LIVE Raw thoughts - August 12, 2013

11:13 - Fine enough ending, although I probably would've closed the show with the Cena/Bryan segment.  It was a really hot segment and it would conclude the show with the champion, challenger, referee, and potential trouble maker.

11:01 - I now realize that RVD vs. Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship is taking place on the Internet preshow so that they can have a Total Divas match.

10:50 - I'm sure I'm not the first one to make this observation, but it does seem odd that they're having a battle royal to earn the right to fight on the YouTube preshow.

10:47 - Sorry, a bit of a issue came up and I'm just stepping back in now.  Catching a fun Kofi exhibition, before he gets eliminated.

10:18 - What an epically awesome segment.  Cena and Bryan were both on their GAME tonight, and -- as I said earlier -- Miz's willingness to be a little heelish instead of a pandering babyface really set things off on the note it needed to be on.  Bryan and Cena both made compelling arguments and they both came across as people we would want to cheer for (depending on where you stand).  Loved how Bryan got into Cena's head and had Cena showing a bit of an edge.  I REALLY could have done without the Triple H appearance as it just took away from the intensity and emotion.  However, I did understand that they needed to find a way to ease out of a heated moment and that was one option.  Plus, it allowed them to segue to the Orton tease.  Still, it felt a bit deflated when Triple H's music hit.

10:11 - Ehhhhh, I'm not loving the fact that John Cena is using a Make A Wish kid in a character, storyling driven promo.

10:04 - Glad to see the Miz showing a bit of a heelish personality.  I long argued that, rising popularity aside, Miz should never turn face.  Frankly, the fans aren't always right.  Just because they cheer for somebody doesn't mean they should be "good."  Miz's character works as an obnoxious, annoying jerk.  He just doesn't "work" as a face.

9:41 - That was an AWESOME look back at Christian's career.  They're doing a good job of building up this match, but I wish they made an even bigger deal out of it.  I will say this, though:  The video made me miss the days of when Christian wore colorful tights and wore that awesome entrance attire.

9:32 - I'm glad it was a competitive match, but did Kofi really need to be the one to fill that role?  The guy came back from an AWFUL losing streak with a nice win over Fandango....only to lose to him later that week.  And now he's lost AGAIN.  The guy can't sustain these sorts of losses.

9:25 - Well, I guess this means Kofi's back to his losing ways. Sigh...

9:23 - All of these Total Divas segments are BEYOND painful.  Beyond.

9:15 - The Wyatt Family have quite possibly the greatest theme music in all of wrestling right now.

9:06 - So let me get this straight.....we have a long time favorite who is becoming so popular that the company is FINALLY putting him in a top position, and he's placed in a hot feud for the WWE Championship against a very game John Cena.  And Triple H is inserting himself in the feud as the guest referee.  Where have I seen this before?

8:52 - Bumbled finish aside, that was moronic booking.  Natalya and Khali have both been treated as a joke for the last year plus.  Now they're soundly defeating two semi-major Superstars the Raw before a big PPV?  Who does this benefit?  If it's to build Natalya up as a contender, fine, but why not wait until after SummerSlam to do that?

8:47 - Kinda surprised that they're coming out to Big E's music and that he's the focus of their entrance.  Try as you might, right now AJ's the bigger star.

8:40 - Oh drat.  I saw some photos of Punk on WWE.com over the weekend with Punk looking a little scuffier.  I thought he might be growing back his full beard instead of this ridiculous sideburns thing.

Having said that, I can tell Punk is wearing the classic Macho Man t-shirt under the awesome CM Punk hoodie.  So he still gets points for that.

8:33 - That RVD tease either completely gave away who was winning....or totally pulled the rug under the person who is winning.

8:22 - Love the Cody Rhodes push.  Long overdue.

8:10 - I always find this booking curious.  Two guys fight, and the good guy wins clean.  Then there's a rematch with the reverse result.  Why was there a rematch?  Bryan defeated Barrett soundly -- why is Barrett getting another shot?  Same thing with Kofi and Fandango last week.

Also, if they wanted to go the Brad Maddox route, why not reverse the booking?  Have Maddox make the match because Bryan shaved Barrett's beard and screw him over.  In an effort to show she's the superior General Manager, have Vickie schedule the same match for Smackdown but with a legitimate ref.  Have Bryan win clean.  That way, you get across the Brad Maddox ass kicker story and the Vickie Guerrero one upmanship story, while allowing Bryan to get a big win before the PPV.

8:06 - Odd that Barrett had a beard for less than a year, after being beardless his entire WWE career, and it wasn't even an identifiable trait.  Yet it's "so strange" seeing him without a beard?

8:02 - Glad to see that Barrett appears to be growing his beard back (he looked a lot better with it).  What are the chances that ANY of the announcers mention that Brad Maddox started out as a ref?

7:53 - It's been a few weeks since I've done this last, but I'm back in the game!  This is the last Raw before SummerSlam and with a pretty popular and well built card, I'm eager to see what they have in store for us.