The Shield has been quite popular since their first day on WWE’s main roster. It was a group no one saw coming, even EWN. I know, we were taken back about it too. The Shield is made up of three standout from NXT, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns.
Reigns was actually going by the name Leakee in FCW/NXT before coming to the main roster. He is the next generation of Samoan talent WWE has.
Crazy enough, it seems all of them are related. Big family tree, huh?
WWE felt Reigns was a great talent by himself. This made journalists such as myself believe he would come up on his own to the main roster. His size alone was something WWE would love. He may not be the best mic worker, but he didn’t have to be. He could be given a manager if need be, but even then that was overkill possibly. He could be similar to Ryback was where they rarely handed him a mic.
Of course, we saw how handing him a mic eventually happened. It makes me sad too.
Reigns wasn’t the only singles star to emerge on the main roster with Shield, Seth Rollins did as well. Known as Tyler Black on the Independent scene, his legend grew more and more before he even arrived in WWE.
Black was young and was already a main guy in ROH and doing well in other promotions throughout America.
Eventually he won the ROH World Title and held it for quite a while before signing with WWE in his early 20s, which was saying a ton. Black was a top Indy star before he even hit his 25th birthday. This is something many cannot say. People were very excited about his arrival because they felt he’d be a big star.
IWC fans about wet their pants when they read on the news wires that he had signed, which was not crazy in my opinion. Black was a top star and now you’re getting to see him in WWE against other big time talents.
Eventually his name changed to Seth Rollins, and while not as catchy as Tyler Black, it doesn’t really matter. Rollins did quite well against everyone and became a major player in FCW. Just like Reigns, most expected Rollins to be on the main roster eventually on his own. His wrestling ability is unquestionable. The dude can go in the ring as good as anyone.
But like Reigns, while the wrestling is there, the mic skill is not.
Rollins has had issues with his mic work dating back to his Indy days. This is probably why WWE didn’t bring him up quicker, because they felt he wouldn’t emerge as a top talent with no mic skill.
Finally we have Dean Ambrose, who most believe will still be a massive singles star in WWE. There is literally no one who had more hype before hitting the main roster for IWC fans than Ambrose, absolutely no one.
Funny enough, many weren’t as familiar with him on the Indy scene as Jon Moxley. Arguably Rollins was far more popular than Ambrose in their Indy days, but that was mainly because of where the two wrestled.
That said, Ambrose was considered a star by WWE. So they signed him. From the moment he signed he has been the best guy in FCW/NXT. His mic work and wrestling skill both are excellent. This made people believe he would be on the main roster on his own, just like Rollins and Reigns.
But WWE had a plan to make The Shield group, which pushed all three immediately. All are singles stars working as a team, and they have no signs of slowing down. Now all three hold titles (US and Tag Team).
All three have something they bring to the table for the group. Reigns brings the power and intimidation, Rollins brings speed and spots, and Ambrose brings leadership and mic work. This makes them dangerous. All three while good by themselves are a team. And that makes them a legit group to take seriously.
But now, we have a group called the Wyatt Family coming in. While The Shield group was a very over heel faction, these people seem to be other worldly. They seem to be nuts, brain washed and full of the unknown. It makes The Shield seem light in comparison.
While we have not seen the Wyatts in the ring yet, and haven’t even seen what they can do to the main roster, we have to think about what would happen if the Wyatts and Shield ever came face to face.
In my opinion, you cannot have two main heel factions in the company at the same time. You can have mid-card ones, but not two top heel factions at the same time. This is mainly because it takes away from each group. However, if one turns face then obviously it would make sense.
The Shield already is loved by fans, which means they would be face eventually. There is no denying that. The Wyatts are made up of people many do not know about other than Bray Wyatt who was Husky Harris before. This means fans cannot relate right off and their gimmick will be too heel to be face anyway.
So, how can this impact occur? To me, it won’t happen strangely. I think The Wyatts hit the roster come Summerslam or near it, this will be where Shield will eventually cross paths with them. Will it happen day one? Oh no. I think we could see the two face off at either Survivor Series or Wrestlemania 30.
To me, you have to give The Wyatts time to build. So it won’t be until Survivor Series until they will be built enough to mean much. By then, Shield may have started to lean babyface.
By Royal Rumble, we may see them cross paths and that could be a set up. At Elimination Chamber, I could see the two getting involved in matches with each other. Then Wrestlemania would see the two go at it.
WWE could do an angle where the Shield break apart then “Assemble” near the end of the year. Which would be interesting of course. I think if we have The Shield disappear for a bit, and return to take on the Wyatts, it would be more impactful. This way, you don’t allow them to be seen but you make people miss them.
Fans would beg for the Shield to be back because they are the only people who could take care of The Wyatt Family. It could be an interesting dynamic where Shield could go two ways. Either they could come back because they are needed and do it for “face reasons”. Or they could do it for a reward of sorts, which could be best.
They may have someone like Triple H or McMahon ask them for help, and they say they’ll do it on certain conditions. This could be the best way, as it would still not switch The Shield from who they are, but they would be the face team even still. And they’d do it for the Justice as well.
WWE may do an angle where the Wyatts are out of control, and that would be where this could go down. Even then, I think it wouldn’t happen right away. It would take some time.
You would have given Shield a long time as a group if the big match happens at Mania, well over a year. And a break up could eventually happen maybe next summer. Or they could assemble at times to do “hits” like an APA used to do for example.
The Wyatts could still remain a group for a bit. But, no matter who you let win at Mania, the fact remains that these two facing off will have to happen eventually. There is no alternative to me. The two main factions always tend to clash, and both will be that come Wrestlemania.
The only thing that prevents it is WWE’s feeling of Shield. Do they want them to stay together or break away to become major singles stars. Because as we know, all three are legit singles stars anyway. If they stay together, expect a rivalry to come with the Wyatts. If not, expect the Wyatts to take over your TV screen for a long time.
However, is there a better way to do this than what I had in mind? Let me know what you would do for the Wyatt/Shield clash below in the comment section.
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