WWE Roadblock, known as NXT Roadblock since 2022, is a professional wrestling event series produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The event was established in March 2016, and this inaugural event was simply titled Roadblock and aired exclusively on the WWE Network streaming service. The second event was then held in December 2016 under the name Roadblock: End of the Line where in addition to the WWE Network, it also aired on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) outlets. To coincide with the brand extension reintroduced in July 2016, this second event was held exclusively for wrestlers from the Raw brand. Roadblock was discontinued after this second event; however, in 2022, WWE revived the event for its developmental brand NXT, and it has since been held annually in March as a television special episode of the NXT program.
| WWE Roadblock | |
|---|---|
| Promotions | WWE |
| Brands | Raw (December 2016) NXT (2022–present) |
| Other names | NXT Roadblock (2022–present) |
| First event | Roadblock (March 2016) |
The event's title is a reference to its scheduling. The first event was titled as a reference to its original March position on the "Road to WrestleMania". With the second event held in December, its title was in reference to it being WWE's final PPV and livestreaming event of 2016. Since 2022, its title is in reference to its position on the road to NXT Stand & Deliver, the brand's annual WrestleMania week event.
History
editThe American professional wrestling promotion WWE originally had a house show scheduled for March 12, 2016, at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was titled "March to WrestleMania: Live from Toronto."[1] To further build towards the following month's WrestleMania 32, WWE decided to broadcast the event live and exclusively on their online streaming service, the WWE Network. They also renamed the event to Roadblock, which was a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania".[2]
In July that year, WWE reintroduced the brand extension where they again split their roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. Brand-exclusive pay-per-views (PPV) also returned. The Roadblock name was in turn reused for the Raw-exclusive December PPV and WWE Network event. It was titled Roadblock: End of the Line due to it being the final PPV of the year.[3][4] This would also be the final event to carry the Roadblock name as Roadblock was quietly discontinued with no event scheduled for 2017.[5]
The Roadblock name was revived for a special episode of WWE NXT on March 8, 2022, as "NXT Roadblock"; this event served as a lead-in to Stand & Deliver, NXT's WrestleMania weekend show in Dallas.[6][7]
Events
edit| Raw-branded event | NXT-branded event |
| # | Event | Date | City | Venue | Main Event | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roadblock (2016) | March 12, 2016 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Ricoh Coliseum | Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship | [1] | |||
| 2 | Roadblock: End of the Line | December 18, 2016 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | PPG Paints Arena | Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship | [3] | |||
| 3 | NXT Roadblock (2022) | March 8, 2022 | Orlando, Florida | WWE Performance Center | Bron Breakker (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match for the NXT Championship | [7] | |||
| 4 | NXT Roadblock (2023) | March 7, 2023 | Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Meiko Satomura for the NXT Women's Championship | [8] | |||||
| 5 | NXT Roadblock (2024) | March 5, 2024 | Tony D'Angelo vs. Carmelo Hayes for an NXT Championship match at NXT Stand & Deliver | [9] | |||||
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
| |||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "WWE Roadblock Network Special". RicohColiseum.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- ^ "WWE Title match official for re-named Network special". Pro Wrestling Torch. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- ^ a b "WWE PPV Roadblock: End Of The Line". PPG Paints Arena. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "Get WWE Roadblock: End of the Line 2016 tickets now". WWE. October 7, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- ^ Silverstein, Adam (December 13, 2017). "WWE schedule, list of PPVs for 2017: Clash of Champions date, location". CBSSports. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ WWE [@WWE] (March 1, 2022). "@bronbreakkerwwe defends the #NXTTitle against @NXTCiampa and @HEELZiggler in a Triple Threat Match next week at #WWENXT Roadblock!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 1, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Guzzo, Gisberto (March 1, 2022). "NXT Championship Triple Threat, Last Man Standing Match, And More Set For 3/8 NXT Roadblock". Fightful. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (February 14, 2023). "WWE NXT Roadblock Set For 3/7/23". Fightful. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (February 4, 2024). "NXT Roadblock 2024 Set For 3/5/24 Episode Of WWE NXT TV". Fightful. Retrieved February 4, 2024.