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

30-Minute Iron Man Match for the RAW Women’s Championship

Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks (c)

What we learned: I think we learned that if this pace keeps up, Charlotte will match her father’s 16 title reigns pretty quickly. In all seriousness though, we learned that the WWE women’s division is in great shape and had its best year ever.

This wasn’t the best match that these two women have had (I’m still going with the Falls Count Anywhere match) but it was still pretty good. We’ve seen so many encounters between Charlotte and Sasha Banks over the last few months so it was hard for them to throw anything new into the mix but this match still delivered. It started as I expected most Iron Man matches to start with some rest holds to save energy and feeling each other out and such but the action really picked up as it went along. Charlotte is such a tremendous athlete. She makes a lot of things look so easy. For instance, that pinning combination through the middle rope was fantastic and the crowd really didn’t pop for up because she did it with such ease. And I’m never going to get tired of those double knees from Sasha, especially when she does it on the outside of the ring. And Sasha can sell. Now, I don’t really know if she actually hit her face on the steps when Charlotte tripped her but that spot looked amazing.

I was actually kind of hoping that the match would stay 0-0 for the entirety of the match but they were able to build some drama with the pins and submissions that they did do so I won’t complain. And going into overtime was pretty predictable but that’s exactly how this feud should have ended. I didn’t see Charlotte winning but she’s now a four-time champion and is easily one of the best heels in the entire company.

What’s next: I’d put this right up there with Styles vs Cena for feud of the year but it is time for it to be over. The no-rematch clause was a good thing to throw in and it is time for some more women on RAW to be thrown into the title picture. The logical next step would be for Bayley to step up as the new number one contender, but I think a mini-tournament or a Fatal 4-Way #1 contender’s match could be in order. I mean, I’m still thinking that it’s time for a women’s Royal Rumble match but I’ll dig into that some other time. In my perfect wrestling world, Bayley would take the title from Charlotte at some point and then start a program with Sasha leading into WrestleMania while Charlotte somehow gets to a WrestleMania match with Ronda Rousey. But we’ll see how that goes.