WWE Roadblock 2016 Results: Neville Returns And The Five Biggest Surprises

WWE Roadblock was highlighted by Kevin Owens besting Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho losing to Seth Rollins and Charlotte regaining the women’s title from Sasha Banks to wrap up 2016 for Monday Night Raw.

(Credit: WWE)

Now, The Royal Rumble is right around the corner and WrestleMania 33 season is soon to follow, so things are about to pick up in WWE. After all, this is a time when the quality of Raw’s programming typically peaks, with the returns of major names, like Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, as well as high-profile feuds between the brand’s top superstars.

At Roadblock, WWE pulled off a few swerves that have set the wheels in motion for some of Raw’s biggest upcoming storylines.

What were the biggest shockers at WWE Roadblock: End of the Line? Let’s examine the biggest curveballs thrown away our way during the red brand’s final pay-per-view of 2016.

No Ric Flair, Banks Taps

Given the role he’s played in the feud between Banks and his daughter Charlotte, the general consensus seemed to be that Ric Flair would show up at Roadblock, likely to help Charlotte win.

Instead, Flair didn’t show up at all, and Banks tapped out, not once but twice, to Charlotte. While the lack of Flair was OK, Banks tapping out twice (once at the very end of “regulation” and once in overtime) was an example of terrible booking.

It made Banks look weak (she really couldn’t hold on for one more second?) and continued Charlotte’s nonstop dominance over the women’s division. Yawn.

Jericho And Owens Don’t Split

This felt like the right time. Apparently, it wasn’t.

Even though interference from Owens cost Jericho his match against Rollins, Jericho purposely attacked Owens during Owens’ main event match against Reigns, which was apparently an elaborately planned setup to keep the Universal Championship on Owens.

Although, for a while now, it has seemed like Owens and Jericho would finally go their separate ways, the finish to the Roadblock main event indicates that they’re still working together and that we’ll get more from JeriKO in the future.

Given that their split has appeared to be coming for a while now, perhaps WWE is getting cold feet about breaking up arguably the most entertaining tandem in all of WWE.

Sami Zayn Survives

Sami Zayn went the full 10 minutes against Braun Strowman, making him the winner of the match, we guess?

The problem with the 10-minute time limit stipulation is that it didn’t help either guy. It made Strowman look bad because he couldn’t beat Zayn, his first legitimate competition, in less than 10 minutes while it did no favors for Zayn, who didn’t really win anything at all. Still, it had to come as a surprise that Zayn was able to last about five times as long as ever other superstar has, especially given the way Strowman has been portrayed.

Strowman was booked to be this unstoppable monster, but now? He couldn’t put away a guy who is about half his size, and just like that, he’s gone from unbeatable machine to suddenly human. Admittedly, this was a tough match to book, a catch 22 of sorts, but Zayn surviving and doing so the way he did was certainly a head scratcher.