This week’s instalment of RAW saw Seth Rollins come to the aid of his former Shield buddy Dean Ambrose. After being questioned about his motives by Ambrose, the Architect simply claimed that he had a problem with the Miz. However, despite Ambrose telling him to stay out of his business, it was the Lunatic Fringe who would later come to Rollins’s aid when he too was attacked by the Miz. And, of course, this has led to speculation that we might see the return of the Shield.
But while this inevitable reunion between Ambrose, Rollins and Roman Reigns would undoubtedly make for great television, it would be wrong for WWE to make it happen right now. And here’s why.
Its Predictability Would Make It Less Exciting
Rollins and Ambrose were like brothers when they were part of the Shield, and this made Seth’s eventual betrayal all the more shocking. All you had to do was look at Ambrose’s face when Rollins betrayed his teammates – that said more than any words ever could.
After this, Reigns and Ambrose united as faces while Rollins aligned himself with the Authority and ascended to the top as one of the most hated superstars in WWE history. Both of the good guys each had their own personal rivalries with Rollins which ended up getting very brutal at times. WWE even toyed with us by dangling a Shield reunion in our faces, going as far to have some of the former members claim it will never happen. Simply put, it seemed like a Shield reunion was highly unlikely. And that is the perfect type of environment to execute a re-teaming of the Shield and shock the entire WWE Universe. The reason for that is simply because we would never see it coming.
However, nowadays, Seth Rollins has relocated his morals and buried the hatchet with Roman Reigns – the two had no problem disposing of threats like Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. And while Seth and Dean have had somewhat distant reunions, this is the first time they are really talking about it.
But to reunite the Shield now would lessen the importance of the monumental event because it would be far too predictable. With Rollins, Ambrose and presumably Reigns all being babyfaces on the same show, a Shield reunion feels like an inevitability, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Had Rollins remained heel and suddenly made the save, or a greater evil forced the Hounds of Justice back together, the WWE Universe would be completely caught off-guard. But because of where all the former members of the Shield currently stand, it’s totally plausible that one of them would save the other, despite what happened in the past. Whether they like each other or not, faces save faces – and that makes for less drama, less shock and less excitement.
It’s Too Soon
Whether they did it together or separately, all three members of the Shield have dominated WWE since the faction’s debut in 2012. They destroyed superstar after superstar, winning multiple championships together before their split. And while some would find greater success than others in the solo division, all three of them would go on to win the WWE Championship. But they didn’t necessarily do it without the other members’ presence in their lives. In fact, Money In The Bank 2016 saw Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose win the championship in the same night.
And while they have had some great rivalries, they have just been too involved in each other’s lives for a Shield reunion to have any real shock value.
While Seth Rollins drove that chair into Roman Reigns’ back over three years, we have been teased with reunions so many times since. Remember that time that the heel Rollins teamed up with Reigns and Ambrose to take on the Wyatts, but he left them high and dry in the middle of the match? Or what about the time that the three of them briefly reunited in a Fatal 4-Way match and drove Randy Orton through the table before Reigns and Ambrose turned on the untrustworthy Rollins? And then of course, you have the time that SmackDown LIVE member Dean Ambrose aided RAW men Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns and helped them put his rival AJ Styles through the table.
The idea of The Shield reunion has always been on the table, and because of that, we have seen brief reunions quite a lot in a three year period. And even when they weren’t having a moment, they were tearing each other apart. While they have all done a great job of standing on their own two feet as solo superstars, they are still very much defined by their former Shield status. And because of the constant short-lived reunions, and Rollins’s separate reunions with Reigns and now Ambrose, a proper re-teaming would just seem a little too watered down.
In order for a Shield reunion to have any real gravity, at least one member should turn heel again. And given their once close relationship, it would make most sense for it to be either Rollins or Ambrose. Moreover, after a possible betrayal, they should be distanced from each other, until a greater evil (Bullet Club anyone?) rises and begins to dominate WWE. And when there’s injustice like that running wild through the company, destroying everything that moves, who better to rise and put a stop to that than the Hounds of Justice? The idea of these former friends-turned-bitter enemies being forced back together to stop a greater evil is exactly the kind of drama that would make a Shield reunion golden.
Do you think it’s too soon for a Shield reunion? Let us know in the comments below!
