Analyzing The Shield's True Value to WWE

Following their impressive victory over John Cena, Sheamus and Ryback at last Sunday’s Elimination pay-per-view, it is a pertinent time to analyze the true value that Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, AKA The Shield, have to the company.

First of all, compared to other “outsider” groups in wrestling, The Shield have been booked incredibly well, which has allowed them to be so valuable.

WWE doesn't have a great history with invasion angles, not at all.

2001’s WCW/ECW angle could have been a huge-money maker for Vince McMahon, but the booking was botched so horrendously—and most of the invaders made to look so inept—that the storyline ran out of steam soon after launching.

The Nexus angle got off to a great start in June of 2010, when they attacked John Cena and tore apart the entire Raw set, but the group’s lack of credible booking meant that they too became little more than jokes after just a few months.

WWE seems to have learned its lesson from these debacles, and The Shield has been booked like a true threat. The trio wins when it matters and is generally a force to be reckoned with.

Giving more time, it’s even possible that Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns could reach the heights of the fantastic NWO angle in ‘90s.

WCW did.

The ingredients are all there: a dangerous group of outsiders committed to drastically changing the company by whatever means necessary, a hugely charismatic leader (Ambrose) and the all-important ‘cool’ factor. 

Since The Shield are getting so over with fans as a renegade gang of rebels, it may only be a matter of time before they turn face. Certainly, the three are far more interesting and compelling that most of WWE’s (bland and boring) babyfaces.

More impressively, unlike the NWO or even Nexus, every member of The Shield is a terrific wrestler who can provide fans with superb matches and thrilling in-ring matches.

Sure, we all knew Ambrose and Rollins were great, going by their extensive careers on the indies, but who could have foreseen Roman Reigns emerging as one of the best big-man workers in years? 

Of course, this isn’t to say there aren’t problems.

First of all, there are only three of them.

Come on, if these guys are truly trying to destroy WWE, like the babyfaces have claimed they will, shouldn’t they have a few more members?

Hey, it’s not like developmental isn’t crammed with guys (like Kassius Ohno or Richie Steamboat) who would be great additions to the group.

It also seems like The Shield haven’t made it clear enough they intend to tear down WWE. 

Aside from interfering in a few titles matches and attacking the top babyfaces, how have they actually gone after the company? Maybe they need to attack Vince or Triple H in the future, just to make sure fans get the point.

But aside from these minor issues, things are going well for The Shield. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns have emerged as a star act, and the trio will surely be a cornerstone of WWE in years to come.