The 2023 NXT Roadblock was the fourth

Roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: * Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events * Police chase *Robbery * Sobriety checkpoint * Protests In peaceful ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

event produced by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. It was primarily for wrestlers from the NXT brand division. Like the previous

event, NXT Roadblock aired as a special episode of '' NXT'' on the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

. The

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

took place on March 7, 2023, at the

WWE Performance Center WWE Performance Center (WWE PC) is a group of professional wrestling schools owned by American company WWE. They serve as tryout and training facilities for WWE, and also contain sports science and medical facilities as well as live events and ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. The event's title is a reference to its position on the road to NXT Stand & Deliver, NXT's WrestleMania Weekend event. Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event,

Roxanne Perez Carla Gonzalez (born November 5, 2001) is an American professional wrestler. , she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Roxanne Perez. She is a former two-time NXT Women's Champion, and a former NXT Women' ...

defeated

Meiko Satomura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. She is known for her time in American promotion WWE and in Japanese promotion Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling. She is the former two-time Sendai Girls World Champion and a former one-time NXT UK Wom ...

to retain the

NXT Women's Championship The NXT Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champion is Jacy Jayne, who is in her fi ...

. The event also saw the WWE debut of Dragon Lee.

Production

Background

is a

event established by

in 2016. The inaugural event was held in March that year and aired exclusively on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings. The service relied on technology develo ...

. The event's name was a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania". In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this ...

, where the roster was divided between brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. Roadblock was brought back that same year in December as a Raw-exclusive event under the title Roadblock: End of the Line. It aired on

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV) and the WWE Network with its name being in reference to being WWE's final PPV of 2016. Roadblock was then discontinued without any further events scheduled. However, Roadblock was revived for the NXT brand as a

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

of '' NXT'' titled NXT Roadblock. On the February 14, 2023, episode of ''NXT'', it was announced that the 2023 NXT Roadblock would take place on March 7, 2023.

Storylines

The card included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on the weekly television program, ''NXT'', and the supplementary online streaming show, '' Level Up''. On the February 14 episode of ''NXT'', after winning their

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

challenged

to an

match, which Perez accepted. The following week, the bout was made official for Roadblock. On the December 27, 2022, episode of ''NXT'',

Tony D'Angelo Joseph Ariola (born June 9, 1995) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Tony D'Angelo. Working with a American Mafia, mafia gimmick ...

lost his

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the secondary men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champi ...

match after interference from

Dijak Christopher James Dijak ( ; born April 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he performs under the ring name Donovan Dijak. He also currently works on the independent circuit. Dijak ...

. At ''NXT'': New Year's Evil on January 10, 2023, Dijak defeated D'Angelo to become the number one contender for the title at NXT Vengeance Day. At the event, Dijak failed to win the title after interference from D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo. On the February 21 episode, D'Angelo challenged Dijak to a Jailhouse Street Fight at Roadblock, which Dijak accepted a week later. At NXT Vengeance Day,

Toxic Attraction Toxic Attraction was an American villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE on the NXT brand. The group originally consisted of Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne. After Rose was released from her WWE contract in December 2022, Toxic ...

members

Gigi Dolin Priscilla Lee Kelly (born June 5, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former reality television personality. She is best known for her tenure in WWE where she performed under the ring name Gigi Dolin. She is a former record-tying two- ...

and

Jacy Jayne Taylor Grado (born June 2, 1996) is an American professional wrestler. , she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Jacy Jayne, and is the current NXT Women's Champion in he ...

failed to win the NXT Women's Championship in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

. On the following episode of ''NXT'', during a "Ding Dong, Hello!" segment hosted by Bayley, Jayne attacked Dolin, breaking up Toxic Attraction. Over the next few weeks, Dolin and Jayne talked about their breakup and on the February 28 episode, a match between the two was scheduled for Roadblock. At NXT Vengeance Day,

Grayson Waller Matthew Farrelly (born 21 March 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Grayson Waller, and is in a tag team with Austin Theory as A-Town Down Under, where he is ...

failed to win the

NXT Championship The NXT Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended as the top men's championship of NXT (WWE brand), NXT, the promotion's Farm team, de ...

in a

Steel Cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

. After the event, he stormed into

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

' office, resulting in him being suspended for a week. After more confrontations, on the February 21 episode of ''NXT'', Waller told Michaels to meet him face-to-face at Roadblock, which was confirmed the following week. On the February 7 episode of ''NXT'',

Ava Ava or AVA may refer to: Places Asia and Oceania * Ava Kingdom, in upper Burma from 1364 to 1555 ** Inwa, formerly Ava, the capital of Ava Kingdom ** Earl of Ava, a British colonial earldom in Burma * Ava, Iran, Gilan Province, a village * Iva ...

Schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

(

Joe Gacy Joseph Ruby (born August 8, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. As of August 2020, he is signed to WWE, on the WWE SmackDown, SmackDown brand, where he performs under the ring name Joe Gacy and is a member of The Wyatt Sicks faction. Gac ...

, Jagger Reid, and Rip Fowler) attacked Thea Hail of

Chase University Chase University, formally known as Andre Chase University and usually shortened as Chase U, is a professional wrestling stable that performs in WWE on the NXT brand. The stable's gimmick is that of an educational university, with stable founder ...

(

Andre Chase Chance Barrow (born April 22, 1989) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE, where he performs for the NXT brand under the ring name Andre Chase (often referred to as Mr. Chase). He is a former two-time NXT Tag Team Champion. Barrow ...

and

Duke Hudson Brendan Vink (born 8 February 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler currently performing in the independent circuit under the ring name Duke Hanson. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Duke Hudso ...

) backstage. Later that night, Chase and Hudson lost their match after Hail showed up with Schism smiley faces. The two teams continued their feud over the following weeks and on the February 28 episode, a Chase University class was interrupted by Schism. Later that night, a match between Chase and Gacy was scheduled for Roadblock. At ''NXT'': New Year's Evil,

Jinder Mahal Yuvraj Singh Dhesi (born July 19, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is performing on the independent circuit under his real name, stylized as Raj Dhesi. He is best known for his tenures in WWE, where he performed under the ring nam ...

made his return to NXT to defeat

Julius Creed The Creed Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Brutus Creed (Drew Kasper; born May 13, 1996) and Julius Creed (Jacob Kasper; born October 3, 1994). they are signed to the professional wrestling promotion ...

; the match was originally

The Creed Brothers The Creed Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Brutus Creed (Drew Kasper; born May 13, 1996) and Julius Creed (Jacob Kasper; born October 3, 1994). they are signed to the professional wrestling promotion ...

(Julius and Brutus Creed) vs. Indus Sher (

Sanga Sanga may refer to: People *Sanga, a Roman cognomen *Rana Sanga (c. 1482–1528), king from the Sisodia dynasty *Kumar Sangakkara (born 1977), Sri Lankan cricketer * Sanga (wrestler) (born 1984), ring name of professional wrestler Saurav Gurja ...

and

Veer Mahaan Rinku Singh Rajput (born 8 August 1988) is an Indian professional wrestler and former professional baseball player. He is also known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Veer Mahaan, or simply Veer. Singh was signed ...

). The match eventually occurred on the January 31 episode of ''NXT'', where Indus Sher were victorious. Two weeks later, Mahal challenged

Bron Breakker Bronson Rechsteiner (born October 24, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Bron Breakker. He is a former two-time WWE Intercontinenta ...

for the NXT Championship, and the match was scheduled for the February 21 episode, where Breakker retained. On the February 28 episode, a

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

pitting Breakker and The Creed Brothers against Indus Sher (Mahal, Mahaan, and Sanga) was scheduled for Roadblock.

Event

Preliminary matches

The television special began with Tony D'Angelo (accompanied by Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo) taking on Dijak in a Jailhouse Street Fight. The rules were that there was no disqualifications, and that the match could only end when an opponent is locked in a cell. In the closing stages, with Lorenzo knocked out, as Dijak tried to drag D'Angelo into the cell after performing Feast Your Eyes, D'Angelo found a crowbar and struck Dijak with it before dragging him into the cell and slamming the door shut to win the match. Next,

NXT Tag Team Champions The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champions are Hank and Tank (Han ...

Gallus (

Mark Coffey Mark Anthony Coffey (born 13 February 1990) is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand as a member of Gallus (professional wrestling), Gall ...

and Wolfgang) called out

Pretty Deadly ''Pretty Deadly'' is a creator-owned American comic book series by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Spanish artist Emma Ríos, distributed by Image Comics. The story combines elements from Western (genre), western and Horror (genre), horror genres, and d ...

( Kit Wilson and Elton Prince), who appeared from an elevated platform. After Gallus laid out the title belts in the ring, Wilson and Prince tried to retrieve them, only for Gallus to beat them down and send them retreating. It was later announced that an NXT Tag Team Championship match between Gallus and Pretty Deadly was made official for the following week. In the next match, The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed) and NXT Champion Bron Breakker (accompanied by Ivy Nile) took on Jinder Mahal and Indus Sher (Veer Mahaan and Sanga) in a six-man tag team match. Before the match, a brawl broke out between the two teams. In the closing moments, Breakker performed a Spear on Mahal before doing the same to Sanga. Mahaan was able to stun Breakker, however, The Creed Brothers performed a Doomsday Brutus Ball on Mahaan to win the match. Afterwards, Grayson Waller hosted The Waller Effect, with Shawn Michaels as the special guest. After the two talked about Michaels being in charge of NXT since September 2022, Michaels mentioned the legends NXT had created over the last few years. Waller then challenged Michaels to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver, but Michaels said that someone else would like to do it more. That person was revealed to be

Johnny Gargano John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. , he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is one-half of #DIY with Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano is known for his time in NXT, where ...

, in his first NXT appearance since December 2021. Gargano then cleared Waller from the ring before standing tall with Michaels to end the segment. In the third match, Gigi Dolin took on Jacy Jayne. In the end, Dolin performed a rollup slam on Jayne to win the match. After the match, Jayne attacked Dolin and wrapped her head in a chair, only to be sent to the back by referees. After that, NXT Champion Bron Breakker challenged

Carmelo Hayes Christian Brigham (born August 1, 1994) is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Carmelo Hayes. He ...

to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver. After the two hyped the match, Hayes accepted, but on the condition that Breakker put the title on the line. In the penultimate match, Andre Chase (accompanied by Thea Hail and Duke Hudson) took on Joe Gacy (accompanied by Ava, Jagger Reid, and Rip Fowler). In the climax, while Hail did her breathing exercise and got at Ava's face, Hudson and Chase were distracted by that, allowing Gacy to perform the Upside-Down World on Chase to win the match. Before the main event,

NXT North American Champion The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the secondary men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champio ...

Wes Lee Deveon Everhart Aikens (born November 2, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT and Evolve brands under the ring name Wes Lee and is the leader of The High Ryze stable. He is a former one-t ...

was about to make another open challenge for the title, but was interrupted by

Axiom An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or ...

. Lee told him that if he wanted the match, he would have to beat the entire locker room.

Main event

In the main event, Roxanne Perez defended the NXT Women's Championship against Meiko Satomura. After an even match between the two, Satomura performed a handstand legdrop for a nearfall. In the climax, Perez attempted Pop Rocks, but Satomura blocked by grabbing onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Satomura performed Scorpio Rising on Perez, who grabbed the bottom rope to void the pin. As Satomura attempted a second Scorpio Rising, Perez countered into a roll-up to retain the title. After the match, Satomura passed the NXT Women's Championship belt to Perez, who suddenly collapsed. Perez was then taken out of the arena in an ambulance, while nodding her head to say that she was okay, as the show ended.

Aftermath

On the following episode of ''NXT'', WWE executive Shawn Michaels issued a statement via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez was discharged from the hospital, however, after numerous tests, her health was still in question. As such, Michaels announced a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself become ...

at Stand & Deliver to crown a new NXT Women's Champion, with qualifying matches beginning that same episode. On the March 28 episode, Perez stated that she collapsed due to anxiety, and that she had been cleared by the doctors to return. She was then added to the ladder match, turning it into a title defense. Also on ''NXT'', Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) and Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) had their match for the NXT Tag Team Championship, where Gallus retained. Johnny Gargano talked about his return to NXT, and about missing a part of himself when he returned to Raw in August 2022. He also mentioned Waller disrespecting the fans and NXT when commentator Vic Joseph showed footage of Waller watching the show from Gargano's home. This led to a brawl between Gargano and Waller outside the house, which Waller got the better of. The following week, Gargano came up with a contract for an unsanctioned match between him and Waller, but Waller said that he would only sign it on the March 28 episode if Gargano did not show up at the building, and Gargano accepted. On that episode, Waller signed the contract to make the unsanctioned match stipulation official. NXT North American Champion Wes Lee's open challenge turned into a massive brawl, which Lee got the better of. Later that night, Shawn Michaels announced that Lee would be defending the title in a

fatal five-way match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

at Stand & Deliver, with Lee selecting his opponents. The following week, Lee chose Dragon Lee,

JD McDonagh Jordan Devlin (born 15 March 1990) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name JD McDonagh and is a member of The Judgment Day. In WWE, he is a World Tag Team Champion and N ...

, and

Ilja Dragunov Ilja Rukober (; born 10 October 1993), known by his ring name Ilja Dragunov (), is a Russian-born, German- naturalised professional wrestler. As of January 2019, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is currently inacti ...

as his opponents. The final spot was filled in a

battle royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...

on the March 28 episode, which was won by Axiom. As Chase University (Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, Thea Hail, and

Tyler Bate Tyler Bate (born 7 March 1997) is an English professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand and is one of the two members of New Catch Republic, performing alongside Pete Dunne. In 2017, he became the inaugur ...

) were talking backstage, Schism's (Joe Gacy, Jagger Reid, and Rip Fowler) Ava put her mask on Chase University's speakerphone. The following week, the two teams agreed to an eight-person mixed tag team match for Stand & Deliver where the winning team would gain control of Chase University.

Results

References

External links

* {{WWEPPV, Roadblock WWE Roadblock 2023 in professional wrestling in Florida Professional wrestling shows in Orlando, Florida March 2023 in the United States 2023 in Orlando, Florida