Shouldn't the Shield splitting up feel like more of a big deal?

[Wald]

Was thinking about the inevitable split up of the Shield since we could very well be in to the last week of the faction being together and how it doesn't feel like as big a deal as it should. Sure there has been a lot of debate about whether now is the right time to turn Roman Reigns (and possibly Seth Rollins) with some thinking the group still has legs but I don't get the sense of urgency about it it could have had. It's exciting because everyone expects this to be Reigns break out moment and for him to go on from here to challenge for the WWE Title in 2014/15, but as far as the group itself goes? I don't see it.

Before I make a few points I'd like to say that I don't blame any of the three guys for this. They've done wonders with their characters and with the group and all three will hopefully have long, successful careers in the WWE from here. I, as usual in today's WWE, blame creative for this.

But lets look back at the introduction of the Shield and its first real programme. At the Survivor Series in 2012 they helped CM Punk retain his title against John Cena and the, then, red hot Ryback, particularly targetting Ryback with a triple powerbomb through a table to take him out of the match. The next night on Raw CM Punk and Paul Heyman were in the ring when this happened:

[YOUTUBE]m0fXQd1gs1c[/YOUTUBE]

This gave us two questions. What was the Shield's problem with Ryback and were they working with Paul Heyman and CM Punk. This pattern continued for the next few months with The Shield repeatedly costing Ryback the title but the attacks branched out to include everyone from Ric Flair to Randy Orton to Sin Cara to The Rock. Some, like The Rock, directly had to do with CM Punk. Some, like Sin Cara, didn't. So what was their motivation? What was this justice tagline they kept spouting in promos?

We eventually found out that Heyman had paid them off a few times to help Punk out but that they weren't part of a Heyman stable. That stripped them of that intrigue whilst also torpedoing their Hounds of Justice line. Even more confusing was their feud with Ryback was dropped without any resolution. They instead moved into a makeshift Wrestlemania match against Sheamus, Orton and Big Show (which they won). The next night on Raw The Shield attacked the Undertaker which moved them into a mini-feud with Team Hell No and in the coming months they all wore gold, Ambrose with the US Title and Rollins & Reigns with the Tag Titles. Ambrose has never been booked to do much with the US belt but the Shield genuinely helped elevate the tag team division up to it's current state.

Since Summerslam, however, the Shield have been used as henchmen of the Authority. Attacking Daniel Bryan and others on Triple H's call. No real reason given for this as their alliance with The Authority hasn't really seen them being given favourable kayfabe booking. They haven't received title matches, didn't get their pick of Royal Rumble numbers and have actually been hung out to dry by the Authority at times, notably in having to fight a 10v3 handicap match on Raw. They've had a mini-feud with CM Punk, during which Punk beat beat them in a 3v1 handicap match and the seeds of discension have slowly been planted between Ambrose and Reigns and it all looks like coming to a head following the Elimination Chamber match against The Wyatt Family. Booking looks like it's heading towards a Shield break up and a triple threat match at Wrestlemania, or possibly a Reigns vs Ambrose match with Rollins in both men's corner.

[YOUTUBE]M0vpJnTWzy4[/YOUTUBE]

But shouldn't this feel like a bigger deal? It does in one way, but I do think that's because Reigns looks like going on to the main event very soon, but as a massively over group splitting I think it could have been so much more. The Shield have been around for 15 months. To put that into context of other great WWE stables, Evolution lasted 22 months, Triple H's DX lasted 12 months (19 months in total if you want to add HBK's DX) and the Hart Foundation lasted 7 months. All made a huge mark on the company and all went down in a blaze of glory.

The problem I think The Shield have is that we've never been given enough of a storyline reason to care about them. They've never really had any primary motivation for doing the things they do. Evolution, DX and The Hart Foundation all had clear goals they wanted to accomplish. What has been The Shield's main goals? Can anyone even say? I could make guesses but I couldn't say for certain. That's creatives fault and is also a sign of the problems the WWE have at the moment with their booking. It's a massive credit to Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins that they have gotten the group over as much as they have in spite of this though. I just wish they'd have been given a little bit more by WWE to work with.

 

[Sabutage]

Yes, absolutely agree. The Shield have been a huge part of Raw for over a year but we still dont know why they even do what they do. What is their history, how they came together, why they wanted to bring justice etc. It should have been revealed a long time ago, but the writers just sailed on, flipping to new storylines, without any looking back. Regardless, it seems the majority of people dont care and it didnt stop the audience getting behind Roman or into the Wyatt fued. I would like to see them stay together longer but have Roman assert control of the group before a split later on in the year, maybe Summerslam time.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Yes it's true that most of the time their motivation for anything has been unclear. I always said since they were still on that schtick that they're the "hounds of justice," it simply meant attack random faces for no apparent reason. The only one they even tried to justify was Ryback, which when trying they contradicted themselves in the process.

I guess if you wanted to blame someone for them not coming apart with greater tension, you could blame creative. They really haven't given them anything that creative to run with. That said, you could also blame creative for the Shield being so over right now. Their booking has been pretty phenomenal since the early days.

Have there been better breakups? Of course. Is it still their time to end? Yes. They've run their course. Let them go their separate ways and see if they can develop good careers.

 

[kumarjtk]

Since the shield debut at survivor series 2012 we have lot of questions on shield actions.similar situation is happened in wyatt family story.
They make shield as big threat in wwe roster. At starting ambrose is main star of shield and rollins is young star came from nxt [first nxt champion]. Roman is used as a powerful member of shield. But the order of shield is ambrose, rollins, reigns. But after one year roman became the breakout star of the shield.
After shield spilt roman and ambrose are getting mainevent push.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

They haven't really even initiated the solid stages of the break up yet. People know that it's coming due to the rising tension with Ambrose & Reigns and, as a result, it feels more organic to me. It doesn't feel like it's something that's being forced down anyone's throat. It's perfectly natural for members of a successful team, in any sport, to develop huge personal egos that ultimately find their way to interfering with the efficiency of the team. We see it all the time in football and basketball, and the notion that these tensions aren't really bubbling to the surface just yet works just fine.

After all, MANY people say they've wanted to see The Shield take on The Wyatt Family before they break up, right? Well, it's happening this weekend and if the break up of The Shield was further along than it currently is, such as them suddenly losing a lot of matches due to their infrastructure cracking, then interest in this match wouldn't be a fraction of what it currently is. You can't have The Shield having the long, drawn out break ups normally associated with great teams and simultaneously keep interest in this upcoming match as high as it is. I'm predicting that The Shield lose Sunday and the result is Ambrose & Reigns finally coming to blows or Ambrose purposely screws over Roman Reigns towards the end of the match.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

The Shield splitting up would suck. They were one of the few stables in years that dominated. This goes back to why I hate how stables or teams these days are so quickly demolished. There's no longevity like back in the old days. I feel that a stable should go on for years despite rising tensions within. It's far too easy to split up a good team by just making each member jealous of each other. It's the same old story and I feel like that's what's being done here too. The Shield won the Tag Team title once between Rollins and Reigns. They could have been used to enhance the Tag Team division by competing more in Championship matches. Also, it would have done the US title wonders by having Dean Ambrose defend it more. Now the focus is solely on the inevitable animosity between Ambrose and Reigns. While this may lead to bigger and better things for Roman Reigns as a singles competitor, I still think it's too soon. Sure, you could say that The Shield has done everything they could at this point as a unit, but come on, if a stable as good as The Shield can't last even two years together then that's just lazy writing. Now of course this is all primarily speculation and maybe the split won't happen even after the match against the Wyatts. Maybe that feud will drag on for a while. Who knows? I'm not exactly sure how the split will be put over when it does happen. It should be a big deal. This is a team that has pretty much defeated all the top names in 6-man Tag Team competition. If The Shield and the Wyatt family each had two more members, they could end it at Survivor Series in a traditional elimination match. But, I don't see how that's gonna happen. Just wishful thinking.

 

[OYDK]

I honestly don't think the Shield is going to break up. The tension built up between them doesn't seem like a legitimate reason to end one of the most dominating factions in history.

Imo I see Ambrose actually going over Reigns, somehow getting a title shot (MITB. Authority etc) build up the tension to the point where everyone thinks its eventually going to be Reigns vs Ambrose for the title. Have Ambrose defend his title against whoever, near the end of the match (ref down) have Reigns come out like hes about to Spear Ambrose, and than crush Ambroses opponent explaining that The Shield is bigger than any one ego. Than you have Ambrose and Reigns built up to the moon eventually leading to Reigns face turn. Idk just one of my ideas

 

[L@RISANO]

They haven't really even initiated the solid stages of the break up yet. People know that it's coming due to the rising tension with Ambrose & Reigns and, as a result, it feels more organic to me. It doesn't feel like it's something that's being forced down anyone's throat. It's perfectly natural for members of a successful team, in any sport, to develop huge personal egos that ultimately find their way to interfering with the efficiency of the team. We see it all the time in football and basketball, and the notion that these tensions aren't really bubbling to the surface just yet works just fine.

After all, MANY people say they've wanted to see The Shield take on The Wyatt Family before they break up, right? Well, it's happening this weekend and if the break up of The Shield was further along than it currently is, such as them suddenly losing a lot of matches due to their infrastructure cracking, then interest in this match wouldn't be a fraction of what it currently is. You can't have The Shield having the long, drawn out break ups normally associated with great teams and simultaneously keep interest in this upcoming match as high as it is. I'm predicting that The Shield lose Sunday and the result is Ambrose & Reigns finally coming to blows or Ambrose purposely screws over Roman Reigns towards the end of the match.

Agreed.

The real Split hasn't come to the fore yet, and will probably do so starting on the RAW post-EC.
I mean there were clear sings of Face tendencies from Reigns for the Past-2 RAW shows, in his interviews with Renee. Ambrose has shown clear jealousy as well.

The split has been a back story since the Shield vs CM Punk feud,tbh. It has been teased slowly at at opportune times and has been by far the best handled storyline thus far by the WWE creative, and hasn't at all seemed forced.
The key to that has been the Booking of the Shield; they have lost a few matches, but by and large, their credibility as a Strong force against Main Event talent has remained.
That has been the key, and it means that if the Booking team wanted(even though not expected), the Shield could still win against the Wyatt family at the Elimination Chamber.


The WWE Creative deserve to be commended for how they have handled the break-up thus far,lMO.
Will see what happens post-EC, where I expect it to come to the fore and become its own Big Story on the Real Road to Wrestlemania when everything becomes crystal clear.

Cheers.

 

[Mustang Sally]

In this day of rushed storylines and efforts to speed incidents along fast enough to have the climax ready for the next monthly PPV, the development of the Shield has been a welcome sight. They started out with a mission, stuck to it and added elements along the way, such as becoming corporate bodyguards for the Authority. Eventually, the inevitable dissension developed internally, but instead of having a break-up emerge from out of the clear blue, the writers have kept the program going, using ebb & flow techniques to tease and make us speculate on how and when the end will come.

In that regard, the splitting up of Shield does seem like a big deal because we wonder exactly what form it will take and when it will happen. For example, just when I thought Roman Reigns had had enough of Dean Ambrose, Reigns gallantly turns over a match-winning sequence to Ambrose despite the fact that Ambrose had stolen a pin opportunity from Reigns in their previous match. It was unexpected and asked more questions than it answered, which represents good writing.

That's the kind of stuff that takes time to build.....and I believe Creative has done a masterful job with the evolution of this team. It's a big deal because we're continually talking about it.

 

[Ubermensch]

I wouldn't say that The Shield is as over as the Hart Foundation or DX, or even that they were supposed to be booked that way. They have really been more upper mid card caliber in their own right. Only used in main events when involved with Orton's feuds.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

The problem I think The Shield have is that we've never been given enough of a storyline reason to care about them. They've never really had any primary motivation for doing the things they do. Evolution, DX and The Hart Foundation all had clear goals they wanted to accomplish. What has been The Shield's main goals? Can anyone even say? I could make guesses but I couldn't say for certain. That's creatives fault and is also a sign of the problems the WWE have at the moment with their booking. It's a massive credit to Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins that they have gotten the group over as much as they have in spite of this though. I just wish they'd have been given a little bit more by WWE to work with.

You write really well. Are you sure you are on the right website?

Creative has done a great job with The Shield and the members have done a great job executing their roles in and out of the ring. CreativeL has kept us guessing, that's a good thing. The Shield are not "stale" and this thread alone shows that they are intriguing and worth tuning in to see. Episodes of Scooby Doo ended with a clear honest explanation. WWE wants to stretch each story out as long as possible and 15 months in faction time is like 10 years in a single characters existence.

As far as a break up, I'm not sure I'm buying it. Groups can coexist with ambiguity. The Horsemen are a good example of a popular heel stable that had legs. There's no reason this group has to split. Ambrose can remain the hot head, Rollins can be the workhorse, and Reigns can stay the cool muscle. If Reigns gets big that's great but it doesn't mean he has to get bigger than the group. The group can still be used to get him wins without damaging the faces he has to go over in the process.

If they are going to break up and we need an explanation for what they have been doing for The Authority how about Reigns, Rollins, and the fans all learn that Ambrose was getting his US Title protected all this time in a deal with HHH? The other two just went along since they trusted Ambrose. Instant break up and feud. Is that logical enough?

Believe in The Shield just don't believe everything you think you know regarding The Shield.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

The Shield really have not split up yet, there have been shades of whats to come in the near future but it has not happened yet. I believe it will come on Sunday when they lose to The Wyatt Family, Reigns spears both and ends up standing tall. I think it will be a triple threat match for the US Title, which Roman Reigns should win because he clearly is the best member in that group.

This then also sets up a feud for Reigns post 'Mania with Ambrose in an Extreme Rules match or something.

 

[OYDK]

The Shield really have not split up yet, there have been shades of whats to come in the near future but it has not happened yet. I believe it will come on Sunday when they lose to The Wyatt Family, Reigns spears both and ends up standing tall. I think it will be a triple threat match for the US Title, which Roman Reigns should win because he clearly is the best member in that group.

This then also sets up a feud for Reigns post 'Mania with Ambrose in an Extreme Rules match or something.

Rather see these guys in the World Title picture sooner rather than later. Hope Ambrose drops the US belt to whoever so these guys can get going with THE feud. If you have watched Ambrose's promos as Jon Moxley (in Insanity, Dragon Gate, FCW) the guy is RIDICULOUS on the mic, and the way Reigns is going right now, I can see this feud marking the beginning of the new generation.

 

[closet_fan]

I don't think they'll truly break up for awhile. I know there's been talk of a triple threat match between the 3, but I think they're going to continue to constantly tease the fans just to see what type of reaction each individual gets. So far, Reigns has been getting better and better. But because of that, the WWE can play it safe and continue to build him and the rest without them breaking up.

The SHIELD is something we really haven't seen since Evolution. Each can act as a singles competitor, yet also act as a tag team from time to time.

The only thing I don't like about them is they never had a clear path to follow. Hounds of Justice....fine, but there was so logical booking as to why they were attacking people.

Just like Nexxus. They had a good thing there to, but creative blew it by not giving them a path either.

 

[H33LTurn]

Theres a vast resource of character and storyline development when it comes to The Shield, which is why I disagree with them breaking up so soon. I agree with you in the sense that The Shield was never given a purpose. We know initially they debuted to stop injustice perpetrated by some of the same elements they have now aligned themselves with. So what was the end game? Did WWE not have a long term vision for what the stable was supposed to accomplish. DX was a finger to the authority, the nWo wanted to seize power, Nexus wanted power over the WWE and Cena. All the groups eventually accomplished their goals and THEN we saw them dissolve. With Shield its a lot more confusing because they are now the antithesis of what they claimed to be when they first arrived. On top of that, they're the company's most valuable asset and they're being dissolved far too quickly. Is Roman reigns over enough to main event once the stable is disbanded? Right now the championship picture looks crowded. Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and John Cena are not going anywhere so where exactly does Roman fit into all of this? The other two members will of course have promising careers. So to answer your question, yes, it should feel a lot more important, but the storyline has been so terribly mishandled that its devalued the end result.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

I don't think the Shield is done. I think Reigns is going to be replaced with somebody else from NXT. If they tease a full split leading up to WM and have a 3-way match, I think it's going to end up actually being a 2 on 1 match once the match actually begins, w/ Reigns being the "1". They've been really showing a "rivalry" brewing between Reigns and Ambrose, w/ Rollins being the guy to keep them on the same page. When push comes to shove, Rollins will side w/ Ambrose.

I don't think there's room for 3 new singles wrestlers all starting their "push" at the same time. So Ambrose and Rollins can continue on w/ the Shield for a while w/ someone else being the 3rd in command.

And their first order of business will be to ensure that Reigns doesn't succeed on his own.