Here’s our final review of WWE Roadblock 2016!
The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and/or Xavier Woods) (c) vs. The League of Nations (Sheamus and King Barrett) (WWE Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: We totally want our own box of Booty-O’s cereal. The New Day made us giggle like schoolgirls as always with their pre-match promo. The match itself was like your usual RAW tag team match. Both teams threw out their usual offense and didn’t do anything particularly brand new or jaw dropping. The action moved a quick pace though, so there wasn’t anything to really complain about here. The final moments were fun and the right team prevailed. This was a decent opener that the crowd seemed to enjoy, so it was the right match to get this event started.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger
Reactions: Here’s another match that paled in comparison to the opening promo that took place before it. Evil Jericho has returned and his excellent heel promos have came back alongside him. He gave his former hometown all manners of funny verbal disrespect. This match was pretty basic, but still somewhat enjoyable thanks to who were in the ring. The crowd wasn’t entirely into it, though. Jericho and Swagger put a serviceable bout here, but it was nothing special. Once again, the man we expected to see win…well, won. Welp, guess we’re on to AJ vs. Y2J at ‘Mania 32.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) (c) vs. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady (with Carmella) (NXT Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: NXT showed up to really get the crowd going with this big matchup. The Revival and Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady showed the live crowd exactly why their brand is the best in wrestling today. This match was supremely fun from start to finish. Enzo and Cass hyped up the crowd verbally and in the ring with their tandem offense. The Revival have improved by leaps and bounds, so their limb-based offense wasn’t boring to watch as it usually is. This match got even hotter as it kept going on. The near fall were awesome and Enzo got us up out of our seats when he got launched onto The Revival outside the ring. Seeing The Revival KO both Enzo and Cass with their big tag team combo finisher was the icing on this wrestling cake. Great match right here. This was a huge step up from the previous bouts.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Charlotte vs. Natalya (WWE Divas Championship)
Reactions: If you watched both these fine ladies perform on NXT during one of the TakeOver event, then you have something to look forward to here. Charlotte and Natalya did the unthinkable – they gave the crowd life with a Divas match. That rarely happens since main roster Diva matches don’t get the time they usually deserve. This one got plenty of time, which resulted in a great back and forth contest. The leg work from Charlotte made sense, both Divas fought tooth and nail and their submission hold struggle was fun to watch unfold. The crowd became unglued when Natalya finally locked in her Sharpshooter (in Hart Country, of course). For a moment there, we thought Natalya might pull off the victory. But it was all for naught since Ric’s distraction led to Charlotte retaining her title. We enjoyed this Divas match and we hope to see Charlotte vs. Natalya on another occasion.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs. Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman)
Reactions: This changed into a handicap match out of nowhere. But in reality, it was more like a Luke Harper squash match. Lesnar beat the holy hell out of Luke for a good while. But we have give Luke props for actually getting in some offense on Lesnar. That didn’t last too long and Lesnar just had his way with Luke the majority of the match. Bray didn’t do anything but look on as his family member got destroyed. Lesnar quickly laid waste to Luke with several suplexes and an F5. This was what it was – a Brock Lesnar massacre.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Sami Zayn vs. Stardust
Reactions: This was something of a RAW match with a few minutes of extra offense from the controlling heel. Stardust looked better than he’s ever been with Sami Zayn as his dancing partner. He was in control for most of the bout and even got the crowd on his side with a nicely executed Superplex. When Sami finally gained the upper hand, the match then got a bit better and the crowd responded with a bit more energy. Sami’s high-energy offense made the match more fun to watch on the big stage apart from NXT. The closing moments of this match we fun and resulted in Sami getting the win. The crowd didn’t seem to care too much, but we had a fun time viewing this nonetheless.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
Reactions: Our expectations ran high for this championship encounter. It’s safe to say that they were certainly met. “The Game” and “The Lunatic Fringe” put on a great main event during the very first Roadblock. This match started out slow as both men started to get the crowd within the palm of their hands. Ambrose smartly targeted Ambrose’s leg and got in a ton of offense on HHH. HHH used his immense power to slam Ambrose and cause him further punishment as their bout wore on. Ambrose was in fine form here as the match reached its crescendo. Imagine out shock when we though Ambrose finished HHH with his Dirty Deeds and won the championship! It was all for naught, though. After that big moment, the match continued on and got even better. Ambrose cost himself the match after missing a big elbow drop through the announce table, which led to him getting finished with a Pedigree. This was a great match filled with near falls, Ambrose’s infectious personality, HHH’s domineering presence and smartly paced sequences. HHH retained and now Ambrose is off to face Brock Lesnar at ‘Mania 32.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose!
Final Verdict
WWE Roadblock 2016 was just a notch above your usual house show. The show truly didn’t pick up until the NXT brand presented a great tag team championship match. From that point forward, this special event truly picked up. Seek out that match, the Divas title bout, Zayn/Stardust and the main event. You might be shocked to hear that this show featured a Brock Lesnar squash match that wasn’t too entertaining. Overall, Roadblock 2016 was a decent effort that gave us a MOTY candidate – Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose.
Final Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
