By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Thoughts From Raw:

- It was a very pleasant surprise to see Jim Ross treated respectfully in his home state of Oklahoma. Historically, they usually find a way to either beat him up or disrespect him. Granted, he always holds his head high, and finds a way to keep his dignity regardless of what they do to him. Heck, last night CM Punk even said: “Everybody in this place treats you like crap.” But last night he got to be the hometown hero, and front what I hear they even had a celebration in his honor after the show. Tell you what WWE, let’s compromise on this JR thing. Put the man on the headset for one match every week with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. He’s so damn good at adding depth and dimension to storylines, whoever is in the match he calls will benefit immensely from his unique input.

- We seem to be building toward something between CM Punk and Ryback. That’s a pretty big shove for Ryback, but if anybody can make him look good, it’s Punk. Still, he looked like he was having intense diarrhetic problems when he was standing in the ring tonight.

- I was very disappointed to hear that Beth Phoenix will apparently be leaving WWE later this month. Beth is undoubtedly the most athletic, and the most unique female wrestler to grace WWE television for quite some time. I’ll echo a sentiment that Pro Wrestling Illustrated contributor and occasional PI contributor Mike Bessler expressed last night: “I’m sorry, but my suspension of disbelief is not so great as to accept that any woman on the WWE roster could beat Beth Phoenix at anything. Ever.”

- The Big Show’s improvised lines when his podium fell apart during the debate were hilarious. He might not always make for entertaining wrestling, but he’s really smooth on the mic. I myself wasn’t too high on Sheamus’ humor. It was Cena-like in terms of its cheesiness.

- LARRY KING was the social media ambassador for this show? Did they announce this before the show? You’d think they’d have made a bigger deal out of that. The man’s an icon in the world of television and radio.

- I have yet to be bored during a Damian Sandow segment. He does such great character work, and he’s really entertaining to watch. His match with Sheamus on Raw was fantastic. I’m actually sad that this “Rhodes Scholars” tag team featuring Sandow and Cody Rhodes has formed. Both these guys deserve to shine as singles stars. Hopefully their time will come soon.

- I was convinced they were going to turn Dr. Shelby into AJ’s “coach,” and connect her back to Daniel Bryan and Kane.

- I love the tag team tournament happening right now. It’s a great way to showcase the talents of the multiple teams that have emerged in WWE over the past few weeks, including teams that often go unnoticed, like Primo & Epico, Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd, etc. Rey Mysterio Jr. and Sin Cara looked great on Raw with their new matching ring attire, and the Prime Time Players also accented things well. Solid work by all.

- Why did they break up Antonio Cesaro and Aksana? I thought she complimented him well. I’m curious to see what’s next for her. I’m also curious as to why Brodus Clay was jobbed out so quickly in his match with Cesaro. Was it so Cesaro could have enough strength to lift Clay for the Equalizer?

 - I like seeing Santino Marella and Heath Slater work together. But judging by their match last night, they’ve obviously seen their share of Colt Cabana matches…

- Speaking of Slater, this new group consisting of him, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal might be interesting. But they don’t have much of a story at this point, other than being three guys teaming together. JR and Michael Cole did a nice job making a story out of it by simply asking: What’s the synergy here? Why are these men from West Virgina, Scotland and India teaming together? If it works out, that’s great. But we’ll need a little more to go on, first.

- So Ricardo Rodriguez speaks English now? That’s pretty cool, actually. He’s earned the right to expand on his character. Whatever they give to this guy, he runs with.

- Hey, look everybody! John Cena wasn’t on TV this week, and we survived!!!!!

Front page image/image 1 and image 4 from WWE.com. Image 2 from wrestling18.com. Image 3 from blowbyblowwrestling.blogspot.com.