WWE Roadblock is a

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 series 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, ...

, a

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

-based

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 ...

. The event was established in March 2016, and this inaugural event was simply titled

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 ...

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 ...

streaming service. The second event was then held in December 2016 under the name Roadblock: End of the Line where in addition to the WWE Network, it also aired on 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. To coincide with 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 ...

reintroduced in July 2016, this second event was held exclusively for wrestlers from the Raw brand. Roadblock was discontinued after this second event; however, in 2022, WWE revived the event for its

developmental brand In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

NXT, and it has since been held annually in March 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 ...

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 the '' NXT'' program. The event's title is a reference to its scheduling. The first event was titled as a reference to its original March position on the "Road to WrestleMania". With the second event held in December, its title was in reference to it being WWE's final PPV and

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 of 2016. Since 2022, its title has been in reference to its position on the road to NXT Stand & Deliver, the brand's annual WrestleMania week event.

History

The American

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

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, Ontario, Canada Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the fourth-most populous city in North America. The city ...

, and 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 and exclusively on their online streaming service, the

. They also renamed the event to

, which was a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania". In July that year, WWE reintroduced the

where they again split their roster between the 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 ...

brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. Brand-exclusive

s (PPV) also returned. The Roadblock name was in turn reused for the Raw-exclusive December PPV and WWE Network event. It was titled Roadblock: End of the Line due to it being the final PPV of the year. This would also be the final event to carry the Roadblock name as Roadblock was quietly discontinued with no event scheduled for 2017. The Roadblock name was revived for the

NXT for a special episode of '' NXT'' on March 8, 2022, as " NXT Roadblock"; this event served as a lead-in to that year's Stand & Deliver

event, NXT's WrestleMania weekend show. Roadblock has since been held as an annual

of ''NXT'' with its name in reference to the road to Stand & Deliver. The name reverted back to WWE Roadblock in 2025 as all major NXT events have used the promotion's logo instead of the brand's logo since ''NXT'' moved to

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

History

Events

See also

References

External links