LIVE Raw thoughts - June 11, 2012

11:14 - Overall a pretty good show -- a continued improvement after some slow weeks -- but the ending was "meh."  The problem with ending all of these episodes with Cena/Ace/Big Show/Vince is that it's too polarizing with the audience and they really struggle to hit the highest emotional note possible.  For example, are we supposed to feel bad about McMahon getting injured?  Why?  He's a big jerk most of the time he's on TV.  Are we supposed to be scared for Cena?  Are we supposed to root for Cena to get Ace fired?  I just feel like it hurts the show when every person in it is disliked by a portion of the audience.  For some, everyone is hated.

10:58 - So I can't imagine Vince will actually fire Johnny, but the show needs to end on something big.  What's your guess?

10:52 - I just absolutely love this AJ stuff.  Is it overshadowing the WWE Championship?  Perhaps, but not necessarily.  If it turns out to be a ruse and she was with Bryan all along, they could play it off that this was all a ploy to get Bryan the championship.  But this girl is absolutely adorable and she's doing a great job in this role.  She's unlike any other Diva they have, and I'm thrilled they're taking advantage of her.

10:45 - Absolutely love the fact that Punk and AJ are wearing matching color scheme.  And hey, this is ever so close to Punk/Bryan being in the main event, right?

10:31 - Actually, isn't Heath Slater a Smackdown Superstar?  And how utterly convenient for Slater to -- for the first time ever -- utter a variation of Vader's catchphrase just before he made his surprise return.

10:25 - Wait, does the Raw 1,000 episode have its own dressing room?

10:16 - I don't mind the lighting effects for Sin Cara's matches because it makes an otherwise forgettable match (not an insult) feel unique.

9:50 - I still think it's in such poor taste for people to do the "Bells Palsy" face when imitating JR.

9:47 - Is Ryback's "Feed Me More!" new or did he always yell that?  I am still hoping, though, that this doesn't just lead to him being fed to the main event talent (a la Tensai).  I still say let's merge his undefeated streak with Brodus'.

9:35 - That was a great match with the right winner.  I wondered if they might go Ziggler/Swagger last, to really solidify the end of their alliance, but Ziggler slipping in for the pin on Swagger probably worked better.  Ziggler and Christian have great in-ring chemistry, and getting a win over Christian means more anyway.

By the way, Ziggler is now in Daniel Bryan/CM Punk territor, where he's getting so great that even the fans can't deny it.  And soon, the company won't be able to deny it either.  This guy is great.

9:14 - I know what people are going to say.  They're going to be pissed that this angle isn't so much about the WWE Championship as much as it is about AJ's feelings towards each competitor.  Yeah, it's a fair criticism, but I love AJ and I think her work with Punk and Bryan has been brilliant (I still don't think Bryan would be as big as he is now without her).  Perhaps surprisingly, I think Bryan's portion of the promo was the strongest.  Punk held his own, but seemed to waver a bit (the truth is he HAS changed, even if inconsequentially.  He uses terms like "WWE Universe" and he's still walking around with a title he promised to change).  Kane's part was the worst, of course, but thankfully it was brief.  I thought AJ's stuff was good and brought it back up a bit (still not as strong as Punk/Bryan, though).  The crowd was surprisingly effective, aside from the brief "WHAT?" chant.

9:00 - It is ABOUT TIME they give Daniel Bryan some mic time.

8:52 - I still don't know why they took the title off of Beth in the first place.

8:47 - If there is one champion that desperately needs to drop his title, it's Santino.  The title does nothing to elevate Santino and Santino does nothing to elevate the title.  There's no benefit to this pairing.  Zack Ryder is the obvious choice for the championship, but even somebody like David Otunga would be an improvement -- as scary as that sounds.

8:38 - Let me tell you why nobody cares about that Tensai beat down.  Aside from casually saying, "That's his worshiper" when the two came out, absolutely nothing was explained about their relationship.  Where did they meet?  How did they come together?  What did Tensai accomplish in order to get somebody to worship him?  What was there to care about?  Why should we feel bad for Sakamoto?

8:28 - This match just featured one of my least favorite commentator moments....when there's a legitimate chance that the match will end, but the announcers oversell it so much that you're convinced it won't end.  And you're no longer impressed and excited when the competitor kicks out.

8:19 - Oh, I get it....we should care about Tensai now because he pushes his sidekick.  Got it.

8:08 - I can't tell if the announcers openly laughing at this segment is enhancing or ruining it.  Honestly.

8:01 - So for the past several weeks I've been joking about various different ways Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus would get altered, since for the past two PPV's their one-on-one match was canceled in favor of something else.  The Smackdown after WrestleMania he said he was the next challenger.  Then Bryan-fever took over and Daniel Bryan got the nod.  Then he was scheduled to get the next shot against Sheamus at Over the Limit, but that was changed to also include Jericho and Orton.  And now for the third consecutive month, Sheamus/ADR has been canceled due to Del Rio's concussion.  That match was just destined not to happen, which is a good thing because I have no interest in seeing it.  My guess is that it gets changed to the much better Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler.  Although Ziggler hasn't been protected AT ALL lately, so it's not like he'll even look like a challenge.