BY WADE KELLER

The following are my Random Thoughts in Chronological Order on tonight's episode of Raw...

-Interesting to hear Josh Matthews introduce Raw. A little awkward at the start, though, with Matthews and Jerry Lawler stepping on each other or dead air moments during Triple H's ring intro.

-Triple H stood in the ring as the crowd cheered. He knows if you're a star and you stand there, it creates the perception the crowd is just so loud you can't talk over them. It didn't sound that loud to me, though, so I think he was creating a perception of something that wasn't happening. Finally there was a "Triple H! Triple H!" chant, but even that wasn't all that impressive. Jerry Lawler was presumably instructed to say, "That's an amazing reception." It's always possible that the crowd wasn't mic'd that well, also. We'll find out from PWTorch columnist Greg Parks who is in the building tonight. Maybe he was just mourning the fact that Rock got three trillion times the reception he did.

-How many people at home noticed that Triple H left Kane off of his list of people who have been around longer than him. He said he's outlasted everyone other than just Undertaker.

-He said "nothing else will matter" at WrestleMania 27. Well, why announce the rest of the line-up, then?

-I just don't know. There's aspects of the promo that were good in that it used his and Taker's respective back story to create a sense of the match being monumental, but the self-agrandizing seemed born of insecurity and patting himself on the back. Also, whether it was his in-ring style from his days as Terra Rizing in WCW and early in the WWF to his mic work his whole career, he had that meandering slow pace that I think tests everyone's patience a bit. He comes across as someone who's used to talking and everyone acting totally engaged in what he says because they have no choice but to act engaged in what he's saying. Or else he's going for a certain effect by talking so deliberately and slowly, but it adds up to a test of many people's patience, including mine.

-When was the last time Michael Cole didn't introduce Raw or announce from the broadcast table? Matthews and Lawler didn't even make a big deal out of it.

-I'm not sure Evan Bourne gains anything by beating a badly beating Sheamus, but it wasn't a terrible way to bring him back, either, as he got to get a win over a big star using his finisher. Given the circumstances, it's not like anyone will take it all that seriously as a sign of Bourne being superior to Sheamus.

-Why can't anyone fix the announce table once it's crushed? Do Matthews and Lawler really have to call the next two hours without a table?

-Good to see Jack Swagger get a meaningful role at WrestleMania. He's one of WWE's rising stars who can't afford to be totally lost in the shuffle or defined down as a lower card former fluke champion. He and Cole playing off of each other could be great.

-The table is fixed! Cole wiping down Lawler's headset before taking his place at the table was pretty funny.

•The Orton-Nexus series of matches is a decent way to fill some TV time and build the feud between Orton and Punk before WrestleMania. Did Orton almost smile after he kicked Michael McGillicutty? He almost never shows any actual signs of joy or happiness.

•It's rare for WWE to be at a commercial break at the start of the second hour, but they were this week. It's not good for ratings to be at a commercial when people are clicking and shopping around for something to watch.

-Is it just me or is the crowd not responding much to John Cena's gay jokes? It's really sad that Cena keeps going there. Miz is the babyface here because he's coming across as secure enough to not worry about people perceiving he and Alex Riley as a couple because he knows it's not true, and as Colin Powell said about people saying President Obama "is a Muslim," first of all it's not true, and second of all so what if he actually were? Could Cena work any harder at firmly establishing he thinks being gay is one of the biggest insults one could throw at someone? Anytime someone is this obsessed with gay jokes, I always assume they're trying to deflect their shame or fear of being exposed for gay tendencies or activities in their past.Think of how many of those who protest the loudest against gays end up being outed often as living a secret lifestyle or having a secret past, such as the preachers and politicians who were exposed for their hypocrisy in that regard? Are people going to start thinking that about Cena (and/or those contributing to his promos)? Or is he just going to be seen as woefully out of touch with pop culture at this point and how passe this whole "they might be gay" approach is? How long before sponsors start feeling some heat for being part of this?

-Divas just don't make good color commentators. I don't get what it is, but things just crawl to a halt whenever they get mic time during matches. Eve did better than average, but still not great.

-It would have been tough to top the promo from two weeks ago, and the Rock didn't come close, but it was still pretty good. The setting of being on the big screen takes a lot away from the magic of being in the ring. But it's ultimately smart not to overexpose Rock in front of the crowd or in the same building as Cena at this point. The crowd shots showed that the fans seemed to be eating up Rock's retort. I'm not sure how many people will buy the idea that Rock is pushing that he went to Hollywood to open the doors for others in WWE. He went to Hollywood for the better pay, better schedule, and more prestigious career. That said, what he said about growing up in WWE and it being close to his heart is believable for sure.

-The Shawn Michaels segment was good in the sense that it was him talking about what it's like to be opposite of The Undertaker and Triple H in the ring. It wasn't about anything other than their in-ring styles. Not who drew more ratings. Not who cut "more entertaining" promos. Not bigger buyrates. Good use of Michaels in a well-produced segment that added a sense of the match being epic.



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