Review for WWE Roadblock 2016

Raw's final PPV of the year is the aptly named Roadblock: End of the Line and I must say it was a hodgepodge mess of an event that I really cannot wrap my head around. There is literally nothing on this PPV that I could recommend and when you consider the matches I watched and the people involved this is really disappointing.

The Kickoff match between Rusev and Big Cass was appalling. That's all there is to it. It helped no one involved and usually I say it's great to see the Enzo and Cass intro and seeing Lana is always great. Here? It just wasn't enough. It ended in a pointless way and it felt a little cheap. Cesaro and Sheamus against The New Day to me was just too little too late. WWE spent the past few weeks bigging up the fact they were approaching beating Demolition's title reign length and really if they had wanted to make this feud mean something with Cesaro/Sheamus they should have had them stop it. That would have made it interesting. Them beating The New Day six days after just means nothing. The match itself was fine, but nothing special and certainly not how I expected the reign to end.

Sami Zayn lasting ten minutes with Braun Strowman... because? To me this is almost like when WCW would try and get Goldberg to put on longer matches. This is not what Strowman is good at (if you can say he's good at anything). He is a powerhouse/three moves in a match guy and really the idea of him being in a match over four minutes is ridiculous and also boring. This should have had a stipulation like Sami Zayn had to defeat him in ten minutes because otherwise Zayn could have just ran around the ring for ten minutes.

Seth Rollins against Chris Jericho was a good match. I wouldn't have expected any less from the two, though I have seen better. The ending should have led to the implosion of the Owens/Jericho friendship which could have led to some great matches... instead... well...

The amazing Triple Threat match for the Cruiserweight Championship... was SIX MINUTES LONG!!! I feel like I am saying this every time. If the match is not good enough to be longer than ten minutes then it shouldn't be on a PPV!!!?? This could and should have been match of the night and the whole thing with Neville felt rushed and wasted. Instead nothing made sense and nothing mattered. On the 205 Live show I can understand matches being this short... on a PPV? There is no excuse. NONE!!!

The 30 Minute Iron Man match for the Women's Championship should have been another milestone for the Women's division. I expected this to be a repeat of Sasha's Iron Man match against Bayley from NXT which won numerous Match of the Year awards. However, in my opinion it was one of the most disappointing and disjointed matches I have ever watched.

Now if you recall in the last PPV, Sasha Banks lost her title to Charlotte so you would be forgiven for thinking this would be Charlotte defending her title. Nope. Once again in 29 days Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte on Raw to then be beaten 20 days later by Charlotte (PPV Streak intact again???) in this poorly booked match which tried so hard to get the crowd invested... and it started off so well and yet as the seconds dwindled down... no one cared and Sasha tapping out with two seconds to go was the ultimate slap in the face. Going into Sudden Death should have been the moment when Sasha Banks proved that she was the dominant champion that she had been in NXT... instead it was a weak end to an awful feud and the SEVENTH title switch in EIGHT MONTHS!? This is utterly ridiculous and though I'm glad this awful rushed feud between Charlotte and Sasha is over I don't see how either of them benefited from it in the slightest.

Finally we have the main event between Roman Reigns and WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. This match was good, but nothing special. It had some good spots and the two of them work well together. The finish made a little bit of sense, although I do wish they had followed up on the Jericho/Owens potential feud instead of this mini The Shield reunion which though exciting went nowhere afterwards.

Roadblock: End of the Line was just that. It felt like this was the last straw in a poor end to the year. I found little enjoyment in watching this PPV and very little makes me want to recommend it. Every match felt rushed and poorly booked and even what should have been Match of the Year contenders such as the Women's Iron Man match were painful to watch and left a bitter taste in the mouth. It is a shame that this is what the Raw brand has left 2016 with, but hopefully 2017 can get better.