The Shield, John Cena's Open Challenge, NXT and More from the Revenge Mailbag

WWE continued its barrage of Shield references on Raw. At this point, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship should just be a literal shield that can only be won and defended by Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

Slow and Unsteady wins the race?  

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@ThisIsNasty Why do you think it took this long to get a push for #DeanAmbrose? Do you think he has a legitimate chance to capture the title

— PDX Brian (@Imperialwisdom) May 28, 2015"

Ambrose was simply the odd man out for a little while as Reigns and Rollins battled one another, but now he's back in the main event feuding with Rollins while Reigns is on the outside looking in.

Expect some iteration of a Shield spinoff—whether it be a Triple Threat match, one-on-one feuds or the inevitable reunion—to dominate WWE programming for the next 10 years.

WWE seems to have long-term plans for Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. As I mentioned during the latest PodNasty Wrestling Podcast, WWE is obsessed with The Shield. The faction split up one year ago, yet the characters are still feuding over it. If The Shield was a romantic relationship, each of its former members would be the psychotic ex-boyfriend.

"Do you realize what you did to me?! The pain you caused?! Do you?!"  

There's nothing wrong with Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns getting pushed at or near the main event, but at least give them an identity apart from what they did as WWE's vigilante boy band.

Internet Wrestling Opportunity

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@ThisIsNasty With WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH and Lucha Underground readily available, can you recall a better time to be a wrestling fan?

— Ethan Weiss (@EthanWeiss1) May 28, 2015"

This seems to be the sentiment among many wrestling fans due to the budding national television deals among many independent wrestling promotions. Unfortunately, quantity does not equal quality.

It may be a good time to be a hardcore wrestling fan, but until these independent companies start showing the ability to draw a growing base of casual fans while making a dent in pay-per-view, they're nothing more than another alternative for a small, cannibalized cult following.  

Promotion	Network
WWE	USA Network
TNA	Destination America
Ring of Honor	Destination America
House of Hardcore	The Fight Network
Lucha Underground	El Rey Network

WWE is raiding many indy and international promotions of their top stars as it moves toward making NXT a successful touring brand. As WWE continues to brandish its elusive contracts in front of coveted free agents, many independent wrestling companies will have to start from square one.

There's also the nagging concern of whether advertisers want to be associated with pro wrestling shows, which reportedly doomed TNA's current deal with Destination America, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc.com).  

It's certainly encouraging to see so many startup wrestling brands land national television deals. But now they have to execute, and no company outside of WWE has been able to figure this out in the modern era.

Question of the Week: The U.S. Championship Open Challenger?

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@ThisIsNasty who do you see taking the US title from John Cena? #Wwe #MailBag

— Jon T. ™ (@Johhny_McLovin) May 28, 2015"

If John Cena ever loses the United States Championship, hopefully it is during one of his challenge matches to build further drama and suspense around the event. My fear is that Cena losing the title will be the story, and whoever beats him will be rendered nothing more than obscure wrestling trivia.

Kevin Owens and Neville are both formidable contenders in a division that has largely failed to define them. Neville had Cena beat, while Owens got the better of Cena in back-to-back weeks. Still, Neville has not asked for a rematch, and not only did Owens say he didn't want to fight Cena for his title, but he stepped on said belt twice while celebrating the gold medal he won in the feeder system. 

So how exactly is all of this adding value to the title?

For now, it seems like Cena and the U.S. Championship open challenge are just being used to add credibility to up-and-coming stars. On those merits, it would be wise to continue the challenges indefinitely.

But it remains important for WWE to build a reputable star, either through NXT or on the main roster, who can be taken seriously as a challenger and not crumble under the shadow of Cena's United States Championship reign.

Good luck with that. 

Big Red Routine?

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@ThisIsNasty Do you think that keeping Kane heel was a wise move ? I think they missed many opportunities if he turned face.

— mr.e (@EnigmaticWonder) May 26, 2015"

Kane is performing well in his current role as a heel authority figure who butts heads with the cocky young champion.

Heels don't always have to like each other. It's insulting to the intelligence of wrestling fans to assume that heels always get along. Of course there are going to be clashes in personalities and ego.

Kane doesn't necessarily have to turn babyface. Every time Kane grows frustrated with Rollins, Rollins becomes a bigger heel in the eyes of fans since his own allies can't stand him.

For a while, it seemed like Kane was closing in on a babyface turn, and this could still be the case. But I would have no problem with Kane continuing to straddle that line as a result of an (kayfabe) insufferable world champion.

NXT Takeover: Literally

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@ThisIsNasty could cena vs owens be the first step of an nxt invasion as a storyline to pass the torch between HHH and Vince ?

— Ross (@RossByNight) May 21, 2015"

An NXT invasion seems inevitable, especially as WWE is becoming more and more serious about building it into a touring juggernaut. Invasion angles are always dangerous and, long term, the reward hardly ever justifies the risk.

NXT invading WWE would certainly hurt the brand's cool factor. By regularly appearing on WWE programming, NXT would become mainstream and lose its hipster appeal. NXT certainly wouldn't permanently take over WWE, so when it loses, it will further damage the brand.

A well-executed storyline that pits Vince McMahon against Triple H, however, would accelerate the star-making process for some NXT talents.

As fun as it sounds, it's too early to do an NXT invasion angle right now. Many of WWE's rising stars are just one or two years, some mere months, removed from their last appearance on NXT. 

For an invasion angle to work, current main roster stars need to be entrenched as WWE Superstars.  

Alfred Konuwa is a featured columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @ThisIsNasty and subscribe to his weekly wrestling podcast.