Did the shield hinder Ambrose?

[ChitownKnight]

To me it was always clear that the shield helped Rollins and Reigns. Ambrose though had it from the start and could of risen as a singles star.

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

Ehhhh? Not really, BUT I will say that it got frustrating after a while to hear all three guys, and immediately have someone bring up the "How long until the next Shield reunion?" as an inevitabilty. Having guys that attached at the hip in kayfabe is never great once a stable's dead.

[Mister Pigwell]

The original run? No. That was great.

The reunions cooled Seth and Dean off though.

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

May 27, 2019 15:57:03 GMT -5 Mister Pigwell said:

The original run? No. That was great.

The reunions cooled Seth and Dean off though.

Right, the reunions were panic moves designed to "reset" Roman's overness back to just post-Shield levels. They literally had to cool off Dean and Seth to remind people that Roman was the guy they were SUPPOSED to be cheering for out of the three.

[Allie Kitsune]

It seems like he feels that PG hindered him a whole hell of a lot.

Sure, we had fun with the "Satisfied Hobo" character (even when he was SDL Kingpin, which was his best period), but I think he really wanted to be "Dude that'll cut you in the alley, just because", which was never going to happen in WWE.

So, I don't really think that it was the Shield, per se, though WWE always seemed unwilling to step away from that well.

[Deleted]

Nah, I loved The Shield. I definitely wouldn’t have changed anything except Ambrose’s heel turn.

I’m glad it’s over and we get to see Ambrose in AEW though.

[Deleted]

The original run was dope but the reunions were only there to help Reigns and Rollins. They always got more over while Ambrose, someone who was always over, stayed at the same level.

[TGM]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

[Prince Petty]

The original iteration seemed to put Ambrose as slightly above the other two - he was US Champ while they were Tag Champs together. But as soon as they broke up, he ended up at the back of the pack. Reigns was their chosen guy, and Rollins had the look and the athleticism, but Ambrose always had the indefinable star quality that you need your top guy to have.

Once they decided AJ Styles was their face of Smackdown, and not Ambrose, the writing was really on the wall for him. He just ended up being Seth and Roman's plucky buddy.

[Jokaine]

Dean Ambrose / Jon Moxley is about as big of a star as there is on the current wrestling landscape.

He was a part of the most notable wrestling faction of the 21st Century.

He has made more money that 98 percent of the performers in his profession over the past seven years, due in large part to his affiliation with the Shield.

In short, no the Shield didn't hinder him. Not in the slightest.

I hope Moxley unleashes hell on the wrestling business during his time in AEW, for several reasons.

1) I'd rather see people succeed than fail.

2) I'm a big fan of all three members of the Shield.

3) If Moxley goes to AEW and completely Sandows the bed I don't know if I'll be able to tolerate the meltdowns that will ensue.

[Pushed to the Moon]

Nah. The Shield was a perfect combo and suited them all down to the ground. I seem to remember the thing that cost him as a singles guy was having to go and shoot that movie when he was at his hottest as a solo act.

[rnrk supports BLM]

I don't think Ambrose and Rollins would've gone anywhere near as far in WWE if they hadn't lucked into an act that helped the company's top pet project. Brought up as singles competitors on their own merits, they would've ended up on Styles/Balor level at best, and quite possibly just floundered around the midcard like Zayn.

The sad thing is that if the 3rd man in the Shield had been somebody Vince wasn't so high on, even if literally everything about their act was just as strong, they'd have ended up as job fodder within a few months, broken up and drifted their separate ways.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Honestly I think The Shield ended up being what saved Dean. It cemented his success in Vince's eyes and ensured he would never slip too far down the card, ensured he was kept important and that the Shield reunion was always in the backet pocket of the booking team. Yes they drove it into the ground and they absolutely mangled things with just how much they never got to escape its shadow and were awlays kept intertwined even when it was beneficial not to be. But imagine a world where he comes up as he was in FCW, lingers around a bit, then Vince gets bored and just decides to go do something else instead. Without the long run The Shield had, ROman maybe gets his main event push sooner and Dean's not established enough to avoid being a casualty on that front. The 'what if' factor of an ideal world where Dean's able to shine on his own feels way too unrealistic based on the general path people in WWE have taken for the past decade for me to feel like the idea it hurt him to ahve a career-making run in a top faction WWE was ready to make a cornerstone of its history.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

May 27, 2019 16:20:40 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

I don't think Ambrose and Rollins would've gone anywhere near as far in WWE if they hadn't lucked into an act that helped the company's top pet project. Brought up as singles competitors on their own merits, they would've ended up on Styles/Balor level at best, and quite possibly just floundered around the midcard like Zayn.

The sad thing is that if the 3rd man in the Shield had been somebody Vince wasn't so high on, even if literally everything about their act was just as strong, they'd have ended up as job fodder within a few months, broken up and drifted their separate ways.

Yeah, being chained to Roman was easily the best thing to happen to Seth and Dean, as it allowed The Shield to go from a vehicle to eventually set up Roman as a main event player to a vehicle to make all three of them into main event players.

[MAD TITAN]

Once they made Ambrose the third guy and pushed Reigns to be the pseudo-leader of the group, yeah.

[Deleted]

I think the better question is, did The Shield hinder Jinder?

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

I thought the Shield gimmick was a good fit for him so I don't think so. Seth I think was the guy that was hindered and didn't really find himself until after the Shield broke up the first time.

It is kind of weird in hindsight that for about the first year Ambrose albeit in a more subtle way was kind of presented as the main guy in the group. Singles champ of the group, most dialogue in promos, positioned front and center in promos and production photos with the other two flanking him. However just one year in he was clearly back of the back and it never changed. Unfortunately for him I think him being the alpha was just always going to be a temporary thing until "their guy" Roman was ready.

[spagett]

Having him as Romans little buddy throughout 2015 into 2016 didn't help either.

Rollins was heel at the time so it wasn't a full Shield reunion but it was a blatant attempt by WWE to try and get some of Ambrose's overness to go onto Roman and instead it just seemed to cool Ambrose down a little.

[fw91]

I really don't think Ambrose was hindered in anyway by the WWE. He had a good run. I think he really just wanted to do his own thing.

[King Devitt]

As far as making money, and cementing his worth in the eyes of Vince? Not at all.

As far as his potential? Absolutely.