By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Thoughts From Raw:

- First of all, this obviously wasn’t supposed to happen…

- So last week the ratings were down. This week, Vince McMahon’s response was the old “If you can’t do something right, do it yourself!” He himself faced CM Punk in the main event. Vince has a history if injecting himself too much into storylines. But as I’ve said before, a little Vince can go a long way sometimes. The fans have always responded to him, not just because he’s genuinely the man in charge of it all, but because he’s such a charismatic S.O.B. From a performance standpoint, I doubt the Attitude Era would have been as successful as it was had it not been Vince at the forefront of everything. He’s a natural born performer. As far as tonight is concerned, I was really surprised to see how physical. My understanding was that medically, he wasn’t supposed to take any bumps. Which granted, he didn’t. But he was still out there getting smacked around. It just goes to show you that he’ll do anything for his company.

- Vince said Punk was wearing an ugly t-shirt. That’s an odd thing to say, considering his company made it…

- Both CM Punk and the announcers made a point to drop Stone Cold Steve Austin’s name multiple times during the show. This comes on the heels of WWE pulling a WWE ’13 promotional interview featuring Austin, CM Punk and Jim Ross off the web. Something’s obviously happening here. Supposedly Steve Austin won’t be physically ready to come out of retirement at Wrestlemania next year. But perhaps at Wrestlemania XXX…(that’s 30 in roman numerals, you perverts).

- At this point I’d actually prefer to see Punk face Ryback at Hell in a Cell. For one thing, it’s something different. Even if Ryback isn’t ready to perform at this level, Punk can get him through the match. But also, Cena deserves a break. Let Punk do his thing with Ryback, and then Cena can face him at Survivor Series. It’s not like Cena won’t still be on TV every week. They can still have him do the breast cancer thing, and it’ll get Ryback that much closer to being the main event caliber talent.

- The segment between The Miz, Kofi Kingston and Larry King was extremely cheesy, but they had some good one liners. I particularly enjoyed “I’ve had more championships than you’ve had wives…” Miz always does well with the celebrity guests.

- Did Cena really make an “in and out” joke about AJ? That’s not very PG, Mr. Poster Boy. Still, Cena seemed fired up. Despite his always corny brand of humor, it was nice to see him. I really wish there was somebody else for Punk to face at the pay per view, so Cena could get more of a breather. God knows he’s earned it. But who else are they going to throw in there with him? Ryback? No, not yet. I mean, maybe if they’re desperate…

- “Little Jimmy wanna dance!” #thatwasstupid

- Pretty cool how Rey Mysterio Jr. and Sin Cara coordinated their masks, with the opposing wings and what not. Loved the moved that drop down knees to the gut move that Darren Young hit Sin Cara with. What would you even call that? Still, Rey and Sin Cara’s match with the Prime Time PLayers was an easy call, as was the “Rhodes Scholars” vs. Santino/Zack Ryder match. You put your strongest babyface guys against your strongest heel guys in the finals. Tough luck for Darren Young and Titus O’Neil, but they’re a great team. Their time will come.

- I like that the announcers kept quiet during Daniel Bryan’s entrance. He’s got one of the best entrances in the business right now. Who else do you know who tries to argue with thousands of people like that? I love it. By the way, where’s Dr. Shelby these days?

- Vince McMahon and Jim Ross are FRIENDS now??????

- Was that a torture rack Kaitlyn had on Eve Torres? It looked more torturous to watch than anything else…

All images courtesy of WWE.com.