Surprise eliminations - Raw hits Houston, Tx

WWE Raw invaded Houston, Texas this week. Big doings with the main event being a four man elimination match for the vacant Universal title. Let's see how things played out.

The show started with a promo from the four men in the Universal title match: Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, and Big Cass. Rollins took easy jabs against his other competitors while Owens and Cass killed it in the comedy department. Reigns opted for deeds over words (good move) and cleared the ring. This was a nice way to set up the main event, and it was wise to let the talkers talk and not cap things off with an awkward Reigns promo.

Chris Jericho took on Neville, coming out on top with a Lion Tamer submission. Jericho did a great backstage interview before the match, mixing his usual pomous "gift of Jericho" stuff with some amausing antics. This is that match on Raw; the good one you want to see more of where they stick a commercial smack dab in the middle of it.

Nia Jax beat down another local gal. Like he entrance music says, she's not like most girls. Similar to Braun Strowman, they haven't put her in a proper feud yet, she's just squashing smaller wrestlers every week.

Gallows and Anderson did another skit, this time about sending the Dudleys to a retirement home. I've heard these guys on the Talk is Jericho podcast and they are quite funny when left to their own devices, but stuff like this doesn't always translate well with wrestling fans. I hope it doesn't hurt their momentum.

Sami Zayn beat Jinder Mahal in a short match. Mahal is already jobber status with his lack of a televised entrance.

Bayley and the New Day beat Dana Brooke, Gallows, and Anderson. This was a formulatic six person match designed to keep Bayley looking strong. This one got some time so everyone got to contribute a little something to the match. Nothing mind-blowing here.

Backstage, we learn that the winner of Cesaro and Sheamus's best of seven series gets a title shot. (I forgot this feud was even happening, silly me.)

Throughout the night, they aired video packages about the four men in the main event. Nobody does video packages like the 'E. NOBODY! But seriously, these were all pretty good.

Sheamus furthured his lead in the best of seven series by defeating Cesaro using a slam against the ring post and a Texas cloverleaf submission. Cesaro is starting to sell the wear and tear on his body. I like the progression of that and I hope both men keep it up as the series continues.

They showed a video honoring Mr. Fuji, who passed away on Sunday. The man was a legendary manager with a lengthy in-ring career of his own. Combine that with Gene Wilder passing yesterday and it's been an emotional week so far. 2016 has been harsh.

Braun Strowman beat and unmasked a wrestler named Americo. He's continuing to dominate guys until they find a babyface for him to feud with. I heard Strowman interviewed on Steve Austin's podcast and he sounds like a guy who really wants to develop his character and do something unique with his size. We'll see if he gets the chance; for now he's just your usual monster heel.

Sasha Banks did a pre-taped interview about her lingering injuries and was shut down by Charlotte. Banks didn't look very strong here, but Charlotte got some cheap heat and I guess that's what matters.

It was announced yesterday on social media that Brock Lesnar will have a rematch with Randy Orton at an upcoming live event in Chicago. That was never mentioned during the in-ring segment with Stephanie McMahon and Paul Heyman. This soap opera continues, probably culminating in something lame like Shane vs. Brock. I really don't want to see that. Heck, I've been bored to tears by Lesnar in his last couple of matches. He's going to need to give us a little more than Suplex City next time around.

Finn Balor status report: He'll be out for six months at least. He'll be back by Wrestlemania, so take that as some minor consolation. The Raw "brand" is really missing something special without him on it.

Dareen Young beat Titus O'Neil and no one seemed to care. This feud would be much more impactful is the Primtime Players had gotten a title run or at least been a team for a longer period of time. Bob Backlund has been the best part of all of this. I wrote a little about Backlund vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine the other day. You can find it HERE.

The main event elimination match started with 20 minutes left on the show. Owens capitalized on Reigns kicking Cass in the head and Frog Splashed him to score the fir elimination. (I like how they set that up earlier.) Then things got interesting when Triple H appeared and hit a Pedigree on Reigns on the outside. This helped Rollins eliminate Roman. (I guess we know where they're going with Reigns for the time being.)

Wait. Nevermind!

Hunter turned on his old protege Rollins and helped Owens win the title. I guess Owens is Triple H's "guy" now. That caught me off guard, whoa. Raw ended with Owens celebrating his win and the crowd chanting "you deserve it!" That was great, I really thought Reigns was going to win. Good stuff, WWE.

Alright Smackdown Live, you have your work cut out for you this week! Thanks for reading, and as always, you can hit me up on Twitter @ChrisBComics.

The dust settles . . .

SummerSlam was a baffling bit of wrestling programming. There were a couple of solid matches, a couple of truly great matches, and few segments that left me scratching my head. While I won't go into every occurrence from Sunday here, there are a few things I have to comment on.

First, the good. The tag team opener between Enzo & Cass and Jeri-K.O. (Love that team name) was a great bout, even if I don't think the heels really needed the win here. I think both Jericho and Owens are performers who can "bounce back" from any number of losses. The AJ Styles/John Cena match was incredible, with the Doctor of Thugganomics throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Phenomenal One, only to come up short and ultimately lose clean, establishing the Smackdown brand's newest star. Same for the Balor/Rollins match. Strange new title belt aside, this was a fantastic display of wrestling featuring two guys the audience isn't burnt out on yet. (It also makes Finn's injury all the more deflating.)

There were a couple of matches that were pretty good, but fell into a strange place on the card. The Women's title match between Charlotte and Sasha Banks was as good as any of their NXT encounters, with the right woman coming out on top and a hot crowd behind it. It troubles me this match went on second, however, as this is supposed to be one of the most important belts the 'E has and there was a far inferior six woman tag match later on. (Yeah I know it was intended to be a "cool down" match, but Charlotte and Banks should not have gone on so early. Give them some prestige, for shucks sake.)

Roman and Rusev's encounter was more of an angle than a match. This and the Women's title match probably should have switched places. I like what they're doing with Roman and the US Title feud in general, but it shouldn't have gone on right before the main event.

And the main event between Orton and Lesnar . . . whoa. I didn't expect things to go quite that way. On one hand, I like Brock looking like a monster and having him attack Shane is a nice way to get him off of television for a bit, but on the other I feel like the bloody finish to the match sucked the air out of the building, and not in the hype-generating way his defeating The Undertaker in 2014 did. Brock's Suplex City gimmick is wearing thin, and I'm not sure what Orton is getting out of this other than a little babyface sympathy. It was an odd last match, and for whatever reason not as effective as Brock's previous SummerSlam massacre (John Cena).

It was an oddly paced show with some great wrestling. Shuffle the card around a bit and it could have been great. As for Raw . . .

Finn's injury forced their hand creatively, and the Raw brand responded with something rather predictable: a series of match designed to set up a fatal four way match for the Universal Title next week. Finn's speech was stirring, but knowing he'll be back in time for next year's Wrestlemania helped me keep my emotions in check. The crowd was chanting "You deserve it!" and rightfully so.

The four men who ended up winning their qualifying matches by the end of Monday night were Rollins, Owens, Big Cass, and Reigns. Unless they have a big ol' swerve planned for next Monday, the outcome for this isn't hard to predict. Both Owens and Big Cass have partners that will interfere on their behalves, a situation of two interested parties cancelling each other out. I fully expect Rusev to stomp down to the ring and take Roman out for the night, seeing as their feud is just starting to gain some steam. That leaves Seth Rollins in a very Edge-like role where he can pick the scraps and steal away with the title.

I'm fine with Rollins resuming his title reign, but the thought of Roman being bumped back up to feud with him again so soon bores me. I'd like to see Sami Zayn or even Big Cass in the number one contender spot. Zayn will add instant gravitas to their matches with his unmatched charm, not to mention the matches will be spectacular. Big Cass and Enzo are probably the two other biggest babyfaces right now, so I don't see the harm in penciling them in for a month or two. The matches won't be as strong as Rollins/Zayn would, but the promos would be pure fire.

Overall, it was a great weekend of wrestling, anchored by NXT Takeover (no surprise there) and the rise of several key new talents who are rapidly proving (to me, at least) that this really is a "new era". Thanks for reading! And you can hit me up on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) or via e-mail (backissuechris@gmail.com) for more rasslin' chatter.