WWE has changed plans for the March to WrestleMania special event on the WWE Network several times already, and today it went a step further by even ditching that name and going with a different one, WWE Roadblock.
Over the past few weeks, it seems as though the original card scheduled for the event has been restructured and abandoned, so it’s as good a time as any for us to speculate on what will go down with the show and what matches will actually end up being booked.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Obviously, we know that this match has been confirmed, as it’s the only one so far to have any definitive listing on the website or promotional material. This match would have been good enough as the main event of WrestleMania itself, let alone a random WWE Network special, so that’s something that will convince the audience to tune in by itself.
Chances are extremely slim that Ambrose has any shot at walking out with the title, but the fact that it’s even a remote possibility will get fans excited in the hopes that something drastic can happen like that. Already, there are rumblings that people think this could turn into a Fatal 4-Way at WrestleMania with these two, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, which is exactly what WWE wants to hear. Triple H will look strong by beating Ambrose, who will also receive some kind of an upgrade to his credibility because he probably won’t actually lose clean. There’s a good chance the ending of this match involves Brock Lesnar coming out and attacking Ambrose to help aid Triple H in retaining the title, even though those two aren’t exactly chums. This is more of a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” with Lesnar amping up his heel persona in preparation for WrestleMania.
Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus
There’s no way Roman Reigns will continue to sit things out for the next few weeks as WWE builds to WrestleMania. It’s clear that The League of Nations are aligned with The Authority in at least an acquaintanceship, with Triple H using them to do his bidding against Dean Ambrose this week. As such, I’d expect Reigns to be put up against Sheamus to “weaken him” in the kayfabe sense, but actually make him look stronger heading into WrestleMania by giving him someone to defeat.
Lest we forget the history between Sheamus and Roman Reigns. WWE will want to capitalize on that by giving fans what could be considered a true pay-per-view main event worthy match. Sheamus is the best candidate for a top tier talent who can lose this sort of match and not end up hurting the build to WrestleMania by any means, such as if someone like Brock Lesnar were in this position instead.
WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. Chris Jericho & AJ Styles
Yes, Y2AJ will be getting a title shot on the next edition of Monday Night Raw, but how often do matches like that end with disqualifications? So often that it seems like a foregone conclusion that WWE will use that as a means to stall and introduce a rematch to take place at this event, which will be the bigger priority to them.
Two of the things originally scheduled for March to WrestleMania were a Highlight Reel with The New Day and a generic message about AJ Styles making his WWE debut in Toronto. Clearly, all five of these men were meant to be included into the event in some fashion beforehand, and it seems as though the only difference is that WWE decided to tag Styles and Jericho up.
It’ll be interesting to see what WWE has planned for WrestleMania, as I can’t imagine AJ Styles and Chris Jericho will simply be involved in a tag title situation, so I’m expecting to see The New Day retain somehow by cheating or for Jericho to turn on Styles. Then again, if we’ve already seen Jericho and Styles go at it in the past, a singles match between the two wouldn’t have much flair behind it at WrestleMania, would it?
Could they simply go their separate ways after failing to win the titles and be involved in some other matches unrelated to one another? Maybe this is their proving ground and falling short of a victory will convince them to continue their singles runs and go for the Intercontinental or United States Championships, or enter the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Obligatory Divas Match
One way or another, there will be a divas match on the card, but the participants are somewhat up in the air right now. Assuredly, this won’t feature Charlotte defending the Divas Championship, so she can be ruled out, but there’s a variety of options WWE can choose.
Tonight’s SmackDown is supposed to determine who gets a shot at Charlotte at WrestleMania between Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks, but since those two wrestled to a draw on Monday Night Raw, it’s possible WWE has another no-contest lined up for these tapings. If that’s the case, there could be a definitive “must be a winner” match booked for Roadblock between Banks and Lynch to determine the #1 contender.
Alternatively, WWE teased a confrontation between Brie Bella and Lana. While we haven’t seen Lana get into the ring and wrestle a single match in her WWE career, she might end up doing so at Roadblock as a means to get her comeuppance.
Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Big Show
On this week’s Raw, Kevin Owens lost a match against Big Show by count out and in typical WWE fashion, the buzz to immediately follow that outcome was speculation on whether or not Big Show would get a title shot for the Intercontinental Championship. Big Show’s claimed to want a rematch and outside of just throwing this on next week’s Raw, there’s no better time to do it than this event.
If this does happen, Kevin Owens isn’t dropping the title by any means. There’s no way at this stage in both of their careers that WWE would value putting the Intercontinental Championship on Big Show heading into WrestleMania rather than Kevin Owens. Still, it’s weird that there doesn’t seem to be a decent match lined up for Owens at WrestleMania yet, as rumors of the AJ Styles match aren’t being backed up by any interaction between the two.
Could WWE be setting something up where Owens defends his title in a multi-man match even though one would assume Kalisto fills that role much better considering how he’s been even more overlooked as of late?
The Wyatt Family vs. The Social Outcasts
This is a complete shot in the dark, but Bray Wyatt spoke of targeting people and making an example out of them. Since a match against The League of Nations would be too big for an event like this and would be better served filling in a spot at WrestleMania, what if the warm up is for The Wyatt Family to send a message by destroying The Social Outcasts? That foursome has teetered on the edge of babyface and heel since their inception, so they can go either way and will definitely be the sympathetic team to root for in a match against The Wyatt Family, meaning a scenario where they get utterly destroyed would only benefit Bray and his crew.
What matches do you think will end up being booked for Roadblock? For that matter, what do you think of WWE changing the name from March to WrestleMania? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
