Raw thoughts- 12/5/11

Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (oh my) is on the way in less than 2 weeks, and C.M. Punk needs an opponent. Who will step up to challenge the WWE Champion? Also, The Miz hunts down his next victim and John Cena continues to combat the boos of the WWE Universe. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.

Just noticed Punk in the WWE intro. Nice.

Let's hope that the commentary's good tonight.

Pretty cool look with the cameraman following Cena to the ring.

Love him or hate him, Cena's good at what he's doing right now.

One big advantage that wrestling has over other shows is that they can improvise and directly interact with the audience. Cena's doing pretty well with that here, and I wish others would follow suit. We're supposed to be "on the same side" as the good guys, wanting to see them face the bad guys who stand against "us".

I'm not crazy about another Cena title reign, as big as that would be in Miami.

Obviously Del Rio would never cheat.

If only WWE would actually get behind new talent. You know, give them mic time in a big segment, a long title reign and some wins over top talent.

Solid Ziggler promo.

I don't think Cena should refer to Ziggler's previous gimmicks. No one knocks House for what Hugh Laurie did in other works.

Hey, hey, Ronnie's in the other promotion.

And Cena plugs Zack Ryder, as he's consistently done and WWE critics consistently ignore when talking about WWE's "lack of pushing new stars".

I don't like the undercutting of other characters. There's a big difference between beating a credible champion and beating a former caddy and cheerleader who only gets a reaction because of his manager.

I'm ok with that idea. A little cluttered, but I think they can do good things with it.

And it looks like Cena's going another month without being in the title picture. I'm very ok with this as well.
Time for new things.

I get a weird vibe from Laurinaitis' idea name. Some bad things have come from "social experiments".

Wait... what IF no one wins?

I don't think I'll be able to forget Orton vs. Otunga from Smackdown. Certainly a one-of-a-kind encounter.

Ugh... trending talk.

Please let Miz look credible here.

Orton just looked pretty stupid. I would have liked Miz to have not "lucked into" the title match.

Punk vs. Miz. So far, so good.

Good video I guess.

Not House of Fame? I am disappoint.

That was a pretty weird segment. Pretty clever and heelish by Laurinaitis, though.

Ryder's got another big chance tonight.

Wow, they're rushing right to that one. I thought they'd fight at the Rumble at the earliest. No complaints from me. The sooner it's over, the better!

Kevin Nash climbing a ladder. That'll be fun to see.

Hopefully his opponent's Brodus Clay, who attacks his quads and puts him on the shelf. Ok, that was mean.

Nash competing on Raw for the first time in 8 years barely gets any hype. Are we supposed to take him as a top star or not?

Del Rio vs. Daniel Bryan. I'm pretty ok with this, but this could go either way. I say Bryan fights viliantly, but the injuries do him in.

You could argue that as injured as Bryan is from the cage match, a squash wouldn't hurt him.

NICE submission spot from Bryan.

Oh right, add Del Rio and Bryan to that list of newer talent WWE's featuring.

God, that Divas' song is adorkable.

Hey, maybe the Divas get a decent amount of screen time. The sooner we put the Mistletoe match in the past, the better.

THAT PS3 COMMERCIAL.

That's honestly pretty impressive for WWE on Facebook.

Looks like we'll have to wait until Friday for AJ and Kaitlyn. Hey, don't judge me. They're hilarious.

I thought they were the Sisters of Salvation?

Oh shi- what? That video was starting off well, too.

I don't... understand. Both videos were good, but there was too much to absorb too quickly.

God, why did they bring up that stupid Country Whipping match? I try to defend wrestling...

Yes, talk about the Divas.

Yeah, Beth and Natalya are going to need more than a video package to gain back heat. What happened to those long PPV clashes from the past couple of months?

Yeah, that commercial kind of jumped the Chuck Norris shark.

Oh, I'd be remiss to not point out that Sigmund Freud didn't really do social experiments. He was more of a therapist. But that's neither here nor there.

I like the idea of Punk being the lone face in the title match so the fans' sympathies aren't divided. Ziggler vs. Ryder would be appropriate, too.

Ryder looking credible against Cena isn't something I would have expected earlier this year.

They kind of booked themselves into a corner with this one. Either Cena has trouble with someone who's never even been in the U.S. Title tier or they cut some of Ryder's momentum.

Well, it makes sense for Cena to be in that match as the top guy in the company. I just hope we're not in for him dominating his opponents, each of whom are developing nicely into credible main eventers. A loss to Cena would set things back a good way for some of them.

Please don't turn Ryder heel...

Goldeneye 007. Those were the days.

Ahh, Slammy memories. I hope we get something in those veins this year.

Tough choice, but I think Cena's going to win if it's fan-voted.

I was about to call BS if Laurinaitis was just going to let him get another chance.

I like the message Cena's sending. I want to see opportunities given and less of the "names" getting on the show just because of who they are (though some of them still work quite hard and deserve their spots).

Uh-oh... Nash needs an opponent tonight. Then again, Brodus Clay hasn't come back yet.

I really liked that Kane video. That's how you get interest in a character's return.

Please not Nash, please not Nash, please not Nash.

Oh. Well, that's unexpected but much better than who I was dreading.

Keep in mind that Ryder's already had a match with Cena, while Henry hasn't had one yet tonight.

Part of me wants someone to help Ryder win, but Henry needs to look credible, too. Daniel bryan's already hurt, so looks like it's Big Show.

Hey, he's putting up a fight.

Ahh... I guess that makes sense, too. Cena stays a "good guy". Didn't really do anything for Henry/Show but Cena and Ryder are much more entertaining and I'd rather see them.

Ziggler vs. Sheamus. Damn.

Nash is on his way to the ring? I guess I've got time to make coffee.

Fans heeled on live TV!

Unfortunately Nash almost has to go over here to look credible for TLC.

There's probably a reason he hasn't wrestled here in 8 years.

Santino makes sense. Poor guy. At least it's not someone the fans take fairly seriously.

I really hope this is just Nash being methodical instead of a guy who can barely walk being seriously pushed to a PPV gimmick match with one of the company's top draws.

It would make sense for him to clobber Santino with the hammer, but again the less we get of Nash the better.

Yep, Evan Bourne's back.

Wait, if Ziggler wins he's got 2 matches... for the 3rd PPV in a row.

Talk about your differences in match pacing. This match is practically on fast-forward compared to Nash vs. Santino.

I think Ziggler being World Champion does help his resume, however screwy it was.

Hopefully they'll read something into Nash not trending.

Sheamus looks like a brute (in a good way).

There's the argument that Ryder would want Ziggler to have 2 matches at the show to split his focus, but there's this, too. Ziggler's protected in the loss.

So, over the course of the night, the match has gone from 1-on-1, to 3-way, to 4-way, to back to 3-way.

Did that commercial just have a dog disappear into ash? Awesome.

Where is Brodus Clay anyway?

There's really no reason for this to be a TLC match other than it being December.

Again, why undermine the threats that the challengers pose?

Actually kind of funny by Punk without going into "gay-bash" territory.

Inside references... how many people have any idea what that was all about?

There's really not much of a reason for Miz and Del Rio to have an issue, but I'll take it.

How long until we can replace Laurinaitis in this role?

Fine ending I guess. Except for Laurinaitis being involved.

That's it for Raw! I'll be back for NXT on Wednesday. A news post will be up later tonight. Thanks for reading!