With everyone anxiously awaiting Royal Rumble 2017, WWE puts on its final PPV of the year on Sunday evening with Roadblock: End of the Line, headlined by Kevin Owens defending the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns and a 30-Minute Iron Man Match for the Women’s Championship. With four titles on the line and seven matches booked for the evening, the Monday Night Raw brand hopes to go out with a bang as they prepare for Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg in the highly anticipated Royal Rumble Match next month.
NOTE: For members of the WWE Universe that are unable to watch WWE Roadblock 2016 live on the WWE Network on December 18, the results of the event will be posted on this Inquisitr page in real-time with available video highlights and commentary.
WWE Roadblock: End of the Line Preview
United States Champion Roman Reigns won’t be defending his title at Roadblock. Instead, Reigns will have the opportunity to be the only dual-champion in the WWE as the first person to simultaneously hold the US and Universal Championships. Of course, he’ll have to go through Kevin Owens, who has been virtually unstoppable since he won the WWE Universal Championship.
Roman Reigns with two titles [Image by WWE]
Both Roman Reigns (teaming with Seth Rollins) and Kevin Owens (teaming with Chris Jericho) had a chance to win the Raw Tag Team Championship on Monday but failed to do so. After winning two Triple Threat Tag Team Matches on Monday night, The New Day have become the longest-reigning tag champs in WWE history. At Roadblock, they will defend the titles one more time against Cesaro and Sheamus.
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann will defend his title against the two former champions, TJ Perkins and The Brian Kendrick. The newest belt in the company has already switched hands twice, and it could switch hands a third time without the champ being involved in the deciding fall.
In non-title action, Seth Rollins takes the first step towards getting his hands on Triple H by getting Chris Jericho out of the way. As he explained on Raw, Rollins can’t get to Triple H without beating Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship. But he can’t get the title off of Owens as long as Jericho is there to bail out his best friend.
Sami Zayn finally gets another shot at Braun Strowman, although General Manager Mick Foley and Commissioner Stephanie McMahon added the stipulation that Zayn “must last 10 minutes” in the match. It hasn’t been made clear exactly what happens if he loses without making it that long, or if he actually manages to defeat Strowman.
Of course, one of the most significant matches on the card — and potentially one of the most important matches of the year — will be the first-ever 30-Minute Iron Man Match for the Raw Women’s Championship. Sasha Banks defends the title against Charlotte Flair in the final showdown between these two rivals.
30-Minute Iron Woman Match: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair [Image by WWE]
Scheduled for the Kickoff show is Colin Cassady vs. Rusev. After Lana lured Enzo Amore into her hotel room so that Rusev could ambush him, Big Cass will face The Bulgarian Brute to defend his best friend’s honor.
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Roadblock: 2016 Kickoff On The WWE Network
The weekly pre-shows for Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE have undergone some big changes recently, and it looks as though the hour-long pre-shows for WWE’s PPV may be changing as well. Normally, Renee Young hosts with a panel featuring Lita, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler. The description on the WWE Network would indicate something very different for Roadblock 2016:
Hosts Renee Young and Booker T preview WWE Roadblock live from Pittsburgh, PA!
The match featuring Big Cass vs. Rusev is specifically scheduled for the Kickoff Show, although the format for the show will certainly look different than previous PPVs. The Roadblock Kickoff Show can be viewed live on the WWE Network, YouTube and Facebook. The show will be available to view on this page via YouTube as the Kickoff Show begins at 7/6c.
Where To Watch WWE Roadblock: End of the Line
WWE Roadblock 2016 will air Sunday, December 18 on the WWE Network. The program will begin at 8/7c. The Roadblock: Kickoff 2016 will air at 7/6c. For viewers who can’t watch the show live, it will be immediately available to stream on-demand.
The fallout from WWE Roadblock will begin less than 24 hours later. WWE Monday Night Raw airs live on the USA Network at 8/7c, with the Raw Pre-Show airing online at 7:50/6:50c. Replays of WWE Raw aren’t made available on the WWE Network until several weeks after the original air date. However, a 90-minute version of Monday Night Raw is available to stream on-demand the following day on Hulu.
[Featured Image by WWE]