From The Network – WWE Roadblock 2016

WWE Roadblock 2016
3-12-16
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

You hosts are Michael Cole, JBL, and Byron Saxton.

WWE Tag Team Championships- The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E.) w/Xavier Woods © vs. League of Nations (Sheamus and King Barrett)
Before the match, the New Day introduces their new cereal, Booty-Os and they tell Big E if he doesn’t eat his Booty-Os, he’ll turn out like the League of Nations. Kofi and Sheamus start. Kofi evades Sheamus and celebrates with the New Day so Sheamus catches him with a clothesline. Tag to Barrett and they catch Kofi with a double back elbow for 2. Jawbreaker by Kofi and Big E tags in. Back breaker by Big E and the champs do the Unicorn Stampede in the corner. Barrett catches Kofi with Winds of Change and Sheamus tags in. Irish Curse by Sheamus and Barrett tags in. He throws some knees and tags Sheamus who delivers the Irish Clubs. Sheamus goes up and hits the flying shoulder block for 2. Barrett grabs a chin lock but Kofi fights out. Barrett catches Kofi with a punt to the midsection for 2. Tag to Sheamus and he goes up. He leaps but Kofi dropkicks him on the way down. Tag to Big E and he cleans house. Big Splash by Big E and Barrett comes back with a Tornado suplex for 2. Kofi fires away on Sheamus and he hits a springboard crossbody for 2. Knee lift by Sheamus and he counters Trouble in Paradise into the Cloverleaf!!! Kofi counters into a roll-up for 2 and he catches Sheamus with the SOS. Tag to Big E and Sheamus blocks the Big Ending by shoving Big E into the post shoulder first. Jackhammer by Sheamus and Barrett hits a basement super kick. He covers but Woods distracts the ref. Sheamus goes after him but Kofi takes him out. Big E catches Barrett with the Big Ending for 3!!!
Winners and Still WWE Tag Team Champions- The New Day ***1/4 ( Good opener and a promising sign for New Day’s second go around as baby faces. Now that they’re more polished as a team and have the personality the people are getting behind, they can really thrive on the baby face side. Kofi taking the beatings and Big E using his strength and power for hot comebacks will make for a perfect formula for their matches going forward. )

Paul Heyman declares Toronto the new capital of Suplex City and declares Bray Wyatt is going down.

Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger
Jericho cuts an anti-Canada promo in frustration for them chanting for AJ Styles. Swagger fires away and Jericho bails. Back in, Swagger catches Jericho with a back elbow and he hits some punches in the corner. Jericho gets a cheap shot as the ref was pulling Swagger away and he works over Swagger in the corner. Baseball slide knocks Swagger to the floor and he sends Swagger into the barricade. Back in, Jericho grabs a chin lock but Swagger fights out. Dropkick by Jericho gets 2. Chickenwing by Jericho but Swagger fights out again. Swagger blocks the bulldog, sending Jericho groin first in the corner. Swagger cleans house and goes for the Swagger Bomb but eats knees. Bulldog by Jericho and he misses the Lionsault. Swagger Bomb gets 2. Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho but Swagger escapes. Ankle Lock by Swagger but Jericho escapes and catches him with an enzuigiri. Swagger counters the Codebreaker into a belly to belly suplex for 2. Patriot Lock by Swagger but Jericho makes the ropes to break. Jericho catches Swagger in the Walls of Jericho and Swagger taps.
Winner- Chris Jericho **1/2 ( Solid if unspectacular match. Crowd was kind of flat since they weren’t going to get behind Swagger in Canada despite Jericho’s attempts the turn them. This was designed to give Jericho a nice win and at least he feels fresh again as he’s a natural in the heel role.)

Video package for Revival/Enzo and Cass airs.

NXT Tag Team Championships- The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) © vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass w/Carmella
Dash attacks Enzo to start and Enzo comes back with a head scissor take over. Cross body by Enzo and Cass tags in. Side walk slam by Cass gets 2. Key lock by Cass but Dash rakes the eyes to come back. Backdrop by Cass and Enzo tags in. Cass launches Enzo into the champs and he presses Dash onto Dawson. They clear the champs out of the ring and Cass tosses Enzo onto the floor onto them!!! Back in, Dash sends Enzo shoulder first into the post. Dash and Dawson work over Enzo and Dawson grabs a key lock. Enzo starts to fight out so Dawson puts him in the tree of woe. Tag to Dash and he drives his knee into the midsection of Enzo. Enzo tries to get away and get the tag but Dawson nails him, knocking him to the floor. Back in, Dawson works over Enzo in the corner and he charges but misses. Tag to Cass and he cleans house. Cass shoves Dawson to the floor and Dash rolls him up for 2. Big boot by Cass and he knocks Dawson off the apron with one. East River Crossing to Dash and he tags Enzo. Dawson blocks the Rocket Launcher and the champs catch Cass on the floor with the flapjacker/gut buster combo. Back in, Enzo leaps off the top and catches Dash with a DDT!!! He rolls up Dawson for 2!!! The Revival catch Enzo with Shatter Machine for 3.
Winners and Still NXT Tag Team Champions- The Revival *** ( Enzo and Cass really endeared themselves in front of their biggest crowd to date. Their catchphrases are super over and the crowd was into Enzo nearly pulling off the upset in the final stretch. Just a rock solid tag match with Dawson and Dash methodically targeting Enzo and when they took Cass out of the equation, they were able to finish the job. )

Natalya dedicates her match tonight to Bret Hart and she hopes a victory tonight will get her a title shot. Charlotte laughs at her so Natalya says if she’s so confident, she should put the title on the line. Natalya calls the Flairs cowards so Charlotte agrees to put the belt up for grabs.

WWE Diva’s Championship- Charlotte w/Ric Flair © vs. Natalya
They grapple on the mat to start and Charlotte grabs a body scissors. She catches Natalya in a half crab but she is able to escape. Chop by Natalya and she catches Charlotte in the Mexican Surfboard. Basement dropkick by Natalya and Charlotte bails. Baseball slide by Natalya and Charlotte pulls Natalya to the floor to come back. Back in, Charlotte covers for 2 and she drives Natalya repeatedly into the mat. Rear head scissors by Charlotte and she rolls Natalya around the mat. Natalya rolls her up for 2 and Charlotte cuts off the comeback with a clothesline. Swinging neck breaker by Charlotte gets 2 and she works over the leg of Natalya. Small package by Natalya gets 2 and Charlotte wraps Natalya’s leg off the post. They trade blows and Natalya catches Charlotte with a side Russian leg sweep. Lariat by Natalya and she goes for the Sharpshooter but Charlotte blocks. Roll-up by Charlotte gets 2 and she hits a big boot. Figure-4 by Charlotte but Natalya blocks the transition to the Figure-8. Charlotte rolls to the floor to apply more pressure to the leg and the ref forces the break. Back in, Charlotte hits Natural Selection for 2. Exploder suplex by Charlotte and she goes up. Natalya brings him down with a sit-out power bomb for 2!!! Charlotte counters the Sharpshooter into the small package for 2!!! They trade counters and Natalya grabs the Sharpshooter!!! Flair tries to help her out so Natalya takes a swing at him. Charlotte rolls her up and puts her feet on the ropes for 3!!!
Winner and Still WWE Diva’s Champion- Charlotte ***1/2 ( Damn good match. This was the most intense Diva’s match in some time with both girls delivering hard exchanges and they did a tremendous job building up their submission maneuvers. The crowd was buying into the close calls for Natalya and it’s matches like this that show how much a shame that Natalya doesn’t get to work with these girls on a consistent basis, as she really brings the best out of these girls. )

Video package for Lesnar/Wyatt airs.

Bray Wyatt w/Luke Harper vs. Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman
Before the match, Wyatt lists off everyone that Lesnar conquered but he will not conquer him. Wyatt says he made a deal with the devil, and now Harper is part of the match.

Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper vs. Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman
Lesnar drives some shoulders into Harper to start. Release German suplex by Lesnar and Harper bails. Brock stalks Wyatt, allowing Harper to catch him with a suicide dive!!! Back in, Harper works over Lesnar in the corner and he hits a big boot. Super kick by Harper and he hits a second one. Discus lariat by Harper gets 2. Harper grabs the Crossface but Lesnar escapes and hits suplex #2. Another big boot by Harper and he hits another super kick. Lesnar catches him with suplex #3. Four more by Lesnar and he hits the F-5 for 3. Suplex Count, 7.
Winner- Brock Lesnar **1/4 ( BROCK SMASH. I’ll give Brock props for giving Harper a little bit and even giving him a near fall but this was the typical Brock domination that we come to love from these Network specials. Also, keeping Bray complete out was a smart move since they can go to the singles match at a bigger show like SummerSlam or something down the line. )

Sami Zayn vs. Stardust
Feeling out process and Zayn goes to the arm of Stardust. Stardust catches Zayn trying to slingshot in with a forearm and he stretches Zayn across the post. Back in, Stardust stomps the midsection of Zayn and he hits a gordbuster for 2. Waist lock by Stardust but Zayn fights out so Stardust continues to work over the mid section. They go back to the waist lock but Zayn fights out so Stardust hits a knee to the midsection for 2. Short arm clothesline by Stardust and he grabs the Billy Goat’s Curse. Zayn against fights out so Stardust hits a Side Effect for 2. Small package by Zayn gets 2. Stardust puts Zayn on top and follows up. Zayn fights out and Stardust runs back up and hits the superplex for 2. Zayn cleans house and he hits some punches in the corner. Slam by Zayn and he goes up. He leaps but Stardust moves so Zayn low bridges him, sending Stardust crashing to the floor. Summersault plancha to the floor by Zayn!!!! Back in, Zayn hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. Disaster Kick by Stardust gets 2. Exploder suplex by Zayn and he hits the Helluva Kick for 3.
Winner- Sami Zayn **1/4 ( Man, they were left to die out there. They tried but they were the buffer match between the Lesnar and main event match, so the crowd wasn’t into what they were doing. Plus, it’s not as if Stardust is a huge heat magnet or anything, as his heat segment on Zayn was dry as hell. This was certainly not one of Zayn’s better performances, to say the least. )

Video package for HHH/Ambrose airs.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship- Triple H © vs. Dean Ambrose
HHH overpowers Ambrose to start and he grabs a key lock. Ambrose escapes and he catches HHH with a hip toss. He begins to work the arm and HHH escapes. Ambrose rakes the face of HHH before going back to the arm. Shoulders to the midsection by HHH and Ambrose hits a cross body on HHH. He clotheslines HHH to the floor and he hits the rebound lariat on the floor. Back in, Ambrose clips the leg of HHH and he dropkicks the leg of HHH. He wraps HHH’s leg off the post and HHH comes back with a gord buster onto the barricade. Back in, HHH chokes Ambrose in the ropes and he sling shots Ambrose in the ropes for 2. Release gord buster by HHH and he grabs the Crossface. Ambrose won’t quit so HHH releases to drop some elbows onto the back of Ambrose. Ambrose fires back but HHH cuts him off with the spine buster for 2. They go up and Ambrose fights him off. Standing flying elbow by Ambrose and both men are down. They slug it out and Ambrose cleans house. Corner forearm into the bulldog by Ambrose gets 2. Punches in the corner by Ambrose but HHH comes out with an inverted atomic drop. Ambrose counters the Pedigree into the jackknife roll-up for 2!!! Face buster by HHH but Ambrose comes back with the Jawbreaker Lariat for 2!!! HHH catches Ambrose with a clothesline and both men are down again. HHH goes for the Pedigree but Ambrose backdrops him to the floor to block. He looks to dive but HHH nails him to block. Ambrose shoves HHH into the steps and back in, Ambrose goes up. HHH crotches him to bring him down. HHH goes for a Pedigree but Ambrose counters into the Figure-4!!! HHH fights out so Ambrose catches HHH in the Sharpshooter!!!! HHH makes the ropes to break. Dirty Deeds by Ambrose gets 2 as the ref catches Ambrose’s leg under the bottom rope, stopping the count!!!! HHH rolls Ambrose up using the ropes for 2!!! Ambrose dumps HHH to the floor and he hits a suicide dive on HHH!!!! Ambrose sends HHH into the barricade and he goes up. Standing flying elbow to the floor by Ambrose!!!! Ambrose puts HHH on the announce and he goes for an elbow drop off the barricade but misses and crashes through the table!!! Ambrose makes it back in before the 10 count and HHH catches him with the Pedigree for 3!!!
Winner and Still WWE World Heavyweight Champion- Triple H ***3/4 ( Really good main event. The work in the match was great but it took some time to get the crowd buying into Ambrose. They finally got them with the Sharpshooter spot and after that it turned into some hot stuff. Ambrose fired at all cylinders until he crashed and burned and I loved the finish of HHH not wasting any time putting Ambrose away and letting him back into the match again.)

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

For what was esentially a pre-WrestleMania house show, this was pretty damn fun. The crowd certainly added to the show, as they were into a majority of the matches and were buying some of the potential upsets, which added more heat to matches like Charlotte/Natalya & HHH/Ambrose whose results seemed to be forgone conclusions. Everyone on the card put forth a good effort and the show served its' purpose of building up some of the participants at WrestleMania with a collection of solid, clean wins. This turned out to be a nice pit stop on the Road to WrestleMania, so check this show out if you get a chance.