After my immense disappointment with Fastlane, I am trying very hard to keep my expectations low for WWE's PPVs. Just once, I would like something new and exciting to happen in WWE, and it seemed like we were getting a glimpse of that when Shane McMahon made a surprise return a few weeks ago. That was also the same night that HHH took out Roman Reigns.
Since then, Ambrose has stepped up and was granted one final title shot, getting the audience more invested in this sudden feud than the ongoing storyline with Reigns vs HHH. It was enough for WWE to quickly rebrand a special house show in Toronto into the network exclusive, WWE Roadblock. Ambrose even did another sit down interview with Michael Cole, where he said he owns this company. The very thought of Ambrose winning the title from HHH will seriously change things up at Wrestlemania.
And it is so damn transparent that nothing is going to change. Again.
Ambrose is just a placeholder until Reigns returns from surgery, and it gives the fans a babyface to cheer for instead of cheering HHH, the heel champion. They won't do a title change in a network exclusive, and WWE will not radically change their card to accompany Ambrose in the title match. PWTorch noted that Ambrose is only popular now because Reigns is absent and if the fans really wanted change, they would do so, much like how Wrestlemania 30 had to change to have Daniel Bryan pull double duty and end the event as a champion.
TL;DR: I expect nothing to change. That's not going to stop me from rooting for Ambrose.
Last night's Monday Night RAW felt like a go home show, with a face standing tall at the end. It was more of a go home show before Roadblock, the network exclusive special taking place in Toronto this Saturday. Compared to last week's leap year episode, this show was thankfully enjoyable and exciting. There were some mixedreviews for this show, which is understandable considering they were focusing on Roadblock and Wrestlemania. The results can be found here.
There were a few great moments here. The first was Kevin Owens vs Neville in a non-title match. There were a few great spots from both Owens and Neville - with Neville even pulling off a Phoenix Splash from the middle rope! - but he lost to Owens via roll up. Owens has been clamoring for weeks that he doesn't have any opponents for Wrestlemania, which strangely excluded Ambrose or invoking a rematch clause, but last night saw a surprise return from an old foe, Sami Zayn. They really are destined to do this forever.
The best match of the night came from Y2AJ vs The New Day for the Tag Team Championship. It was ridiculously exciting and fast pace. AJ was at his freaking best here and so was Big E, who not only countered Jericho's Codebreaker but effortlessly reversed it to do the Big Ending and win the match and retain the title. After the New Day left the ring, AJ and Jericho were left in the ring. And it finally happened; Jericho turned heel and did the Codebreaker on AJ Styles. He did it 2 more times and even grabbed the Y2AJ shirt he wore earlier and stuffed it in AJ's mouth. Suddenly his behavior towards Ambrose and Reigns from Night of Champions last year made sense. He wasn't trying to start a feud with Ambrose, he was being a sore loser. Losing to AJ in their 2 out of 3 matches and then losing again as a tag team was the final straw.
And finally, my guy Ambrose. He's been on fire the last 2 weeks. He cut a pretty lengthy, angry, and passionate promo about coming away as the new champion after March 12. Once again, it's creating excitement and making Wrestlemania look less predictable when someone as volatile as Ambrose is set for a match against Lesnar and is getting a title shot against HHH in the network special.
Unfortunately, there has been a consistent pattern with Ambrose whenever he goes after a title: he cuts a great promo, he looks good and/or stands tall at the end of the go-home shows, and when the main event rolls around, he loses. That's what happened at Survivor Series and Fastlane, so I stopped getting my hopes up that Ambrose would win again. He is currently the placeholder for Reigns until he returns to action, possibly after Roadblock. WWE won't let anything change their plans for Reigns' coronation at Wrestlemania. For now, the fans are getting what they wanted to see after the Royal Rumble: Ambrose vs HHH for the title, Lesnar vs Wyatt, and quite possibly Owens vs Zayn.
Interesting to note, Busted Open on SiriusXM had a very heated debate about Ambrose just now. They've maintained that they don't buy Ambrose as a main eventer RIGHT NOW due to the booking and injuries. They don't hate him either but he hasn't done anything yet that can elevate him to that top tier RIGHT NOW. And I have to agree with them. As I told Vince, this is not a push, this is WWE in panic mode and it's very transparent. For now, booking decisions aside, I'm just enjoying all the exposure Ambrose has been getting.
Last week's RAW saw Brock Lesnar beating down Dean Ambrose, who demanded a street fight match for Wrestlemania, HHH literally beating Reigns to a (fake) bloody pulp, and also the surprise return of Shane McMahon. It seemed like WWE was going into a new, gritty, and unpredictable direction on the road to Wrestlemania. And then we hit a "Roadblock."
Literally.
The previously named "March to Wrestlemania" Toronto network special was abruptly changed to Roadblock as of last night. Along with the name change, the main event also changed from HHH vs Roman Reigns vs Sheamus to... HHH vs Ambrose for the WHC. Let me repeat that: Ambrose, who lost at Fastlane to Reigns to be the #1 contender for the World title, was given a title shot by HHH, in what is basically a televised house show 3 weeks before Wrestlemania.
RAW was unsurprisingly terrible and disappointing in comparison to last week. Aside from the great interactions with Ambrose and HHH in the opening segment, Stephanie's incredible promo, and the ending segment with HHH beating Ambrose, a majority of the matches just happened. The results can be found here. The wins and losses didn't mean anything or didn't make sense. Why did Ziggler lose to Miz? Why did Kalisto (current US Champ) lose to Del Rio? Why did Owens (current IC Champ) lose to The Big Show? And how the hell did Sasha "pass out" from doing the sunset flip on Becky, resulting in a double-pin?!
It doesn't make sense for WWE to focus on building up for a network special again. They did the same thing last year for the Brock Lesnar tour, where Big Show suddenly had to look strong a week before the Madison Square Garden network special before predictably losing to him. Ambrose vs HHH sounds great but it makes no sense for Ambrose to start going after HHH when he's already in a feud with Lesnar. So after this special ends in a predictable manner next Saturday, then they'll resume building up for Wrestlemania 32, which still only has 3 confirmed matches. Nothing has been announced for the Tag Team, Divas, US and IC titles yet. How they're going to sell the remaining 30,000+ Wrestlemania tickets is beyond me.
If there's anything important to note here, it's the difference in the crowd reaction to the main event from last week. Ambrose got laid out by the League of Nation. HHH comes to the ring and belittles Ambrose, who quickly pops up to punch him and starts wailing on in the corner. HHH retaliates with the pedigree and angrily grants him his title shot. Ambrose then crawls up to the mic that HHH dropped on him and said, "Hey, Hunter! Thanks!" HHH then throws Ambrose on the announcer's table and starts beating him up, though not as viciously as what he did to Reigns. The entire arena was booing at HHH and cheering for Ambrose.
Once again, there's that false hope that Ambrose might actually win the title. Seeing how it's a live show and HHH's first title defense in a long time, he ain't losting to Ambrose. Then again, the same was said for the NXT Championship match with Kevin Owens and Finn Balor for the Beast In The East special, and the title changed hands there. There's a serious booking dilemma and to be honest, I really don't care. Ambrose is in main event mode and WWE can't ignore the pop and chants he consistently gets, especially last night. When Reigns returns, it's not going to be pretty.
