And I’m Like… (Reviewing WWE Roadblock March 12, 2016)

Blogs , Other Blogs , WWE Network Reviews

10:55 pm March 12, 2016

“ It’s seven o’clock on the dot I’m watching roadblock with double W-E. There is a world title match with Triple H and Dean. New Day face the League of Nations. And bray with the beast he’s facin. Mania got plans for Roman to win/ the fans ain’t votin for him. Is it a pay per view or live event? Still commercials to interrupt, ain’t sayin much. I just want to review this show.

Show Opening

We start with visions of a dystopia… or Canada. It has HHH and Ambrose’s promos intertwined with video footage of Canada and their matches.

Then we see Bray telling the Beast to bow to him. Which means this is a double main event. This is pretty exciting. It doesn’t have that pay-per-view feel but it has that certain butterflies in the stomach effect.

Tag Team Championship Match

New Day (c) vs. League Of Nations (Sheamus and King Barrett)

Xavier asks us what we see when we look at The New Day. Like P.O.P holdin it down, hips that do not lie, Francesca II, and WWE Tag Team Champions. There are some horny people in the crowd tonight in Toronto.
“Booty-O’s” chant. They debuted their new cereal. They are “running through the six with their OH’S” Eat them or else you will be Booty.
Big E acts like a kid that doesn’t eat his Booty O’s. He will be Booty like Del Rio, have no Kingdom like Barrett, and stupid like Sheamus. They acknowledge that they have nothing for Rusev. and New Day Rocks
Barrett and Sheamus come out with smiles and they are doing squats and putting both hands up as their taunt. The crowd is hot by the way.
“New DayRocks” chants to start off the match.
Kofi is able to get a head scissors on Sheamus and Kofi is taunting like crazy. The crowd is eating it up. Sheamus was not and took control of the match with a clothesline.
There are so many booty based taunts with the New Day. I swear everything they do involves their hips at some point. They booty’ing, they gyratin’, they stay hip by moving them.
Sheamus and Barrett play the “heels beat on one guy card” with Kofi being the victim of the Leagues abuse.
Xavier quiets down while Sheamus and Barrett stay in control.
Sheamus gets tagged in and climbs to the top rope while screaming “are you not entertained?!?” He jumps off the top but gets caught by a Kofi dropkick.
Sweaty unicorn and rainbow tattoo’d ass Big E gets a hot tag and throws some overhead belly to bellies, some normal belly to bellies and ends up getting stopped by King Barrett and a beautiful tornado snap suplex from the corner.
Harley Race was one of Triple H’s idols, Triple H worked out with Sheamus for a bit to develop a friendship, Sheamus uses the Harley Race jumping knee strike.
That knee strike was reversed into a Trouble in Paradise, which was blocked into a cloverleaf, which was spun into a small package, which led to Sheamus kicking out and Kofi hittin an S.O.S. GORGEOUS SEQUENCE
Big E went for Big Ending but was shoved by Sheamus into Kofi who was on the top rope. Kofi messed up and landed directly on his head… wow.. ouch…
Barrett hits a basement superkick and has at least a 7 or 8 count. Problem is Xavier was distracting the ref and Sheamus chased Xavier into a waiting Kofi. Big E ends up putting Barrett away with a pin.

And I’m Like… New Day is on some next level stuff with these matches. They have their signature spots, they have nearfalls, surprise attacks, crowd participation, hot tags, excitement. These guys deserve to be on top of the tag divison. They are almost to the point where they don’t need the titles. Good job you guys. The LoN did tremendous too.

Creepy Greg is interviewing Paul Heyman, who pushes Greg off the camera because he knows it would be better for all of us. Heyman says “at Brock Lesnar’s convenience he will take revenge on Bray Wyatt and that will happen tonight.” Heyman uses sports to get cheers and says Bray is going down, down, down, down .

Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger

Tells Toronto to shut their filthy mouths. He said they could have cheered for him but they chose AJ Styles. How does he know? They have not been in Canada for a bit and like what does Jericho do? Walk around Toronto and listen to chants?
Jericho says he is the greatest icon in the history of the country. “We Want Bret” takes off .
Jericho says he isn’t coming, he says he is embarrassed to be Canadian and that Canada smells
Jericho even says that “We The People” was probably from Canada. He is trying hard to get boo’d as a Canadian in Canada against a “Real American”
He mus be a real NORTH American.
We start off with a slap from Jericho and after getting hit with some punches he scoots to the outside.
As Swagger is on the outside the crowd is chanting for AJ Styles
Sometimes I wonder if Swagger wasn’t arrested before Mania when he was starting the Real American gimmick, would he be a star right now? Would he be a Trump guy or Sanders guy? Would he even be involved in politics that way? He is just a “We the People” guy now.
“CM Punk” chants… so… Toronto is the Chicago of Canada? Sad.
Swagger is trying to get the crowd into it but they aren’t emotionally invested enough in Swagger as a character to care much about the match.
They start trading submission finishers like this was Backlash 2000. This is not Jericho/Benoit but the match has some of the same ideas.
There are Codebreaker reversals and a Walls of Jericho gets applied after Jericho grabs the ropes to get out of a Patriot Lock and Swagger taps quickly.

And I’m Like… The first match made it feel PPV, this one made it feel Live Event. That is cool, like this match was kinda useless. JBL was the worst screaming “you still got it” I am glad Swagger still has some work.

We get a video package of The Revival and Enzo and Cass.

NXT Tag Team Championship

Enzo and Cass vs. The Revival (c)

They go through the whole feud. From the Dash and Dawson first attack on Cass’ leg. To Cass and Enzo coming back with retribution. Then you got the beating in the parking lot and we are ready for a blood fight.
Enzo and Cass come out to some loud pops…. This is one of the largest crowds they have ever wrestled in front of, you can tell how hype they are.
Enzo goes into his spiel and the crowd his half knowing, their are enough people that know the words where you can hear the crowd backing them up… This theme song though… This theme song forever..
Carmella does “started from the bottom” and you can expect that from the boys who had a “back 2 back” reference in a Florida promo. They are in Drake’s home city so they are totally gonna do a reference.
The Revival comes out and I just don’t like the vocals on their song. I think just the instrumental would do them justice. They are The Revival, not some scruffy Tom Waits type Southern Rock Rap song.
Enzo has Guile type hair .
JBL says The Revival reminds him of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Good.
Revival was able to work over Enzo but once Cass got tagged in he has been in charge the whole way through.
Dawson and Dash got rocked by Cass and that dude is showing he can handle the whole team by himself. Cass throws Enzo into Dawson, then into Dash, then he throws Enzo over the top rope onto The Revival. “NXT” chants from the crowd.
Cole keeps talking like they are about to cut to commercial. It never goes to commercial though.
Enzo lost momentum and The Revival became surgical with this shit and took apart Enzo’s arm.
We know these guys are from NXT because both Cass and Dawson do what I have dubbed the “NXT Lock” because every NXT wrestler seems to have used or uses this hold. Cass even does a suped up version.
JBL is being won over by the rough and ruggedness of the Revival. They remind me of two dick Murdochs.
Enzo tried to dive for a tag but Dawson stopped him by doing a diving shoulder block.
Cass got a decent pop for his hot tag. I assume they did the Cass dominates early thing so the fans are quickly conditioned to know “when Cass tags in, he cleans house” We are quickly taught to react to him.
He comes in like a house of fire and Cole is calling ALL THE MOVES by name. He really does a great job sometimes.
AS Cass was setting up for the Rocket Launcher, Dawson rocked Enzo and Enzo fell off the top. Cass chased Dawson who hid behind Carmella. Cass got mad, Carmella slapped Dawson. Cass ran and got caught in a Shatter Machine on the outside.
Enzo tried to fight valiantly, even bloodying Dawson.
The Revival was able to do a new double team move that is an assisted DDT from the top rope kinda deal. They won the match to the enjoyment of JBL, Toronto, and myself.

And I’m Like… That was great. They had a hard time following New Day but I think this match delivered. I don’t know what to say. All the moves made sense, the story was easy to tell, Revival are a TEAM! Cass is basically the team on the other end. Enzo is there to run interference normally. The crowd was receptive and loved the match. This show is turning out very well.

Nattie and Charlotte have a confrontation in front of Creepy Greg. Charlotte puts the title on the line because she is in another league in comparison to Nattie. Nattie is dedicating this to Bret Hart.

Diva’s Championship Match

Charlotte w/ Ric Flair (c) vs. Nattie

Headed to Toronto… Tomorrow my career will come full circle against @NatbyNature #WWERoadblock pic.twitter.com/2wipG5du1E

— Charlotte (@MsCharlotteWWE) March 12, 2016

Charlotte lets us know the history behind this match.
The announcers point out Nattie was the only woman to graduate out of the Hart Dungeon.
Charlotte and Nattie start off with some mat wrestling. Nattie is showing Charlotte she can out wrestle her but Charlotte is answering every counter with a counter.
Charlotte chops Nattie and says sassily “I am the champ now!” Nattie chops Charlottes chest so hard Charlotte fell to her knees.
Nattie put her in the surfboard and the spine stomp to a pop from the crowd.
Charlotte is getting her ass kicked so hard, her facial expression shows that she is regretting this decision.
Cole says that Charlotte has become the “Dirtiest Diva in the Game”. That has the best ring to it.
JBL said beating a Hart in Canada is like beating a Guerrero in El Paso, “it’s just that much more fun”
Charlotte is starting to feel confident after pulling Nattie to the outside and gaining control. She is taunting more now as Ric struts on the outside. She is starting to hit her signature moves to.
Nattie went for her discus clothesline but Charlotte reversed that into a neckbreaker followed by a Flair Strut.
The longer the match goes the more Charlotte shines. She is like Floyd Mayweather. Rounds 1-4 he will move quickly and back away from his opponent while judging distance for his punches. Once he figures it out its damn near impossible, or in his case, impossible to beat him. Charlotte has figured out Nattie and how certain big moves affect her. She now has the confidence and will be near impossible to beat.
Charlotte and Nattie compete in a yay/boo spot. Nattie ends up trying to apply a Sharpshooter but gets a slap in the mouth and a boot to the face.
Charlotte grabbed Nattie’s lifeless body and puts Nattie into the Figure-8. Nattie is the first one to truly block the bridge part of the move by raising her weight and making it strain Charlotte’s leg too much. Nattie reverses the hold.
They aren’t breaking the hold and Charlotte is slapping Nattie and screaming at her to quit. Nattie says no and they roll to the outside. Charlotte wouldn’t break the hold and it damaged Nattie’s knee severely.
Nattie was nursing her knee and Charlotte it Natural Selection like in their first encounter when it won her the match. This time Nattie kicked out.
let’s take a minute and appreciate how great this match is…….
Charlotte isn’t out of tricks though, she hit an exploder suplex and climbs to the top rope as her dad yells ” give her the moonsault baby!”
Nattie is able to reverse that to a sit-out powerbomb that the entire arena bought as the finish.
A This is Awesome chant fills the arena. This is the redebut of the true Woman’s Revolution. Nattie and Charlotte ushered it in after Paige and Emma opened the door.
Nattie reversed Charlottes attempt into a Sharpshooter. The crowd is on their feet and this moment feels incredible. Nattie goes to clock Flair but Charlotte does a roll up with rope assistance and won the match.

And I’m Like… That will be on best of lists, dvd’s, and countdowns. They hooked the live crowd and me too. Way to go girls.. I think the main roster fans are ready for this to truly take off. This is a match that should be seen. This show is getting better and better.

Bray Wyatt vs. Brock Lesnar

Bray cuts a promo New Jack style. That means the music plays while the wrestler performs. Bray Wyatt says all the people Lesnar conquered but said Brock never conquered him. Bray made a deal with the devil himself to make the match a handicap match.

~~Bray Wyatt vs. Brock Lesnar~~

Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt vs. Brock Lesnar

Brock’s face looks no different than if he was wrestling one person.
Paul Heyman grabs the mic and presents Brock Lesnar.
Heyman calls Lesnar the NightMayor of Suplex City.
It is a handicap tag match… That is kinda stupid on Bray’s part, if you are gonna get a handicap match by dealing with the devil, why not make it tornado rules.
Lesnar starts German’ing Harper and that starts the “suplex city” chants.
Harper dives and takes down Brock while Lesnar was preoccupied by staring at Wyatt.
Harper is doing his greatest hits album by hitting two superkicks and a discus clothesline. Bray isn’t even on the apron he is standing on the outside like he is a manager.
Lesnar took enough punishment and quit playing around so now he is just suplexing Harper all over the ring while smiling at Bray. Toronto is up to the count of 11. No 12.
He is up to 13 now and the crowd cheers louder and louder. Lesnar hits an F-5 and pins Harper.
Wyatt never got in the ring…. Brock wins.

And I’m Like… The match ends and Brock gets out the ring and onto the ramp, he chases Bray a bit and Bray hightails it to the Gorilla. I wasn’t digging that but now that I think about it. Harper was sacrificed for the greater good. We still haven’t seen Bray vs. Brock and that can build til Summerslam.

Sami Zayn vs. Stardust

I am digging this match-up. Sami got a huge pop too. “Ole” chants to start off the match. It sounds different when the arena is so large.
Stardust is outwrestled by Sami and he looks at Zayn and smiles in a thought provoking way.
The crowd chants “Cody” and Stardust loses his cool a bit but it lit enough of a fire for him to gain the upper hand on Zayn.
Cole points out that “Ole” was a chant to pay homage to his older persona. That is weird, I thought Generico had those taunts, and I believe he trained Sami. Then when Sami was signed to the Performance Center, Generico went to Mexico to work with Orphans, pretty sure Kevin Steen is with him.
“Let’s go Sami” is kinda the chant of the night, the crowd won’t stop chanting for him. Well they did once the “JBL” chants start.
Stardust is putting a beating on Sami but no one is really buying it because Stardust has become such a joke in the win/loss department. Having him in a match doesn’t really add drama to the match, no matter how good Cody is at playing Stardust.
Stardust can’t put Sami away at all, he even tries a superplex, but Sami is able to fight out of that. Well he did for a bit but he took to long to capitalize and Stardust got all Shelton Benjaminy and hopped to the top rope to hit the superplex.
JBL let’s us know Scott Irwin was the first one to do a superplex, he is from Minnesota.
Sami is getting the energy back and beginning to mount a comeback. Most of the crowd is behind him and cheering.
Sami and Stardust begin to switch finisher set ups.
Stardust is able to hit the beautiful disaster but that only got two.
Sami fought back and hit an exploder suplex in the corner followed by a Helluva Kick for the win.

And I’m Like… That match was good to great. I love that most of the card is filled with people HHH has been known to support. From the Sheild’s Dean Ambrose getting a title match, to Bray, to New Day, to Sami. This is probably a tester to see if the next chosen group can carry an event. I am happy Stardust was the opponent picked for Sami because they had great chemistry.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose

After the introductions, we get dueling “let’s go Ambrose/HHH”
They start with a bit of chain wrestling interspersed with some brawling. Both men show confidence and focus in their facial expressions.
Ambrose outwrestled HHH then did the old Razor Ramone by patting the back of his oppents head. Ambrose pulled an HBK and rested on the ropes, then he did the “suck it” to HHH.
Toronto starts a “CM Punk” chant and the other portion of the crowd boo’s.
Ambrose puts an armlock on and grabs at HHH’s nose, then his ear, then joint manipulates HHH’s hands. That is good because it puts over how Ambrose is smart but unorthodox. What he does makes sense but isn’t done by many people.
HHH lands a few punches but Dean is able to throw HHH over the top rope. He also when outside hits Triple H with that rebound lariat.
What if HHH takes a DQ finish? That would make Ambrose seem like he could have won but then if Roman wins at Mania it will be a nice build for the inevitable Ambrose vs. Reigns.
Ambrose added more psychology to the match by picking the leg of HHH as the limb to destroy.
HHH is the gutsy veteran and ring general. He creates distance from Ambrose so then he has a better chance of attack. HHH is able to attempt a Pedigree on the outside but Dean reverses into a catapult. H kicks Ambrose into the steps and turned the tied of the match.
Ambrose is selling a rib injury that Byron and Cole tell us is from the Brock Lesnar attacks.
HHH puts a crossface on Dean Ambrose and Dean isn’t even trying to fight it, he just takes the submission and screams. HHH does a half Radicalz by turning a Crossface into a Rings of Saturn. He just needs to turn that to the Lasso from El Passo and end in a Cloverleaf that would be a full Radicalz
HHH hit a spinbuster and we got a nearfall. That makes me think of an episode of Breaking Ground where Sami was helping train Eva Marie and he says pins are the punctuation to the story of wrestling. The moves are the words but you need time to digest the words so you need a period. You might need some urgency so you need a big move near fall with an exclamation point. It’s a different way of thinking but it helps explain why we think a spinebuster from HHH is a impactful move. HHH has ended his spinebuster with periods for years.
Ambrose counters the Pedigree and got a two count. That adds to the punctuation thing, The faster the nearfalls happen, the quicker it feels the urgency is. It makes you digest every move like. you. would. one. word. at. a. time.
Ambrose attempts Dirty Deeds but HHH gets out, he gets caught with an Ambrose clothesline for a two count.
HHH rolls to the outside and clocks Ambrose as he tries to dive through the ropes. Triple H cleans off the table to put Dean through it but Dean is able to fight out of it.
Ambrose is able to counter the HHH so often because he has feuded with Rollins a bunch, who also uses the Pedigree.
Ambrose ties his plan in a neat bow when he does a Figure Four leglock. He worked over HHH’s legs all night and now is doing submissions that hurt the leg.
Ambrose even puts HHH in the Sharpshooter! Being a Bret Hart fan, I know that this move can knock people out from pain and also is one of the easiest to crawl out of.
HHH crawled out of the move to boo’s from the crowd.
Triple H walked and stumbled into Dirty Deeds. The ref counted three and the crowd exploded… The ref did not ring the bell because Dean’s feet were under the bottom rope.
Ambrose was yelling at the referee and HHH roll up with rope assistance. Ambrose kicked out.
HHH was thrown over the top turnbuckle, Ambrose dove at him, “This is Awesome” from the crowd. Ambrose jumps off the top rope and does the ‘suck it’ to HHH. Dean screams at HHH “I am doing it”
Ambrose puts HHH on the table, throws punches, Ambrose rolls in the ring to reset the count. He climbs on the barricade, he jumps at the table. HHH moves and Ambrose crashes and burns. See HHH has wrestled in Attitude Era so he knows how to counter an announcers table spot.
Ambrose rolls in at the count of 9 and runs into a Pedigree. Ambrose loses.

And I’m Like…. We are on the way to Mania where Roman will beat HHH. Many people were very excited for what could be, now it could be a let down. I am questioning why this was a special if it didn’t change storylines. I think it honestly was to gage how well their “new stars” could draw for an event. I am happy this event happened. We were blessed with amazing matches and not much of anything that wasn’t enjoyable.

Cole says in 3 weeks its WrestleMania…. WOW?!?! That crept up on us! Well that was a fun event, I am glad to have watched it. Thank you for reading.

Please if you could, like or share, it helps me out and I do appreciate it.

Have a good one !

-Jake