Roadblock: End of the Line was a 2016 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brand, Raw. It was the second Roadblock and took place on December 18, 2016, at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The event's name was a reference to this being WWE's final PPV and livestreaming event of 2016.
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Kevin Owens retained the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns by disqualification when Chris Jericho attacked Owens, thus Owens retained as titles do not change hands by disqualification unless stipulated. In the opening bout, the team of Cesaro and Sheamus defeated The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) to win the Raw Tag Team Championship, ending New Day's record-setting reign of 483 days; this remained the longest tag team championship reign on WWE's main roster until November 2022. In other prominent matches, Rich Swann retained the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against The Brian Kendrick and T. J. Perkins in a triple threat match, Seth Rollins defeated Chris Jericho, and Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks in overtime of a 30-minute Iron Man match to win her record fourth Raw Women's Championship.
This was the second Roadblock to be held in 2016, after the first Roadblock was held in March as part of the "Road to WrestleMania", which made it the first to be held after the reintroduction of the brand split in July. While that first event was streamed exclusively as a WWE Network special in the United States and on PPV internationally, this second event aired on PPV and the WWE Network worldwide. This was the final Roadblock until 2022 when WWE revived the event as a television special for the NXT brand.
Production Background
In March 2016, the professional wrestling promotion WWE held an event titled Roadblock, which was originally a non-televised house show that was turned into a WWE Network special in the United States to further build towards WrestleMania 32; outside of the U.S., it aired via traditional pay-per-view (PPV). The name was a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania". Following the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, where the promotion again split its main roster into two separate brands, Raw and SmackDown, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform, the promotion reinstated brand-exclusive PPV and livestreaming events. On July 25, 2016, the Roadblock name was in turn reused for the Raw-exclusive December event, which was held on December 18, 2016, at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in addition to being available to livestream on the WWE Network, it was available via traditional PPV outlets worldwide. This second Roadblock event was titled Roadblock: End of the Line due to it being WWE's final PPV and livestreaming event of the year. Tickets went on sale on October 7 through Ticketmaster.
Storylines The event comprised seven matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.
After being part of Team Raw's losing effort against Team SmackDown at Survivor Series, Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens got into a heated argument during Jericho's "Highlight Reel" on Raw. Jericho blamed Owens for using "The List of Jericho" as a weapon, whereas Owens explained that he tried to save Jericho from being eliminated. The two finally agreed that Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were at fault for the loss. The same night, as a reward for having joined Team Raw, Rollins received another opportunity at Owens's WWE Universal Championship in a no disqualification match. Both Jericho, who had repeatedly interfered in Owens's title defenses and cost Rollins the Universal title, and Reigns were banned from ringside. Jericho, disguised as a masked fan, interfered nonetheless, allowing Owens to capitalize and retain the championship.
The following week, the friendship between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho was disrupted, when Owens stated he did not need Jericho's help against the challenge of Roman Reigns. A disgruntled Jericho left the arena, but on the way out, he was attacked by Seth Rollins and suffered a Pedigree on top of a car, while Reigns defeated Owens to earn a title match for the Universal Championship at Roadblock. On the December 5 episode, Rollins stated that he would go through Jericho and Owens to get to Triple H, who had originally enabled Owens to win the Universal Championship against Rollins in a fatal four-way elimination match back in August. Owens then revealed that he had lobbied management to get Jericho two matches: Jericho would be facing Rollins at Roadblock and he would challenge Reigns for the United States Championship on Raw. Though Jericho told Owens to stay out of the match, Owens came to ringside to aid Jericho, but caused a distraction, which allowed Reigns to retain the title. The following week, Owens made amends with Jericho and got them a match against The New Day (Xavier Woods and Big E, with Kofi Kingston) for the Raw Tag Team Championship. Later, General Manager Mick Foley added Rollins and Reigns to that match, making it a triple threat tag team match. During the match, the friendship again broke down between Owens and Jericho. At the close of the match, Rollins delivered a Pedigree to Jericho and The New Day capitalized on this to retain the championship. Afterwards, an argument ensued between Owens and Jericho. Jericho left and Reigns speared Owens.
At WrestleMania 32, Charlotte Flair became the inaugural WWE Women's Champion in a triple threat match involving Sasha Banks, who wasn't involved in the decision. Banks managed to win the title, which was renamed Raw Women's Championship in August, on the July 25 episode of Raw. Following this, Banks and Flair traded the championship four times, with the recent being in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the November 28 episode of Raw in Charlotte's hometown. After the match, Flair's father, Ric Flair, came out and congratulated Banks. The following week, Flair invoked her rematch clause; in response, Banks suggested a 30-minute Iron Man match at Roadblock, which Flair accepted. Later that night, Flair invited her father to the ring to publicly apologize for disowning him earlier in the year; the two hugged, but then Flair slapped him in the face, claiming that Ric turned his back on her. Banks came to Ric's aid, but was overpowered by Flair.
On the premiere episode of 205 Live on November 29, Rich Swann defeated The Brian Kendrick for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. He retained the championship in a rematch the following week where T. J. Perkins was on commentary. After the match, Kendrick attacked Perkins, which resulted in a three-way brawl also involving Swann. On December 12, Swann was scheduled to defend the championship in a triple threat match against Kendrick and Perkins at Roadblock. On that night's Raw, Kendrick defeated Perkins in a singles match. The following night on 205 Live, Perkins defeated Swann by submission in a non-title match.
On the November 21 and November 28 episodes of Raw, Enzo Amore approached Rusev's wife, Lana. On the December 5 episode, Rusev and Lana got into an argument and Rusev stormed off. Amore tried to console Lana and later that night, was invited to her hotel room. Once he got there, Lana enticed Amore to strip down to his underwear and then called for Rusev, who attacked Amore before dragging his unconscious body into the hallway. The following week, Rusev and Lana mocked Amore by showing replays of the attack. Amore's tag team partner, Big Cass, got into a brawl with Rusev and sent him into retreat. A match between Cass and Rusev was then scheduled for the Roadblock Kickoff pre-show.
On the November 21 episode of Raw, General Manager Mick Foley put Sami Zayn in a match against Braun Strowman for failing to defeat The Miz at Survivor Series and bringing the Intercontinental Championship to Raw. Foley stopped the match when Zayn could not continue. The following week, Zayn demanded a rematch but Foley declined, telling Zayn that he could not beat Strowman. Zayn stormed off and on the December 12 episode, again asked for a rematch, but was again rejected. Zayn pondered switching to SmackDown because Foley did not believe in him. Following his match against Curtis Axel, Strowman declared that no one, including Zayn, could last two minutes with him. Later, after Zayn defeated Jinder Mahal, Foley told Zayn that he had arranged to trade Zayn to SmackDown in return for Eva Marie. An angry Zayn refused such a lopsided trade and again demanded for a rematch against Strowman. Foley yielded and scheduled Zayn to face Strowman at Roadblock in a match with a ten-minute time limit.
For several weeks, Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) had been hyping their Raw Tag Team Championship reign as they were soon overtaking Demolition's record of at 478 days as the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history. On the November 21 and November 28 episodes of Raw, they retained their titles in back to back championship matches against Cesaro and Sheamus and then Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, respectively. On the December 5 episode, a match pitting Cesaro and Sheamus against Gallows and Anderson to determine the number one contenders for the championship ended in a double countout as the two teams and New Day, who were doing commentary, brawled on the outside. A triple threat tag team championship match between the three teams was then scheduled for the following week. New Day won the match but in the ensuing celebration party, Woods accidentally sprayed champagne on Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon. As punishment, she forced New Day to defend the titles a second time; New Day defeated Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho as well as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a triple threat match, making their breaking Demolition's record inevitable. At WWE Tribute to the Troops, Cesaro and Sheamus earned another title shot at Roadblock by winning a fatal four-way tag team match.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael Cole Corey GravesByron SaxtonAustin Aries Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodríguezGerman commentatorsHolger BöschenManu ThieleRing announcerJoJoRefereesChad PattonDarrick MooreJohn ConeRod ZapataBackstage interviewersTom PhillipsCharly CarusoPre-show panelRenee YoungSam RobertsBooker TRaw Talk panelCharly CarusoBooker T
Pre-show During the Roadblock: End of the Line Kickoff pre-show, Rusev (accompanied by Lana) faced Big Cass (accompanied by Enzo Amore). The match ended when Lana feigned an ankle injury and Rusev attacked Amore during the distraction. As a concerned Cass checked on Amore, he was counted out, giving the win to Rusev.
Preliminary matches