WWE Roadblock featured Kevin Owens defeating Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins beating Chris Jericho and Charlotte defeating Sasha Banks to cap off Raw’s final pay-per-view of 2016.
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Fans were split on the outcome of both singles championship matches, while many were happy to see the surprisingly “over” duo of Sheamus and Cesaro end the New Day’s 483 day reign as WWE tag team champions.
Now, WWE is headed to its most pivotal time of the year, the road to The Royal Rumble, where as good ol’ Jr used to say, “business is about to pick up.”
Here is a look at 5 potentially huge angles that could be coming out of Raw in the coming weeks and months.
Time to split up the New Day?
When the New Day debuted as three jovial gospel choir directors, many assumed the angle would be dead in the water within a few months. Fast forward two years later and the New Day are now the longest reigning Tag Team Champions in WWE history.
Now that the copper straps are no longer around their waist, what’s next for the members of the New Day? Surely, they’ll get their rematch (likely on RAW tonight) with Cesaro and Sheamus, but it seems pointless to keep the trio chasing after the tag team championships when they’ve already achieved everything possible in that division.
The New Day’s chemistry together is so great that it would be nice to see them stick together as a faction while chasing individual pursuits, but it’s likely the WWE will split the trio with one or two of them getting a total re-brand after the Royal Rumble.
Big Cass will eventually turn on Enzo
While the adultress feud between Rusev/Lana and Enzo/Cass has been somewhat entertaining, one of the underlying points that has been hammered home is that Enzo runs his mouth while Cass fights his battles. The certified G even spelled it out for you during last night’s pre-show kickoff when he said “My mouth has 7 foot legs to back it up” or something to that effect.
As made evident by his involvement in the fatal four way for the vacant Universal championship earlier this year, it’s clear that Vince and company have big plans for Big Cass. And at some point between now and Wrestlemania, I expect Cass to grow weary of fighting Enzo’s fights for him, which will lead to the 7 footer dropping his little buddy at the Jersey shore.
The man that creative forgot
Neville is back! After a prolonged absence, the man that gravity (and creative) forgot returned to lay waste to the 205 Live cruiserweight division after last night’s triple threat match.
Neville is exactly what the cruiserweight division needs right now; an established superstar that doesn’t need his backstory explained. Unfortunately, fans may already care too much about the former NXT champion as they were chanting “Thank You Neville” during last night’s beatdown.
If Neville is able to get the fans to despise him, it will be a testament to his skills on the mic (not something he’s been known for).
Bayley time in the women’s division?
Charlotte won her 4th Women’s Championship this year, putting her on pace to break her father’s 16 time world championship record in the year 2020. Yep. Seriously.
But in the meantime, the win will make way for new challengers for both The Queen and The Boss. The night after Survivor Series, Bayley and Nia Jax were both inserted into those positions, but a change of plans put Bayley in a feud with Alicia Fox over a teddy bear and caused Nia Jax to completely disappear from television.
Look for Bayley to slowly work her way to a Wrestlemania 33 championship win, with a Sasha Banks heel turn awaiting her the following night.
Reimagining The Shield
When Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose spent over a year co-existing and even teaming up on the same roster as babyfaces, it never felt like The Shield. At best, it felt like a spinoff. Last night, however, when Seth and Roman bumped fists and sent Kevin Owens careening down through a table, it felt like the band was back together.
The Pittsburgh crowd were not warming up to the reunion and seemed to even shower the faces with boos when they viciously chased down Owens to beat the snot out of him.
As Universal champion, Owens is a great, snivelling, diabolical heel, but the vocal, hardcore fans love him. Jericho is on the greatest run of his late career and will find it hard to stir up a single boo with his scarves and catch phrases. While a double-turn is unlikely, it will be interesting to see how the WWE presents this version of the Shield.
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