The Shield are starting to bore me!

[d_henderson1810]

I really liked the Shield when they first came into WWE, and really enjoyed the TLC Match they had with Ryback and Hell No late 2012.

However, I have lately found myself tiring of the Shield.

It seems that they do the exact same thing every week. In any match that any of them compete in, you know that the other members will appear and attack whoever the opponent/s are. The opponent will drive a couple away, only to get speared, and then all three slam the opponent/s unconscious. Their opponents have to put up little resistance and get dominated.

I know that to push these guys, you have to have them keep winning, but when they constantly overpowered Ryback (who they were pushing as a monster) then it buries other newcomers like Ryback as a result. In fact, they have plowed through everyone in the company, leaving no-one a credible threat to beat them.

I would like to see them do something interesting with the Shield down the track, and that they do a storyline that the Shield are no longer united. Either have it that the Shield start losing, because one member costs another member, and they can't trust each other anymore. Finally, have a segment where the Shield try to air their grievances with each other, and it results in them fighting each other. This would ultimately result in a Triple-Threat Match on PPV - Dean Ambrose v Roman Reigns v Seth Rollins.

The other way to go is to have one member kicked out by the other two. The member kicked out goes face, and seeks revenge on his ex-Shield teammates. I would be interested to see who you think would be the best one to break away from the group.

The Shield was good... for a while. But something has to change. Eventually, these guys have to break out on their own, and what I am suggesting won't bury any of them, but rather, could build each member to be a bigger star.

 

[The Butcher]

They're fine by me. One thing that I like about where they're at currently is that they have a purpose. Instead of fighting for some nebulous concept of justice, they serve as Triple H's enforcers and protectors-- a fitting and high-profile role.

Is their in-ring routine getting a little tired? Well, I guess that's a matter of preference. I'm fairly long on patience, so in the case of a stable that is less than a year old and consists of young up-and-comers who are almost certain to take their places at the top of the card one day, I'm happy with where they're at and what they're doing. To me, becoming a part of the McMahon-Helmsley regime is a fresh enough wrinkle to keep me invested. I spent my youth watching Hogan hulk up and drop the leg, the NWO beatdown guys and spray paint them, and Austin flip people off and stun them. All of which for months and months and years on end. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that The Shield is anywhere near those respective star's/faction's level. I'm just pointing out that in my experience, wrestling is chock full of repetitious in-ring acts.

What changes is the storylines surrounding them, and in The Shield's case, they're a part of a good one right now. I agree with you that "down the track" they should have a break-up angle. I just don't think we're at that junction yet. They're holding down titles, aligned with the boss, and they aren't winning all the time. WWE is utilizing them well and treating them better than most guys who are in their rookie year. I'm not bored with The Shield at all. The best is yet to come, and that's saying something for a group that has been a part of some great matches and is an integral part of a main event angle.

 

[JBK2008]

The Shield's in ring routine isn't bad. What irks me is that they have the Tag Team and United States Championships and rarely defend them. That's why all the mid card belts aren't talked about or cared about anymore. Even if The Shield retain every time, at least the titles are talked about and noticed.

Joining The McMahon-Helmsley regime is nice and all, but all the titles they hold should be defended more, or at least pointed out.

 

[Mustang Sally]

One thing that I like about where they're at currently is that they have a purpose. Instead of fighting for some nebulous concept of justice, they serve as Triple H's enforcers and protectors-- a fitting and high-profile role.

Yes, and I'm enjoying watching as the concept of the group changes. It's ironic that as exciting as seeing them emerge from the stands instead of walking down the runway was at first, it became tiring after awhile. The "vigilante" approach works well at the beginning, then eventually goes the way of all Nexus-type outfits......and just as we now see all the ex-Nexus guys fighting as singles.....and even occasionally fighting each other.....we know that the Shield guys will also eventually go their own way. In spite of their seeming similarities, the three have different styles and I can see all of them enjoying good singles' careers.

Yes, in some ways the idea of guys who crusade for their own form of justice appears to be inconsistent with being hired as lackeys for a corporate group. At first, I thought Shield were the last guys who would fit that mold.

Yet, it seems to be working, and in the end, as the good guys rise up and overwhelm Shield, their function as a united entity will end and move them to the next phase of their individual careers.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The Shield's in ring routine isn't bad. What irks me is that they have the Tag Team and United States Championships and rarely defend them. That's why all the mid card belts aren't talked about or cared about anymore.

I do agree that the titles should be talked about more but in the grand scheme of things, they do defend the titles as much as any other championship in most other companies. They don't always defend the titles at ppvs, though they do most of the time, and they're almost always defended in house shows. As for television, all in all, title defenses shown for free on television aren't very common. I'm not sure how many title defenses they've had on TV this year, but the first of only two changes with the US title this year happened on Raw when Kofi won it before dropping it to Ambrose at Extreme Rules. Ambrose then defended it against Kane at Payback. He was in the WHC MITB match at the ppv and defended it against RVD at SummerSlam. While I might be wrong, I have a feeling that Ambrose & Ziggler will have a match at NOC. As for the tag titles, The Shield won them at Extreme Rules and defended them in a rematch against Bryan & Kane the next night on Raw, they defended them against Bryan & Orton at Payback, and against The Usos at MITB. As of right now, if they have a match at NOC, it'll probably be against the Prime Time Players.

The problem WWE has when it comes to title matches on television is that, in my opinion, they don't hype them nearly as much as they should. A title match on TV doesn't happen all that often, so they ought to be plugging it as much as possible. If it's gonna happen on Raw, for example, announce it a week ahead of time, hype it throughout that episode of Raw, hype it on Main Event and hype it on SmackDown!.

 

[SydTinDad]

They have not begun to bore me; they are just in a state of flux right now.

I have said this since day 1, a "face" Shield would be SOOOOO over. The Shield stands for justice. They MUST turn on the corporation and be the Daniel Bryan equalizer.

It has to happen everyone. It just has to. They have not even reached thier peak yet.

 

[#tamale]

Not everything is going to have a 100% approval from the audience. This is especially true in wrestling. Fans have their ideas and if they don't follow those plans, then they reject it because it didn't go the way they thought it would.

I still love The Shield. They have refreshed their storyline and continue to impress every week. Seriously, do these guys ever have bad matches? Let's also remember one thing; where were these guys before Survivor Series 2012? Only Seth Rollins had some buzz as the 1st ever NXT Champion but now, all 3 men have become household names to the casual wrestling fan. In less than a year.

 

[DarrenYoungsCleanAssFro]

They're fine by me. One thing that I like about where they're at currently is that they have a purpose. Instead of fighting for some nebulous concept of justice, they serve as Triple H's enforcers and protectors-- a fitting and high-profile role.

I actually hate this. The best thing about the Shield was their promos. As Triple H's henchmen they are voiceless. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in particular are, according to me anyway, up there with CM Punk and Bray Wyatt in mic skills. What makes the Shield so entertaining is that they come out and attack someone but you don't know why until they get on the mic and explain it to you. I'd wager that they have become boring to most people because they just beat people down now and don't say anything. Having Triple H as the mouthpiece of the so called corporation might benefit Orton but it's more of a hindrance to the Shield.

 

[louchratis]

The fact that The Shield are now front and center on a weekly basis but are recycling the same act is starting to get a little boring for a bunch of different reasons. However, it's still too early to break them up as a group. The HHH/McMahon vs. Bryan feud appears that it will be more of a slow burn with the pinnacle coming at Wrestlemania 30. Along the way, there will be plenty of opportunities for the three members of The Shield to find their own voices again, be more reluctant to do the boss's bidding, and eventually either turn face or be a Tweener faction. Honestly, I don't see The Shield splitting apart for a while. Even when they drop their titles, they're a much bigger threat as a group than as singular individuals.

 

[The Fig Lebowski]

The fact that The Shield are now front and center on a weekly basis but are recycling the same act is starting to get a little boring for a bunch of different reasons. However, it's still too early to break them up as a group. The HHH/McMahon vs. Bryan feud appears that it will be more of a slow burn with the pinnacle coming at Wrestlemania 30. Along the way, there will be plenty of opportunities for the three members of The Shield to find their own voices again, be more reluctant to do the boss's bidding, and eventually either turn face or be a Tweener faction.

This is exactly what I was thinking. This will be the perfect vehicle to elevate whichever member of the Shield the brass feels is ready for the main event.

To the original question, I don't find the Shield boring at all. Their promos are consistently realistic and they are rock solid in the ring. They have had limited storyline this past summer but now they are a big part of the primary WWE storyline that was big enough to bring most of the McMahons back to TV. The angle is still growing so for now they will play their parts but this creates valuable on screen ties that can propel a turn or a feud down the road.

All this in the Shield's first year in the majors! Sheesh, everyone has such short attention spans.

 

[MCMG]

They were getting stale before joining HHH and I still think it is early to pass judgement in this current role. Before the switch, it was generally the same stuff each week. Yes they were putting on a good quality of matches ( MITB Kick-off stands out) but they were not delivering enough promos or showing their purpose.

Now they are in danger of having their contribution marginalised. The WWE are in danger of wasting an entire year of building these three guys and I hope they are involved more. I do think, however, that being involved in this storyline isn't a terrible thing (potentially good) but they could achieve more in the coming months. Ambrose/Ziggler is a match that I hope we see.

The Shield could potentially become boring and start to regress but avoid that I think they need to have all three competing on Raw and Smackdown each week as well as delivering one promo. It doesn't have to be the three of them in the ring but they should at least get the opportunity to speak. Remember, these guys are still young and aren't at Cena or Punks level. They should be involved as much as possible.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

I think there's a lot of money in a Rollins/Ambrose feud. This is how I would go about it:

At Night of Champions, Seth gets pinned for the tag titles and Dean starts berating him backstage. He tells him to get his shit together. Triple H tells them they can prove themselves again by beating WWE's rebels at Battleground. He books Big Show/Roman, Christian/Ambrose and Dolph/Rollins. Roman and Dean beat their opponents, but Seth loses out to Dolph. Triple H, Dean and Randy start treating Seth like dirt for the rest of the month.

At Hell in a Cell, Shield does a run-in to help Randy, but Seth no-shows. Seth cuts a promo on Raw about how he's nobody's punching bag and he demands respect. Triple H says he's going to get it, but then leaves him out of Randy's team at Survivor Series. Randy then gives Seth the chance to accompany his team to the ring.

As part of Team Ziggler, Dolph chooses Dusty Rhodes as his 5th man. Dusty says he is going to get revenge for the firing of his son. The crowd eats these promos up, but there's a twist!

At Survivor Series, Seth accompanies the 5 man team to the ring. Then, Team Ziggler walks in with Dusty coming in last. Once Dusty's music hits, he says he isn't competing tonight, but he's found a suitable replacement. Seth then clubs Randy in the head, and moves to the other side of the ring. Randy is furious, the referee rings the bell, and Seth attacks him. After Dolph pins Randy, it's him and Seth vs. Dean. Seth last eliminates Dean for the win.

At TLC, Dolph gets his 1-on-1 with Randy while it's Seth vs. Dean vs. Roman for the US title. Triple H makes clear that he's siding with Roman, and Roman actually gets the win at the PPV. Dean is upset about being out of favor with Trips and blames Seth. They both enter 1-and-2 in the Rumble, but are eventually both taken out by Randy.

At Elimination Chamber, Seth challenges Randy 1-on-1, but loses due to Dean's interference. Seth then says he was foolish by blaming Randy and Triple H for all his problems when it was all Dean's from the very start. He challenges Dean to a Street Fight at WrestleMania and Dean accepts. They then tear the house down at Mania with Dean getting one of the few solid heel wins on the show.

 

[enviousdominous]

James Bridie has a good set of opinions on boredom that I think are applicable to this thread, look them up if you're not already bored of the notion of researching a notable playwright.

The Shield is doing what I think they should be doing at this point. They're involving themselves in a bigger storyline as apathetic brutes. The most they've given up, in terms of their build, was a few six man tag wins. Their presence hasn't diminished in the slightest, for me. I think that putting the belts on them was a bit hasty, but that's only because I don't think they need the belts to be over. Humanizing them through a significant heel or face angle within an angle would be a huge risk as it would be like a complete paradigm shift for the group. Right now they act on behalf of powerful figurehead, if HHH's intentions were benevolent then their actions would reflect that. There's strong presence in a stable of individuals who act on orders for the sake of diligent adherence to an unspoken social code.

I don't find them at all boring because they're not the total focus of the angle, Daniel Bryan is the focus of the angle and I only see their involvement as beneficial to it. When the WWE takes a risk on them and allows them to be the center of a more dramatic angle, then I'll decide if they're interesting enough to have their own storyline.