Here is a fan report from WWE Roadblock 2016:
Credit: Kurt LaFrance
I just returned from Roadblock at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. Looked to be sold out, if not darn close. As always the crowd here was pretty energetic.
They had 2 matches prior to them going live at 8:00 on the network.
Match 1) Mark Henry beat some guy whose name I did not pick up. Perhaps a local talent. Squash match for Henry. Crowd was really into it as it was the first match of the night. Lots of “sexual chocolate” chants. At one point Henry stopped and did a little bump and grind on the ropes in response and the crowd went nuts.
ADVERTISING
Match 2) Goldust beat Victor (with Conor) in his corner. Run of the mill match. Afterwards, the Ascension attack Goldust, which leads to R-Truth making the save to a big ovation.
And then we went live!
1) New Day defeats Wade Barrett and Sheamus after a big ending on Barrett.. New Day was way over. Unveiled a box of Booty-O’s prior to the match and their banter really entertained the crowd. Strong opening match.
2) Chris Jericho beats Jack Swagger with the Walls of Jericho. Jericho rips on the crowd before hand and puts down his home country for some instant heat. Even with this, the crowd was still easily behind Jericho more so than Swagger.
3) The Revival beat Enzo and Big Cass. What a match!! “This is awesome” chants throughout the match and it truly was. These 4 guys were amazing to watch!
4) Charlotte defeated Natalya with a roll up and feet on the ropes. The women had a hard match to follow, but did they deliver! Crowd was into this one too in a big way. A lot of near falls and more “this is awesome” chants.
5) Brock Lesnar steam rolled Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. Wyatt never tagged in and avoided any contact with Lesnar. Harper with some early offense, but it soon turned into Lesnar just throwing Harper around with suplexes and an F5. Crowd just ate up whatever Lesnar did.
6) Sami Zayn defeated Stardust. What a reaction for Zayn! Crowd loved him. Good action, but crowd seemed a little flat for a good portion of this one. Perhaps due to the amount of offense Stardust had from the onset. Crowd came alive again with the victory
7) HHH beats Dean Ambrose with the Pedigree. Another great match. Crowd was split 50/50 in their support A false finish that had the crowd thinking Ambrose won the title. But alas, it was not to be and HHH wins which literally seemed to suck the life and energy from the crowd.
All in all, the wrestling itself was fantastic. Very few dull moments. Interesting to note: There were chants for AJ Styles, CM Punk and Seth Rollins but not one for Roman Reigns which is very telling. If this crowd was split down the middle in terms of support in the championship match that featured somebody they love as much as Ambrose, then Roman Reigns is going to be received horribly at Wrestlemania! It will be ugly!
