Breaking up The Shield would be a mistake

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Although clearly some want to cheer Roman Reigns, is he really a long-term babyface?

 

I almost want them to do the Gen Next/NOD thing where they all have their own groups. Roman Reigns can just do SST with the Usos, Ambrose can have Bo Dallas and......I dunno Kruger or whoever. Give Rollins Mason Ryan and Adrian Neville.

[BEN!]

The only reason teams get broken up so soon is because these writers remember Shawn Michaels super kicking* Jannetty through a window and they think breaking up a team is how you make an instant star without considering that The Rockers were together for like seven years and Michaels was never even a real box office attraction.

 

I do think Roman Reigns is a can't miss superstar though.  His work's good, his look's good, he can talk, he's got that overall star aura.  You send him out to do publicity and he looks like the real deal and he carries himself like a pro.

 

That said, I'd say it's too soon to even be thinking of breaking up The Shield.  There's still a lot they could do with them as a unit.  The Wyatt Family feud should just be getting started instead of probably ending at the next PPV.  Also, the story WWE is trying to tell with Ambrose being a jealous glory hound would probably be better if he wasn't the only one with a championship.

 

*Not even how it actually happened.

[Phantom Lord]

I always get the feeling that for the WWE at least, "stables" are too rasslin for a sports entertainment company like them. All of us who grew up in the 80's had The Four Horsemen,  Paul Jones Army, The Russians, The Heenan Family, and so many others. Now when ever we get a stable they are pushed as unbeatable for a while and then made to look mortal.

 

The Shield was something that I think they never really intended to get over like it did. They were just at first these hired goons. But it caught on and they regularly were blowing everyone out of the water. Now we're at a position where the WWE sees Roman Reigns as the next break out star. He's certainly got the look and a move that makes people go DAMN. I like the analogy of them being like The Freebirds. They can split up...but they'll always be there for each other.

 

I don't like the idea of if they have Reigns go solo that someone else will take his spot. I can't imagine someone else stepping into the brawn role and it working like it has for the last year or so.

[Go2Sleep]

I imagine the gimmick sticks around. One thing all three need is just an angle to really develop. I mean, The Shield's main angle has been "kicking ass all day, every day" but with the exception of them being portrayed as paid muscle every now and then, they haven't had a lot of storyline based stuff. I mean, this Wyatt stuff is great, of course.  

 

 

I think part of the reason the angle with the Wyatts is working so well is that it's the first real emotional feud The Shield has had. Everything else has just been business for them. 

 

The good thing about the Shield is that there is a lot of mileage left in them as a group, but all 3 would be really good in singles, so it doesn't really matter what happens to them. I don't think WWE can actually make a wrong decision here (how they handle the post-breakup should they go that route is another story).

 

Reigns is hot right now and rightly so, and people recognize Ambrose's promo skill will keep him in prominent angles for a long time, but I think people are sleeping on how much upward mobility Seth Rollins has if he turns face. I've said it before, but he's everything they wanted Dolph Ziggler to be, except better and without a stupid name. 

[piranesi]

I don't know if it would be a mistake IF (big if) WWE just lets Roman Reigns act like he does right now without changing at all because he's turned face. 

 

 

 

Lawler:  "Guys, Roman just wants to dance and have fun!  And that mean, mean bully Wade Barrett won't let him!!!"

 

 

three months later

 

Cole: "And Roman Reigns' suffering through quite a losing streak here, starting to show his temper at the crowd here on WWE's Main Event.  Santino is happy with the pin, however!!!!"

Lawler: "Well, you know Michael, Santino just likes to have a good time!"

[Goodear]

So let me ask a tangent question:  How many Shield members can the stable feasibly support?  I usually consider 3 to 5 to be the optimal number of guys under one banner.  If you throw more than that, the whole card is suddenly in one stable and you end up listening to variations of the nWo theme all night long and everything starts to bleed together into a black and white paste.

[Hollywood Cibernetico]

I've never been a fan of groups breaking up while they are still hot. Not every group needs to disband. Its fine if all of them have their singles push and eventually come back together down-the-line while keeping a truce that despite not rolling super hard together-they still have each other's backs.

[The Green Meanie]

As long as they continue to let Ambrose talk like a comic book villain, I'm happy.

[HolyDemon]

Ambrose could be great as the leader of his own stable post-Shield.

 

Reigns breaking away and being replaced with Mason Ryan seems like a worst case scenario. I'd rather see the group split entirely than see that, but ideally I think The Shield should remain as is for the foreseeable future.

[Clayton Jones]

Regardless if if they stay together or not, I agree with the comment that the longer we can put off Reigns being pushed as the new super face, the better. The thing I think that's worked so well in Reigns' favor is the way he's been slowly but surely built into this badass that everyone knows you want to avoid at all costs, but is still kinda under the radar. I keep thinking that he is the WWE equivalent to Luke Cage in the Marvel comics: he's one of the strongest and most resilient dudes around, but he's not the Incredible Hulk or Thor or what have you. He's a street level brawler who just happens to be a world beater, and he doesn't care who knows it.

[Casey]

Why do they even have to break up? Why can't they feud but still be friends? WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

[LooseCannon]

Maybe they should keep them together until at least MITB. Or maybe they can break up after AJ romances all three members of the Shield.

[piranesi]

That's not a shield, it's a gauntlet.

 

 

TAKE THAT, FEMALE SEXUAL AUTONOMY!

[Hagan]

Yeah, I think there's more value in them all turning babyface, with Ambrose still being a squirrely fuck who eventually knifes them in the back to join the Authority or something then in any other scenario.'

 

Actually, there's nothing to indicate that Rollins would stay heel in this scenario. He clearly has Reigns' back. He's his partner. They both know Ambrose is insufferable. I neither buy Roman turning babyface by spearing them both, nor do I buy Rollins joining Ambrose in a sneak attack.

 

But, since WWE's babyfaces suck I assume that Reigns will just randomly spear them both to a massive babyface pop and that'll be the end of it.

[Spontaneous]

We will all regret a pandering face Roman Reigns. Punk disappearing was good, if Batista never came back there would be more room for Reigns has a face. Right now, he isn't going anywhere, even if he beats HHH at Mania. Look at how Langston has done so far as the IC champ and one of their preferred future stars. He was barely in the Rumble and is wrestling on Superstars and Main Event, getting stomped on MLK day.

 

Also my confidence is a little Leakee on his solo abilties.

[PuroresuFan]

I don't know if it would be a mistake IF (big if) WWE just lets Roman Reigns act like he does right now without changing at all because he's turned face. 

 

I see Reigns loading up Superman punches (should be his finisher instead of the spear) and dropkicking guys by jumping from the floor to the apron and I really, really, REALLY want to cheer him.

 

I also think a Rollins/Ambrose tag team still has lots of potential. I hope that if Reigns splits, he and the other two guys in the Shield go their separate ways and don't end up embroiled in a poorly-booked midcard feud. 

 

I'd like to see him instead use that as a move that could come out of nowhere and drop a guy like how Bray Wyatt has been doing his move lately. Like someone pointed out before, DDP was great at hitting the Diamond Cutter in that fashion. I think that would definitely add something more to his matches.