Roadblock: End of the Line Preview

Eli Rafail

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The final brand exclusive pay-per-view is finally here. For better or worse, Raw will present Roadblock: End of the Line from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. With many people coming to the Steel City for the event, one would hope that it will be memorable. However, it does not seem like that is the case thus far. With only three confirmed matches just six days from the show, (granted there is still a Monday Night Raw not yet aired at the writing of this article) things are looking a bit rough for the Raw roster. So, let’s dive into this very short card, shall we?

The first of the confirmed matches is a heated rivalry match between Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho. Now, this match has taken place numerous times on Monday Night Raw in the previous months, but with there now being a storyline involved, it may mean a little more. This is the first time since 2014 that Seth Rollins will be wrestling in a singles non-title match, but he still has the potential to steal the show with a seasoned veteran in the form of Chris Jericho. Both men are extremely talented, so this is a match of the night candidate if the other two high caliber matches can’t deliver. Either Rollins or Jericho could pick up the win here. Jericho looks to be on a collision course with Universal Champion and former best friend Kevin Owens, so a win could do him well. However, he doesn’t need a win to stay credible. Rollins appears to be the likely victor in this one as he looks to his next target in Triple H.

The WWE Universal Championship will be on the line as Kevin Owens will defend his title against United States Champion, Roman Reigns. This match makes absolutely no sense to just about anyone in the wrestling community. Roman Reigns has completely discredited the United States Championship, making it more of a glorified prop ever since winning it. Reigns is also not ready for his re-entry into the main event picture. The only way that should happen right now is if he were a heel. That clearly won’t happen anytime soon, so this match shouldn’t be happening. It makes sense for Owens to retain here. As stated earlier, he is primed for a feud with former best friend Chris Jericho, and the feud could use the title on the line as Jericho has taken a backseat to Owens throughout his title reign.

The only confirmed women’s match of the night will be the 9835th (kidding obviously) encounter between Charlotte Flair and the Raw Women’s Champion Sasha Banks. They will be going head to head in a 30 minute Iron Man match for the title. This feud has gone on seemingly forever, so hopefully this is the last chapter in their near six month battle. With that being said, Sasha Banks should retain the title here, especially if they are in the main event. It would make sense for the babyface to retain in heroic fashion at the end of the night. However, they did have the opportunity to do this at Hell in a Cell and they didn’t, so anything can happen. Either way, this should be a great and entertaining match between two of the best women’s wrestlers today, and hopefully it will be their last encounter for quite some time.

There will be more matches added to the card for the show, but none have been confirmed. Big Cass vs Rusev is a potential match, but it doesn’t seem too exciting. The New Day will likely put their record breaking tag team title reign on the line against either The Club or Sheamus and Cesaro (or both at the same time) where they will probably see the end of their reign. Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman may go head to head once again.  And finally, Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann will more than likely defend his title against TJ Perkins and/or The Brian Kendrick. The show should be solid at best, but hopefully there will be something to make a decent show great.