Previewing The Roadblock: End Of The Line Midcard Matches

Can Sami Zayn survive 10 minutes against Braun Strowman? If nothing else, this feud has taken an interesting turn. How often do you get a match like this? But how good will the match really be? Will it just be Sami Zayn trying to avoid Strowman for most of the match? Will he actually take the fight to the big guy? Zayn will obviously have some kind of impressive showing. And even if he lasts 10 minutes, Strowman does not necessarily have to take a pinfall loss. Or will Zayn look weak and eventually end up on Smackdown? That is another issue, but I will say he does survive this Sunday.

There has been an interesting story playing out with Rusev, Lana, Enzo, and Cass. This Sunday, it is Cass facing Rusev. This feud won't end that easily. And this just seems like a feud where the faces should come out on top. Until then, however, Rusev should look strong. He should be beating Cass at Roadblock: End of the Line.

The Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line. Rich Swann defends against Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins, the only other two people to have held the new title. I have said before that I don't think Rich Swann is really a long-term Champion. The WWE has not put proper work into him. But does the title go back to Kendrick or Perkins? I say Kendrick wins it back.

New Day have their record. Does that mean the reign of terror ends? Cesaro & Sheamus will get another shot at the titles this Sunday. On one hand, New Day really does not need the titles anymore. On the other hand, Cesaro & Sheamus don't feel like they really deserve it right now. Cesaro has held a title or accolade every year he has been on the main roster. He won the United States Championship in 2012 and held it into 2013. He won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2014. He won the tag titles in 2015. Will 2016 be a dead year for him, as far as titles and accolades go? And Sheamus is Sheamus. The WWE loves giving him title pushes you would not think he actually deserves. I will say these two win the titles.

Previewing The Roadblock: End Of The Line Women's Match

You know the WWE has way too many PPVs now when they are pretty much recycling event names within a year. Sasha Banks defends the Raw Women's Championship against Charlotte for the last time in an Ironman match.

There has just been so much to criticize with this feud. First, it has been endless. There have been too many title changes in the last few months, which has warranted rematch after rematch. There have been multiple women that could have gotten proper title feuds that have just been floating around during these last few months. Bayley was added to a triple-threat a few months ago, but that is not the same as Bayley getting a singles push. Moreover, you have to wonder if she even would have been in that match if the WWE had things work out the way they intended. You also have Emma(lina). She hasn't debuted. Nia Jax has been made to look strong and has nowhere to go with it.

No rematch for the loser of the match this Sunday? Okay, if that is the way it has to be to end this feud. Don't be surprised if Charlotte and Sasha Banks still face each other in 2017, and possibly for the title. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn supposedly had their "final" encounter a number of months ago. They have faced each other a couple times since then. If anything, at least, this stipulation means a fresh feud will be starting after this Sunday.

Another thing to dislike is that history has just been stuffed between these two women in this short time. First two women to main-event a PPV. First two women to wrestle inside Hell in a Cell. First two women to have an Ironman match on the main roster. It is just abrasive to listen to some of these promos during this feud. The company is just trying way too hard. Relax. Worry about entertaining the fans, not hyping things up that the majority of potential viewers out there are not going to buy into to tune in on a consistent basis.

Who wins? I think the next potential feud might give a clue. Bayley looked to be on the road to a push against Charlotte for the title. That push got blocked when the WWE tossed the title back to Sasha Banks. Charlotte will likely get the title back so that she can continue her feud with Bayley.

And how many title reigns will Charlotte get handed to her off of her next feud? Her father won titles over the span of decades. Her father was also a lot more charismatic and deserved to be pushed at a high level and treated like a legend. Charlotte is going to win as many titles as her father and in half the time. It is disgusting. And if the WWE does juggle the title around Charlotte next year like they have these last few months, it will be vomit-inducing. Even if Charlotte had the overness to deserve this type of career, it is annoying booking for anyone to have. It's like stat-padding in sports. A player just keeps on putting up numbers when the game is out of hand, whether his team is winning or losing. Whenever it happens, some fans out there always roll their eyes. Overrating Charlotte with all these title reigns and history is not going to get her over. And if she can't get the overness to deserve the big career she has gotten, how about giving someone else a chance?

Previewing Roadblock's Two Main Matches

The WWE is having a special event this Saturday. These are the things they need to do to help sell the WWE Network. A few mini-feuds will be featured at Roadblock. Some might wonder if doing this takes away from the main feuds heading into Wrestlemania. Maybe, but a little change might help to freshen things up at times. I will only look at the top two matches of the event.

First, Brock Lesnar takes on Bray Wyatt. Lesnar faces a heel, Bray Wyatt, at Roadblock, then faces a face, Dean Ambrose, for Wrestlemania a few weeks after. Lesnar is a tweener. Does that hurt his ability to connect with the audience? I sometimes say that switching alignments of divas frequently might hurt their ability to connect with the audience. Are fans supposed to cheer them? Boo them? What? Brock Lesnar does not face that problem. People just want to see him be that destructive force. It doesn't matter whether he's going against heels or faces. What is more likely to hurt him is showing up and not doing anything. He can't destroy people all the time, but that is what helps him to be valuable.

The feud between Bray Wyatt and Lesnar looked like something they could have developed for Wrestlemania. Lesnar was starting to have issues with The Wyatts around the Royal Rumble. Putting that on hold so Lesnar can face Reigns and Ambrose for Fastlane kind of ruined the momentum of that feud. While that got ruined, the potential for a better feud between Lesnar and Ambrose grew. It is a good thing the WWE is going in that direction.

I cannot imagine how the WWE could build a proper feud between Lesnar and Bray Wyatt for Wrestlemania. Lesnar is a part-timer. Bray faced a part-timer, The Undertaker, last year. He pretty much had to carry the feud through promos. Lesnar would obviously show up more than Taker did last year, but I don't think the WWE could drag this out well. Would Roadblock feature Lesnar facing one of the other Wyatts? Or would he have a mini-feud against someone else, which definitely would have ruined the feel of his feud with Bray? The story with Ambrose and Lesnar just feels better.

Who wins? If this match was happening at Wrestlemania, some fans might be hopeful that Bray Wyatt would win so he could finally accomplish something big. At a special event, however, there is pretty much no chance Lesnar loses. The WWE has been putting Lesnar in matches at these kind of events just so he could destroy people. He's going to have a lot of bodies to destroy at Roadblock, but he will likely win and move on to Dean Ambrose.

Speaking of Ambrose, he faces Triple H for the WWE Championship. This mini-feud has been getting some solid build in the last two weeks. Roman Reigns not being around probably helps that. Dean Ambrose is allowed to be the interim centerpiece. Roman Reigns still has a title shot coming, but Triple H getting in a title defense before that is a good move.

I had said a while ago that there were no reports of Reigns being legitimately injured. Not too long after I said it, reports popped up that he was dealing with a slight injury that required him to take time off. Some fans are still complaining about Reigns taking time off. He could still have shown up to be a part of the show in a non-wrestling capacity. Rusev was in crutches and still showing up last year. I still say it is a good idea for him to not be around, mainly because it allows Ambrose to get his push without looking too much like a sidekick to Reigns.

Roman Reigns has two issues, if the injury reports are true. Aside from the injury, he still has that overness issue. Negative fan reactions have seemed to impact the WWE's Wrestlemania plans these last two years. The plan for this year's Wrestlemania just seems obvious. Reigns beats Triple H to regain the title. Will issues change that plan? How can you have a centerpiece of the company that never gets any big Wrestlemania moments? Last year was supposed to be the first big Wrestlemania for Roman Reigns. The moment ended up going to Seth Rollins. If the WWE is once again planning to take the moment away, whether because of injury issues or overness issues, Roadblock could be their last chance to change things. There is no Money in the Bank briefcase to use this time.

It just seems unlikely that Dean Ambrose would win. That would mess up the Wrestlemania card. What would happen to his match with Lesnar? What about Reigns and his title shot? What about Triple H's rematch? The easy answer might be to make a four-way match. Problem is, that takes away one match from the card. What do you do? The roster is already limited due to injuries. It is doubtful the WWE just starts tossing together random filler matches for a PPV as big as Wrestlemania. How long can you really drag out the matches they do have planned? Will The Undertaker's entrance have to last 30 minutes alone? Not to mention the personal feel being ruined in the feud between Roman Reigns and Triple H. Dean Ambrose will one day win the WWE Championship. I just do not think it will be right now.

No Roman Reigns On The Road To Wrestlemania

Roman Reigns won the right to face Triple H at Wrestlemania. One night after that, Triple H came out on Raw and destroyed Roman Reigns. They have created an injury angle and Reigns has not been used since.

The popular opinion with many fans is that Roman Reigns was taken off the road to Wrestlemania because he would get destroyed by fans that dislike him. The WWE is visiting some rowdy crowds around this time, including Chicago for Raw next week. Roman Reigns succeeded in winning over his critics for a brief time, but they still hate him. Not only is he likely to be booed on the road to Wrestlemania, but he might get a terrible reaction at Wrestlemania.

Just for the sake of fairness, let me bring up some other possibilities for why the WWE would take Roman Reigns out for a brief period. The injury was not real. There are no reports of Reigns taking time off for a real injury. But how about doing this to further the storyline? Roman Reigns took Triple H out for a couple of weeks with a brutal attack. It is not unusual for the WWE to turn the tables on someone to further a storyline. The Undertaker got an advantage over Brock Lesnar last year with some low blows. A low blow from Lesnar to Taker eventually led to Taker's downfall in their final encounter. The WWE could just be trying to add some heat to the story between Roman Reigns and Triple H.

How about taking Roman Reigns out of the picture briefly so Dean Ambrose can have this mini-feud against Triple H? Dean Ambrose will get a title shot at Roadblock against Triple H. Is there a possibility that the WWE doesn't want Roman Reigns involved in this mini-feud and just decided to take him out a few weeks to let Ambrose get the spotlight? They might not want to congest things too much.

I am not denying that they could have done it to avoid rowdy crowds. Of course, they can't dodge these fans forever. If they do not have confidence in Roman Reigns going out there, he should not be their centerpiece. It is one thing to want to protect your centerpiece in terms of not putting him in a position where he'll look bad, but not having the confidence to use him during your biggest time of the year? The centerpiece is like a star quarterback. You might rest him in meaningless games, but you want him to be prepared heading into the Super Bowl. If this was done for the sake of adding heat to the feud between Reigns and Triple H, fine. If this was done just to have Reigns avoid crowds that would shred him, the WWE might want to reconsider what they are doing. Roman Reigns hasn't even been the new top guy for long. And a top guy like this can become a distraction for the WWE. Time and energy is going to be put into protecting Roman Reigns that could have been put into other workers on the roster.

Some people might say Roman Reigns is looking worse than John Cena, another centerpiece that has been bringing questionable results. I do see some fans being hypocrites. They were upset when John Cena got "fired" during the Nexus angle and took no time off. When Roman Reigns takes some time off to sell a brutal beating from Triple H, they are upset over that. People wanted a break from Cena for the longest while. They don't have to wait long to get a break from Reigns. I do think some fans are being unfair to Roman Reigns. He's not the greatest performer, but it is seems like people will criticize him and what the WWE is doing with him whether he is there or not. If some fans eased up their criticism, maybe the WWE would not need to protect Roman Reigns so much. Or just stop watching, coming to the events, and spending money on the WWE. If the WWE dislikes that, maybe that will motivate them to change.