Who could walk out a winner at the 2016 WWE Roadblock pay-per-view?
On Sunday night, the WWE Roadblock pay-per-view will take place. This is the final live special of the year before the company heads into 2017, which will begin with Royal Rumble season. Superstars will look to get a spot in the WrestleMania 33 main event by winning the Royal Rumble match. But first, we need to get through Raw’s latest exclusive show.
Six matches will be seen on Roadblock’s main card, including four title matches. Most notably, Kevin Owens will put the WWE Universal Championship on the line against Roman Reigns. Sasha Banks is also set to defend the Raw Women’s Championship against Charlotte in a 30-minute Iron Man match.
Plenty of action should go down in Pittsburgh, PA, but who could walk out winners?
WWE.com
Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn
Mick Foley pushed for weeks for Sami Zayn to not face Braun Strowman. The Mountain of a Man had crushed him multiple times to the point where the Raw General Manager had to stop the match. However, it turns out that all along Foley had been looking to find that fire inside of the Underdog from the Underground in his quest to defeat Strowman. This led to Zayn getting his wish at WWE Roadblock.
The only add-on to this match is that there will be a 10-minute time limit. Foley did this to prevent Strowman from inflicting damage for a long period of time, even though he already proved that in-ring action can be stopped on his order.
So, the former NXT Champion will get an opportunity at conquering his foe. Does he actually stand a chance, though?
To open this match, we should see Zayn get in plenty of offense and look like he can stand some ground with a flurry of momentum. Unfortunately, for him, Strowman isn’t losing a match anytime soon and will either beat him to a pulp or win this within a few minutes.
Prediction: Braun Strowman defeats Sami Zayn.
Next: Raw Tag Team Championship Match
Credit: WWE.com
Raw Tag Team Championship MatchNew Day (c) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
On Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, New Day secured their spot as the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions ever. They topped Demolition’s record of 478 days and will look to extend this for as long as possible. However, there may be a “Roadblock” in the way as the Unicorn Trio have to defend the Raw Tag Team Championship at WWE Roadblock.
Cesaro and Sheamus are set to challenge for the belts for yet another time this fall. They have tried and failed via interference as New Day’s number advantage ended up being the difference. It didn’t help either that the foreign duo had to be sold as proper challengers, especially when Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods had little chance of not breaking the record.
Well, now that this hurdle is gone, there may be a greater chance of Cesaro and Sheamus ending New Day’s record. It seems a bit soon for the title reign to end after just breaking the record on Monday, but WWE did something similar in 2015 with Nikki Bella, Charlotte, and the Divas Championship. Does that mean we’re set for a title change?
If WWE wants to have a title change occur at Roadblock, then this match may be the most likely one for this to happen. Cesaro and Sheamus have also been booked to be on the same page these past few weeks, so will that lead to gold?
Result: Cesaro and Sheamus defeat New Day to win the Raw Tag Team Championship.
Next: WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Credit: WWE.com
WWE Cruiserweight Championship MatchRich Swann (c) vs. Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins
Rich Swann is heading into his first WWE pay-per-view title defense, as he’ll put the Cruiserweight Championship on the line at Roadblock. This will be against Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins, both of whom have been around the belt’s picture since the cruiserweights debuted on Raw in September.
Swann and Kendrick had feuded for the past three weeks, but after being away from the title for about one month, Perkins interjected himself into the mix. He even teased some tension with Swann in backstage segments, in post-match antics (see TJP’s accidental superkick), and wearing all black, which may not seem like much, but could be a subtle hint at going to the dark side.
We’re only about three weeks into the reign of the Outlandish One as Cruiserweight Champion, so seeing a title change here would be surprising. He has provided some life to the belt that Perkins and Kendrick didn’t bring, something that has helped the cruiserweight division since the end of November. This shouldn’t lead to Swann dropping the title at WWE Roadblock, unless the hot-shotting of WWE belts continues.
Result: Rich Swann defeats Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins
Credit: WWE.com
Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins
Chris Jericho and Seth Rollins aren’t unfamiliar foes. They have faced off plenty of times during the fall, all of which have come on WWE Raw. Rollins has walked out victorious more often than not, including getting the last laugh on Y2J in post-match segments.
Well, at WWE Roadblock, these two will have yet another match to potentially settle the score. It came about after Kevin Owens got this bout granted for his former best friend.
Owens and Jericho’s friendship has been the focus of this. If anything, we will probably see the Universal Champion interfere to either try to help him beat Rollins, or do so for revenge. The former seems likely, but would that mean KO inadvertently costs the Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla his match?
This will probably see the Architect walk out a winner as he heads toward a potential match with Triple H. He finally called out the Game 10 weeks after the August 29 championship match on Raw. This saw the WWE executive interfere to cost Rollins the match. It took a while, but we’re probably going to see these two battle at WrestleMania 33. Sunday night will be the first step toward this as Rollins gets his first PPV win since June.
Result: Seth Rollins defeats Chris Jericho.
Next: Raw Women's Championship Match
Credit: WWE.com
30-Minute Iron Man Match for the Raw Women’s ChampionshipSasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte
Once again, Charlotte and Sasha Banks will face off for the Raw Women’s Championship. They have been involved in a pay-per-view match for this belt at WWE SummerSlam, Clash of Champions, Hell in a Cell, and now Roadblock. This doesn’t include the three title matches on Raw, all of which have seen the Boss walk out as the new champion.
However, the stipulations for this match is that Banks vs. Charlotte will be a 30-minute Iron Man match, and there will be no more rematches; it’s part of their “contract.” Since this is WWE we’re talking about, this may mean nothing. If anything, why shouldn’t we expect yet another title change at WWE Roadblock?
It’s finally time to end the title changes and let Sasha run with the belt for an extended period of time. Her first two reigns were for just 27 days each, hardly enough to develop whether or not she’s a good champion. Let her feud with someone else, walk into 2017 as the champion, and move on with the women’s division. That’s not to show disrespect to this rivalry, which has been entertaining, but it’s time to create some parity.
Result: Sasha Banks defeats Charlotte to retain the Raw Women’s Championship.
Credit: WWE.com
WWE Universal Championship MatchKevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns
The main event of WWE Roadblock will see Kevin Owens defend the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns. Somewhat surprisingly, Reigns will not be defending his United States Championship. If he’s supposed to be a “fighting champion,” then why isn’t WWE letting him defend both belts, even if the plan is for him to walk out with the Universal Title?
The U.S. belt has been a concern during this feud, mostly because it has been nonexistent. Besides one brief title defense against Chris Jericho, you would have hardly known that the Big Dog has been the owner of this belt since September. He’s had no feuds for it since retaining against Rusev at October’s Hell in a Cell PPV as well. It’s a plot hole in this program with Owens, one that hasn’t been anything special to begin with.
There isn’t much of a feud between Owens and Reigns. Outside of the match to earn the former Shield man a world title shot, these two haven’t done anything significant. The most we’ve seen is a spear at the end of the December 12 episode of Raw to remind everyone how “Hey, these two are still feuding with each other and will be main eventing a PPV.” As the Cageside Seats Rumor Roundup noted, should it be any surprise that there have been ticket issues for this show? There’s just not much that WWE has done to make it tempting, which begins with the main event.
Reigns does not need the title, but this seems like a situation where WWE could choose to leave him out of the Royal Rumble match. If so, it would probably take winning the Universal Championship at Roadblock to do this. Owens’ title reign still feels young, but if WWE is still sticking to pushing the former college football player as a Superman-like babyface, he’s walking out as the new champion.
Result: Roman Reigns defeats Kevin Owens to win the WWE Universal Championship.
Who do you think will win each match at WWE Roadblock?
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