches!) on Twitter during the show. And it's not like this story is so necessary to get anyone over, either. Bully Ray picking up points will only help his character - it's nice that he's done so many jobs because his mic work can get his heat back, but he should be someone threatening Storm atop the BFG standings. The bookend matches of the show were fine, nothing more.

James Caldwell: I agree Ray needs to be moving up the standings to at least pose a threat to Storm. Right now, it's all babyfaces on top of the standings (if you count Samoa Joe) with Storm, Joe, Angle, RVD, and Hardy before getting to Daniels, so I definitely see Ray winning his BFG Series match at Hardcore Justice to pick up 20 points and vault to the Top 4. Overall, Greg, do you sense TNA is building momentum toward Hardcore Justice and the end of their live summer series, stagnant, or losing momentum?

Greg Parks: I think it's somewhat stagnant. You could argue they're gaining momentum, because the shows are pretty consistently decent at least; not blowing you away with anything but not feeling like a waste of two hours, so just in that, they're doing better than they were a year ago. That has to count for something.

James Caldwell: It's definitely an improvement over last year in the consistency category, agreed there. Lately, the shows just haven't felt important - you used the "maintenance" word, which I think is pretty appropriate for this week's show. I think the lack of really concentrated focus on Austin Aries as TNA World champion has affected the lack of momentum. I think there was a chance to really make Aries feel like a huge star and they've kind of settled for a basic, good, solid, but not spectacular continuation of the feud with Roode doing the same things every week. Throw in a shift to the X Division roster and a virtually non-existent Tag Division with the belts on Daniels & Kaz, and I feel they're missing some opportunities right now. Greg, one final TNA topic - what did you make of Chavo Guerrero's in-ring debut this week against Kid Kash?

Greg Parks: I thought Chavo's debut was kinda "meh." He didn't get the reaction of a superstar coming out, either because (a) his theme music was more of TNA's generic rock riffs or (b) it's Chavo Guerrero. He's a "name" but there's also not a lot to get excited about him at this point either.

James Caldwell: Another issue affecting Aries is his mid-card music. And, you're right on about Chavo's music being yet another generic-sounding TNA entrance. Also agreed on Chavo being a "name," not a "Legend" like he claimed the fans were calling him last week, and perhaps needing to show something different than doing Eddie's old moves and mannerisms. I'm not seeing him coming into TNA with a revitalized approach or character. Greg, anything else from TNA worth breaking down this week?

Greg Parks: I think we're all set for this week. We'll try again for the Top five worst Raw moments this week on Gonzo & The Greg after a scheduling conflict prevented us from recording last weekend.

James Caldwell: Very good. Looking forward to that edition this week! Greg, I know you have an eventful weekend ahead, so we will part ways for the week on that note and look ahead to the Livecast and Chat next week! Always a pleasure.

Greg Parks: Sure thing, James.

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