Roadblock Review - An entertaining yet largely pointless Network special

There's been a lot of criticism online for WWE Roadblock last night, mainly due to the finish but it's hard to imagine what people actually thought would happen. The chances of Dean Ambrose walking out with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship were slim at best, yet people still complained about the result, much like they did at Fastlane a couple of weeks ago. People should remember that Roadblock was pure and simply a glorified House Show which had an outside chance of a swerve in the main event. Anyone who's ever been to a house show knows that Title's do not change hands at House Shows (Although I think occasionally one should just to add intrigue).

New Day vs The League of Nations kicked off the show and was actually pretty entertaining. The League of Nations have been stuck in a rut recently despite being made up of pretty talented workers. It looks like they might go into part of a multi-man Tag Team match at Wrestlemania which is OK I guess. New Day showed this past week on RAW that they do their best work with quick paced action alongside guys who can keep up with their pace, like Y2J and AJ Styles. The New Day are interesting because it looks like they've managed to pull off their face turn already. There is no doubt that New Day deserve a big spot on the card at Wrestlemania due to their work this past year. This match wasn't exactly a classic but it was pretty entertaining to watch.

Next up was Chris Jericho vs Jack Swagger which just seemed like one of those matches that WWE Creative decided just to pick the first person they saw backstage. Jericho came out and cut a Jericho Heel promo as he does, really well. Then out comes the heroic Babyface, Jack Swagger! Yes, apparently WWE thought Jack Swagger, an American Patriot, would be well received against a Heel Chris Jericho, one of Canada's greatest Wrestlers. This match was bad per say it just felt like It was there to get Y2J on the card. If they wanted him to face someone they should've had him face Sami Zayn. Jericho would've received a lot more Heat for beating Zayn. 

Enzo and Cass vs The Revival came next and Enzo and Cass are the definition of being over. Watching this match made the recent rumor that Vince McMahon isn't a fan of NXT even more baffling. Enzo and Cass are the type of thing that Vince McMahon likes. They're thoroughly entertaining, both on the mic and in the ring, while Big Cass looks like a monster at 7ft tall. The Revival are a great throwback to the tag teams of old and have shown to be deserving of their run as NXT Tag Team Champs. For me, this match was the match of the night. Full of great spots, both teams had great chemistry together and you were on the edge of your seat watching it. Enzo and Cass are pretty much due a main roster call up soon but don't be surprised if Dash and Dawson come with them. Both teams would thoroughly improve the lackluster Tag Division on RAW.

Charlotte vs Natalya for the Diva's title came next and this is exactly the type of Women's Wrestling people have been praying for since this whole "Diva's revolution" started. This was just a wrestling clinic between two fantastic in-ring workers. This was a proper wrestling match that had people, including myself, glued to the screen. We all knew that the Diva's title wouldn't change hands this close to Wrestlemania but this didn't take away from the entertainment of the match. Natalya again proved that her talent in being underutilized in WWE. Charlotte proved that her work has continued to improved. The only qualm I have is that Charlotte's matches continue to have strange finishes. This isn't in the sense that she cheats to win, more that it seems to be a bit botched every time. Still a great match though.

Next was Lesnar vs Wyatt and this was just strange. Lesnar is WWE's biggest draw and probably will be until he leaves or retires. He has the ability to put anybody over. Having Wyatt in a match with Lesnar here would've helped him gain back some credibility, even if he lost which we knew he would. Instead they had Lesnar fight Harper which was a pretty pointless decision. Harper is underrated in the ring but this match didn't go on long enough to prove that. Furthermore, Lesnar had no interaction with Bray in this match. Wyatt cost Lesnar a shot at Main Eventing Wrestlemania, If Brock is the destructive monster WWE paint him as then why is he not trying to absolutely annihilate Bray Wyatt for what he did. This match was just there. Lesnar was Lesnar. Harper ate a pin. Wyatt didn't get involved. Overall a pretty pointless affair.

Sami Zayn vs Stardust was next and the crowd was surprisingly dead for this match. Maybe it was because Lesnar was just on or maybe it was because this was more predictable than the fact that kittens grow up to be cats. Did anyone really think that Sami Zayn was going to lose this match to STARDUST? The match itself was pretty good but again, people had no reason to buy into it because they already knew what the result was going to be. Watching Sami Zayn makes you worry a little because it seems like WWE already don't know what to do with him outside of the Kevin Owens rivalry, which they claim started in NXT "cue face palm".

And now to the main event, Dean Ambrose vs Triple H. There was only ever going to be a slim chance of Dean Ambrose walking out champion here and deep down I think everyone accepted that it wasn't going to happen, even if they were the most hardcore Ambrose marks. This was a very entertaining match, it started off a little slow but it gained speed towards the end. Obviously we got the screwy false finish to make us believe that Ambrose had won but it was executed poorly on all fronts, both by Ambrose and by WWE. Ambrose got the 3 count but his foot was under the ropes. Now I don't know about you but I didn't know it was a rule that if the man executing the pinfall's foot was under the ropes then the call doesn't count. I would say about 80% of wrestling fans didn't know this either. Why then go that route? It was thoroughly confusing to everyone which was amplified by the fact that Ambrose's foot wasn't ACTUALLY under the bottom rope because Triple H was too far away from the ropes. It feels like WWE have painted themselves into a corner with this match. This was their last legitimate chance to cause a change to the main event of Wrestlemania and they chose to stick with their choice of Reigns vs Triple H, which is fine and they have every right to do that, but watching last night just reinforces fan claims that people won't buy into that match. It feels like the majority of fans are now booing Roman Reigns just for the sake of it. Dean Ambrose is the guy the people want right now and WWE have chosen not to go for it so it wouldn't surprise me if people turned on the main event with just a "Well if we can't have our guy then you won't have yours" type of mentality. 

Overall the show was pretty fun to watch even though it didn't exactly have much to live up to against the previous specials Beast In The East and Live from MSG. People can complain all they want but it's an extra night of Wrestling that was entertaining. Dean Ambrose yet again proved why he's championship material, while Enzo and Cass and The Revival provided yet another great advert for the ever growing brand of NXT.