In just hours after the close of No Mercy, WWE has all but confirmed a re-assembling of The Shield. RAW ended with the Miz, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas striking the signature triple fist pose over the corpse of Roman Reigns, effectively summoning the Shield out of retirement.
While there was no sign of Dean Ambrose or Seth Rollins, we can safely deduce that they’ll be getting involved. WWE has about a month before RAW’s next pay-per-view, TLC, giving them several weeks to tease fan’s palates like they did with Rollins’ and Ambrose’s reconciliation.
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It’s in WWE’s best interest to let the drama simmer, but do not be mistaken, the Shield will soon be complete.
Much has been made about this silver bullet being fired at inevitably forgettable Miztourage, and rightly so. Most fans imagined the Shield being forced back together to save the world from some unforeseen tragedy. But not the Miztourage.
The question begs: why now?
Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship are Gone
While WWEย has yet to make any sort of official announcement, it’s all but understood that Brock Lesnarย and his Universal Championship have taken leave.
It’s possible the Beast comes back for a defense at Survivor Series but don’t count on it. The Universal Championshipย is currently resting on a mantle somewhere in Canada while Lesnarย and Sable play footsie.ย
With WWE’sย top belt and top Beast out of action that gives many fans good reason to take a hiatus as well. But by WWEย dangling the ultimateย carrot of The Shield in front of its fanbase, they can not only grab fan’s attention but essentially put it in a Kimuraย Lock.
John Cena’s Hollywood Holiday
WWEย may want to reconsider giving Roman Reigns iconic matches if every legend he beats semi-retires.
While John Cenaย certainly still has more matches in him than The Undertaker, his absence will be felt. As WWEย enters its seasonal battle with the NFLย and Monday Night Football, they find themselves undermanned. John Cena’sย drawing power is hard to quantify, so let’s put it simply: John Cenaย is still the face of WWE.ย
Vince McMahon is dead set on replacing Cenaย with Reigns, but that will take a decade of reinforcement. In Cena’ absence, WWEย has the opportunity/obligation to rehabilitate Roman’s popularity.ย
And that reminds us…
Roman Needs Cheers
Look, WWE, Roman Reigns, Triple H, and probably even Vince McMahon’s grandchildrenย are all too eager to point out that The Big Dog is a “tweener.” We get it, he’s not a good or a bad guy, he’s the guy.
But I’m not buying that. The whole “The Guy” stuff is a device created by WWEย that serves as a band-aidย to hide the fact that they couldn’tย get him over as a babyface.
To the credit of WWE’s Propaganda Machine, this monikerย has worked out well, but in the closest of WWEย circles, officials are asking themselves how to stop 80% of the crowd from booing Reigns.ย ย
The only reason they’re comfortableย with the disdain for Reignsย is because of the profitableย precedentย Cenaย established. But as we saw in his dueling promos with Cena, Reigns, while improved, still has a way to go when it comes from connecting to a live audience.ย
However, even though the Shield is coming together to extinguish the piecemealย Miztourgae, it comes at a near perfect time. Reigns will undoubtedlyย be better-receivedย thanks to the reunion’s fairy dust.ย
Reigns has a date with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34. And if it were up to Vince McMahon, he will be met with booming elation in New Orleans. The road to Roman Reigns’ adoration begins with this Shield homecoming.ย
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RAW’s Shallow Tag Team Division
When No Mercy ended, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose officially ran out of people to fight.ย
As fun as their feud with Cesaroย and Sheamusย was, the final chapter was written this Sunday. So where to next? Well, the Hardy Boyzย are now just the Hardy Boy, Anderson and Gallows can’t hang in that spot, The Revival is more aptlyย named The Disappearance, and barring another odd couple pairing of WWEย veteran’s the RAWย Tag Team Champions suddenly have zero competition.
If there was only an evil trio to fight…
While the Miztourage will never beย mistaken for Evolution they’ll have to do in this spot. It’s highly unlikely that WWEย drew this up months ago, but it’s become quite the convenientย option.ย
Just make sure Roman looks strong, OK, guys?
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