2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

I don't think this necessarily means the end of the Shield. The feud will continue and they will find someone to fill Seth's role. It obviously won't be the same going forward, but they'll find someone.

 

I can see how a two-man Shield could work against a three-man Evolution. Ups the odds against the faces, which needed to happen after two straight and decisive PPV victories. Stakes needed to be raised. I hate seeing the original Shield go, but it had to happen eventually. This will be a good thing in the long run, plus it keeps the top story fresh since it seems like Bryan could miss MitB.

 

I hate seeing the Shield break up, but I'm looking forward to a run of Ambrose-Rollins matches.

 

Am I the only one who thinks Ambrose has gone nowhere since the start of the Shield, if not fallen a bit? When they first came on the scene, Ambrose was the guy I thought would be THE breakout star of the group and now he appears to be the weakest.
He's gone nowhere as a wrestler, has actually slipped IMO on the mic and just looks like a joke in his mannerisms in the ring. Contrast that with Reigns, who has used the group dynamic to grow exponentially as an in-ring performer and a decent, if not great, talker and Rollins, who has burst onto the scene the last few months, and I really think the Shield might be the shadow from which Ambrose doesn't escape.
I like the guy but the best thing that can happen from this split is he gets refocused, tweeked and rebranded. Like soon.

 

His offense is wild-man erratic, his finisher Dirty Deeds is just a Miz-like leg-sweep face-plant, and his bumping can be a little overly exaggerated. I was never that impressed with his ring work from what I've seen of his indie days via YouTube vids. He has put on some muscle. Online gossip says his attitude is an issue at times. Too much "I don't give a shit" in him.

Unrelated: the Big Brother thread reminded me to note that word is Sid will be a houseguest with his son, who played a few years ago.

 

I think Ambrose has been limited on the mic by the E because he has had to share the time with the others. Give him more than a couple of sentences, and he could shine.

His offense is really nothing special, although his selling is more old-school. He may end up being more in the upper midcard, like Kane, than a full-fledged main eventer.

Rollins was the one that I thought would get stuck in midcard hell after the breakup. In a way, it makes sense that he gets the Evolution rub. Reigns doesn't need it.

 

Agree with all of this. Grantland's Masked Man had their peaks as Jeff Hardy (Rollins), The Rock (Reigns, admittedly VERY lofty) and Piper (Ambrose). I think Ambrose could be a solid upper card guy for 20 years, and an occasional title holder, like when you need a steady hand to restore some credibility. I think he's much closer to his peak, whereas the other two guys, they could end up in a variety of places now.

 

I can see the other comparisons, but I can't see Reigns like the Rock, unlesshe has this awesome personality that they're keeping hidden.

I can see him more as a Batista, albeit a better worker and athlete.

 

I'd agree with that. I think the comparison came up given his bloodlines. He's the cousin of The Rock, and the son of Sika of the Wild Samoans.

 

The Shield had run its course in the WWE. I'm not disappointed by the breakup, but, this should make for some intriguing television.

What I'm more interested in seeing, however, is how the HHH/Stephanie regime plays out. We've seen Stephanie utilize Kane as a weapon to establish herself as the matriarch of WWE. And, in that time, Batista and Brie Bella both "quit," and Brad Maddox was "fired." I see WWE building up to bring Vince back in an on-camera role for one last run. Most of the dirtsheets had confirmed Vince was scheduled to return around the Royal Rumble, but that clearly didn't happen. It's looking more likely that they'll have someone come in to challenge the Stephanie/HHH abuse of power.

But, that's just my hunch.

 

There were rumors of Shane coming back, but those never panned out.

I'd love to see either of them return and challenge Trips and Steph for control.

 

It's kind of unfair, because even with the bloodlines, there's only one Rock. Asking Roman Reigns to be another Rock, when he's a different wrestler with a different personality, is not reasonable.

While there'll obviously be a Shield-Evolution underpinning, last night looked to set up individual feuds with Rollins spending most of his time on Ambrose, and Orton targeting Reigns.

This is funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqqguGmtHws