Tag Team Championship
The New Day © vs. The League of Nations (Sheamus & King Barrett)
Life must be booty-ful for The New Day right now. Not only do the reigning tag team champions now have their very own, already best-selling cereal brand (Please become a real thing), but they also managed to keep their second title reign alive after besting rivals The League of Nations. Representing the multinational stable, Sheamus and King Barrett found success with their brand of brute power and almost had the bout won, but the champions twerked their way out of trouble yet again thanks to Xavier Wood’s timely interference, a move that allowed Big E to recover just in time to catch Barrett with the ‘Big Ending’ for the pinfall victory.
Winners and STILL champions: The New Day
Thoughts: As with any good thing there comes a time when the shine begins to wear off. The New Day are faaaar from done as an entertaining component of WWE, but their act is starting to become a little repetitive and, perhaps more worryingly, is now starting to severely distract viewers from the in-ring product and their opponents. This time they got lucky; this opening match was entertaining obviously due to its participants, but offered nothing worthy of remembering.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger
Disowning his countrymen with a damning pre-match hate speech, Chris Jericho appeared unaffected by the boos as he defeated former title rival, Jack Swagger. Swagger wasn’t a complete walkover and did have his fellow former world champion in trouble with a ‘Swagger Bomb’ and a sunk in ‘Patriot Lock’, but Jericho survived the spirited comeback and soon secured the win after forcing Swagger to tap with the ‘Walls of Jericho’.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Thoughts: We really didn’t need any more reassurances of Chris Jericho’s brilliance, but the Canadian veteran once again proved his legendary status with a brilliant heel promo in which he expertly turned an adoring crowd against him before delivering a classic heel-Jericho performance. It wasn’t a particularly memorable bout, but it served it’s purpose excellently and helped further cement the legend’s latest heel run. Y2J 101.
Rating: 2.75/5.0
NXT Tag Team Championship
The Revival (Dash & Dawson) © vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady’s agonisingly long wait for NXT tag team gold will continue after once again falling foul of the champions. Finally getting their hands of each other after months of skirmishes the two teams battled with the very intensity you’d expect from such fierce rivals. Finding success in the early exchanges things soon soured for the challengers after Dash and Dawson isolated Amore.
Surviving a prolonged beating the diminutive superstar managed to reverse momentum and almost had the match won, but the champions proved why they hold the gold as they broke up their rival’s ‘Rocket Launcher’ attempt and pinned Amore following their own double team maneuver.
Winners and STILL champions: The Revival
Thoughts: I’m not quite sure why but despite their crowd-pleasing style and throwback gimmick The Revival just can’t get over. The sound of indifference greeted the NXT tag champs as they made their way to the ring, the absolute last thing any performer ever wants to hear. The match itself, while nowhere near as good as their effort from TakeOver: London, was decent enough from two of NXT’s most assured tandems.
Enzo and Big Cass look a lock for the main roster at some point this year and received one of the biggest crowd pops of the evening, even bigger than some of the main roster’s Canadians. I hope Vince was watching.
Rating: 2.75/5.0
Divas Championship
Charlotte © vs. Natalya
Falling for Natalya’s baiting Divas champion Charlotte took a risk and cast her own WrestleMania match in doubt by agreeing to an impromptu title defense against her Canadian rival. Looking for her first title in six years Natalya took the fight to the champion, dominating early with her grappling and threatening with the ‘Sharpshooter’. Charlotte quickly rediscovered her championship form however and almost put the challenger away with a ‘Figure Eight’ submission.
Natalya fought back, looking to honor her ‘uncle’ Bret Hart in the perfect way with another ‘Sharpshooter’ attempt, but the legendary Hart’s old rival Ric Flair proved instrumental in helping save his daughter’s reign as he distracted Natalya long enough for the champion to snatch victory with a roll up.
Winner and STILL champion: Charlotte
Thoughts: Boy is Natalya wasted on Total Divas. Paying tribute to the recovering Bret Hart Natalya delivered one of her finest performances in recent years in this, an early match of the year contender for the women’s division. Essentially a rehash of their initial NXT encounter a couple of years ago, the two women worked a dramatic and technical match that wouldn’t have looked out of place on an actual pay per view. Charlotte continues to thrive as a heel and it’s clear now that her transition late last year was for the best. Anticipation for her WrestleMania triple threat title match with Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch is even higher thanks to another excellent outing for the champ.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Brock Lesnar vs. Luke Harper & Bray Wyatt
Unable to get his hands on Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar instead took Luke Harper on a one-way, all expenses paid trip to Suplex City. Inserting his Family cronie into the match, Wyatt quickly left Harper alone to suffer the wrath of the former WWE World Heavyweight champion who took great pleasure in delivering a brutal beatdown to the ‘Eater of World’s’ trusted hand. Multiple suplexes and an ‘F5’ scored the win for Lesnar, but he’ll have to wait a little longer if he wants to extract revenge on the man who cost him a title shot at WrestleMania.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Thoughts: This wasn’t quite what we wanted. Watching Lesnar in action is always fun, and it’s a unique visual to see him fling giants around the ring, but this was supposed to be Lesnar vs. Wyatt. Bray Wyatt quickly tagging out and then slowly making his way to the back was probably done to look like a mastermind knowing when not to engage but instead it has the opposite effect with the superstar appearing cowardly and out of his depth. A real missed opportunity, but it’s clear that the WWE sees the original matchup as something better saved for another time.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
Sami Zayn vs. Stardust
Making one of his first appearances as a member of the main roster Sami Zayn made sure his return to his home country was a successful one at Stardust’s expense. Determined to halt the newcomer’s momentum Stardust emerged with an focus and intensity we haven’t seen in some time as he wore down Zayn following the Canadian’s bright start. The former NXT champion soon made a comeback however and eventually picked up the big win after following up an ‘Exploder Suplex’ with a hellacious ‘Helluvah Kick’ for the count.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Thoughts: A decent effort, but nothing special or memorable. Zayn’s recent promotion is big for the main roster and a feud with fierce rival, and noticeable absentee Kevin Owens will undoubtedly be a highlight of the year. Stardust looked strong in defeat here, but the gimmick is dead in the water. A return as Cody is what the fans want, and it’s something that will help rejuvenate the still-promising Rhodes. Make it happen.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H © vs. Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose will one day defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but despite his best efforts here it won’t be at this year’s WrestleMania. Desperate to halt Triple H’s own personal road to Dallas, Ambrose took the fight to the champion with a series of nasty holds and even taking a leaf out of the ‘Cerebral Assassin’ by targeting ‘The Game’s’ medically repaired quadriceps.
No stranger to adversity Triple H soon got himself back into the bout as he smashed Ambrose across the outside of the ring, but for all his efforts he couldn’t connect with ‘The Pedigree’ he needed to put the challenger away. Reversing another finisher attempt from the champion into an ironic ‘Figure Four’ followed by a ‘Sharpshooter’, Ambrose had ‘The Game’ seriously considering tapping.
The champ survived but his relief was short-lived as he walked right into a ‘Dirty Deeds’ for...a three count. The Toronto crowd’s adulation quickly died however when the match official informed a distraught Ambrose that the challenger’s feet were under the ropes as he made the pin. Coming so close to glory once again, Ambrose turned up the intensity further as he attempted to hit his reeling opponent with a diving elbow through the announcers table, but the move backfired as ‘The King of Kings’ slipped out of harm at the last second.
Content to allow Ambrose to be counted out Triple H couldn’t believe his eyes as Ambrose managed to get himself back into the ring, but the champion refocused and pounced on his wobbly rival, finally connecting with ‘The Pedigree’ for the hard-earned victory.
Winner and STILL champion: Triple H
Thoughts: An expertly paced and brilliantly delivered main event. Most of us headed into Roadblock absolutely assured of the champion retaining, but what we got instead was a thrilling back and forth battle that had me doubting my original prediction. Never feeling rushed like most of the matches we see these days the two combatants shifted through the gears properly as their actions grew in intensity leading to an excellent fake finish and an even better real one.
Triple H may have gone over, but thanks in part to his efforts here Dean Ambrose is a bigger star than ever before, a superstar who despite his appearance could conceivably now defeat WrestleMania opponent Brock Lesnar. The WWE continues to tease fans with a title win for Ambrose, something will be a huge moment when it finally happens.
People might moan about a 46-year old Triple H being WWE champion, but this is no ordinary 46-year old. Rocking a physique that would shame men half his age, Triple H is currently delivering some of his greatest performances ever, in and out of the ring. With The Authority’s future in the air at WrestleMania, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot more of the legendary ‘Game’ in 2016.
Rating: 3.75/5.0
Overall Thoughts: Don’t let the special branding fool you; WWE Roadblock was nothing more than an overpromoted house show, but that’s okay because it was an exceptional house show! The evening’s seven matches may have been a tad predictable but their overall quality more than made up for this. The stripped-down look with a stronger focus on the actual wrestling gave Roadblock a decisively NXT feel, A nice approach that not only helped distinguish the show from the consistently underwhelming normal weekly programming, but probably helped influence my enjoyment of the show as well..
Show Rating: 3.25/5.0
Moment of the Event: Dean Ambrose wins the WWE title! Ah wait...no.
Event MVP: Dean Ambrose
What did you think of WWE Roadblock? Leave your comments below!
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