5 days have passed since Seth Rollins' shocking betrayal, felt all around the world, took place. There were many, myself included, that didn't see it coming. Dean Ambrose was the obvious choice to turn on The Shield given his natural heel mannerisms. Heck, Dean even looks like a natural heel. It would've been predictable had Dean turned on his teammates. The WWE completely caught us by surprise with this one and massive credit is due to them, as they have been absolutely spot on with their booking decisions lately. With Rollins now representing the future of Evolution, his future is as bright as it ever was. Now, it begs the question, what next for The Shield? Where do they go from here?
The Shield was arguably the brightest spot on WWE Television for the whole of 2013 and deservedly so. Rollins, often described as God's last gift, put on a string of phenomenal showings, proved that he belongs in the class of scientifically gifted technicians à la CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Dean Ambrose showed glimpses of excellence during his rather limited mic time. Watching Roman Reigns evolve(ironic, huh) over the past 12 months has been an absolute pleasure to watch. From becoming the first Superstar to score a clean pin on Ryback, to capturing the Tag Team Championships, to his dominant display at Survivor Series and breaking Kane's 13 year Royal Rumble record, it's been an impressive rise for the Samoan.
Now that Rollins is no longer a member of The Hounds of Justice, there is an air of uncertainty about The Shield's remaining lifespan. Rollins was the glue that held this dominant force together, as well as the x-factor of this group, with his unique and unorthodox style of offense. Can Ambrose and Reigns coexist? Does a new member join The Shield? Do Ambrose and Reigns go their separate ways?
I think that Reigns and Ambrose should stay on the same page until Survivor Series before going their separate ways. There should NOT be a replacement for Rollins in The Shield's ranks. Should WWE opt to find a replacement for Rollins, the reformed Shield would feel like a cheap carbon copy of the original Shield. I also think that there's not much, if anything, for The Shield to do once their program with Evolution is over. The next pay per view event is the Money In The Bank event. It's highly likely that Daniel Bryan will not be in the right physical condition to compete. This will mean that the WWE World Heavyweight title will be defended in a ladder match. Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns would probably be inserted into this match. The winner of this match, in my opinion, should be a transitional champion to hold the scrap until Bryan is healthy enough to return. In this case, Kane should be that man. The WWE creative team should book this bout in such a way that The Shield's intent isn't on winning the title, but on preventing Evolution from winning and getting their hands on them. I expect these 4 guys to absolutely batter each other and elevate this match even further. This would also add an intriguing dimension to the match.
Following Money In The Bank, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins should engage in a feud that should culminate in a gimmick match at Battleground. Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose should also start feuding and have a match at Battleground. The match that Reigns and Rollins would have would be a guaranteed 4-5 star match, but it is the build up to this match that makes this match very intriguing. Reigns and Rollins used to be Tag Team Champions and the duo were closer than brothers. The logical finish here would be for Rollins to go over thanks to an interference by Triple H, which would set up the marquee SummerSlam match between Roman Reigns and Triple H. The bout between Orton and Ambrose would be the latter's biggest match in his singles career. Ambrose could certainly use a rub from Orton. The feud between these two would be an interesting one. Both these guys are good in the ring and this feud would give Ambrose a lot more mic time. This is when we will see the real Dean Ambrose emerge. I don't think Ambrose is ready for a marquee win just yet, so Orton going over Ambrose after an interference by Rollins would be a sensible outcome and sets up a match between Ambrose and Rollins at SummerSlam.
The build up towards SummerSlam should be even better than that of Battleground. At this point, I would move Orton away from this feud and on to something new. Rollins vs Ambrose is a match that has taken place in the past in FCW. This match is a potential show stealer, and if done right, a possible Match of The Year candidate. Coming off a win over Reigns, Rollins' momentum would be as high RVD on 4/20. The logical result here would be for Rollins to win clean and move on to bigger things. Meanwhile, Reigns' performance at SummerSlam would be the perfect anointment he needs. Reigns pinning Triple H clean would be a step in the right direction and launch the young Samoan to the higher echelons of the WWE. This would most definitely conclude the lengthy, yet memorable feud between these two dominant forces.
The Shield should not split after this. I think that Reigns and Ambrose warrant one last Tag Team title reign before Dean eventually turns heel on Roman Reigns in the build up to Survivor Series to set up a 5 vs 5 between Dean's team and Roman's team. The reason Ambrose could use for betraying Reigns is that he felt that his talents were being overshadowed by Reigns. Ambrose could also bring up a strong argument that The Shield are not what they once were, and that they are a sinking ship. The feud between these two could possibly conclude at the TLC pay per view in a gimmick match. It would be a fitting way to end 2014, with The Shield finally done and Reigns and Ambrose moving on to pastures new in 2015.
The possibilities with what the WWE can do with The Shield are endless. This is what I would like to see happen going forward. It's wishful thinking, but there is a lot of logic in it. It is also a realistic option for the WWE to take. Given the lack of top draw superstars in the company, the WWE should play their cards right when it comes to booking The Shield. Presently, The Shield has reached a crossroad and WWE would be wise to keep Ambrose and Reigns together for a little bit longer before setting up the inevitable feud between the two. It would be really interesting to see The Shield's response on Monday night. Until then, we can only speculate what the future of The Shield would be like.
Thanks for reading guys. There will be more posts from us in the coming days, so watch this space. Have a great weekend guys!
