2 years later: why destroying the shield was a bad idea.

[Psykohurricane55]

It's been 2 years now since the shield was destroy and let face it, all 3 members hasn't lit the world on fire since the split.

Seth rollins, while one hell of a performer and was a great old school type of heel, he will still be remember as one of the worst wwe champions since the miz. Near the end of his run, he wasn't getting any reaction from the fans. Sure when I will get back from injury, he will get the standard we miss you pop that every wrestlers gets when they come back from injury, but how long before fans feel indifference again.

dean ambrose is getting decent pop but he's not enough oer to be consider a main event levvel guy andd is act as a lunatic is getting old which you see every week on tv that some fans are getting tired of it. Sadly for dean, unless something chage quick, he will stay in the upper mid card for the rest of his career.

roman reigns had some potential before vince came and ruin it all, I remember the moment last december when reigns was the most over guy in the company and then he won the wwe championship and got book like cena for awhile which made no sense and killed all the momemtum they build for him since last year wrestlemania and now he's almost unsalvageble and will probably be another fail experiment like ryback was a couple of years ago.

when those 3 we're part of the shields, they we're the most popular act in the company and could have gotten single runs while still being part of the group and you would have gotten 3 new main event stars. Instead you got 3 mid card guys that won't be as over as that should have been and will pail when compare to stars like lesnar and cena

 

[Azane]

LOL Is this a serious topic?

Seth Rollins was the man, he was getting huge pops and reactions (Heel reactions)

Dean Ambrose is getting the biggest pops right now.

and Roman Reigns is getting the biggest boos of anyone.

Ambrose and Rollins are/were doing better single than as a team, Roman would be doing fine if creative knew how to build him without giving him a mic, and without Super Cena booking.

The split was good as it gives each of the men a chance to build their own identity. This is partially why Roman is floundering, he's still the Shield Roman, even without the Shield.

 

[Noshowers]

Yeah I have a hard time believing many people see it like the OP here.

Seth Rollins was the top guy and getting the biggest reactions out of the crowd while also putting on the most memorable matches on most nights. When he comes back he definitely should be slotted back into the main Event for the foreseeable future.

Dean Ambrose is the most over Babyface the company has now and would probably either already be the WWE Champ or in the Main Event for Wrestlemania if it wasn't for next wrestler and Vince's single minded obsession...Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is the biggest heel the company has now, even though WWE doesn't want to admit it. He is such a big heel that HHH is getting cheered like a conquering hero, and would actually get the biggest pop in WWE History if he beat Reigns in the Main Event at Wrestlemania.

This whole discussion would be mute if WWE would either start booking Roman as a heel or have already been doing it for the last year and a half, but sadly their stubborness in trying to get him over as a babyface has really soured nearly everyone on the guy. This one huge mistake really does get me down on the Shield being split, because if Roman was just a Brock Lesner type monster heel we might be discussing a topic like "Is the Shield the most successful split up stable" type deal

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I can't agree with your classification of Seth Rollins as one of the worst WWE Champions since the Miz, or period for that matter. Rollins had a long, overall strong run as champion and my only real complaint was how he was fed to Brock Lesnar; that's not how you build someone who you're counting on to help carry the company for the next decade. As for his response from fans, I also have to vehemently disagree with you because Rollins received a strong response as a heel; his biggest problem was that it did get repetitive at times as he'd gone as far as he could as the Chosen One of the Authority. Rollins has the goods inside the ring, he's solid in the mic with the potential to be great and fans were invested in what he was involved in. Rollins was a heel champion and heel champions, especially if they're not 300 pound mountains of muscle, are portrayed as cowards who cheat to get what they want thereby creating the want of fans to see them get what's coming to them.

As for Dean Ambrose, I have no idea what you think qualifies as something beyond a "decent pop." A "decent pop" is what Kalisto gets. Fans don't start ripping their clothes off, scream until they're hoarse and clap until their hands are raw for wrestlers who they see on television each week. If that's the sort of response that you think goes beyond a "decent pop", then nobody in all of wrestling is over. Fans are invested in Ambrose and enjoy seeing him do his thing; they were invested during his program with Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens, Triple H, they're invested in his program with Brock Lesnar, etc. Guys who only get a "decent pop", don't have thousands of fans doing a "bullshit" chant after a false finish as we saw in his match with Triple H at Roadblock; they were very much interested in the notion of Ambrose becoming WWE Champion.

As for Roman Reigns, he has NEVER been the most over guy in the company, not even remotely close. When it comes to overall fan interest, Reigns is very much behind guys like Cena, Orton, Taker, New Day, Ambrose, Rollins, Jericho, Styles, Cesaro, Lesnar, Triple H, Owens and maybe a few others. Reigns' general lack of charisma is a big hurdle, but Vince made it even more difficult when he essentially started to book him and portray him in a similar light to what we've seen with Cena for most of his career.

Even in the earliest says of the Shield, Ambrose and Rollins were the ones who really stood out. Reigns came off as looking better than he was due to a more limited role as the team's muscle and by the fact his shortcomings were well concealed by two wrestlers who were much more charismatic, better in the ring and on the mic. We've seen them out on their own, that was really the only way to gauge whether or not these guys could really sink or swim; Rollins and Ambrose have got the goods to be main event talent, but I just don't see it with Reigns as there are a good number of wrestlers on the roster that many fans feel are simply much better.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

I read this post when it had 0 replies and didn't post my opinion as I wondered if I was totally misunderstanding the OP's point.

Seems I wasn't. I thought how they broke up the Shield was great. It perhaps didn't all go to plan as they expected but it was done well.

Rollins was brilliant as champ in my opinion, played his role brilliantly and can't wait for him to come back. Him and Ambrose have the potential to be this generations Rock and Austin.

 

[Piss Bucket]

I read this post when it had 0 replies and didn't post my opinion as I wondered if I was totally misunderstanding the OP's point.

Seems I wasn't. I thought how they broke up the Shield was great. It perhaps didn't all go to plan as they expected but it was done well.

Rollins was brilliant as champ in my opinion, played his role brilliantly and can't wait for him to come back. Him and Ambrose have the potential to be this generations Rock and Austin.

You're comparing Seth Rollins to The Rock? GTFO the Internet, NOW! Rollins isn't fit to lace up The Rock's boots and would be a nobody if HHH didn't have a man crush on him.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Much like New Day today but in a different way The Shield was one of my favorite parts of WWE programming for much of their run, even towards the end when they became clear faces. Each guy played off the others well and the combination of the group allowed each guy to hide his weaknesses.

Unfortunately Vince loves to strike when the iron is hot and choose to break them up since in wrestling the value of the team can be less than the sum of it's parts.

This has lead to a less than stellar heel championship run for Rollins that felt like it went on too long. Others in this thread seem to be arguing otherwise but there were a lot of complaints during his run. Ambrose being a decent anti-hero but not someone to take serious until the roster was so picked apart that he became next guy up. And then Reigns is Reigns.

I don't know if the break up was a mistake. It is hard to tell what they would have become after dismantling Evolution 2.0 but for my entertainment value The Shield > Ambrose + Rollins + Reigns.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The poihad athat a was making is that they we're more over as a group then seperate. While rollins was a great heel, his booking was horrible as I lost more matches. Ofhen won matches and when I won matches, they we're always with outside interference and fans that weren't hardcore wrestling fans where getting tired of it.

ambrose is technically the most over babyface by default because they don't have anybody else to replace cena, bryan and orton but he's not getting the same type of pop that lesnar, cena or orton are getting and the way is booked, it will always remain in this position

reigns had a shot at becoming the man but the bad booking decision pretty much destroyed any chance of him becoming a main event babyface

I did love how the shields broke up but looking back 2 years later, I realise that those 3 will never be as over as they we're during that era of the shields.

 

[OYDK]

Let's get the inconsistencies out of the way early.

Seth rollins will still be remember as one of the worst wwe champions since the miz. Near the end of his run, he wasn't getting any reaction from the fans.

Are you on something? One of the worst champions since the Miz? Rollins held the title for 7 months and probably would have held it into Mania had he not gotten hurt. He went toe to toe with Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Sting and likely would have faced HHH at Mania this year. Rollins was easily one of the best new WWE champions in a REALLY long time. Personally, he was one of the main reasons why I tuned in. And his reactions were getting bigger as the run went on.

dean ambrose is getting decent pop but he's not enough oer to be consider a main event levvel guy

He's the most over face in the whole company... how is that not over enough to be considered a main event level guy?

now he's almost unsalvageble and will probably be another fail experiment like ryback was a couple of years ago.

Reigns will have two Mania main events under his belt and likely 4 WWEWHC "reigns" after the night is over in April. No matter what, he's not going to be a failed experiment.

Instead you got 3 mid card guys that won't be as over as that should have been and will pail when compare to stars like lesnar and cena

Actually you have 3 stars which is exactly what was supposed to happen.

If you want to convince me, your argument will need to be a whole lot stronger than this.

 

[Piss Bucket]

Are you having a fucking laugh? The only reason Seth Rollins got anywhere near the title is because HHH has a man crush on him! FACT!

 

[Sai the Uganda Guy]

Indeed, Rollins can't go in the ring, doesn't play a good heel, none of that. HHH just loves jerking off to his dick pics, that's all.
/sarcasm

 

[OYDK]

Are you having a fucking laugh? The only reason Seth Rollins got anywhere near the title is because HHH has a man crush on him! FACT!

Man, I'm going to hate you. I just know it.

Can you back up your opinion with any facts? This is a discussion forum so let's discuss. Elaborate guy.

 

[Piss Bucket]

Man, I'm going to hate you. I just know it.

Can you back up your opinion with any facts? This is a discussion forum so let's discuss. Elaborate guy.

Meh, first link when I Googled "HHH has man crush on Seth Rollins",

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0429/592850/kane-on-making-sure-seth-rollins-is-the-future/

 

[Sai the Uganda Guy]

You... You do know Cole's interviews are kayfabe, right?

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I don't think it's fucking possible to roll my eyes any harder than this at this entire thread. I might need a medic now.

 

[MWRedskins]

It's been 2 years now since the shield was destroy and let face it, all 3 members hasn't lit the world on fire since the split.

oh i so badly disagree here. i may not like how Roman Reigns is being booked, but he's in the main event at Wrestlemania for TWO years in a row!!! he's been WWE World Heavyweight Champion and will win it at Wrestlemania unless WWE throws a curveball (which i doubt). Rollins was a man on fire before his injury and Ambrose has a Wrestlemania match with Brock Lesnar and WWE doesnt just put scrubs vs. Lesnar at Wrestlemania. they put guys that they want to push vs. Lesnar. they have done very well since their split.

Seth rollins, while one hell of a performer and was a great old school type of heel, he will still be remember as one of the worst wwe champions since the miz. Near the end of his run, he wasn't getting any reaction from the fans. Sure when I will get back from injury, he will get the standard we miss you pop that every wrestlers gets when they come back from injury, but how long before fans feel indifference again.

ok, when it comes to Rollins, he was booked as a heel and while some of his promos were a bit repetitive, they weren't bad. i enjoyed him as champion. he was NOWHERE near The Miz level. he had a great series of matches with Dean Ambrose with a great spot in a ladder match that i've never seen before. he got the right amount of heat he needed as a heel. did he get a lot of heat, no, but that's because Seth Rollins is liked by male adult fans like myself. i love his in ring style and his promos. he reminds me a bit of CM Punk for the good reasons. he's going to get a massive pop when he returns and depending on his intentions (in other words, is he a face or heel) either his reactions will grow as a face or he'll get heat.

dean ambrose is getting decent pop but he's not enough oer to be consider a main event levvel guy andd is act as a lunatic is getting old which you see every week on tv that some fans are getting tired of it. Sadly for dean, unless something chage quick, he will stay in the upper mid card for the rest of his career.

Ambrose gets really good, just not great pops. i like his promos (which is what he's best at) and while his in ring skills aren't like Rollins' are, they are still great enough to put on great matches. i'm hoping and thinking that his match vs. Lesnar would steal the show. now say WWE actually does the unthinkable and books Ambrose to BEAT Lesnar..will Ambrose be a mid carder type of guy to you then??? i dont think WWE will book that upset win, but if they do, then WWE just built them up a new star.

roman reigns had some potential before vince came and ruin it all, I remember the moment last december when reigns was the most over guy in the company and then he won the wwe championship and got book like cena for awhile which made no sense and killed all the momemtum they build for him since last year wrestlemania and now he's almost unsalvageble and will probably be another fail experiment like ryback was a couple of years ago.

Roman Reigns isn't that good on the mic, but in the ring, he's not as bad as many people feel. i think Reigns can be saved though if he were booked as a heel. if WWE pulled the switch and had Reigns turn heel on Ambrose at Survivor Series, that would've been a major success for WWE. Reigns would be a great heel because he's already got heat with the fans and if he turned on Ambrose, that would get him major heat.

With all that said, i'll be the first to admit that when the Shield broke up, i had major worries mainly about Reigns. Some of me wanted to see a new member added to the Shield, but WWE did right by all of them in the end even if i feel Reigns is being booked wrong. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins though have been booked great to me. Rollins' title run may not have been the greatest ever seen, BUT Rollins was the FIRST man in the WWE to hold both the US and WWE World Heavyweight Championships and that plus his great matches he's had with Cena and Ambrose made his run really good to me. Ambrose is being booked greatly too and one win over Lesnar would make him a major star. i hope WWE has him win, but i'm not hopeful they'll do it.

 

[MWRedskins]

Meh, first link when I Googled "HHH has man crush on Seth Rollins",

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0429/592850/kane-on-making-sure-seth-rollins-is-the-future/

if you are going to say that Triple H has a man crush on Rollins, dont use the above link as your source because Cole's interviews are more Kayfabe than realistic. Does Triple H like Rollins, my guess is yes...does he like Reigns, my guess is yes, BUT Vince McMahon loves Reigns more and THAT is a fact. that's one reason why most fans boo Reigns, they feel that he's being pushed down their throats. as for me, i like him, but i feel he's a much better fit as a heel like Mark Henry was. he's got the natural monster heel type of look.

i think Triple H does like Rollins, but he didnt get a push because of a "man crush" he got a push because he actually deserves it. the guy is one of the best in ring performers today and if you disagree with that, then you just aren't much of an in ring wrestling fan and only watch it for the big guy looks. Rollins has a great move set.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Just to clarify to everybody that didn't get my post, especially concerning the seth rollins title reign being the worst since the miz, I mean the way it got booked not the character itself, same goes for the other 2 the way they get booked is awful when compared to when they we're in the shield and their popularity as traken a hit because of it. Their not as over as the once we're in it's going downward instead of upward ecause of the way they get booked. Ambrose is dangerously close to be in the ziggler territory as far as a performer is concern, unless something is done quick, like him winning against lesnar at mania, fans will just give up like they did with ziggler. Same goes for reigns if they don't do something quick to fix the damage they've done, he might be in tthe mid card next year.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Seth Rollins - Biggest heel in wrestling. 8 month WWE Championship reign. Numerous MOTY candidates.

Roman Reigns - Won a Royal Rumble. Headlined a WrestleMania. 2 WWE Championship reigns. Improving every week.

Dean Ambrose - Most over wrestler in the company. A lot of great feuds and matches. Slowly becoming a full-time main eventer.

I'd say they're doing quite well. Besides what else could they have done in The Shield?

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Meh, first link when I Googled "HHH has man crush on Seth Rollins",

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0429/592850/kane-on-making-sure-seth-rollins-is-the-future/

Dude this is from a kayfabe perspective. That line was scripted.

 

[Navi]

It's been 2 years now since the shield was destroy and let face it, all 3 members hasn't lit the world on fire since the split.

Let's face it, they have all set the world on fire, or do you just not watch wrestling?

Seth rollins, while one hell of a performer and was a great old school type of heel, he will still be remember as one of the worst wwe champions since the miz. Near the end of his run, he wasn't getting any reaction from the fans. Sure when I will get back from injury, he will get the standard we miss you pop that every wrestlers gets when they come back from injury, but how long before fans feel indifference again.

I would agree his run could have been better, but his feud with Ambrose was a feud of the year contender. When you are in with the Authority unfortunately most of what you do involves all of them as well. I would have loved to see him break away from them and strike out on his own. He is gold on the mic and a great in ring performer. Also the lack of faces for him to feud with didn't help either. I totally disagree the fans were indifferent to him. He got one of the best heel reactions when he came out, and his pop when he returns will be immense. Don't think for one minute fans don't want him back, because they do.

dean ambrose is getting decent pop but he's not enough oer to be consider a main event levvel guy andd is act as a lunatic is getting old which you see every week on tv that some fans are getting tired of it. Sadly for dean, unless something chage quick, he will stay in the upper mid card for the rest of his career.

Ambrose gets the pops of the night in most cities. He is the most over babyface on the roster today. Crazy or not it works for him, and will help in his match against Lesnar at Mania. It will have too, as it's the only chance he has of winning it. He will walk out of Mania a full fledged main event star.

roman reigns had some potential before vince came and ruin it all, I remember the moment last december when reigns was the most over guy in the company and then he won the wwe championship and got book like cena for awhile which made no sense and killed all the momemtum they build for him since last year wrestlemania and now he's almost unsalvageble and will probably be another fail experiment like ryback was a couple of years ago.

He was never the most over face on the roster, not ever. Bryan, Ambrose and countless others were ahead of him. If he had been the most over guy, then they wouldn't have had Rollins save the main event at Mania last year buy cashing in.. True his booking has been horrendous, but he doesn't really help himself either. His lack of charisma, which I used to think he had in spades really isn't there. He has the look, but sadly not really a lot else to back it up. Vince loves him though, and that will keep him on top for another few years.

when those 3 we're part of the shields, they we're the most popular act in the company and could have gotten single runs while still being part of the group and you would have gotten 3 new main event stars. Instead you got 3 mid card guys that won't be as over as that should have been and will pail when compare to stars like lesnar and cena

They are three main event stars, and have headlined a lot of what we've seen over the last year. I agree breaking them up was a mistake, but it has shown that Ambrose and Rollins can stand on their own two feet, Reigns still needs Ambrose to prop him up. I would say Ambrose would be further ahead of the game if he wasn't being used as part of Ambreigns for most of the past few months.

Let Reigns win the title at Mania, have his run, get it over with, and move onto others.

Are you having a fucking laugh? The only reason Seth Rollins got anywhere near the title is because HHH has a man crush on him! FACT!

How old are you, like 12. If you aren't then stop acting and posting like you are. Jesus Christ.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Seth Rollins - Biggest heel in wrestling. 8 month WWE Championship reign. Numerous MOTY candidates.

Roman Reigns - Won a Royal Rumble. Headlined a WrestleMania. 2 WWE Championship reigns. Improving every week.

Dean Ambrose - Most over wrestler in the company. A lot of great feuds and matches. Slowly becoming a full-time main eventer.

I'd say they're doing quite well. Besides what else could they have done in The Shield?

you right on all point except for maybe Ambrose being the most over guy in the company but at the same time, while seth rollins was the biggest heel in wwe, his 8 month championship reigns was booked to make it look weak since for 8 months, he lost 95% of his non-title matches and most of his title matches, he won because of interference. when he did promos with HHH, he was made to look inferior to HHH and was always made to look like if he wasn'T even in the same league as HHH.

Ambrose is mostly an main event guy until the bigger stars like orton and Cena will comeback from injury and when book with a guy like brock lesnar, ambrose isn't has over and look like the mid carder that they want him to be.

Reigns, should be a way bigger star right now, he should be ready to replace cena as the top guy but sadly the way they booked is road to wrestlemania, pretty much killed any fan support that he had last year and that sad because i really i'm a fan of roman reigns and i see him getting screwed by creative just like ryback after he lost to cm punk.

like i wrote before, i think you could have still keep the shields as a faction but have them single runs. Keep the momemtum going that they had 2 years ago instead of starting from scratch.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Seth Rollins was a cowardly heel. What were you expecting?

I don't even know what you were talking about with Ambrose. Please learn proper punctuation.

In about two weeks, Roman Reigns will have headlined two WMs, won a Royal Rumble, and won 2 WWE Championships. Maybe the booking hasn't been great, but he's still WAY more over than most people on these forums realize.

 

[DirtyD79]

Splitting up the group was inevitable. Still though I think they should have been kept together a little longer. Despite their plans to have Roman Reigns come out of it as the big babyface it looks like the split benefited Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins more. It gave them a chance to shine and unfortunately for Roman reigns it exposed his weaknesses.

I think a large part of Roman Reigns' popularity when he was with The Shield was because he didn't talk much. He had a mystique about him. Now though it's been taken away and it's going to be really hard to get back. He talks all the time and they've always got him saying something stupid. Back when he was with the Shield could you really picture that same guy saying shit like sufferin' succotash and tater nuts? No, of course not. Reigns needs either a manager or a charismatic tag team partner/ fellow stable member to do the heavy lifting with promos and interviews.

 

[PeaceLove&Y2J]

I don't think The Shield breaking up was a bad idea. Parts of it were poorly executed, mind you...Rollins turning on the group was fine and dandy, but I wasn't sure if the motive was really there...it was just a swerve without the swerve really occurring. All three members had friction before WrestleMania, and a similar scenario leading up to Payback would've helped, even if the stable put aside their differences and got over it more recently than they had.

However, the Shield was stronger than ever for a while and that almost confused me. Nonetheless, the split wasn't bad in and of itself. That angle will be regarded as one of the best in the 2010s when it's all said and done. Ambrose is a future WWE champion. Rollins had a good title reign and Reigns, love him or hate him, is at the forefront of the company now. I feel all three guys are main event talents, but poor booking plagued all three of them.

Reigns shouldn't have been forced on us, or molded into the way Vince saw him. The boss should've seen what made Reigns work and kept at it, but he continued to blow it by taking Reigns out of his element. Apathy followed. Dean Ambrose was finally seen as a full blown main event talent and the company seems to be fully behind him. Good job, creative, you're doing right by this guy. Rollins has been booked best, though the cowardly heel act needs to be shed when he returns. At least have him win a couple matches against legitimate contenders clean, and make him look strong. Even dastardly heels can at least use in-ring cunning to win without stipulations and outside interference.

OK, rant done. The split wasn't bad, but the post-split booking...deterred the solo paths of the stable members a bit.