For months we have speculated on when The Shield would finally break apart and go their separate ways. This past Monday night on the post-Payback edition of WWE RAW, we finally saw the beginning of exactly that.
Personally, I didn’t see it coming. I assumed that once they didn’t do the angle going into WrestleMania, and began a Shield versus reunited Evolution program coming out of WrestleMania, that the “Hounds of Justice” would be together for at least a few more months.
Monday’s RAW opened up with Batista quitting Evolution and the WWE in general. Once that happened, my early thoughts were that The Shield vs. Evolution program had run its’ course, and that The Shield would go on to feud with someone else, such as The Wyatt Family, while Randy Orton would re-enter the singles picture and Triple H would return to his role as the leader of “The Authority.”
That didn’t exactly happen.
No, on Monday’s RAW they finally did The Shield breakup angle. The biggest shock — to me at least — was that they had Seth Rollins turn heel. I always assumed that if The Shield were to split up, that either Rollins and Dean Ambrose would both turn on Roman Reigns, or Ambrose would be the lone member to turn.
When WWE was doing The Shield breakup teases prior to WrestleMania this year, it was always Ambrose who seemed to be the squeaky wheel. He and Reigns seemed to be butting heads a lot, all-the-while Rollins would play peace-keeper. And when Rollins eventually explains his reason for turning, I’m sure that will play into the promo.
Regardless, when the trigger was pulled, it was Rollins holding the gun.
I didn’t see it coming.
So, now what? Well, obviously Rollins has aligned himself with Triple H and Randy Orton, meaning Evolution is still alive, only a different version. The Shield, however, is a question mark. One would assume that Reigns and Ambrose are still going to remain a duo, although I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Ambrose were to go over to the dark side, leaving Reigns by himself to try and overcome incredible odds.
If WWE decides to continue with an Evolution-Shield program, with one group having three members and the other having two, I’m not exactly sure how that’s going to work. You could simply do a three-on-two handicap match, or a straight tag-team match, with Triple H sitting out.
If they go that route, Reigns and Ambrose could beat Orton and Rollins, and “The Game” could say “enough of this gang warfare crap, I want Roman Reigns one-on-one, man-to-man at SummerSlam.” That would be the beginning of Reigns’ emergence as a singles Superstar in the company, something that has been the plan all along.
And then there’s always the option of adding a third member to The Shield faction. Personally, I don’t see that one happening. As much as I would love a talented guy like Sami Zayn to walk right into the WWE main roster with a ready-made main event caliber spot, it just doesn’t work for the story line, or for WWE’s future plans. If you add a third member to The Shield, then you’re putting yourself in a position where you have to keep the group together for a while and let the new trio have a legitimate run together, which would eliminate all of the rumored plans we have heard for Reigns as a solo act this summer.
Next Monday’s RAW should be an interesting one, as there are many questions coming out of this situation, most of which I don’t really have the answers for. And when watching a sports entertainment product, that’s exactly what you want. You want the fans to be invested in the characters, the story lines, and to hook them to the point where they can’t wait to tune in the following week and see “what happens next.” In the Attitude Era, that was a weekly occurrence. These days, it’s much more rare. But with the Rollins heel turn on RAW this past Monday night, that’s exactly what we’ve got.
As the WWE-version of Diamond Dallas Page would say, “that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing.”
What did you guys think of the Seth Rollins heel turn on RAW? What do you think the future holds for The Shield and Evolution? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also hit me up on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR, and/or follow me on Twitter @MBoone420.
