Are The Shield a turnoff?

[Mozenrath]

Nah, I like them. We needed new blood very badly.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

I like Ambrose. Im tired of the Reigns mega push and I'm pretty meh on Rollins.

[edgestar]

I like them still. Roman never bothered me, Seth is good, and I've always liked Dean, especially after last night. After the match, Dean signed kids signs, programs, and even though he was just in a very physical match, he took pictures with them, and waited for parents to get their phones out, to take pictures with him and the kids. I can't hate that, and I respect him a lot for it.

[Phosphor Glow]

I'm certainly not tired of them. I'm glad to see them all at the top where they belong. Yes, even Reigns. He's my least favorite of the three, and the way they went about pushing him was clearly incorrect, but the dude has made hella progress, and he's generally really good these days.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

More like the brand is a turn off. Wrestling is at a low in terms of popularity in the mainstream.

[Mayonnaise]

It isn't the talent people are tired of, it is seeing the same show they saw the week, month, year and decade prior. Hell, I think the main reason Vince wants to market to kids is that this is all new to them so he doesn't have to put in any effort. The simple fact is, no one has moved needle. Ratings have been falling nearly a decade and buyrates are a thing of the past thanks to the Network and WWE benefits from from having a core group that will watch no matter what, making them valuable to groups like NBCU who need people to watch their TV channels and not stream their entertainment on the Internet.

[Deleted]

I like all three dudes pretty well, and I think pinning the poor ratings on any one of them is shortsighted. The product has been in a near-constant downswing ratings wise for 15 years now, and that has way more to do with terrible storytelling and way, way too much programming than a particular performer or group of performers.

[Deleted]

Not according to Tumblr girls and Fanfic writers.

[Venti]

Jul 16, 2016 17:25:40 GMT -5 edgestar said:

I like them still. Roman never bothered me, Seth is good, and I've always liked Dean, especially after last night. After the match, Dean signed kids signs, programs, and even though he was just in a very physical match, he took pictures with them, and waited for parents to get their phones out, to take pictures with him and the kids. I can't hate that, and I respect him a lot for it.

Just another reason I think Dean can and should take over Cena's role as Cena winds down. Maybe he's not a clean cut good guy, but he's over as a face, loves what he does, has a unique charisma, and is dedicated to what he does.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

It's a little to early for that you still got to endure them at the top for at least 10 more years

[edgestar]

Jul 16, 2016 18:50:02 GMT -5 Venti said:

Jul 16, 2016 17:25:40 GMT -5 edgestar said:

I like them still. Roman never bothered me, Seth is good, and I've always liked Dean, especially after last night. After the match, Dean signed kids signs, programs, and even though he was just in a very physical match, he took pictures with them, and waited for parents to get their phones out, to take pictures with him and the kids. I can't hate that, and I respect him a lot for it.

Just another reason I think Dean can and should take over Cena's role as Cena winds down. Maybe he's not a clean cut good guy, but he's over as a face, loves what he does, has a unique charisma, and is dedicated to what he does.

I wasn't by the ramp, so I didn't interact with him, but he would have made those kids' night, with just a hand slap, but he really went above and beyond, and I have a lot of respect cpfor him, for that. He truly deserves to be the champion.

[Deleted]

I don't think they're exactly helping or really are the right guys to be the focal point of the show every week, but it's much more on the writing and on the stale brand than it is any one guy.

Though I do think the, "No, f*** you, you get Reigns!" thing two years in a row has genuinely hurt them. Don't think it's a coincidence that in the aftermath of that is when ratings went from gradually trickling down over the years to rapidly plummeting.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Jul 16, 2016 19:11:19 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

I don't think they're exactly helping or really are the right guys to be the focal point of the show every week, but it's much more on the writing and on the stale brand than it is any one guy.

Though I do think the, "No, f*** you, you get Reigns!" thing two years in a row has genuinely hurt them. Don't think it's a coincidence that in the aftermath of that is when ratings went from gradually trickling down over the years to rapidly plummeting.

It's like when things went pearshaped for WCW, it wasn't one moment that triggered it, it wasn't even the WWF offering a superior product, it was years of heels never getting their comeuppance that made people just give up. The Authority angle and the Reigns push have had the same effect, there's only so long you can go on ignoring the desires of the fanbase, and Ambrose is playing the role of DDP, the poor sap on top when the roof caves in who'll get blamed for a downward trend started by others.

[Bub (BLM)]

All three of them are among the top merchandise sellers in the company. It's clearly not them that audiences are sick of. I think people are just bored with the overall presentation. WWE has essentially looked and felt the same since the switch to HD in 2008.

[angryfan]

Regarding Ambrose and possibly being the top guy at some point, some may scoff but I think it could work. Think of it this way, he's already got crowd support and since they love the "overcome the odds" story, he's got that two-fold. He's not the big, muscled, gym-rat type so it appears right away that he has a disadvantage. Further, since they love to mix the character with the man for a "See, you can't boo him because..." factor, the man overcame growing up in a bad area and addiction, yet he still made it, and has made something of himself. THAT is real overcoming the odds, not some half-ass written character bio that says "Well, I may have had all the advantages, but I had it tough, man, and I'm here".

[edgestar]

He got probably the loudest pop of the night, last night, and the match was a lot of fun. Dean has an awesome connection with the crowd

[Shy Guy]

i will never tire of seth rollins. dude has been my guy for almost ten years now.

dean is fun to watch, and i respect what he brings to the table.

still a fan of roman, though i do agree he just isn't the right guy to be "the guy"

[cabbageboy]

I think the problem the Shield guys have had is that there was no actual transition for them into being singles wrestlers. They were a faction and then voila, let's just turn Rollins and make them 3 singles stars to build around. There's a reason why The Freebirds were a good 3 man group, namely that none of them could really carry anything alone. Imagine for a moment having Buddy Roberts attack Terry Gordy with a chair and then feud with Michael Hayes for a year while Fritz Von Erich gave Gordy a singles push with the NWA title in mind. That's what WWE has done over the past 2 years in a nutshell. The Shield kind of fit that Freebird pattern in a way, with Reigns being the Gordy muscle, Roberts the slippery Roberts type, and Ambrose the mouthy Hayes role.

Instead within a month or so of the breakup we got Rollins winning MITB, Reigns being inserted into title match main events, and Ambrose actually building heat and sympathy by being attacked by The Authority. Is it any wonder that Ambrose is the one that's actually over?

[Deleted]

They're getting there.

[FAR5222]

I stopped caring about what they do on TV now. I enjoy Rollins work and he has improved so much on the mic since his return. Ambrose is hit and miss and he's been missing the mark for a year an a half until recently winning the WWE title.

Reigns is a mixed bag for me, one day I find him enjoyable and the next a boring piece of shit. But to answer your question, yes the 2016 version of the Shield is a turnoff.