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The WWE had recently ranked The Shield as the best faction of all time in a list dominated by legendary superstars. This showed that the company was putting all its money on the three men who were headlining Monday Night Raw, and many pay-per-views, on repeat and building the brand even more.
This came to a stop on October 22, when Roman Reigns announced he was vacating the Universal Championship due to an illness, and the WWE had to hit the panic button and turn Dean Ambrose heel prematurely.
The move marked yet another break-up of The Shield, who were already on an uncertain path while fans were predicting Dean Ambrose’s heel turn as soon as his music hit when he returned to in-ring action.
Even though the break will give us an interesting rivalry and storyline between two of Raw’s top wrestlers Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, the break also results in a bit of a loss for some of the stakeholders.
Let’s take a look at three biggest losers from the break-up of The Shield at this point in time.
#3 The Raw Tag Team Titles
Raw’s Tag Team Championship has been one of the company’s top prize since a very long time. The belts hold a lot of value and have been lifted by some of the greatest tag teams, such as The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, The Usos, and The New Day.
Since The Bar lost the championships to the dominating team of Braun Strowman and Nicholas at WrestleMania 34, the prestigious titles have seen a fall for the worse.
Strowman and Nicholas were stripped off the titles by Kurt Angle, and the team of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt won the championship later. The championship changed hands when the unconventional team of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel won the titles, marking the second run for a makeshift tag team.
Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler arrived at the scene later on and gatecrashed The Revival’s deserving chance to win the title and increase its value. Another makeshift tag team thus got hands on the title.
Finally, we saw Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins win the titles, which was good news for everyone. However, The Shield later imploded, leaving the fate of the titles hanging once again.
It’s unclear whether they will keep the titles while feuding with each other, be stripped off the championship by Baron Corbin, or the acting General Manager will gift the titles back to McIntyre and Ziggler.
Whatever the case may be, it means that the value of the titles is once again hanging on the edge, while deserving tag teams like The Revival and Authors of Pain are patiently watching from the sidelines.
#2 Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler has seen many highs and lows in his career. From winning the World Heavyweight Championship to losing it a few nights later, and from winning the United States Championship, to vacating it a few nights later for no relevant storyline, Ziggler has had a bumpy career.
The superstar is one of the hardest working men in the WWE and has been with the company for a long time. He was pushed into an alliance with the returning Drew McIntyre, and the two bulldozed the B-Team for the Raw Tag Team titles.
This gave Ziggler some quality time on TV, along with some great matches both before and after his Tag Team championship win. Ziggler got some high-profile feuds, and even had a great match at the WWE Super Showdown, with his partners McIntyre and Braun Strowman.
The Shield was the reason for the alliance between him, McIntyre, and Strowman. Without The Shield, and the Tag Team titles, Ziggler will be left with no high-profile feuds as his partner has moved away from him and into a singles feud of his own with Braun Strowman.
#1 The Shield
The Shield had been rated as the best faction by the WWE of all time. Even though many will disagree, but they were the most dominant team in recent times.
The Shield wasn’t supposed to break up already, according to reports, but due to Roman Reign’s illness, the WWE was faced with no choice but to turn Dean Ambrose heel sooner than later.
This marked the end of The Shield, for at least the third time. Their first end came when Seth Rollins turned against them in favor of The Authority.
The second end was marred by injuries to Roman Reigns first, and then to Dean Ambrose. The Shield and their dominance were therefore put on a halt. With the announcement of Roman Reign’s leukemia battle, The Shield had to break up once again.
This could mean that The Shield may never get back together again, as Rollins first turned on Reigns and Ambrose, and later Ambrose turned on Rollins. Even if the three superstars do compete on the same brand once again years later, putting the three back together with a convincing enough storyline would prove to be difficult.
As much as we hate to say it, we may have seen the last of The Shield with their most recent break-up.
