LIVE Raw thoughts - August 27, 2012

11:10 - Follow up question:  Why is John Cena the only one who thought of raising the cage?

11:08 - Is there a reason why this cage is suddenly unscalable?

11:05 - Loved Punk using the Rock Bottom and turning it into the Anaconda Vice.  I looked away for a few moments, so I didn't see the part where Punk got busted open.  What happened?

11:01 - Okay,  he retracted (not to my message, though).  One great point he DOES make, though, is that Punk opened and closed this show.  That's great stuff!

10:58 - Love Punk's new haircut, but I wish he would grow out that ridiculous facial hair.  Grow the full beard back, man.

By the way, right now Seth Mates is claiming that Triple H was selling the wrong arm during Raw.  Hey, I'm not one to turn away from some Triple H bashing, but he's wrong here.  If you watch the end of the Brock Lesnar match (here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okaJaaK0NlU) you'll see that Brock has the move on Triple H's left arm.  And, as you saw on Raw (here's the gallery: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2012-08-27/triple-h-addresses-the-wwe-universe-about-his-future-photos) Triple H had the cast on his left arm.  No question, the cast was on the correct arm.  Waiting for a retraction.

10:42 - I'm glad Ryder won (and cleanly!)  We didn't see the Kane apology, though.  It might be an interesting storyline to have Kane stalk Ryder with similar scenes (about to attack Ryder, but attacking his opponent instead).  And then, one time, Kane actively saves Ryder from an attack....and an unlikely friendship is born.  But will they honestly give Zack Ryder a long-term storyline?

10:37 - Alright, this will be a real test of where Ryder stands on the pecking order.  Will he be booked to beat David Otunga?  My guess is the match ends with Kane apologizing to Ryder.

10:30 - I'm not sure I see what Cena is so worried about.....or what he's offering to interfere for.  Again, Punk hasn't really done anything all that dastardly.  For over a year now he's been a pretty upstanding guy.  And even since Raw 1,000, the worst thing he's really done is kick Lawler in the head after a heated confrontation.  Other than that, he's been nothing more than a jerk, really.  It doesn't really warrant a backstage discussion between Lawler and Cena where it's implied that Cena offered to interfere on his behalf.

10:17 - I didn't see Smackdown last week, but I'm pretty shocked (pleasantly so) that they had Randy Orton tap out to Alberto Del Rio.  Not because I have anything against Orton (although I'm not really a fan) or because I wanted to see ADR win (I definitely didn't, given the prize), but it's just so rare that we see a protected top babyface tap out.

10:07 - Only Triple H can come off as an arrogant tool while thanking the fans.  "I knew you cared about me."  Yeah, such a humble fellow.  Move on to the next segment, please.

9:58 - I really don't even know how I want this segment to end.  I know he won't actually retire, but I doubt Brock is there, and I don't think they'll put him in a feud with somebody else.  So he's just going to talk.  Yay.

9:38 - That Kane segment made it all worth it.  That George Costanza-like delivery was pretty great.  Bravo.

9:35 - I usually can't catch Smackdown, but has it ever once been mentioned in this Sin Cara/Cody Rhodes feud that Cody used to wear a mask?  And that's probably where this hatred is seeded from?  I don't think they've mentioned it on Raw yet.

9:27 - Cole's delivery of "Sin Cara is, as I understand it, ugly under his mask" was pretty humorous, actually.

9:25 - I'm over pretty much anything related to Santino.

9:04 - I'm not one of those people who gets all riled up over the secondary champions jobbing, particularly when it's against the biggest face in the company.  But, did Miz really need to fill that role?  I mean, the guy doesn't even have a feud over his championship right now.  Miz just spent so much time jobbing to so many people, that his losses right now should really be deliberate and important.  That could have just as easily been Tensai.

8:42 - Well, if anybody is up to the challenge of making this anger management stuff work, it's Daniel Bryan. Uphill battle, though.

8:34 - While her first week was a completely shift in character, I LOVE that we're now seeing signs of the AJ we grew to love.  But dear Lord, I hope this "abuse of power" stuff isn't going to lead to ANOTHER storyline where a GM might lose their job.

8:26 - It doesn't feel like that long ago that Natalya was beating Layla and Michelle McCool in handicap matches.  Now she's going to lose clean and decisively in a singles match.

8:20 - Gotta love Cole saying, "And Swagger's losing streak continues!" immediately followed by King's, "This has GOT to be Ryback's most impressive win yet!"

8:13 - Why is WWE so insistent on having their WWE Champions work against Jerry Lawler?  Your typical fan isn't aware of Lawler's legitimate accolades (I'm a lifelong fan and I'm barely aware of them), so it's not like beating him has any legitimacy.  And while he's massively over and a genuine voice of their audience, I just don't view him as SO beloved that beating him is this unforgivable act (like, say, beating up JR would be).  If WWE wants to get Punk over as a heel, honestly they'd probably have more luck having him ruthlessly beat somebody like Kofi Kingston or Zack Ryder.

8:08 - Best haircut Punk has had his entire WWE career.  Actually, looks like my haircut!

7:53 - Raw starts in about 7 minutes and I will be providing my LIVE thoughts.  But hey, seven minutes leaves ample time to check out my Summer of Excitement skydiving video!  Check it out, if you haven't already.