WWE Roadblock: End of the Line

WWE Roadblock: End of the Line

Pittsburgh, PA - December 2016

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Kevin Owens holds RAW's Universal Championship, Roman Reigns is the reigning United States Champion, and Sasha Banks is the RAW Women's Champion. Rich Swann is the Cruiserweight Champion while The New Day are in the midst of the record-setting reign as the WWE World Tag Team Champions. 

COMMENTATORS: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves

The second Roadblock of 2016 began with the World Tag Team Titles on the line - The New Day defending against Sheamus and Cesaro. After some early dominance by the challengers, Big E hit his spear to the outside on Sheamus and then landed his big splash back in the ring. Sheamus was able to regain control, though, putting E down with a Cesaro-assisted Celtic Cross. Cesaro went on a minor flurry, but a miscommunication and some interference from Xavier Woods led to a nearfall for the champs. Back and forth things went, neither team capable of putting away their opponents (even a ridiculously impressive powerbomb set-up into a Neutralizer from Cesaro couldn't do it). And then, in one of the most disappointing finishes I can recall, the 483-day reign of the New Day came to a close - Sheamus and Cesaro fooling the champs with a "false tag" leading to a roll-up. Considering how much went into the reign of New Day, ending it this way (even if it is the right time) to this particular team is an odd decision. A typical New Day match - not much build or drama, just signature spot after signature spot. (2.5/5)

Backstage, Kevin Owens gives Chris Jericho a holiday scarf. Jericho tosses it into his face. Their friendship remains icy.

Back in the ring, Sami Zayn makes his way down the aisle for his 10-minute challenge match against Braun Strowman. As expected, Strowman dominates, tossing Zayn around like a rag doll and hitting him with some vicious clubbing blows and clotheslines. Around minute 5, Strowman has the opportunity to wrap it up but decides against it, allowing Zayn to stagger around the ring some more as the audience watches in relative quiet. Around minute 7, Foley makes his way down the aisle with a white towel in his hand and Strowman tosses him to the outside. A small "Let Him Fight" chant is audible as Zayn pulls on Foley's jacket and tells him not to throw in the towel. With the clock winding down, Strowman tells the RAW Co-GM that Zayn's blood is on his hands but then falls prey to some to wise Zayn maneuvering, the big man hurling himself into the barricade, through the timekeeper's area, and into a post back in the ring. With 20 seconds left, Strowman hurls Zayn out of the ring and, miraculously, Zayn survives the count! Zayn hits his big kick and "wins" the challenge, leaving Strowman irate in the ring. This one needed some sort of post-match angle to cap it off as it ended with a bit limp. I'm not opposed to this rivalry continuing as it is certainly helping define Zayn's underdog character and serving as a good showcase for Strowman. Again, a post-match angle of some kind would've lifted this one higher than just average for me. (2.5/5)

A lengthy video promo hypes the next match - Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins. The crowd is somewhat split on these two, which certainly doesn't help the match build heat. Blatant spot-calling around in the corner around minute two leading to Rollins hitting his big knee on the outside. Jericho hides behind the ref and rakes the eyes, but he can't get the crowd to turn on him no matter what heel tactic he uses. Jericho applies a pretty loose chinlock and the crowd doesn't bother clapping Rollins up. Minutes later, the Architect takes control and delivers some trademark offense - of Finn Balor and Nigel McGuiness, but whatever. Rollins then telegraphs his knee off the top rope and Jericho catches him into the Walls. These two are working hard, but running in place - Rollins can't draw sympathy and no matter what Jericho does (and he's tried a bit of everything), he's still got 60% of the audience behind him. The first nifty moment of the match occurs around minute 12, Jericho countering a Pedigree attempt into a roll-up and then Walls of Jericho. Rollins is able to survive and hit a frog splash, though - a should-be victory broken up by a distraction from Kevin Owens on the outside of the ring. Y2J doesn't take kindly to Owens getting involved, though, the distraction ultimately leading to the finish. A solid last few minutes save what was a very dull match. (2/5)

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship is on the line next - TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann in a triple threat for Swann's title. Austin Aries is on commentary for this one, noting that he's happy Swann is keeping the title warm until he decides to be champ. Technically, all three men are proficient performers, but none dazzle, their offense really paling in comparison to the kind of aerial innovation the WCW cruisers, particularly the luchadores, busted out 20 years ago. It doesn't help that Perkins and Swann are generic babyfaces without discernible traits beyond not taking shortcuts and smiling during their entrances. Credit goes to an unexpected finish, but this was house show filler match helped, at least somewhat, by a post-match angle that at least gave us a fresh story for the division. Unsurprisingly, Neville's heel turn was met with a "Thank You Neville" chant because Swann and TJP had zero crowd support. (1.5/5)

Owens is backstage again, apologizing to Jericho's door. We'll see where this goes...

30 Ironman Match time - Sasha Banks defending her Womens' Championship against Charlotte. The first third featured straight back-and-forth wrestling, Banks nearly locking in the Banks Statement but Flair narrowly escaping. At minute 7, Banks applied a sleeper, but Charlotte used her strength to counter with a back drop. The fight went outside, the setting where so many of the best moments of this rivalry have occurred but for the most part, the entire match was kept inside the squared circle - a change of pace, but not necessarily one that the crowd was happy with. Sasha locked in a nasty-looking straightjacket before connecting with a flurry of forearms and a dropkick. It was nice to see Sasha hit a flying crossbody through the ropes instead of the injury-risking suicide dives she'd made her calling card, especially when you consider the stipulation of this particular contest and how counter-logical it would be for her to put her body on the line with things at 0-0. Banks let her guard down for a moment too long and Charlotte capitalized, kicking out the leg of Sasha and causing her to hit the steel steps on the outside in a tide-turning spot. Charlotte showed why she might be the best heel on the RAW roster for the next several minutes, her offense deliberate and cold enough to not elicit cheers, but still impressive and devastating enough to have that "wow" factor. Great nearfall after an excellent leg scissors sequence too. Sasha's first comeback didn't have the crowd behind it, though, as the match enter minute 18 without a fall. We got a kickout from the first Natural Selection, but Charlotte would take the lead with a second one (this time from the top rope) around the 20 minute mark. Shocking tie-maker pinning combo out of Banks with 8 minutes left and then Banks applied a nasty-looking Banks Statement to take the lead, the audience finally woken up. The last 3-4 minutes were excellent, though, the crowd still seemed a bit indifferent or, at the very least, far less invested than the audiences were for some of their better matches this year. Lillian Garcia botched her announcement of Flair tying the match, the match continuing to sudden death. The "hard way" blood out of Sasha's nose (?) in the overtime really added to the drama but I'm not sure this match measured up to the upper-tier stuff they've done at previous shows, including at Hell in a Cell. A liver crowd might have helped, but the layout of the match was also a bit questionable, with Banks, the babyface, wrestling "on defense" for the final stretch when it may have been better to have her working to tie things up. Still, good work that bordered on greatness at times (especially the last 5-6 minutes). (3.5/5)

A video package highlighting the friendship of Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho airs before our main event - Kevin Owens defending the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns. As I don't watch RAW routinely, I haven't seen these two wrestle too many times before, giving this match some novelty for me at least even if most of the audience had seen some of the same spots before. I definitely enjoy Owens in this type of match more than the spotfests he had with Owens and Cena, but I still wouldn't call it a great match - just one with a clearer story and exchanges of momentum that actually made sense. Some good sequences toward the end, though, the predictability of the interference from Jericho kept the audience from biting on the near falls. The post-match beatdown would've gotten over bigger if Reigns and Rollins working together was novel - but it's not. Above-average match, but not that far above average. (3/5)


A few weeks ago, the SmackDown brand took a card full of rematches and exceeded expectations with the aid of stipulation matches and title changes that felt deserved. Roadblock was the RAW brand's version, almost an exact mirror show down to the Tag and Womens' Championships changing hands. Unfortunately, none of the four guys in RAW's main event scene are as fun to watch as AJ Styles or as over in their role as The Miz. Still, Roadblock was more watchable than its somewhat lowly 2.5-out-of-5 score would indicate. The Cruisers match wasn't great, but it was also kept short and at least pointed to the future of the division. Rollins/Jericho was more of a slog, but at least featured a strong closing. The Womens' Championship bout, as has become tradition for the RAW brand Network events, was the match of the night. Not quite a dud thanks to a good match order, respectable effort from everyone on the show, and a very solid Ironman match that took up 30+ minutes.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver