This Saturday, the WWE holds the last special before Wrestle Mania 32. The matches on the card could potentially change the entire complexion of this year’s Mania. Let’s see what are the most likely and the most unlikely results for each match at Roadblock!
The Revival (Dash & Dawson) vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass
Likely: Looking at the tag team scene in NXT, it seems obvious that the biggest face duo right now is the American Alpha. Gable & Jordan, aided by Gable’s infinite charisma, have seen a steady rise to the top in the last 6 months. They are being groomed to be champions.
Therefore, the most likely outcome for the Tag Team Titles match at Roadblock is to see the champs retain and then feud with American Alpha. Enzo & Big Cass will get exposure to the non-NXT fans through the match and it will open the door to the main roster for them. There the Certified Gs could become the team, chosen to end the New Day’s reign.
Unlikely: Realistically, there are no shocking twists that could occur in this match. The feud is too straightforward for that. However, there is a slight chance Enzo and Cass will get a run with the NXT Tag Team Titles.
It would be a deserved victory because Enzo and Cass are one of the top veteran teams on NXT. However, that sounds quite underwhelming, knowing that the main roster titles need a change of hands soon and that Enzo & Cass could get them in a brilliant WrestleMania moment. What could be a better main roster debut for them?
The New Day vs. Barrett & Sheamus
Likely: Following the logic of my most likely prediction for the previous match, the New Day should retain, in order to put over Enzo and Cass. The New Day’s reign has been long and entertaining. However, the rest of the division is weak and it needs rebuilding.
Dropping the belts to Sheamus and Barrett would be a mistake because these two won’t last as a team for too long, therefore, they won’t bring any long-term change to the Tag Team Division. Enzo and Cass, on the other hand, are a true tag team and they have a bright future in the WWE. They are the change the division needs and the New Day should go down only to make that change happen.
Unlikely: However, there is a version of this match, where The League of Nations wins. Barrett and Sheamus, who, in a recent promo, called themselves The Lads (this could be a subdivision of the League of Nations), have great chemistry together. They’ve been piling up victories over the last couple of weeks. This could be considered enough momentum to defeat the New Day. A championship reign would be a nice farewell gift for Barrett, who’s supposedly leaving the company soon.
Then again, this scenario is unlikely because a full-fledged feud between the New Day and the League of Nations would mean a face turn for the New Day. Until now, both teams maintained their heel status because there was no real rivalry, only taunts. However, losing the titles would make the New Day take things seriously and pursue The Lads. Inevitably, that would make the New Day the face of the story.
The problem is that the New Day simply suck as faces. They tried and failed miserably. The only reason why they are so over is that they became a strange breed of heel that’s mean and annoying but in a hilarious way. In case of a victory for the League of Nations, the New Day’s popularity might get put to the test.
Bray Wyatt vs. Brock Lesnar
Likely: The most obvious outcome would be to see the Beast destroy the Eater of Worlds. Bray Wyatt doesn’t have nearly enough momentum to even suggest any plausible chances of defeating Lesnar. The Wyatt Family couldn’t even defeat the random team of faces they had to wrestle on SmackDown. Bray hasn’t done anything as a singles competitor in a while and, in general, the only way Brock could have lost would have been if he was facing the entire Wyatt Family. Even then, it would have been difficult to imagine the Beast get pinned.
The most realistic scenario would be to see Brock manhandle Bray Wyatt while fending off attacks from the other members of the family. That would make the Ambrose vs. Lesnar match at Mania even more exciting. The Lunatic Fringe lost a feud to Bray Wyatt. Brock, on the other hand, would have defeated the entire family on his own by that point. The odds for success at Mania would get even more unrealistic for the Lunatic Fringe and that is exactly what makes the Ambrose vs. Lesnar feud so appealing.
Unlikely: Then again, the Wyatt Family might surprise us. They might just prove themselves to be more dangerous than expected. I think that in any case, Brock would win. However, it could be a DQ. It wouldn’t be out of character if the Wyatts jumped Lesnar the moment it seems like he’s finally done playing with Bray.
If the Wyatt Family come on top in their assault on the Beast, that would create a feud between them, giving Brock a possible new rivalry to work on for Wrestle Mania. It’s terribly unlikely that the WWE would change their Mania plans so close to the event, but if Lesnar goes down, you can expect Ambrose to pull off a shocker later on.
Dean Ambrose vs. Triple H
Likely: Regardless of all the hype, the safest booking choice would be to have Ambrose come close and then fail. The entire WrestleMania card is on the line and that’s too much work to be tossed away, in favour of a last-moment change of plans for the Lunatic Fringe.
Triple H needs to beat Ambrose. That is the perfect way to make the Game feel like a heel. People cheered for him when he destroyed Reigns but if the fans perceive that Hunter buried Ambrose at Roadblock, they might just boo him, as they should.
I don’t think that’s really going to solve Reigns’ popularity problem but it’s the best shot the WWE has at walking Triple H into WrestleMania 32 as a hated heel.
Unlikely: The easy way out for this section would be to say that Ambrose could win. And maybe that’s possible but I have a much more interesting and much more unlikely version to offer.
Triple H vs. Ambrose could turn out to be a very dirty match. It could go something like this: The ref gets knocked out at one point. The Game pulls out the hammer, taking Ambrose out with it. Then, as Triple H is assaulting Ambrose, Reigns shows up and spears him with a roar. Roman gets hold of the hammer and Triple H pulls back on the floor but as Roman is about to swing at him, Hunter yells that if he loses, there’s no WrestleMania for Roman. Reigns screams in frustration and kicks Hunter viciously. Then he turns around towards Ambrose who’s just managed to get on one knee. Behind Dean hangs the WrestleMania sign. Roman looks at it than says: “I’m sorry, brother” and knocks Dean out with the hammer. Then he allows Triple H to crawl into the cover, as the ref comes back into it and counts to three. Triple H grabs his title with a smug, taunting smile on his face, as Roman walks out, visibly distressed.
Next night on RAW, Ambrose would be justifiably furious and the crowd would be with him. Reigns would come out and try to explain that he still loves Dean as a brother,but if Ambrose had won, Roman would have lost his shot and he couldn’t have allowed the title to slip away from his hands one more time. The fans would obviously boo Reigns even more than before and it would slowly lead to his final breakdown. Meanwhile, Ambrose would be kept away from taking revenge by Lesnar, who wouldn’t allow him to just drop their match. At Mania, Roman would still try to explain himself. He’d even go after Triple H with pure hatred because he had forced him to turn on his brother. But as he pins the Game, the crowd would still boo him out of the building, so Reigns would finally embrace it and become heel. Then, he’d come face to face with Ambrose who would have gone to Suplex City and come back. Bear in mind, their feud would happen in a completely new regime, in which Raw is controlled by face Shane McMahon. It would be one interesting feud. Roman would be truly One vs. All. The Authority would hate him, the new boss would hate him, the fans would hate him and even his best friend would hate him but that’s the price he would have had to pay to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion again.
Overall, if the WWE Creative goes wild, Roadblock could bring to the table more than anyone could have predicted.
What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised