The New Day Is the Anti-Shield of WWE

The New Day is a faction that is currently fighting to gain a foothold with fans in WWE. The trio of Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods has not been together that long and they are currently doing everything in their power to get over with the crowd.

But despite how much the three men may want the gimmick to work, the truth is that so far, it's been somewhat of a tough sell. The reason for that is the inability for them to fully connect with the crowd and the crowd's unwillingness to accept them just yet. Indeed, the more time that passes, the more The New Day is becoming the anti-Shield of WWE.

The fact is that The Hounds of Justice were engineered to succeed.

From the moment that Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose joined forces in Vince McMahon's company, it was obvious that big things were on the way. The Shield came onto WWE's main roster like a force of nature, a well-oiled machine fully capable of destruction.

And that is exactly what The Shield became.

credit: wwe.com

Everyone that stood in their way was dealt with. Everyone that dared challenge them was put down. Every Superstar that stood in front of them was annihilated and left for dead in the ring. The Shield was more than dominant; it was untouchable.

Not since The nWo in its prime had fans seen a group display that kind of power. Not since The Four Horsemen had fans seen that much confidence in a faction. And not since The Nexus had a unit possessed that much ambition to conquer everyone that crossed them.

The Shield embodied all the best traits of the most successful groups in pro wrestling history and it took them to new heights.

The Shield became the measuring stick for every faction to follow in WWE. That is the level of success it reached and the amount of influence it had on fans and Superstars alike. WWE hit a home run with The Hounds of Justice and there is no doubt the gimmick worked on every level.

credit: wwe.com

But will the same eventually be said of The New Day?

A big issue with this new group is the fact that the members do not seem to have anything in common. Woods, Big E and Kingston were all just floating along in WWE without any direction and suddenly they found themselves together in a new faction.  

That seems to be the only connection between them and thus far, it's not one that has really gained the fans' interest.

The New Day also does not appear to have any clear agenda. There seems to be no championship aspirations, or desire to move up the food chain in WWE. And there does not seem to be an endgame with them at all.  Basically, The New Day is just having fun and smiling a lot.

And though it's still very early, there does not seem to be any move to strengthen The New Day as individuals. They're in the same spots they were in before they started working together and any fan support each man had before the group began is likely still the same.

Of course, all of this is in stark contrast to The Shield.  

Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns had the common need to see justice served to unite them. They wanted to dominate WWE and every move they made was an effort to do just that. And by the midpoint of its run together, The Shield's members had each developed into very strong performers that were primed and ready for much bigger things.

To put it another way, WWE apparently had a plan with The Shield. The same may not be said for The New Day.

Fans must care about this group and the only way for that to happen is if WWE fully supports it. Putting them on TV in losing efforts or in spots that have no meaning will not help them in the long run. If there is no commitment on WWE's part, then fans will have no reason to emotionally invest in The New Day.

The Shield was the focus and the future, practically from the moment it formed, on WWE programming.

The company must get behind Kingston, Big E and Woods as a team and provide the proper booking for them to evolve. If that does not happen, the truth is that The New Day may not last long. Where The Shield had a great rhythm and tremendous upside, The New Day so far has neither. The New Day is the anti-Shield of WWE and it must get moving in the right direction for that to change.