WWE Roadblock: End of the Line 2016: Matches, Rumors, and More

As SmackDownfinishes up WWE TLC, Rawcounters with its next PPV, WWE Roadblock: End of the Line 2016. Yes, this second iteration of the PPV gets its own snappy subtitle. Why? Because there was already a WWE Roadblock 2016back in March!

That one was all about being a placeholder show for minor WrestleManiabuild. Roman Reigns was off TV for a while and Roadblockgave them an excuse to focus on Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose in the meantime. Ultimately, the show was completely meaningless outside of a strong main event. Even the blow-off to the Brock Lesnar vs. Wyatt Family rivalry born out of the Royal Rumble was questionable at absolute best.

This time, Roadblock: End of the Line appears to be some semblance of closure before we move into Royal Rumble, which is the first chapter of WrestleManiaseason.

WHEN IS WWE ROADBLOCK 2016?

The show will take place on Sunday, December 18, 2016 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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WWE ROADBLOCK 2016 CONFIRMED MATCHES

KEVIN OWENS (C) VS. ROMAN REIGNS

WWE Universal Championship

Recently, Roman Reigns won the United States Championship from Rusev and promptly retained it in the rematch. Since then, Reigns has barely acknowledged that he’s even US Champ and doesn’t even defend it. And people call him the next John Cena.

Kevin Owens has been able to thwart Seth Rollins’ constant attempts to win his Universal Championship due to constant help from Owens’ BFF Chris Jericho. Reigns confronted Owens about a title shot and in the middle of it, Owens snapped at Jericho. Jericho took offense and left. Without Jericho around, Owens faced Reigns in a non-title match. Reigns ended up winning, making their Roadblockmatch official.

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Then again, the PPG Paints Arena announced this main event well in advance, so all of this was obvious.

SASHA BANKS (C) VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR

30-Minute Iron Man Match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship

The war between Sasha and Charlotte has been going on for a long, long time with the pattern of Charlotte winning title matches on PPVs and Sasha winning title matches on Raw. Rinse, repeat. Sasha won the title on Rawand Ric Flair came out to congratulate her. Charlotte blew a gasket over this and it's given her more drive to destroy Sasha in their next gimmick bout.

TJ PERKINS VS. RICH SWANN (C) VS. THE BRIAN KENDRICK

WWE Cruiserweight Championship

In the debut episode of 205 Live, Rich Swann defeated Brian Kendrick for the Cruiserweight Championship. A week later, he won again in a rematch. Former champion TJ Perkins was doing commentary at the time and afterwards, Kendrick attacked him out of anger. The three started brawling and a Triple Threat was signed.

The three have faced off in singles matches after the announcment, giving us Kendrick defeating Perkins and Perkins defeating Swann. Kind of a rock, paper, scissors thing going on.

SETH ROLLINS VS. CHRIS JERICHO

Part of the reason Jericho didn’t help Owens during that non-title match against Roman Reigns was because Seth Rollins attacked him in the parking lot and Pedigreed him onto the top of a car. This was payback for months upon months of Jericho interfering in Owens’ matches. In the week that followed, Owens had this match signed in hopes that Jericho could get revenge and would therefore smooth over their relationship. Jericho seemed to be done with their friendship, but Owens kept screwing things up in attempt to get back in his good graces.

In the end, this and the Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens match are less about the faces and more about the broken relationship of Jericho and Owens. Really, there's no longer much of a reason for this very match to happen by this point. Rollins got his revenge and Jericho's more mad at Owens. Go figure.

SAMI ZAYN VS. BRAUN STROWMAN

10-Minute Time Limit

Sami Zayn has been trying to pick a fight against Braun Strowman for months, contrasted with Strowman's desire to crush stronger opponents. Strowman feels Zayn is beneath him and Mick Foley feels that such a match would end Zayn's career. After lots and lots of heated demands, Zayn was constantly refused this match. Foley pretended he was going to trade Zayn to SmackDown, but it was really a ruse to get him even more pissed and motivated.

Considering how dominant Strowman's been, Foley added a time limit just to show how Zayn can at least go the distance.

BIG CASS VS. RUSEV

Big Cass pranked his buddy Enzo by locking him out of showers naked. The nude-and-censored Enzo came across Lana, which annoyed Rusev. For weeks, Enzo would talk up how Lana wanted him and would be silenced by Rusev outright annihilating him. This came to a head when Lana seduced Enzo and tricked him into going to her hotel room, only to have Rusev ambush him and lay him out. With his partner sidelined, Cass intends on getting revenge.

WWE ROADBLOCK 2016 RUMORS AND UNCONFIRMED MATCHES

With the Iron Man Match going on, this could very well be all we get, but I wouldn't be surprised if we get a New Day tag title defense somewhere. The team recently broke the record for longest tag title reign and subsequently got on Stephanie McMahon's bad side. Giving them an impromptu title defense is definitely in the cards.

Otherwise, expect some kind of six-man tag with the cruiserweights.

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Gavin Jasper wonders if it’s worth rooting for Roman Reigns just to keep him out of the Royal Rumble. Follow Gavin on Twitter!