By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

•Teddy Long almost had me believing the happiest day of his life what not wearing the big nametag anymore and announcing that John Laurinaitis had been fired. Shouldn’t he, though, have been a little disenchanted that they were assigning interim G.M.s to Smackdown rather than just reinstating him.

•Kane worked well with Bryan. It’s amazing what he is doing at this stage of his career. He is one of those wrestlers who mentally has advanced at a rate that has outpaced any physical slowing down due to age or wear and tear.

•I praised Health Slater’s work a couple weeks ago as being a really effective TV jobber for this TV era - a known name with an obnoxious persona who takes good bumps and is just big enough so a babyface beating him counts for something, but not so big that he makes babyfaces look small. Again this week, he was great on Raw as a foil for the celebs and legends on Raw, and he gave Ryder a much-needed TV win this week.

•I like A.W.’s ring introduction for the Prime Time Players, with the wireless earpiece mic and references to hashtags. The bombastic way he introduces them gives them more of an identity and goes toward making them seem both a big deal and unlikable.

•In general, I like the sense that WWE is committing elevating the tag team division in general, as clearly a little more thought and stress is being put into it. There’s still a ways to go. One path is to continue to build up the obnoxious Prime Time Players as the top heel team (their post-win siamese twin style celebration is money), and then introduce two semi-big singles wrestlers who unite against them. That was supposed to be R-Truth & Kofi Kingston, but injuries sidetracked that. But the tag division needs a relevant second tier duo of singles wrestlers to care enough to chase the tag titles.

•It reveals something about WWE’s attitude toward TNA when it believes the money it can make off of a “No Holds Barred” DVD release is worth more to them than what TNA gains from exposing Hulk Hogan on their shows in a favorable light to a whole generation who never saw him wrestle in WWE and reintroduce him to their older audience. Instead of seeming like a forgotten relick reduced to a secondary promotion, which might have been his perception to some, he’s now gettiing WWE TV time in a flattering light. On the other hand, I’m not sure the guy in the front row dressed as Ric Flair - robe and wig and all - did any similar favors to the legend of Flair.

Keller's full TV Reports with expanded thoughts on Smackdown, Raw, and Impact are available exclusively to PWTorch VIP members, available on our VIP Website and our VIP Mobile site. Get details on VIP membership here: www.pwtorch.com/govip.

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