While WWE Roadblock isn’t exactly supposed to be treated as something on par with a bigger pay-per-view, it’s still odd that the event still only has a few matches announced for it. The reason why this has happened is unknown, but it could be a multitude of different reasons. Perhaps WWE simply doesn’t care enough about the rest of it and thinks 4 matches are a good enough selling point and the rest is supplemental that nobody should complain about if it ends up being underwhelming. Maybe there’s a philosophy that if it’s all kept a surprise, more people will tune in to see what randomly occurs, because if the card is announced in advance, people will want to skip a good portion of it. Then again, this could be a case where WWE has put such little planning into this that even they don’t know what they will do yet.
Whatever the reason, if this is going to be a three hour event, more matches need to be added to the card and there are plenty of people still not officially announced for anything yet who are more than capable of filling in some of that time. Here’s a list of some of the most noteworthy names who are still in the running to find a spot on the card:
AJ Styles and Chris Jericho
AJ Styles and Chris Jericho should have some sort of appearance at Roadblock, but if WWE makes the mistake of having them wrestle each other, it will do nothing but harm to WrestleMania. Already, these two have faced off too many times for their WrestleMania match to be as special as it would have been if this were the tiebreaker or the first time they would lock horns, and we really don’t need to see a fourth match take place to set up a fifth at WrestleMania. By that point, who would really care?
On the flip side, I’m getting suspicious that Roadblock will end up being filled with a ton of promos and recaps just to eat up time, and if that’s the case, I certainly don’t want to see a MizTV, Highlight Reel or Cutting Edge Peep Show segment just to have these two cut the same promos against each other that we’ve heard numerous times already. It’s been done and it will be done ad nauseam on Monday Night Raw for the next few weeks, so cut us some slack. Instead, these two should compete in matches that they both win, and it can be against anyone and it would still be better than the alternative.
The Intercontinental and United States Championship Hunt
First off, I’ll just flat out say that I think it will be a mistake if WWE books Ryback against Kalisto in a singles match for the United States Championship at WrestleMania. Considering how WWE seems to be hesitant to fully turn Ryback heel and how much Kalisto has been ignored as of late, it’s doubtful the match would really draw in much of an audience, and it just screams out to me as a potential cut if they’re looking for something to be bumped from the card. At the very least, it’s pre-show fodder and not good enough for WrestleMania.
Sami Zayn against Kevin Owens is a much easier sell as a singles match, and if WWE is dead set on having some kind of multi-man title defense, Kalisto’s United States title should be on the line for that. If they want a singles match between Ryback and Kalisto, do it here at Roadblock and have Ryback go into WrestleMania with the title and the momentum.
Even still, why isn’t Ryback facing The Social Outcasts at least? For that matter, why isn’t Kalisto booked to defend his United States Championship so he can look strong before he loses to Ryback?
When it comes to Kevin Owens, there are so many people for him to be able to go up against that could play a part in the supposed six or more spots for WrestleMania. Big Show, Neville, The Miz, Tyler Breeze and even Mark Henry could be wrestling against Owens, but that’s all still up in the air.
There are far too many good wrestlers in the midcard right now and the card for WrestleMania is shaping up to be too half-assed for WWE to just toss something random into Roadblock and then continue paying little attention to the build afterward.
Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler got under the skin of Stephanie McMahon this week on Raw, so she punished him in the typical handicap match fashion. For a while now, The League of Nations have been sort of pushed aside and doing nothing, as if WWE feels they can’t set up a match for them at WrestleMania yet—that is, of course, if WWE even has a plan for them to begin with. Sheamus and King Barrett are finally going to kick those into gear by facing The New Day (which comes pretty much out of left field), but what about Rusev and Alberto Del Rio? They could easily just not compete and stand ringside for the tag team match, but seeing as how Ziggler faced everyone but Del Rio, it wouldn’t hurt for those two to lock up.
Goldust and R-Truth
If the tag team division is going to include these two in some fashion and they play into the plans for WrestleMania in the slightest bit, they should have some sort of match here. The alternative is for them to only team up on Raw and SmackDown, but that only gives them 3 weeks to build up the proper steam necessary for anyone to give a damn about them as serious competitors. As a joke, they’re already there, but WWE can’t afford to have people with such little credibility taking up a spot on a card that is struggling so much. Goldust and R-Truth can easily team up to face The Ascension, as WWE seems to use them as the perennial go-to jobber team. Poor guys.
The Usos and The Dudley Boyz
Speaking of the tag team division, where the hell has this feud gone? At this point, it can’t possibly be set up for a match between the two teams alone at WrestleMania, so they’ll be involved either in something that includes several other tag teams or all four men will simply be thrown into the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
In either case, there should be a match between the two teams to start bringing some closure to it. You lose absolutely nothing for WrestleMania by having The Usos and The Dudley Boyz face each other. In fact, you gain some extra added interest by reminding fans that this feud is still going on, since it hasn’t exactly had much exposure lately. Why try harder to reignite a feud and fill this event up with more recaps when you can put a tag team match on the card and it will do the job for you?
The Divas
There is a lot of speculation that a second divas match will take place at WrestleMania, and I’m 100% against that, as there’s nothing else of interest going on in the division outside of the championship triple threat (and even that is a stretch to say it’s particularly spellbinding). A feud between Lana and Brie Bella is really not WrestleMania-worthy, and a generic tag team clusterfuck with every woman other than the three in the title match is even more likely to be bumped off the card than a Kalisto vs. Ryback match. In the grand scheme of things, since Charlotte won’t be defending her title here and Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks have already had a number of tag team matches against Tamina and Naomi, Roadblock fits as a better place to cut to the chase and have Brie against Lana or whatever other type of match WWE is thinking about having. Then again, if Lana can’t wrestle worth a damn—and she’s yet to prove that she can—why even have that match at all?
It will be interesting to see what WWE pulls out of the hat come Saturday, but right now, Roadblock seems like it’s operating on a pretty open road with little traffic. There’s still time to announce more matches, so that will undoubtedly happen even if it’s just during the pre-show or at the beginning of the event, but WWE needs to stop this habit of last-minute scheduling for events if the fans are expected to have any anticipation for them. Surprises on the night of the event can be fun, but only if they are worth the price of having zero build, and if this all ends up being nothing but another episode of Monday Night Raw with the same caliber matches, WWE shouldn’t be surprised if fans place all the weight of their judgment on the main event alone.
Which superstars who aren’t currently set up for a match are you hoping will compete in some fashion? What would you book if WWE gave you the keys to the kingdom for Saturday? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
