I think you've missed a MAJOR thing. The GM made an edict that Lawler can't put his hands on Cole, or he'll be fired. That's pretty good motivation for Lawler not to put his hands on Cole. It's been a major emphasis at the beginning of shows, as both have lit into each other. Cole has been on Lawler for still being involved in the ring, and Lawler has been on Cole for not only costing him the WWE title match, but in his biased praise of Miz.
Im not sure what else you want them to do. Lawler may have lost the TLC match, but he beat the crap out of Cole in the process. The next week, Cole took an RKO for his troubles of being a "broadcast journalist" by entering the ring to interview. They're not co-existing whatsoever in regards to many of the major storylines. They have to at least pretend to maintain some sort of decorum and call the matches in order to maintai journalism integrity. If they were to bicker and fight the entire time, the show would be a mess.
I see what you're saying here, I really do.The follow up to Cole costing Lawler his first ever shot at the WWE title should have been stronger. But Cole's not a wrestler, so its not like they can have a match. The GM made the edict that Lawler can't put his hands on Cole, so there's not a whole lot more that can be done at the time. Lawler should have displayed more outrage and anger, no doubt. My guess is the feeling is if they went too far over the top, it would be hard to suspend disbelief that they could call the rest of the show together. So that makes the edict by the GM a good one, allowing them to maintain decorum for the time being.
