wrestling / Video Reviews
Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Destruction of The Shield – Disc 3
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Elimination Chamber
February 23, 2014
The Shield (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, & Dean Ambrose) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Erick Rowan)
I wrote some extensive thoughts on this match here.
This match might suffer in the years to come due to the typical incompetency of the WWE’s booking/writing team. While this match could have signaled the start of a year-long feud between these two factions and inspired years of PPV trios matches between teams formed with the same creative ambition, it is instead a bittersweet memory that somewhat perfectly captures the promise of the WWE and the inevitable letdown that comes from following them.
The Shield was comprised of three talented wrestlers that each had very glaring strengths and weaknesses as performers (with Ambrose being the most well-rounded of the three). When they were together though, you pretty much only saw their strengths on display. Rollins brought the excitement. Ambrose brought an edge of unpredictability. Reigns brought a presence and a handful of classically WWE, trademarked movez (albeit ones that he performs with a fair amount of clumsiness). They were all at their peak here as a unit, and they brought out the best of a faction that was still trying establish themselves as an artistic force to be reckoned with.
While The Wyatts had an up-and-down creative year, this match kicked off their run of fantastic tag team matches. Luke Harper really seemed to break out in this match, and he showed off his WWE main-eventer potential. Everyone played their part though, and it’s a shame that we don’t know how far The Wyatt Family could have gone as a trios.
This is a modern WWE classic and my favorite wrestling match of the year. It prominently featured six talented younger wrestlers (how often has the WWE done that in the last fifteen years?), and it allowed them to have the very best match possible. They did just that. It’s a shame that the WWE didn’t know what they had with this feud and with these stables. (****1/2)
Payback
June 1, 2014
The Shield (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, & Dean Ambrose) vs. Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton, & Triple H) [No Holds Barred Elimination]
This match had some basic structural issues that were always going to hold it back. The biggest problem is that they were all obeying the rules of a tag match despite it being No Holds Barred. That is just dumb and makes me feel like I am wasting my time. You want to do a thirty-minute match? Have thirty minutes of story to tell. Don’t make it artificially long just for the sake of it. The wrestlers then remember that they don’t have to follow the rules only to tell a weird, if logical, story. Evolution focused on isolating Reigns from the other two. This makes sense, as they see Reigns as the toughest member. The story then becomes Reigns surviving long enough for Rollins and Ambrose to return to the match. Unfortunately, they did that twice for what was effectively a double heat segment. So, while this was a logical story, it was not exactly exciting to watch. A wild, weapons brawl for 15-18 minutes would have been much more exciting. The fact that The Shield won in a clean sweep also made the Seth Rollins turn the next night a complete illogical swerve. (***)
Money in the Bank
June 29, 2014
Seth Rollins vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Dean Ambrose
This was a Money in the Bank briefcase match. While these kinds of matches are a bit trite in the WWE these days, I thought this one was executed fairly well. The action never let up, and there were a number of cool moments. I would say that this match was even close to reaching “great” status until Kane come out to ruin Ambrose’s comeback (who was forced to leave the match early by the doctors). Rollins was probably the perfect guy to win the match at least. (***1/2)
Ambrose takes a veiled shot at the booking team for putting him and Rollins in a Lumberjack match, but he and Rollins were determined to make the most of it.
Summerslam
August 17, 2014
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose [Lumberjack]
The impressive part of this match is that they managed to take a terrible concept/gimmick that could only detract from a match, and they managed to make it work for the most part. The match got off to a weak in the ring, as they did not have any good ideas for how to spend that time. The match picked up big time though as soon as they left the ring, and they started doing big spots around the ring with the lumberjacks. By the time they got back to the ring, the crowd was absolutely red hot to see match finish. Kane looked to be ready to ruin the match only the Lumberjacks to do a giant brawl to nearly save it. The chaos allowed Rollins to hit Ambrose with the briefcase to win the match, which was a very unsatisfying finish on the supposed second biggest PPV of the year. Ambrose and Rollins deserve praise though for making this match exciting in the end. (***3/4)
Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton
This match was not without merit, but it fails because Randy Orton still has no idea how to work on top in a compelling manner after all this time. It is a shame because Reigns worked hard here and mostly did what he needed to do to make this match successful. Reigns is a performer with a handful of strengths, and he would go on to do great things in 2015. If Orton just did anything remotely interesting while working on top for the majority of the match, this would have been a fantastic way to kick off Reigns’ singles push. The closing sequence with the finishers and kickouts was obviously well done, as Orton has excelled at doing that sequence for over a decade. Reigns ended up avoiding the punt and winning with a spear. (**1/2)
Rollins takes a veiled shot at the WWE booking team for the Falls Count Anywhere match happening on TV instead of Summerslam.
Raw
August 18, 2014
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
Much like their Lumberjack match the night before, this match starts off slowly but gradually gets crazier and crazier until you cannot help but be invested. Unfortunately, they had a storyline finish. Kane began to freely interfere, and then their conspiracy to take Ambrose out of action for a long time became clear. They worked together so that Rollins could give Ambrose a Curb Stomp through a stack of cinderblocks. As far as storyline finishes go, this one is fine with me. It does not help the match mind you. The referee then stopped the match which is fascinating for a match with no rules. (***1/2)
Raw
September 15, 2014
Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
This match really encapsulated everything wrong with WWE booking in how they present people they want to be stars and how they present people that the fans want to be stars. Rollins turned his back on The Shield. He first focuses on Dean Ambrose, and Ambrose gets screwed out of two victories in a row. Reigns, who was not even focusing on Rollins after the heel turn, then pins Rollins clean in their first match. Garbage booking. The match was boring too. Reigns won with the spear. (**)
There was also a cool montage on the Dean Ambrose/William Regal feud. This remains the best feud on WWE television in quite some time.
Watch some Shield matches for free!
The Shield vs. Rey Mysterio & The Usos
The Shield vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes [The big title change]
Watch Ambrose for free!
Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) vs. Brodie Lee (Luke Harper)
Jon Moxley vs. Drake Younger [Dog Collar Match]
Watch Rollins for free!
Tyler Black (Seth Rollins) vs. Bryan Danielson
Tyler Black vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs vs. Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries
Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs [Cameo from Mick Foley]
Tyler Black vs. Josh Abercrombie [TLC Match]
Tyler Black vs. Johnny Gargano
Tyler Black vs. Jonathan Gresham
Tyler Black vs. Zema Ion vs. Starless
