Scum, Shield, A's & 8's

[RicSpade]

So right now in the big three we have three major factions, The Shield in WWE, The Aces and Eights in TNA and Scum in ROH. Now for those who don't keep up with ROH Scum is comprised of Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs, Steve Corino, and now have included others like Matt Hardy as of their last IPPV.

Aces and Eights is the faction of team 3D, newcomers Garrett Bischoff, Wes Brisco, Mike Knox, Doc, D'lo and Tazz.

Then you have The Shield who has some of the indies best in Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and their enforcer Roman Reigns.

So my question is with each of the major companies right now whose faction has the most steam, which one is flopping like a fish out of water, and which one is your favorite?

I think and many will agree, its NWO all over again with Aces and Eights, and eventually its going to get worse. I know it will take a while for the faction to die, but they definitely need to do something to make the it stand apart and right now its digging its own grave with its only saving grace being the heat Bully Ray can generate.

Scum has actually surprised me in the last few months, and with some of these ROH indy guys joining Scum and them getting Matt Hardy I am really liking them more and more, and their last show shown on TV with the code of honor in guys of ROH uniting in the ring wanting to take a stand against Scum with Nigel I really like where it is going and I hope they can build on it within the next few months as Kevin Steen continues on his roll.

The Shield right now is perfect until Wrestlemania...I say this because if The Shield loses, I see the shield disbanding, and the singles career of 2/3 shield members begin. Ambrose has the most potential and Rollins is the innovator of the group, with Reigns more than likely being lost in the fray after disbanding. However with their win over WWE's Big three names at Extreme Rules I believe if they overcome all the odds and Beat Orton, Sheamus and Big show The Shield will have more momentum then Scum and Aces and Eights and will move them closer to main event status to have whoever they consider leader go into main events with the next champion.

So what are your thoughts?

 

[ABMorales787]

I'm kinda surprised ROH is doing a big faction. Didn't think it was their type of thing. But times change. As for Shield and Ace's & 8's, not a fan of either. Don't get me wrong. The guys in the Shield have a bright future. And the A&8's angle went from shit to serious stuff in the blink of an eye.

But Shield have done nothing but beat people up with no genuine direction. There's no intention of winning titles, higher goal, nothing. Just them beating people up because they feel like it. It's going nowhere in a hurry and looks more like an excuse to have the 3 on the roster than a serious attempt to push them despite their high profile matches.

A&8's is comprised of the most incompetent group of bad midcarders I've seen in my life. Which is quite a feat with 3MB and The J.O.B. Squad around. They've lost all sort of match besides the one at Bound For Glory, Devon beating Joe for the TV title and Wes beating Angle. That's the range of success besides Ray's huge swerve in a nutshell. At one point they lost a 1 on 1 match to James Storm despite 6 guys running interference. When Wes and Garret revealed themselves as members, it was after Anderson lost to Angle. They looked abysmal in Lethal Lockdown. I'm gonna stop it there. You get the point.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As to who I enjoy more right now, I have to say The Shield. I agree with Killjoy in that WWE needs to move The Shield beyond what they're doing right now. The seemingly random attacks have done their part in establishing the group. I don't mind if WWE has just taken its time in building the group before taking them to another level post WM, but the generic "justice" bit has long since gone as far as it's going. That being said, they've been effective and have looked impressive in all three of the matches they've competed in thus far. But if what they're doing now is all WWE has planned for them, I'd prefer they went their separate ways.

Aces & Eights is awful at this point. I'm no longer even remotely interested in the group. Last Thursday, all Bully Ray accomplished really was to show just how far below him the group is. It's a group comprised of incompetent mid-carders and nobodies that TNA is trying to keep going, for some reason, by shoving all that dead weight for Ray to carry around.

As far as SCUM goes, I can't say I'm impressed. Rhino is a massively overrated "legend" from ECW whose never been anything outside of ECW. Jimmy Rave is still best known for that Rock n' Rave Infection bullshit back in TNA that makes 3MB look like the Four Horsemen. I saw both Steve Corino & Matt Hardy on episodes of ROH recently and they both look like deep fried shit. Corino is exactly what you'd figure he'd be: a pudgy, out of shape middle age indie legend. Matt Hardy looks to have gained back all the weight he lost since getting back into shape and then some.

 

[Papa Pillman]

It's funny, A&8s and SCUM each have the world championship in their possession, yet its the Shield that has had the strongest booking.

I disagree that the Sheild have "no direction" or that the justice bit is "generic", at first when we didn't know what it was about that was true. Now we know their purpose. They feel that the top carders that they have been feuding with(Cena, Ryback, Sheamus, Orton, Show, etc.) are at this point just over-pushed enities created by the WWE-machine and they feel that they are not just the future, but the present, and those guys are clinging on to what should be their rightful spots. It's a very good idea for their purpose that plays off real opinions that lots of the "smarks" hold and therefore works perfectly for a group that includes two "indy darlings". They have to win at Mania though to keep the angle going. Having them lose at Mania would completely ruin months of quality storytelling.

A&8s and SCUM are in a wait and see at this point.

Everything with A&8s has been about just holding the ship with the angle until we got to this point. Now that they have their leader, and they have the title, its time to see where it goes. They already have been presented as more credible in the very short time since the Bully reveal, so now it is about how TNA can keep it up and progress from here. The faction definitely has new legs though.

As for SCUM, the whole idea of it was booked horribly when Cornette was in charge(as was most everything else with the company), they talked about destroying ROH, but were doing nothing to act on it. Atleast A&8s were executing gang attacks and injuring TNA talent. SCUM was just cutting promos with no action behind them. Now with Delirious at the helm, SCUM has actually started to enact a plan. The group grew, but it remains to be seen how effective the likes of Compton, Rave, and Hardy will be with the group. The SCUM angle is probably the one that is most in its infancy even though it has been technically going on the longest. The SCUM angle is now about- How long until Steen turns on the group? Then we will really get a handle on the angle because the question becomes- Who in SCUM can step up as a believable foil to a babyface Steen? There are still alot of questions about SCUM, but atleast the angle is now actually moving after the 11th Anniversary.

 

[TruthMartiniGuy]

I have to say S.C.U.M stands out to me though I am a Steen Fanboy, thats besides the point they have star power in my opinion, although ROH are the smaller promotion of the 3. They not only have brilliant young talent but the experience aka Corino and Hardy two accomplished wrestlers and good workers. I do like the Aces and Eights though, they are gaining the reactions they need to get over, Bully ray being revealed as president has really made this stable a dominant force and i'm looking forward to the future in TNA. As for the Shield, I want them to disband soon possibly after mania, I wanna see them as singles wrestlers or Moxley and Black (Ambrose and Rollins) as a tag team that could really honestly work wonders for the WWE Tag Division.

 

[Dirk]

Right off the bat, I have to say that I don't watch RoH, but I love everything Hardy and I've heard great things of Kevin Steen.

As for A&8s, I'll give them this: If I had to come up with the coolest, most badass gimmick, I'd be hard-pressed to find a more rugged gimmick than a biker gang that's based on a poker game between dead cowboys. However, going masked for ages and then having a bunch of absolute nobodies (bar a few guys) didn't do it for me.

Conversely, I think the Shield has a pathetic and illogical look (my opinion). Okay, so they have vests, but no guns or even tazers! I don't recall any of them producing a knife or even a knuckleduster from one of those many hidden pockets. Look aside, these were also three unknowns (except Rollins I saw and enjoyed on NXT), but it didn't take me long to come around on them. I even came around on Dean Ambrose, after initially being alienated and annoyed by the fanboys.

What I like most about the Shield is their in-ring ability as a group. I remember Nexus/New Nexus/Corre and their endless slew of boring beat-downs. Ambrose is a bit sadistic like the Heath Ledger Joker character; Rollins has some great, impressive moves; Reigns is your classic powerhouse with a great look. They even have a group finisher (sort of, I mean it's not like Reigns couldn't powerbomb a guy on his own).

 

[jpickens]

SCUM been around a little longer than A &8s and have accomplished more than the SHEILD and while Aces and Eights currently have both the world championship and the TV title it took them nine moths to obtain that goal while within that same span SCUM has captured both the ROH world heavyweight and tag team championships and still have the WHC and so far the SHEILD hasn't won squat and will probably be buried after WM plus SCUM has booked right unlike A&8s.

 

[MaverickMeyer]

SCUM is the best of the three. Followed by The Shield, then Ace's and 8's. SCUM has been booked strong the entire time, and continue to be interesting a more than a year in. The Shield are kinda stuck as of late. After TLC, they haven't done a whole lot. And A's and 8's just crapped the bed fully. Devon reveal was interesting, as was Bubba's, and I enjoyed the videos piecing together how the whole thing worked, but in-between Devon and Bubba, it totally sucked. A chess team wouldn't be scared of them, let alone the TNA roster.

 

[xyqdnl]

I would argue Aces & Eights got some much-needed momentum post-Lockdown and is still kind of intriguing to watch, but I can't help but feel it's reached it's peak. I mean, what's it's endgame? Hogan and Co. win a match to force them to disband? Bully loses the title to TNA savior AJ Styles at BFG? That's not very fun. It's rather bland, actually.

SCUM is interesting, but lacking something. I agree with the above poster, I didn't think "invasion" angles were ROH's thing. Seems too sports entertainment. Again, I don't really see where it's going.

The Shield has easily been booked the strongest of the three, and has impressed in every ring performance so far. But again, what's the conclusion? I would imagine in this instance it's someone breaking away on their own, perhaps Seth Rollins. That would be interesting and would build a new babyface, so there's a clear goal. Let's hope that's what their purpose is, because the last thing I want for the three of them is to wander directionless post WM and have the whole thing go on for too long. It has to end eventually.

All that being said, I have to go with The Shield. Like I mentioned, they're the only group here where there seems to be an objective down the road, and they greatly benefit from being three guys who haven't yet had singles careers, unlike the other two factions. A large part of what makes an invasion angle successful is by looking at the stars it's able to create on the other side of it. I don't see any in Aces & Eights or SCUM. I see three in the Shield.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Out of the three I prefer SCUM thus far in the larger carnation.

The Shield is cool, I enjoy the "we fight for justice" which is actually an injustice in itself considering who they attack and the reasons behind it, it's something different and they've been booked pretty strongly, but since the reveal that they were being paid by Paul Heyman to take out Ryback I think that kind of put a damper on the group. They haven't seemed like badasses since and now their in a WrestleMania match not many people truly care for; I think It'll be a great match though especially with the guys you have in it.

Ace's and 8's was four months of garbage to build-up to one large moment. I thought the Bully Ray heel turn was great, his reasoning behind it was logical, his reasoning behind everyone else joining the group was logical in a wrestling sense, but for months they were so badly booked! Devon was the one member to gain anything from it. At least at Lockdown Wes Brisco was able to beat Angle albeit with interference, but again when booking what is supposed to be a mega heel stable you should show them as an actual threat and not a group that constantly needs others to gain a victory.

SCUM has only been going a month in the larger format but already it has been booked strong, not a loss to their names as of now. Is it made up of heavyweights from the wrestling world? No. Because it's not supposed to be. SCUM is a stable made from logic, everyone has actual reason to be pissed at Ring of Honor - Rave was once a stand-out who they never brought back but they brought back BJ Whitmer, Cliff Compton was told over a year ago he'd be brought into ROH and even appeared at a TV taping but never got a call, Matt Hardy should have been granted a TV title shot but he wasn't, Corino and Jacobs were the only two people not signed to ROH contracts when Sinclair took over, Rhino's ROH character is a gun for hire his past alliances with Corino makes sense for him to be in it and Kevin Steen was previously fired by ROH but is signalling a turn in the near future.

If the goal was to get ROH some more attention then the stable has most definitely worked. Its being booked over everyone, tomorrow will be interesting because there is a Team ROH vs Team SCUM match set so the result of that will be telling and knowing ROH there is always a greater point to an angle such as this, such as with The Age of the Fall and others stables that have been in the company's history.

 

[mlp420]

I actually prefer Aces and Eights. Because of the fact that they are a bunch of mid carders. Nothing makes for better heels then a bunch of scrubs accomplishing stuff in numbers they couldn't accomplish individually. It doesn't always have to be the NWO-esque group of dominant super-villains that overpowers the promotion.

Which brings me to my next point. I love how people call Aces and Eights a NWO ripoff and then in the same breath complain when they do something that's a little different from the NWO formula.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I actually prefer Aces and Eights. Because of the fact that they are a bunch of mid carders. Nothing makes for better heels then a bunch of scrubs accomplishing stuff in numbers they couldn't accomplish individually. It doesn't always have to be the NWO-esque group of dominant super-villains that overpowers the promotion.

Aren't the Shield and S.C.U.M. also both "a bunch of midcarders"??

A&8s does have one main eventer, Bully(the World Champ). With the exception of Steen(the World Champ), no one in S.C.U.M. is a main event worker. Also all three guys in The Shield are "rookies", and despite facing off against main event level opponents they have yet to have a main event themselves, so by definition they have been working the mid-card.

I don't see how A&8s is somehow different from the other two stables in that respect.