LIVE Raw thoughts - October 31, 2011

10:42 - So there's only about 20 minutes left and we have the Triple H update (which will be entirely too long), the JR/Cole bout, and Miz/Cena. A lot of show to pack in for a relatively short time. Anyway, I don't mean to leave you guys hanging, but I'm going to lie down. I have to wake up about an hour earlier than usual tomorrow, so I want to pass out pretty much right after the show ends. If that fails, I'll see about updating my post. But enjoy the rest of the show! And of course, comment below.

10:41 - Good for Zack Ryder. If he's able to maintain this momentum -- and I hope he does -- he's a legitimate self-made Superstar. Again, good for him.

10:13 - I'm a bit surprised they had Big Show beat ADR, especially in such a clean fashion. I enjoyed the CM Punk segment, though. By the way, I couldn't make out the design on Punk's tights earlier, but I think I figured it out: They're spiderwebs. And the black and orange is for Halloween.

10:06 - This is a surprisingly competitive match. And pitting the Big Show and ADR against each other does, to an extent, excuse the Punk/Henry match from earlier in the night. Then again, let's see how the match plays out.

9:48 - A six man feud between Christian, Barrett, and Cody against Sheamus, Kofi, and Bourne could be a lot of fun. However -- and I'm not the first one to say this -- I hate when they kick off a feud for the title by having a challenger beat the champion in a non-title bout. Lacks all originality.

9:34 - I'm glad they did the logical thing and put Sheamus and Beaker in a skit together. So I guess the Muppets are real in this universe?

9:25 - The Muppets stuff was pretty harmless. I'm not sure what the reaction will be overall. But I did laugh at Miss Piggy's "Is she a cowboy or a pirate?" comment. And it's a fair question!

9:15 - I hate when they use the World Heavyweight Champion as fodder to advance the WWE Championship story. If they wanted to put Punk up against an unstoppable monster, how about using Sheamus (and if they wanted to avoid a face/face match, how about a debuting Brodus Clay, who already has a history with ADR)? By the way, will WWE EVER let Punk fight his own battles? First Triple H takes out Nash, and now Mark Henry gets the best of Ricardo. Sheesh.

9:07 - I didn't talk about this at length last week, but I didn't quite care for the manner in which they had Cena pick Rock as his partner. I didn't buy his motivation. Why can he trust Rock more than, say, CM Punk -- who has fought by his side and who has also been at the receiving end of a Miz/Truth beatdown? and what motivation does Rock have to help him? It just didn't make sense to me. And the way it played out, it seemed like Cena was reaching out for Rock's assistance -- and Rock got to look cool and bad ass by telling him no (and then got to look like the hero when he changed his mind and said yes). This did Cena no favors.

Instead, I would have had Cena show a little edge and go on and on about how he has been getting brutally attacked week in and week out, while Rock is out filming movies and having a stunt double do all of the physical work. So to even the odds, he's asking Rock to put his money where his mouth is and fight alongside him. That way Cena and Rock get to team up while still reminding the audience that they're fighting at WrestleMania, and neither person has to look bad at the expense of the other.

8:41 - No pre-Raw discussion today, however I do hope that WWE takes advantage of this opportunity and delivers us something special. Between Halloween and the Muppets -- who, it seems, has quite an audience -- WWE has the chance to do something fun and different. Last time they had that shot, with the walkout, they blew it. I hope they come through this time around.

By the way, I had intended on posting a Top Ten Cases video this weekend. It's got a Halloween theme, but due to the big snow storm that hit us I didn't have a chance to work on it. And plus, I'm not done with the rankings yet. So please bear with me when I post a Halloween-centric list days after Halloween. Thanks, pals.

Come back at 9:00 for my LIVE thoughts.