LIVE Raw thoughts - February 13, 2012

11:11 - That was a pretty impressive bump, Mr. Ryder. I probably would have refrained from needlessly using the "X" signal just one day after it was used in a career threatening injury, though.

11:05 - I don't even understand what injury Ryder is selling right now.

10:58 - How far do you think Kane got before he realized Eve wasn't in the ambulance anymore?

By the way, curious decision ending the main event so close to 11 and then going to commercial. Do you think a lot of people thought the show was over? And do you think a portion of the audience saw it would end with Kane/Cena, and decided this was a good time to check out some Adult Swim?

10:48 - Eve kisses the big, strong jock and then tells the plucky babyface that she's been stringing along that she just wants to be friends? If that's not a heel turn, I don't know what is.

10:46 - Hate to pile on, but Cena, if you got Eve when you said you would, she never would have been in that situation.

But anyway, where do you see this story going? Eve was just scared and wanted to be with the guy who came to the rescue, and not the one who always needed to be saved? Or she's in cahoots with Kane?

10:35 - And now Cena is paling around with Josh Matthews? Zack Ryder flew from Long Island to San Diego to see Eve. You tell him you'll find Eve for him.....and an hour later, we see you're just shooting the breeze with Josh Matthews? Okay, THAT is heelish.

Also, it's peculiar that Tamina now gets to use the "Snuka" last name, but Joe Hennig is still walking around as Michael McGillicutty.

10:31 - How long does it take John Cena to find Eve?

10:26 - Remember earlier how I noted that it was strange how they called Kofi an afterthought, and then had him lose his match? Well, if they were going to have somebody sneak out a victory on Ziggler anyway, why not give the nod to Kofi there? Would have made sense in the fact that if you overlook Kofi, he'll take advantage and win.

10:19 - I didn't mind that promo. It continued to feed into why Triple H doesn't want to face Taker. For a moment, I thought we'd see a full blown heel turn when Triple H talked about how all of this would be his. One thing I didn't understand, though: If Undertaker is so weak and feeble now, what value does he have as a commodity? Even Triple H said they haven't seen him in a year. Both Triple H and Shawn Michaels have appeared more than he has.

I also understand why they needed to show Undertaker shaving his head, but I wish they went to the trouble of explaining the significance behind it. What does his shaved head symbolize, according to the story?

10:11 - Is it bad that this segment is making everybody want to see Shawn Michaels wrestle instead of Triple H vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania?

10:04 - Should Triple H and Undertaker take the hint when they constantly need Shawn Michaels to add interest and emotion to their WrestleMania match?

9:52 - Good to see that Orton doesn't have the balls to yell "STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!" to a guy that's 7 feet tall. And I do have to admit that I found humor in the fact that Cole sung Bryan's praises (over the top) when he was sitting right there, and then tore him apart the second he left. I'm actually okay with that, because it at least establishes that Cole is full of crap.

9:43 - It's so odd, but it's so incredibly refreshing to hear Michael Cole sing the praises of Daniel Bryan. I kinda love that it's over the top, too.

9:34 - Let's be honest, when Kane mentioned that somebody was going into the ambulance, we all knew Zack Ryder would end up on the show somehow.

9:29 - It's a bit odd that they pushed Kofi as an afterthought, only to essentially job him clean. Don't get me wrong, Jericho was the right winner. He hasn't really fought any singles matches yet, so he needed to win this. Which makes this particular pairing somewhat curious.

Oh, and did HBK shave? If so, that kinda sucks. I always thought he looked exponentially cooler with the stubble.

9:18 - Call me crazy, but I sorta liked that debate segment. It was one of those moments where individuals got to showcase their personalities, and even more fun, the others got to react to those personalities. The side comments made from the Superstars not speaking reminded me of the early seasons of NXT, when everybody was allowed to loosen up and be themselves.

As a side note, over the past couple weeks people have been talking about Miz's alleged backstage heat. And last week, people started discussing how many Superstars don't appear to like him. That idea made this segment even more fun. While guys like Punk and Ziggler seemed to be good natured with their jabs at each other and fellow Superstars, their comments towards Miz seemed a little more hostile. And it was also curious that the buzzer only went off for Miz.

But a much better segment than I expected.

9:11 - This crowd is just awesome tonight.

9:04 - Gotta love how CM Punk openly acknowledges the ridiculousness of the great debate. And speaking of the Attitude Era, if this happened then, you KNOW they would have named it "The Master Debate."

9:01 - It's odd. Even during the Attitude Era, the dog show pre-empted Raw. Yet now, when the ratings and general pop culture relevance is no where near that level, they shift the dog show to a sister network. What changed?

8:44 - It's been a while since I've done this, but my LIVE Raw thoughts are back! Check back in another 15 minutes for my ongoing thoughts on the show as we continue down the Road to WrestleMania.