WWE's Emphasis on a Dean Ambrose Heel Turn Means the Shield Won't Break Up Soon

WWE heavily teased tension within the ranks of The Shield this past Monday on Raw, indicating that Dean Ambrose might be leaving his longtime stablemates for the trio of Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.

The heels spent the start of the show listing off reasons why Ambrose would want to (and should) betray Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, all of which were logical. In fact, fans have been under the assumption for a while that it was inevitable Ambrose would go rogue, but only now is WWE starting to plant the seeds for the big turn.

However, WWE bringing these details to the audience's attention should all but confirm that he won't be turning heel any time soon. It is more a matter of when than if he will betray his brethren and branch off on his own, but The Shield breaking up at this point in time would be premature.

It was merely a month ago that The Shield originally reunited to thwart the threat of Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre. Despite The Hounds of Justice doing their best to maintain order on Raw in the absence of Kurt Angle, the flagship show remains in a state of disarray.

Thus, they have only just begun to scratch the surface of what they're capable of accomplishing as a unit during their latest reunion run.

Although he had plenty of buzz surrounding him upon his return to the ring in August, Ambrose has been a bit of a background player since the reformation of The Shield. Perhaps it's because he doesn't have gold around his waist like Reigns and Rollins do, but the heel turn tease should reignite some of that spark heading into WWE Super Show-Down.

Credit: WWE.com

At the international event, The Shield will collide with Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre in six-man tag team action. Although nothing will be on the line, a win in Australia would certainly give either trio a significant momentum boost from that point forward.

Aside from that, it is largely a meaningless match, and Ambrose turning heel there would be a waste. The Lunatic Fringe should feud with either Reigns or Rollins (or both) following the eventual breakup, and with Strowman still in the hunt for the title, that won't be happening at least until 2019.

After all, it's too obvious of a path to take at the moment, not to mention that the turn would be more impactful after The Shield spends more time as a cohesive unit and asserts their dominance over the Raw roster like during their last run.

It should be noted that The Shield wasn't around for long when they first formed in 2012. It was only a year-and-a-half into their stint that Rollins turned on Reigns and Ambrose, which came completely out of nowhere.

The Shield should have a similar ending this time around, meaning WWE's recent teases of an Ambrose turn will lead to nothing at Super Show-Down. If anything, they will grow even stronger and continue to rule the Raw ranks for months to come.

Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns will go their separate ways again down the road, likely once Ambrose pulls the trigger on a turn, but there's no reason to cut their momentum short right now and deprive fans of what could be a fun reunion run before it really gets going.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.