Sasha Banks vs Charlotte in a 30-minute IronMan match for the Raw Woman’s Title
My prediction: Sasha Banks
Result: Charlotte wins 3-2 in Overtime
Grade: B+
While writing this, 7 hours before Raw, this result has created huge controversy. Many, like me, feel the match was fantastic but the decision was the wrong one whereas others have destroyed everything about the feud and the constant hot potatoing of the belt. I honestly can’t get my head around why some people are bored with two fantastic athletes consistently putting on fantastic matches.
Up until this point, I was ok with the belts changing hands as often as it did as it helped create the idea that these two women are so close to each other athletically that they keep out-doing each other when it counts. However, after last night…I feel this title change is hurting Sasha and the belt itself. The fact that Sasha Banks is a 3-time Woman’s Champion having never successfully defended the belt is ridiculous and is a slap in the face to a woman of her ability and talent. Charlotte is a fantastic heel, I’m not going to deny that and I now want Charlotte to hold the belt for a while but it does look rather strange for a championship to be thrown around so often.
The ending has also caused controversy as many people question why Sasha didn’t just hold on for 2 more seconds as she would have one but that is neither here nor there. Charlotte had just fully bridged into the Figure Eight so it can be argued that much more pressure had just been applied but yeah- it’s a strange one. The image of Sasha covered in blood however is a fantastic one- shows how far the woman’s division has come and that picture will be one that sticks around in Banks’ career for years.
Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns for the Universal Title
My Prediction: Kevin Owens
Winner: Kevin Owens by Disqualification
Grade: C+
Hey, we’re back on controversy!! To those who say Roman Reigns cannot wrestle- shut up and stop trying to be edgy. Yes, he is pretty awful on the mic and yes he doesn’t deserve to have been pushed so fast so soon but the guy has been consistently putting on fantastic matches all year and it sure as hell takes two to tango. I definitely didn’t want to see both the belts on Roman so was happy that Kevin retained but it was strange. The match itself was ok- similar to Chris and Seth it was very, very slow to begin with but picked up towards the end. The crowd really didn’t help, they had been awful all night, so the match didn’t feel like a main event which it really had to. The ending however was…bizarre.
I’m not going to sit here and say it was an absolutely atrocious finish and one of the worst ever like I’ve seen many people do- because it wasn’t. It gives Roman a legitimate reason to have a re-match, it causes Jericho to look smart and Kevin can ask why he didn’t attack Roman instead as the result would have been the same. But it’s never great to see a main title match in the main event spot on a PPV end in a DQ. Owen’s has admittedly been booked horrendously as a champion- overshadowed by Jericho and his 459 catchphrases so he really needed to get a big, clean win. Alas, this never came. Also- with Reigns and Rollins standing tall at the end of the night, it created a weird feel to end the show on.
Overall, Roadblock wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. It was a lacklustre end to WWE 2016 programming but let’s hope that they kick on next year and blow us all away…we can dream right?
Thanks to @McIverTheMark for the review. If you liked his points let him know on Twitter!