LIVE Raw thoughts

11:04 - Another fantastic match between Punk and Cena. These two just nail it out of the park every time, whether it's in the ring or behind the mic. I didn't mind the ending, either, because Punk certainly didn't look weak (and he didn't look overly stupid either, by turning his attention from Cena). And the conspiracy story continues.

10:49 - Is it me or is Jerry Lawler kinda being a douche tonight?

10:40 - My guess for the Night of Champions card?

WWE Championship - ADR vs. Punk vs. Cena

World Heavyweight Championship - Orton vs. Henry

United States Championship - Ziggler vs. Swagger

Intercontinental Championship - Rhodes vs. Zeke or Daniels, maybe

Tag Team Championship - Kofi/Bourne vs. Miz/Truth

Divas Championship - Either Kelly vs. Beth again, or Eve/Kelly vs. Beth/Natalya, with the person who gets the pin winning the title, or Kelly vs. Eve vs. Beth vs. Natalya in a four way

What do you think?

10:35 - Smart money could see Miz and Truth challenging Kofi and Bourne for the tag titles at Night of Champions.

10:31 - What the hell was that music during the Social Media Mania blurb? Is John Cena changing his theme?

10:27 - Are Zack Ryder and the NXT Redemption cast the official celebratory crew for Raw now? And aren't Bateman and Titus in a bitter war?

10:17 - The unfortunate thing is, watching this match, McGillicutty and Otunga are really gelling as a tag team. Yet, because Nexus has disbanded, they're so obsolete that nobody notices.

By the way, Lawler's announcing is atrocious during this match. He's as bad as Cole is during a Daniel Bryan match. The stuff he's saying just make no sense.

10:11 - Bold prediction: Kofi and Bourne win the titles tonight. Follow up question, though: If that happens, are Otunga and McGillicutty taken off TV?

10:07 - Kevin Nash was better than he was last week, but he still seemed to lose his focus. He just doesn't seem quite as quick witted. I think part of the problem is that Nash works best when he's an obnoxious smart ass, not when he's bitter and angry. And honestly, I think he's so far detached from the current scene that he truly struggles to come up with a believable argument as to why he's owed something in this day and age. Having said that, Punk ABSOLUTELY saved this segment and made it into something fun. He's pushing all of the right buttons, and he's sure not to give TOO much away (there's plenty of material to still work with). I preferred his performance here over the promo at the beginning of the show.

9:58 - Random observation, but is John Cena the only long term main event star without a million nicknames? Triple H, Randy Orton, Edge, Steve Austin, they all have loads of nicknames.

9:52 - The best thing about Alex Riley is his theme music, and they deprived us of that.

9:49 - I'm wondering how this Kelly Kelly/Eve vs. Natalya/Beth feud will play into Night of Champions. The story is clearly building towards a tag match, yet the Divas title needs to be defended at the PPV.

9:37 - By the way, I find it odd that nobody -- none of the announcers or Superstars -- has brought up the fact that the Anonymous Raw General Manager hasn't been heard from in months. I do think they're setting the seeds for a resolution (if they were dropping it completely, they'd stop putting the laptop and podium out there), so I'm sure the reason for their silence is to make sure it's the last thing on our mind when suddenly he returns or he's revealed. But from a storyline perspective, wouldn't any of them (particularly Cole) find it odd that this person who used to be quite chatty is now completely MIA? And wouldnt' they want to know how the Raw GM feels about having the McMahons and Triple H take over the show? Just seems strange that nobody has made mention of this, yet they still go to the trouble of setting up the podium.

9:36 - Between ADR and Mark Henry, how many Superstars are they going to write off with injury angles?

9:22 - I'm guessing John Morrison's winning ways ends here tonight.

9:17 - That was an interesting opening segment. Fun, but not quite as great as I had hoped, considering the talent involved. Part of what made Punk/Cena work so well was that they both left their comfort zone, character wise, in order to mesh with each other. That didn't happen here. None of the three characters "broke character," even when the situation called for it. When Punk arrived, the tone turned more serious and hostile, yet John Cena never left his intense, yet jokey manner of speaking. Del Rio seemed to be ignoring what either of them were saying in order to deliver pre-determined lines (after mentioning several times that Punk doesn't blame Del Rio for cashing in MITB, the first thing Del Rio tells him is to stop whining because he took advantage of an opportunity). And as great as Punk is, he seemed to stagger a bit, most notably when he was silent for several seconds, as if trying to think of the next talking point.

I don't mind that they're giving away Punk/Cena on free TV, since they've already successfully sold two PPVs on the match, but I do think they should have advertised it ahead of time.

8:57 - Only a few minutes until Raw. Check back at nine for my ongoing thoughts throughout the show.