WWE Roadblock 2016: Biggest Winners and Losers from Marquee Event
WWE Roadblock: End of the Line may be in the books, but the implications of some of the night's biggest matches will be felt for weeks to come as the biggest winners and losers try to rebound from the events of Sunday night.
Championships changed hands, and rivalries wrote their latest chapters, leading to some of the top stars in the industry being labeled either winners or losers, depending on how their victories or defeats and use by WWE Creative affected them.
Where did Seth Rollins land after his win over Chris Jericho?
What did Charlotte Flair and Sasha Bank's historic match mean for each of the competitors involved?
Find out which side of the argument those Superstars landed on and who else joined them there with this look back at the year-ending extravaganza.
Winners: Cesaro and Sheamus
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Cesaro and Sheamus may have been disrespected at the WWE draft, when neither was made a priority by either brand, but after a hard-hitting best-of-seven series and months of dissension as a thrown-together team, they united to defeat The New Day and end its historic Raw Tag Team Championship reign.
More importantly, they were made to look like world beaters in the process—a duo of determined individuals fusing together as a united front and dethroning the most storied team in company history.
They took the fight to The New Day from the opening bell, overwhelming it early and withstanding numerous attempts at cheating later in the bout. To cap off the superb storytelling of the match, Cesaro feigned a tag to his partner, sacrificed himself and allowed Sheamus to score a small package for the victory.
The sign of respect after the match was a nice touch and served as a momentary passing of the torch from the trio to the new champions.
Loser: Sami Zayn
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Sunday's match against Braun Strowman, a special gimmick bout with a 10-minute time limit, should have been a breakout performance of sorts for Sami Zayn.
It was not.
The Underdog from the Underground looked like a charity case. He was verbally patted on the back by commentators who were impressed that he had not been utterly demolished by Strowman. It was all condescending, a word he used to describe the experience while talking to Charly Caruso on Raw Talk after the pay-per-view.
At no point did he ever look better than when he entered the arena. If anything, he looked worse—a weakling incapable of hanging with a mediocre big man who is still finding his feet as a singles performer.
The story will hopefully benefit Zayn by the time it wraps up, but its first major chapter will go down as a blunder on the part of WWE Creative.
Winner: Neville
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The Man That Gravity Forgot made a monumental return to WWE programming Sunday night, attacking Rich Swann and TJ Perkins in a grand announcement of his interest in the cruiserweight division.
His assault on those Superstars injected the division with intrigue, something it was sorely missing, as evidenced by the apathy with which fans responded to the match that had just unfolded before them.
The intensity shown by Neville captured the attention of the crowd. There were no flips, no flying. He brutalized his rivals and walked out with a look of pure rage and disgust on his face.
The type of performer a division can actually be built around, do not be surprised if Neville becomes what Perkins and Kendrick could not be: the engaging performer who defines the style longtime fans associate with the division.
Loser: Seth Rollins
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Is there a more generic babyface than Seth Rollins on the WWE roster?
Roman Reigns is at least a defined ass-kicker. John Cena is a modern superhero. Dean Ambrose is...a caricature of a lunatic.
Unfortunately, Rollins was turned babyface via betrayal at the hands of Triple H, but WWE Creative never bothered to evolve him past the conniving and complaining villain he was as The Authority's hand-picked champion.
Sunday night, he was the wholly uninterested good guy against the compelling Chris Jericho, whose "stupid idiot" catchphrase and List of Jericho gimmick have gotten him over in spades.
Despite a win, he left the event feeling colder than any other good guy on the roster—a main event Superstar whose crowd support is that of a menial midcarder.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
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Charlotte Flair became a four-time women's champion Sunday, defeating Sasha Banks in a spectacular Iron Man match that hopefully put an end to their program for the time being.
The new champion was more cold and calculated than ever, dominating the majority of the match, taking out her opponent's knee and working it over with her vaunted Figure Eight. The sight of Banks screaming in pain and withering in agony as Flair added pressure via a bridge added drama to the most anticipated match of Sunday's pay-per-view.
That Flair reached down within herself and delivered the most ruthlessly aggressive performance of her career added to the match exponentially, making it the best of their lengthy series.
Now the champion—a champion WWE Creative apparently trusts more than any other—she will continue to be the heel around whom the entire division is built.
Loser: Sasha Banks
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Sasha Banks turned in a strong performance in Sunday's Iron Man match, but it was booking that let her down.
At some point, it was decided that booking Banks to tap out just two seconds before the end of the match was a good idea. Not only does that make her look like a weakling who could not stomach the pain for two measly seconds, but it also makes her look stupid.
Then to make matters worse, the match moved to overtime, and the resilient babyface...tapped out again.
For a company that spends so much time protecting babyfaces, it is so out of the ordinary that Banks would be allowed to look that weak two times in a row in the same match.
Factor in three championship reigns that were as lame-duck as one could ever imagine, and you have a competitor whose faith in her writing team must be waning.
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