Fantasy Booking: Shield Triple Threat For Wrestlemania (Part: 1)

Diving straight to the point, the Shield triple threat is a rumoured main event for Wrestlemania 35 and with all factors considered, is the best match to close Mania with. If you haven't already, please see my previous article on why the Shield Triple Threat needs to be the main event of Wrestlemania here. In this article, we lay out all the groundwork from the start in order to book the build towards that match and challenge WWE to do it better. Without further ado, here are the present circumstances from where we'll take off:

• Hell In a Cell 2018 is over and Roman Reigns is still the Universal champion; while Seth Rollins is the Intercontinental champion.
• A match between the Shield and Strowman, Ziggler & McIntyre is set for Super show-down.
• Reigns will then defend his universal championship at Crown Jewel against Strowman and Lesnar.
• In weeks leading up to the Super Show-down match, Ambrose has been out to prove that he's not the weak link in the group (almost Daniel Bryan-esque in his team Hell No days). He's the one raking up victories in tag team action.

The Super Show-Down match

The Shield vs The Dogs of War set for Super Show-down

After staying away from his Shield brethren for the most part of the match, Rollins finally makes a hot tag to Ambrose who sweeps in and cleans the house. This is a powerhouse Ambrose who looks like a man on a mission. His third clothesline from the top rope finally kneels the monster. As Ambrose prepares to finish the match, Reigns blind tags him to get his hands on Strowman. Ambrose looks confused for a moment but heads out anyways while Reigns sets up for a spear. He runs towards Braun but is countered by a Claymore out of nowhere by McIntyre. Ambrose rushes in and takes out himself along with McIntyre and they start brawling into the crowd. In the meantime, Rollins recovers enough to drag himself up and get a tag from Reigns while Ziggler tags himself in on the other side. Rollins looks gutsy even when beaten up. He sets Ziggler up for the stomp but is run over by Strowman in an emphatic statement, turning Rollins inside out. Ziggler lifts up whatever's left of Rollins and hits his Zig-zag for the win. Reigns recovers enough to slide into the ring but not quite far enough to break the 3-count.

RAW after Super Show-down

Dean Ambrose

Next evening, RAW opens with the Shield coming out and acknowledging their loss last night but how that will not matter come Crown Jewel when Roman beats Strowman and Lesnar. Roman states that in that match, he will have no one to depend on to and that's when he is at his best. Rollins stays right beside Reigns the entire time and looks to be in agreement, all while Ambrose stays silent and the corner of the ring. He doesn't look too thrilled with their loss and where this reunion is going. While they're about to fist bump, McIntyre's music hits as he interrupts to challenge Ambrose for a match. He takes shots at how Ambrose has been nothing but a lackey in Reigns' and Rollins' corner of late and is only keeping them back from winning anything of value. He declares Ambrose to be a cheap caricature of his past self and feeding off of the Shield's success. Ambrose, who is already not quite into this Shield redemption segment, takes subtle shots at his brothers when replying back to McIntyre. In his reply, he says "there will be no blind tags or miscommunications when I beat you for good"! This elicits a little smile on Rollins' face and a pinch of surprise on Reigns'.

For Crown Jewel, all the members then separate for the time being with Ambrose going up against McIntyre, Reigns going for Strowman and Lesnar and Rollins restarting his fantastic open challenge matches up until he finds a foe in Kevin Owens.

Go-Home RAW before Crown Jewel

Strowman attacking Reigns

The main event sees a contract signing between Strowman, Reigns and Lesnar. But Strowman jumps Reigns before Lesnar could even make his entrance. He clobbers Reigns up until Ambrose's music hits. After a while when Ambrose doesn't appear, the camera cuts to backstage where McIntyre is beating Ambrose up with a steel rod. He throws Ambrose's body into a pile of larger rods and then yells "let's see who's the better man on Sunday" before leaving.

In the meantime, Strowman has also left the ringside with Reign's vulnerable body in the ring. Then hits the Lesnar music and out comes the beast. He walks quickly towards the ring and starts planting some knee strikes at the prone body of Reigns. As soon as he starts lifting Reigns up for an F-5, "Burn it down" and out comes Rollins. He walks towards the ring with a fiery look in his eyes, enters the ring and stands like a barrier between Lesnar and hurt Reigns. Lesnar and Rollins keep measuring each other until Rollins snatches the universal title from Lesnar's hands and then dares him to do something about it. Lesnar smiles and walks off while Reigns tries to collect himself and stand tall. Rollins hands him his title but there is something changed in Rollins. He keeps silent when Reigns thanks him and there's a subtle glance at the Universal Title during their fist bump to end the show.

Rollins and Lesnar go face to face

Crown Jewel

• Rollins successfully defends his IC title against Owens.
• We see a little clip of Finn Balor talking to Paige backstage but nothing is confirmed.
• Ambrose is too beat up to match a much larger and fresh McIntyre. He does get a visual pin on the bigger man but only to realize that his foot was under the bottom rope. McIntyre takes advantage and comes out on top.
• Lesnar and Reigns form an alliance against Strowman and after beating him enough, Reigns outsmarts Lesnar and pins Strowman to retain.

Stay tuned for Part 2!