LIVE Raw thoughts - April 22, 2013

11:04 - Eh, I personally enjoy it when they do anything that gives Cena any semblance of an edge.  So having him initially step off the apron and allowing the Shield to get a bit of an attack on Ryback (once again, doing that whole "heels hating a heel because they have history" thing I spoke of earlier) and then hitting him with an AA after rescuing him was a good way to go.  Especially since he always got beat up in his interactions with Rock.

10:51 - I have to say, Ryback's loss to Mark Henry at WrestleMania is even more curious since the post-WrestleMania plans see Ryback becoming Cena's first opponent and Mark Henry entering a upper midcard feud with Sheamus.  What was the purpose of Ryback losing?

10:14 - There was no surprise that Daniel Bryan ate the pin there, but it was wise to have the Shield win.  Frankly, I'm impressed they resisted the urge to do a schmooze ending.  Great match, and it's nice to see Undertaker more than once a year.

9:51 - Honestly, I'm pretty shocked that this isn't the main event.

9:41 - I really liked the presentation and artwork of that Mick Foley DVD commercial.  Unique and clever.

9:37 - When Zack Ryder said he was leaving his headband and sunglasses behind, I figured his transformation would be a bit more significant.

9:22 - Fun segment with Team Hell No.

9:20 - Sigh....Cody loses again?  To Tensai, no less?

9:08 - The Jericho/Ziggler match was really good and entertaining and the right person won, BUT the announcers were laying it on a little thick.  Even when the match is Ryback vs. JTG, they don't completely act like the winner is a foregone conclusion.  They were just going a little too far with the "Well Jericho's got this thing won" talk.  Plus, doing so runs of the risk of one of two things:  It either gives away the ending, or you just spend the entire match making your champion look like a loser.

8:48 - So is this going to be every Ziggler match during his reign?  "Hey, remember when this guy beat the champion?"

8:36 - Still love the AJ/Dolph stuff (and Big E has grown on me), but this inconsistent nonsense with which GM has power over which Superstars and which titles is grating.  They occasionally go out of their way to have Booker talk about how the World Heavyweight Championship is a Smackdown title so he has power to make matches even on Raw....so why would Vickie have power to make a World Heavyweight Championship match for a PPV?

Having said that, I do like when they have people on the same "side" (i.e. both heels) have issues with each other despite the fact that they're both "bad."  Such is the case with Vickie with Dolph and AJ (and to a lesser extent, Maddox with AJ).  Adds some much needed complexity to the show and the characters.

8:22 - I missed the opening segment but got here JUST in time to see Antonio Cesaro needlessly job to R-Truth.  Now, at least they got the title off of him before doing that (although they made him lose to one of the OTHER guys who loses all of the time.  The other guys that lose all the time -- Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan -- are of course your World Heavyweight and Tag Team Champion), but still.  Cesaro has such a great upside and he was being pushed so great for the first several months of his debut.  What happened?

Also, great entrance for the Shield.