WWE Roadblock 2016 Review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman

Okay, before we get to this match, can we just talk about how great Kevin Owens is?  Seriously, every time he’s interviewed backstage it’s absolute gold, and before this contest got started, he proved it once again. Sorry, I just had to get that in there. And just so I don’t waste any more time in a few minutes, he killed it again later in the show as well as he cut a great promo with a door. Now that’s talent. But let’s get to the glorified squash match between Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman.

What we learned: What did we learn here? Perhaps that creative has nothing for Sami Zayn. Nothing.

I really want to get into this storyline. I really do. I absolutely loved the promos between Sami Zayn and Mick Foley leading up to this match but the payoff (if that’s what we want to call it) did nothing for me.

The crowd was absolutely dead at the beginning of this match and they stayed that was pretty much throughout. It was pretty predictable a the start with staying away and running some time off of the clock until he finally got caught. Cue the couple minutes of power moves from Braun as the crowd collectively yawns. Tick, tick, tick. Oh look, there’s Mick Foley with a towel to throw in the ring.  And there’s two more minutes off the clock.

“The blood of Sami Zayn is on your hands.” Okay, that’s not bad from the big man. But then there’s some “offense” from Zayn as Braun hits the post and then the barricade. Okay, it’s really just Zayn getting out of the way but that’s where we’re at right now. Thought he might actually get the countout win but we’re back in the ring where Zayn hits a lateral press and is then tossed out of the ring. Tick, tick, tick. But then he hits a boot in the corner and time expires. Zayn wins. Wait, what? Yep, I guess that’s how we’re deciding the winners of matches now.

What’s next: If you watched RAW Talk on the WWE Network following the pay-per-view then you saw Sami Zayn say that that’s not the way he wants to win, which leads me to believe that this isn’t the end of the line for this thing. Now that he “survived” ten minutes in the ring with Strowman, the logical next step would be for Zayn to demand another match where he tries to pick up an actual victory. But with the Royal Rumble on the horizon, where they’ll likely want to make Braun look like more of a beast, where is this thing going? Maybe they’ve got something down the road in line for Zayn and I certainly hope they do because I think he’s a great talent. But they might need to get to it sooner rather than later as I don’t know anybody that’s enjoyed watching these matches.

I think ten minutes of Owens and Jericho backstage talking about holiday scarves would have been better than this.