LIVE Raw thoughts - October 10, 2011

11:08 - Alright, from a storytelling viewpoint, I understand the booking of Triple H and CM Punk tonight. After a bitter war, CM Punk is one of only three guys to agree to stand by Triple H, and at the end of the show, Triple H saves CM Punk from a beatdown. It's somewhat poetic. However, you just have to have a bad feeling about it. I mean, the night ends with whose music playing? And you have to believe that they're going to revert to the modern day DX formula. If Triple H's team wins, he makes the pin. If his team loses, his partner takes the fall.

I hope I'm wrong.

10:54 - The Miz and R-Truth are back. This is actually a fun development. Although I can't help but wonder why they would put ADR in a situation where he would be a face. But this does perhaps answer what CM Punk will be up to at Vengeance.

10:41 - I do have to say that the show has flown by pretty quickly, though. It's already 10:41? Okay, so assuming that Cena and ADR do face off in a one-on-one match, what becomes of CM Punk for Vengeance? Has he even casually feuded with anybody other than the WWE Champion and Triple H?

10:34 - Odd, but I never noticed how expressive Michael Cole is with his hands when he speaks. That was A LOT of hand movement there.

10:17 - When JR was called to the ring, you just KNEW something bad was going to happen. Do you think he's legitimately being removed from the announce table? Or is this just setting up for a babyface, permanent GM to save his job? If it's the former, man, stop toying with the guy. And really, why are you toying with your product? He's clearly the best at what he does, and the audience loves him. Why keep removing him from the announce table? In a pretty heartless manner, as well.

10:14 - John Cena vs. ADR? Again? Really? Why not just move onto the real Punk vs. ADR feud?

10:03 - On the one hand, I'm glad they're moving Randy Orton into a new (non-World title feud) with Cody Rhodes. That should be a fun feud. But why make it seem like Orton had Henry beat? The one thing Henry has that nobody else does is that Orton can't beat him. And Cody, that "disturbed" laugh was just awkward and terrible.

9:54 - It occurs to me that this is probably an episode of Raw that is potentially a lot of fun for the home viewing audience, but dreadful for those in attendance. That entire segment was almost entirely entrances and videos.

9:49 - Another issue I have with Mark Henry. His promos are much of the same. Yes, 15 years. Yes, you're angry. He's a fresh face and I'm grateful for that (and good for him for making the most of this opportunity). But he's not the highlight of the show.

9:46 - It's too bad this is happening to John Morrison. The guy isn't the total package, but as I've said countless times before, he's unlike anybody else they have on the roster. The things he can do are absolutely remarkable. I don't know if he's being punished for the Melina thing, or for being a jerk to Trish, or maybe if he fell out of favor with a supporter backstage, but they're REALLY missing out on an opportunity here. He's got a great look, and he's an awesome talent. Take advantage of him.

9:39 - I do feel somewhat cheated that we didn't even get a full match with Punk on commentary. In less than an hour, we're back to usual. And for some reason I think Johnny Ace releases Morrison after the match -- and then releases him for real tomorrow.

9:35 - It also strikes me as disappointing that Triple H essentially buried the entire roster in his promo refusing to quit (making himself like great, of course) and all that heat was capitalized by Vince and Johnny Ace for removing him anyway. All of the wrong people benefited from this.

9:32 - So why do they need an Interim General Manager when they already have one -- the Anonymous GM? Why not just reveal that Johnny Ace was the GM the entire time? It would at least connect the dots between the GM sending e-mails, and Johnny Ace sending texts.

9:29 - I'm glad they got this entertaining nonsense out of the ring so that Vince and Triple H could deal with their issues.

9:23 - Okay, my criticism of the opening segment is obvious -- pretty much everything Triple H said. Did he really need to bury the entire roster? Was it necessary for him to say that he could wrestle a literal broomstick and still perform better than most of the guys out there? Yes, this coalition was pretty much led by top heels like Christian, ADR, Dolph Ziggler, and guys like that, but you have to remember that popular faces like Air Boom were involved as well. And they've been relatively vocal, too. Why make them look like a bunch of babies? Honestly, NOBODY came out looking good in that segment. Well, except for Triple H.

Things DID pick up, however, when the rest of the crew came out. One problem with Cena's portion, though: If he really did support Triple H, why not come out and defend the guy when 55 individuals were laying into him and walking out?

I'm glad the segment ended with CM Punk (and not Orton, as I feared after Punk came out) because he really is the person who started it all. It needed to end with him. The eventual booking was clever, though, with Sheamus and John Cena fighting, with Triple H forced to ref, and CM Punk as commentator. Which is, in a word, Incredibly Awesome!

9:08 - I'm glad they took advantage of the opportunity to do a unique opening to Raw. No sound and just an aura of confusion. One thing I would have changed, though. When the camera followed Triple H walking through the halls towards the entrance, I would have shown him hit a switch to play his theme music. Would have been an easy explanation for everybody's music playing throughout the night (since we are to assume the vast majority of backstage personnel walked off as well). I'll get to the actual content of the promo when the segment is over.

8:55 - Raw starts in about 5 minutes. What will be the fallout of the walkout? As you ponder that -- and wait for the show to begin -- read yesterday's post wondering why the protest is restricted to Raw.