WWE Raw: Why Weren't The Miz and R-Truth Punished?

The team of The Miz and R-Truth ( aka Awesome Truth) returned to WWE Raw two weeks ago, after new Raw general manager John Laurinaitis reinstated them. The return had been expected, although many wondered if it would be drawn out a little longer to allow the conspiracy storyline more time to develop. At one point this may have been the plan, but ultimately their return was less than a month after their on-screen firing.

Hey, at least they missed a couple of Raws, which is more than John Cena did after his storyline firing at Survivor Series 2010 at the hands of Wade Barrett (Cena gave an emotional goodbye speech on Raw and then came back at the end of the show to attack Nexus, meaning he never officially missed any shows).  

The dastardly duo had famously been fired by COO Triple H and unceremoniously thrown out of the building the Raw after WWE's Night of Champions event after viciously assaulting several referees and getting involved in the CM Punk/HHH match at the pay-per-view. Of course, HHH hadn't seen the last of them, and they ran in at the end of Hell in a Cell, attacking all the participants in the Cena vs. CM Punk vs.. Alberto Del Rio main event. In a particularly despicable act, they also took out the referee and a couple of cameramen. 

After laying waste to everything in sight, the two were handcuffed and dragged off by the New Oreleans Police Department, but not before being attacked by an enraged Triple H.

The following night, on a YouTube video shown on Raw, a sombre-looking Miz and R-Truth apologized for their actions, saying they were simply trying to make a statement and get their jobs back. They then announced they were taking legal action against Hunter for attacking them while they were in police custody. The lawsuit merely added to already under pressure HHH's problems and likely played a big part in the decision by the all-power Board of Directors to demote him the following week. 

Of course, the lawsuit was promptly dropped and never mentioned again when Awesome Truth returned to Raw, seemingly they had been appeased with their reinstatement and with the stripping of power from HHH.

The deal with HHH is a rather complicated situation. He is still COO and technically running the company in every other capacity; he just has no power over the flagship show. Which is why John Laurinaitis can tell him what to do and book him in matches (like, putting him in the tag match against Awesome Truth at Vengeance) even though he is still further down the corporate ladder than Hunter is. 

So, why were R-Truth and The Miz welcomed so warmly back into the WWE fold? Surely their barbaric actions at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view should have warranted some type of admonishment from Laurinaitis? Especially because Laurinaitis is eager to prove that he, unlike HHH under whom Raw spiralled out of control, can control and rule the WWE's flagship show?

The best bet, and most common theory, is that Laurinaitis refrained from punishing them because, at Hell in a Cell, they were simply carrying out his orders. Indeed, it has been strongly hinted that the duo are aligned with the sinister corporate executive and somehow entangled with the conspiracy to oust HHH. 

Laurinaitis also helped out the pair last week during Raw. During the Punk/Miz match, in which HHH was in Punk's corner to help stave off any interference from R-Truth, the new Raw GM came out and removed HHH from ringside, citing problems with HHH's immigration papers (Raw was taking place in Mexico), leaving Punk on his own with both Miz and R-Truth. Punk was, of course, double-teamed and left laying by the pair as HHH went to deal with the Mexican authorities.

No one is sure what was up, but HHH seemed suspicious and suspected Laurinaitis had sabotaged him again. Presumably Laurinaitis has something to do with the paperwork mix-up and wanted HHH out of Punk's corner and on his own with Awesome Truth.   

We will likely see more of the Laurinaitis/Awesome Truth alliance in the future as more light will be shed on the elaborate conspiracy that has hung over Raw in recent times. No one should be that surprised these two were welcomed back with open arms—after helping get rid of HHH, they're probably Laurinaitis' favourite tag team.