Remembering the Original Breakup of the Shield

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

I couldn’t remember exactly when it happened and was a little surprised to find it was June 2, 2014!

I remember after the breakup it was like a coming out party where these mostly silent badasses got to cut promos where they showcased their personalities. Ambrose cut a heavily Roddy Piper inspired promo which I thought was the best of the bunch. Rollins cut the one where he said he didn’t sell out, he bought in (classic pro wrestling 101). And I don’t even remember what Roman said which shows where he was at the time in comparison to the other two.

Speaking of the negative aspect of the breakup, I still hate the impetus of it. It was essentially, “We’ll never beat these guys…we just beat!” Rollins deserves some credit for attempting to make it believable. He made the argument in his promo that yeah they won but they’d always be fighting and they couldn’t really win. Still, it was too little to cover for such a faulty element of the booking.

[Nosnorb]

As a trio they had taken on pretty much everyone, and after beating Evolution, where else was there to go?

[Deleted]

I remember a lot of people here thought Ambrose would be a top heel and Rollins a Jeff Hardy style babyface after The Shield split, but making Dean the face and Seth the heel was the correct decision lookng back on it. That's not to say Ambrose as a heel couldn't have worked, but we all saw what happened when they tried it...

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Jun 5, 2022 9:51:31 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

As a trio they had taken on pretty much everyone, and after beating Evolution, where else was there to go?

Yeah, it was time to end the group and allow for fresh matchups. My issue though it the reasoning didn’t make sense.

I liked the idea a few folks on here pitched before they broke up. Basically they would never turn on each other and have a loose association throughout their careers. It’s a pretty rare approach in wrestling. Kind of like how WWE booked the Rhodes (Cody, Dustin, and Dusty) while they were all there.

Of course WWE wants the broadest demographic possible. So they rarely go for subtle. Seth Rollins whacking his buddies with a chair? A strong and easy image to show.

[SAJ Forth]

Jun 5, 2022 10:07:13 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Jun 5, 2022 9:51:31 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

As a trio they had taken on pretty much everyone, and after beating Evolution, where else was there to go?

Yeah, it was time to end the group and allow for fresh matchups. My issue though it the reasoning didn’t make sense.

I liked the idea a few folks on here pitched before they broke up. Basically they would never turn on each other and have a loose association throughout their careers. It’s a pretty rare approach in wrestling. Kind of like how WWE booked the Rhodes (Cody, Dustin, and Dusty) while they were all there.

Of course WWE wants the broadest demographic possible. So they rarely go for subtle. Seth Rollins whacking his buddies with a chair? A strong and easy image to show.

Best was Moxley/Dean mouthing what appeared as "what the f---" when the assault started.

[Nosnorb]

Jun 5, 2022 9:59:03 GMT -5 @dax said:

I remember a lot of people here thought Ambrose would be a top heel and Rollins a Jeff Hardy style babyface after The Shield split, but making Dean the face and Seth the heel was the correct decision lookng back on it. That's not to say Ambrose as a heel couldn't have worked, but we all saw what happened when they tried it...

Seth was the one that WWE booked almost perfectly when The Shield split. They knew who he was supposed to be - an opportunist who sold out his friends to get ahead and also stay true as to why The Shield debuted in 2012 and killed Ryback - they were sick of wrestling being a popularity contest and that Ryback had no right to be on the main roster before them. And since The Shield was now the most over act in the company since Bryan was out injured and CM Punk was gone, well, Seth knew what needed to be done.

From ending The Shield to cashing in at WM, Rollins was potrayed almost exactly as he should have been, which was not something that could be said for Dean or Roman. Dean was booked as a choke artist and one of the first actions as a singles star for Roman was spiking Stephs coffee so she barfed all over Vickie Guerrero. Roman was punished for his by being given a spot in the ladder match for the vacant WWE Title.

They knew who Seth was supposed to be, they had no idea about Roman.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Jun 5, 2022 9:59:03 GMT -5 @dax said:

I remember a lot of people here thought Ambrose would be a top heel and Rollins a Jeff Hardy style babyface after The Shield split, but making Dean the face and Seth the heel was the correct decision lookng back on it. That's not to say Ambrose as a heel couldn't have worked, but we all saw what happened when they tried it...

Pre-WWE Moxley and post-WWE Moxley are radically different forms of "I love violence" powerbeasts. By the time The Shield happened and broke up, I don't think the old version was really there anymore for a heel Ambrose. He had potential as a face even if they didn't really know what to do with it until just before the brand split.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

What they did with Seth was a stroke of genius

Everyone expected Roman and Mox to be alright because of their position. Originally Mox was positioned the leader before they flipped that to everyone is the leader. Mox vs Roman would been logical while Seth could got over as the high flying babyface

But making Seth talk more during the ending run of The Shield and then putting him with the Authority was the best move they could have done. He is the dirtbag heel and put out there to talk and made his biggest weakness a strength.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

One of the only great things in wrestling history that wasn't driven into the ground