Roadblock (originally titled March to WrestleMania: Live from Toronto) was the inaugural

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- ...

livestreaming Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- liv ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

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, ...

. The event 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 ...

and took place on March 12, 2016, at the

Ricoh Coliseum Coca-Cola Coliseum (also or formerly known as CNE Coliseum, Royal Coliseum, Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto Coliseum, or Coliseum) is an arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, used for agricultural displays, ice hockey, and trade shows. ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The event's title was a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania". This was also the first time WWE held a

premium live event This is a list of WWE pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming Card (sports), supercards, detailing all professional wrestling cards promoted by the American promotion available on traditional PPV outlets, and livestreaming services such as the WW ...

in Canada since

WWE Breaking Point WWE Breaking Point was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on September ...

in 2009. Nine matches (including two

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that o ...

es) were contested at the event. The main event saw

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

defeat

Dean Ambrose Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley and is the current AEW World Champion in his record-setting fourth ...

to retain the

WWE World Heavyweight Championship WWE World Heavyweight Championship may refer to: * World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, 2002–2013), a professional wrestling championship that existed between 2002 and 2013 * World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, 2023–present), a professional ...

. Other prominent matches included The New Day (

Big E Big E may refer to: * Capital letter "E" People * Big E (wrestler) (born 1986), American professional wrestler, born Ettore Ewen, formerly known as "Big E Langston" * Elvin Hayes (born 1945; nicknamed "Big E"), American basketball player and rad ...

and

Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Kofi ...

) retaining the

WWE Tag Team Championship The WWE Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE ...

against The League of Nations (

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on th ...

and King Barrett) in the opening bout,

The Revival Revival most often refers to: *Resuscitation of a person *Language revival of an extinct language * Revival (sports team) of a defunct team *Revival (television) of a former television series *Revival (theatre), a new production of a previously pr ...

(

Dash Wilder Daniel Marshall Wheeler (born May 17, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Cash Wheeler, where he is a former two-time AEW World Tag Team Champions with Dax Harwood together ...

and Scott Dawson) retained the

NXT Tag Team Championship The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's Professional wrestling championship, professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It is defended on NXT ...

against

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady FreeAgentZ (formerly known as Enzo and Cass) were an American professional wrestling tag team composed of nZo and CaZXL. The duo are best known for their tenure with WWE, from 2013 to 2017, under the respective ring names, Enzo Amore and Big Ca ...

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...

defeated

Bray Wyatt Windham Lawrence Rotunda (May 23, 1987 – August 24, 2023), better known by his ring name Bray Wyatt, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in WWE from 2009 until his death in 2023. Rotunda was a third-generati ...

and

Luke Harper Jonathan Huber (December 16, 1979 – December 26, 2020) was an American professional wrestler known as Brodie Lee. Huber performed under the ring name Luke Harper in WWE from 2012 to 2019, and as Mr. Brodie Lee in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) ...

in a

2-on-1 handicap 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. ...

, and Charlotte retained the

WWE Divas Championship The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship in WWE. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extensio ...

against

Natalya Natalya () is the Russian form of the female given name Natalia. The name Natasha (), being originally a diminutive form of Natalya, became an independent name outside the Russian-speaking states since the late 1800s. People with the given name ...

in the last televised defense of the Divas Championship.

Production

Background

The American

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

originally had a

house show A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...

scheduled for March 12, 2016, at the

, and it was titled "March to WrestleMania: Live from Toronto". To further build towards the following month's

WrestleMania 32 WrestleMania 32 was a 2016 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 32nd annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2016, at the AT&T ...

, WWE decided to broadcast the event

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

and exclusively on their

service, the

. They also renamed the event to Roadblock, which was a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania".

Storylines

On the February 29 episode of ''Raw'',

challenged

to a match for the

. Later that night, Triple H interfered in Ambrose's match against

Alberto Del Rio José Alberto Rodríguez Chucuan (born 25 May 1977) is a Mexican professional wrestler, professional wrestling promoter, sports commentator, and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where h ...

, causing a disqualification. Ambrose attacked Triple H, but Triple H stopped his onslaught with a Pedigree. He then accepted the challenge before attacking Ambrose again. The match was scheduled for Roadblock. On the March 2 episode of '' NXT'',

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 ...

were scheduled to defend their titles against

at Roadblock. At the

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

eliminated

Erick Rowan Joseph Ruud (born November 28, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Erick Rowan. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is a member of The Wyatt Sicks. Having previously wrestled ...

, and

Braun Strowman Adam Joseph Scherr (born September 6, 1983) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Strongman (strength athlete), strongman. As a wrestler, he is best known for his tenure in WWE from 2013 to 2025, where he performed un ...

The Wyatt Family The Wyatt Family was an American professional wrestling Stable (professional wrestling), stable in WWE originally composed of Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Brodie Lee, Luke Harper. Portrayed as a Heel (professional wrestling), villainous cult fro ...

from the

Royal Rumble match The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic battle royal match in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the ...

. However, the trio re-entered the ring and eliminated Lesnar from the match. On the March 3 episode of ''SmackDown'', a match between Lesnar and

was scheduled for Roadblock. On March 8, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (

and

, with

Xavier Woods Austin Watson (born September 4, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and YouTuber. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Xavier Woods and is part of The New Day and is one-half of the current World ...

) were scheduled to defend their titles against

and King Barrett (of The League of Nations) at Roadblock. On March 11, a non-title match between Divas Champion Charlotte and

was scheduled for the event. In a pre-recorded segment aired immediately before the match, Natalya goaded Charlotte into putting her title on the line in what would be the last televised Divas Championship match.

Event

Preliminary matches

The event opened with The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against The League of Nations (Sheamus and King Barrett). Big E executed a Big Ending on Barrett to retain the titles. Next,

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

faced

Jack Swagger Donald Jacob Hager Jr. (born March 24, 1982) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He currently performs on the independent circ ...

. Jericho forced Swagger to submit to the ''Walls of Jericho'' to win the match. After that, The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) defended the NXT Tag Team Championship against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. The Revival executed the Shatter Machine on Amore to retain the titles. In the fourth match, Charlotte defended the WWE Divas Championship against Natalya. Charlotte pinned Natalya with a roll-up using the ropes for leverage to retain the title. The fifth match, originally pitting Brock Lesnar against Bray Wyatt, was changed into a 2-on-1

handicap 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 ...

also involving Luke Harper. Wyatt remained outside the ring throughout the match. Harper executed a Big Boot, two Superkicks and a Discus Clothesline on Lesnar for a near-fall. Lesnar executed five German Suplexes and an F-5 on Harper to win the match. In the penultimate match,

Sami Zayn Rami Sebei (born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sami Zayn. Sebei made his professional wrestling debut in 2002 under the ring name Stevie McFly. Pr ...

faced

Stardust Stardust may refer to: * A type of cosmic dust, composed of particles in space Entertainment Songs * “Stardust” (1927 song), by Hoagy Carmichael * “Stardust” (David Essex song), 1974 * “Stardust” (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), 2012 * ...

. Zayn executed a Helluva Kick on Stardust to win the match.

Main event

In the main event, Triple H defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dean Ambrose. During the match, Ambrose executed ''Dirty Deeds'' on Triple H, but the referee voided the count as Ambrose's foot was underneath the bottom rope. In the climax of the match, Ambrose executed a Diving Elbow Drop on Triple H, who was standing outside the ring. Ambrose attempted an Elbow Drop off the barricade on Triple H, who was draped on the announce table, but Triple H rolled off and Ambrose fell through the announce table. Triple H then executed a Pedigree to retain the title.

Reception

The event received mixed reviews. Jason Powell of ''Pro Wrestling Dot Net'' commented, "Overall, Roadblock is what most of us thought it would be. They weren't going to shake up the WrestleMania lineup three weeks away. I know some fans convinced themselves it was possible, but it just never struck me as being realistic regardless of whether it would have made for a better WrestleMania lineup". James Caldwell of ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' wrote that Roadblock was a "glorified

for the most part, but the toned-down, less-corporate production value was refreshing for a WWE broadcast". Regarding the main event, Caldwell said that the "false finish for Dean was interesting in that WWE is lacking goodwill heading into Mania and going that far with a false finish straddled the line of being more of a turn-off than heat-generator". John Powell of ''

Canoe.ca Canoe.com is an English-language Canadian portal site and website network, and is a subsidiary of Postmedia Network. The phrase Canadian Online Explorer appears in the header; the name is also evidently a play on words on canoe (or ''canoë'' in ...

'' summed up that there were "no surprises at a solid Roadblock... Although the overall show was far better than any of the WWE's recent pay-per-views, Roadblock did nothing at all to fuel any kind of excitement for WrestleMania or its feuds". For the main event, Powell wrote, "In the match of his career, Ambrose proved beyond a shadow of a doubt he is main event material, perhaps soon to be following in the legendary but demented footsteps of another unorthodox superstar, one Mick Foley". Powell also praised Canadians "Natalya, Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn all putting in exceptional performances", as well as the four NXT wrestlers who proved "why NXT is still the show to watch each and every week". However, commentator JBL was criticized after he "literally loses his mind and starts yelling". His grade went to Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose with 8 and a half out of 10 while Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper got the worst with a 5 out of 10. Larry Csonka from '' 411Mania'' gave the event a 7 stars out of 10 rating. The highest rated match was Ambrose vs. Triple H (4 stars), judging that the match "was a lot of fun and felt fresh, but it wasn't without its problems", while Stardust vs. Zayn was rated the lowest (1 star). Csonka also praised the NXT Tag Team Championship match (3 1/2 stars) and the WWE Tag Team Championship match (3 stars).

Aftermath

On July 25, 2016, the Roadblock name would be reused for the promotion's December

that same year. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the Raw brand division after the promotion had 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 ...

in July, again splitting its main roster into two separate brands called Raw and

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform, and in addition to the WWE Network, the event was available through traditional

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) outlets. This second event was titled Roadblock: End of the Line as it was WWE's final PPV of 2016. Roadblock was then discontinued as another event was not scheduled for 2017. However, after five years, Roadblock was revived for the NXT brand to be held as a

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 ...

titled NXT Roadblock. A second NXT Roadblock was confirmed for the following year, thus establishing Roadblock as an annual March event for NXT.

Results

References

External links

* {{WWEPPV, Roadblock WWE Roadblock 2016 WWE Network events 2016 in Toronto Professional wrestling shows in Toronto March 2016 in Canada WWE in Canada