KB’s Review: Roadblock Preview

We’re less than a month away from “Wrestlemania XXXII” but instead of giving us the full six weeks between “Fastlane 2016” and “Wrestlemania XXXII”, we’re getting a WWE Network special called “Roadblock” in between the two regular pay per views. However, depending on who you ask, the special might have a stronger card than the biggest show of the year. Today we’re going to do a preview of the “Roadblock” card and see how things should go in Toronto.

We’ll start with the non-WWE show on the card the Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) defend their NXT Tag Team Titles against the team of Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. This is a match a few months in the making as the old school Dawson and Wilder have attacked Cassady’s knee and then attacked Amore in the parking lot of the WWE Performance Center. Amore and Cassady have sworn revenge and are still chasing their first reign as Tag Team Champions.

On paper this should be an easy retention for the champions but Cassady and Amore have surprised a lot of people with how good they really can be in the ring. It’s a classic case of the smaller guy (Amore in this case) coming in and taking the beating before making the hot tag off to his much bigger partner for the power sequence and all the house cleaning. They even have a great finisher in the Rocket Launcher which can beat almost anyone.

However the Revival is a great old school style tag team who can pick an opponent apart and work on their limbs until either Amore is slowed down or Cassady can’t use his size and power advantages. You actually have a good, strong story set up here and the match has the potential to be a show stealer.

Overall though, I just can’t imagine the titles changing here. Amore and Cassady are an incredibly talented act and some of the most over guys on the NXT roster, but they choke in the clutch. It really would seem like American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) are destined to be the next champions and I can’t imagine the titles being changed this close to “Takeover: Dallas.” I’ll take the Revival to keep the belts after an awesome match that probably should open the show.

Next up we completely shift gears and take a look at a match that almost got a big spot on “Wrestlemania XXXII” as Brock Lesnar faces Bray Wyatt. Now this is an interesting one as Wyatt really doesn’t have anything going on at this point but he has the one man that Lesnar hasn’t been able to throw around backing him up: Braun Strowman. While this is a one on one match, it really isn’t a stretch to suggest that the Wyatt Family gets involved.

This feud started a few months back with the Wyatts attacking Lesnar to set up the Royal Rumble, setting off a long battle between Lesnar and the group in the Royal Rumble itself. Lesnar survived at first but was eventually eliminated by three members of the Family. This set up the showdown in Toronto with Lesnar looking for some revenge against Wyatt himself in a one on one match.

Unfortunately, this is another match where I can’t picture anything but one ending and that’s Lesnar winning a physical match. At the end of the day, Lesnar is involved in a major story and Wyatt is a guy who doesn’t win big matches or feuds. I’d love to see Wyatt pull off the big upset here but there’s really no logic for that to happen here. It’s going to be a great fight but Lesnar goes over here, as he probably should with his showdown against Ambrose looming at “Wrestlemania XXXII.”

The third match is a last minute addition to the card as the New Day will defend their WWE Tag Team Titles against the Sheamus and King Barrett of the League of Nations. This match makes us three for three in predictable finishes as New Day is one of the hottest acts in the company (still, nearly a year after they caught fire in the first place) and the League of Nations is…..well it’s the League of Nations.

This feud doesn’t have the strongest build as the New Day just mentioned the League of Nations during their in ring segment at “Fastlane 2016”, left when the League of Nations actually came out and now they’re having a title match. What this does make interesting though is the fact that this was rumored to be a match at “Wrestlemania XXXII”. Now unless that’s been changed, there are several doors open for a title match at the biggest show of the year.

While I’m almost certain the New Day wins, the question is do they do their official face turn here. It’s clear that they’re on the verge of turning into one of the biggest face acts in a long time as the fans have been ready to cheer them for a long time now but do they actually pull the trigger at “Roadblock?” Unfortunately I don’t think so but maybe they switch the titles and then have New Day get them back as faces at “Wrestlemania XXXII.” I’ll stick with the champions keeping the titles but the storyline developments could go in a variety of directions.

That leaves us with the main event and the match that could change everything around: Triple H defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dean Ambrose, the man he technically beat for the title by last eliminating Ambrose in the Royal Rumble. The winner of this match faces Roman Reigns for the title at “Wrestlemania XXXII.” That alone makes this even more important because it could lead to a few different scenarios.

Let’s start with the most likely scenario: Triple H successfully defends the title after a brutal match which ends with a Pedigree and probably a post match beatdown, giving Reigns the opportunity to come back and fight to avenge his brother in the “Wrestlemania XXXII” title match. It’s a simple story and something that should work if certain circumstances weren’t going on.

Those circumstances are what could change this whole match. The fact of the matter is simple: Reigns is really not that popular and isn’t exactly working as the company’s top face. While I still think he walks out of Dallas with the title, I’m unsure about who he beats to get there. The question becomes is Reigns so unpopular that the WWE changes the title and therefore the title match to something other than Reigns vs. Triple H. If they want to do that, they can pull it off at “Roadblock.”

It’s a simple booking move too. Lesnar is already on the show and already facing Ambrose at “Wrestlemania XXXII.” Here he can help Ambrose win to give himself a title shot in Dallas. Triple H can say he wants his rematch there and Reigns is already guaranteed his title shot as well. Therefore you have a way to get Reigns out and avoid a lot of the issues that come with having around 100,000 people boo Reigns halfway to Oklahoma.

It’s quick, it’s not very complicated, and it gives the fans something to be more interested about as they head into “Wrestlemania XXXII.” Instead though, we’re likely going to see the expected ending of Ambrose losing, possibly with help from Lesnar in the most illogical move they could go with, and Triple H heading into April with the belt for his big showdown against Reigns. I know that’s not the popular ending but it’s probably what we’re looking at.

Overall, or at least what we have of it so far, “Roadblock” has the potential to be a pretty exciting show. There are matches I’m looking forward to seeing and a real chance that the “Wrestlemania XXXII” card itself could see some drastic changes. I’m not really expecting to see something like that happen but stranger things have taken place before. Hopefully it’s a good night and not another instance of three wasted hours as shows have been before but this false hope thing is getting old.

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