In short it felt as though ‘The Hounds of Justice’ had
accomplished everything they could as a unit. And with WWE not in the habit of
giving singles pushes to members of teams without going through the rigmarole
of breaking said team up it seemed inevitable that The Shield would be split to
give Reigns a memorable moment on the company’s biggest show to begin his shove
into main events.
But that hasn’t happened. Instead Ambrose, Rollins and
Reigns have stayed together and will be teaming to take on the (slightly
peculiar) trio of Kane and The New Age Outlaws. There was a slight wobble
shortly after Elimination Chamber but that was quickly forgotten and the split
has, it seems, been put on hold.
Which I think is a good thing. With The Shield WWE has
the chance to do something they’ve never done before. They can push a threesome
of stars as a headline force. If you look at wrestling within its own logic
bubble then it seems odd that units so rarely work together to capture singles
championships. The numbers advantage seems to be overlooked by practically
every wrestler on the planet.
The defensive reasoning is that any singles title is so
prestigious and desirable that wrestlers simply cannot trust and rely upon one
another in their quest to win. Which makes sense for the most part. Wrestling
relies on larger than life figures to attract an audience, and there’s
something about a guy going it alone that helps him be perceived as a larger
than life figure more easily. Such figures manage to become such large
personalities partly because they’re not linked to anyone else.
But The Shield is different. They have routinely been
depicted as men who put the success of the team before personal glory. That’s
pretty much the antithesis of the average wrestler. Were WWE to keep them
together and have the three men support one another in singles and duo
endeavours they kept, in theory, stay together as a popular act for years.
Reigns is the obvious guy to break off for a singles run.
He has the looks, charisma, signature moves, and brooding promo skills to help
him go far, and I’m sure he could make it to the top without his link to
Ambrose and Rollins. But keeping the three together would help to provide a
safety net and keep his weaknesses masked. Reigns can shine as the power man
who comes in on hot tags but he’s unproven when pacing a major singles match.
They’re different things and the period in which he adjusts could see him lose
some of his shine as people start to see less explosive performances from him.
Ambrose and Rollins are both good enough to go off on
their own too. But is WWE’s stagnant mid-card really something anybody would
wish on either or both of them? It’s an area of WWE programming with no stories
and very little prospects for advancement. With the other two members of The
Shield still linked to them both Ambrose and Rollins could stand out should
they make forays into the area but remain linked to the act which made them
popular in the first place.
Recently Ambrose and Rollins have been working as the
main two pairing of the team, with Reigns lurking at ringside as backup. This
is a good role for them. Their new status as official babyfaces would allow
them to work with a new dynamic, one that greatly benefits Rollins’ preferred big
bumping style, and be placed into fresh matches. Tag matches have also proven
to be a strength of all three men since their main roster call up and something
that fans have shown enthusiasm for watching. WWE should embrace that.
 |
| Better together than they would be separate |
The positives outweigh the negatives. The Shield are a
popular act with an established continuity that people enjoy. They have a
different look to everyone else and a unified team is something WWE fans aren’t
used to seeing at a high level on the card. Why split them to get three singles
acts, or a singles guy and a tag team, that wouldn’t be as popular? All three
can be shunted in new directions, including up the card for a singles spot for
Reigns, without a split occurring.
Theoretically the trio could move in and out of singles
and tag programmes with other members of the roster for years. Ambrose and
Rollins could spend some time as a team before being used more as singles guys,
then come back together for a tag run. There would also be the option to have
the three come together for six man tag matches. If that was something that
happened only four or five times a year I think it could be presented and
accepted as a big deal.
Their presence at ringside for each other would be
something different, especially for the main event babyface Reigns is projected
to be. Ringside aid is usually reserved for heel acts. Ambrose and Rollins
could simply be there and not interfere, thus not making Reigns a poor sport
for cheating. It would be a dynamic that’s not been seen in WWE for years and
keep a popular unit together.
This is not to say that the three have to remain linked
forever. A split is inevitable. But
the longer they’re together the more it will mean when it comes. The Shield has
been together for close to eighteen months now and it would be silly to say
that a split at this point would get no reaction. It would. People would react
strongly to a break because they are invested in the trio emotionally and it
would almost certainly be a success. But it would mean so much more if they
were together for years. The more the three men accomplish while working under
the Shield banner the more impactful it will be when they turn on one another,
and the more people will want to see a triple threat and the series of singles
matches between them.
The Shield is more than the sum of its parts. I hope it
stays that way for a while yet.
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