From the WWE Rumor Mill: The Shield are unlikely to reunite again when Dean Ambrose returns from injury

What's the story?

According to RingsideNews.com, The Shield won't be getting back together when Dean Ambrose returns from his elbow injury.

This is because it is believed that Roman Reigns will be the WWE RAW Universal Champion by the time Ambrose returns, and the whole reason The Shield were reunited by WWE was to get The Big Dog more 'over' with fans before this title reign.

In case you didn't know..

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins became tag-team partners again in August for the first time since Rollins turned on Ambrose and Reigns to split up The Shield. They won the RAW Tag Team Titles at SummerSlam against Cesaro and Sheamus, and in October, much to the delight of the WWE Universe, they reunited with Roman Reigns as The Shield.

However, in the days before the trio were meant to have their first match back together at the TLC PPV in a 3-on-5 match against The Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro, Kane and Braun Strowman, Reigns caught the mumps and was ruled out of the bout.

Kurt Angle replaced him, even wearing The Shield's ring gear. Reigns joined Ambrose and Rollins again when he recovered in November and The Shield went up against SmackDown Live's New Day at the Survivor Series PPV, coming out the victors.

However, just when things were starting to run smoothly with the faction (Roman Reigns became IC Champion after beating The Miz the night after Survivor Series), The Shield were dealt a massive blow when Dean Ambrose injured an already fragile elbow in December, and WWE had to write him off TV by having Samoa Joe attack him.

WWE announced that Ambrose will be out for nine months on last week's Christmas Day Raw, which saw the impromptu tag-team of Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan win the Tag Team titles from The Bar.

The heart of the matter

Although the length of time it will take for Dean Ambrose to come back from his elbow injury that he had surgery on last week may have been exaggerated by WWE for storyline purposes, it is still unlikely that The Lunatic Fringe will make it back to the ring before WrestleMania 34.

Ambrose was rumoured to be facing Rollins at WM 34 anyway, which was supposed to happen as a result of a big heel turn by Ambrose on Rollins.

And with Roman Reigns speculated to defeat RAW Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar in the event of WM 34 for the title, The Big Dog would not need to be with The Shield afterwards, as the reunion was only meant to help the IC Champion's lack of popularity with fans ahead of that match.

So it looks like we won't seem them back together for a while now, even when Ambrose returns.

More likely is a feud between Rollins or Reigns with Ambrose when the latter returns, which will probably come as a result of heel turn from the youngest-ever Grand Slam Champion.

What's next?

Roman Reigns defended his Intercontinental Title tonight on the first Raw of 2018 against Samoa Joe, whilst we will see how long the Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan tag team can co-exist.

We will see if Reigns does, in fact, face Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 in April. If we are to believe WWE, Ambrose won't be back until August.

But it is likely he will be back way before then, probably just after WM 34.

Author's take

It is disappointing that The Shield getting back together hit too many bumps in the road and never really got going with Ambrose's injury and Reigns' mumps.

Maybe it was just a sign that a reunion just wasn't meant to be, and that their first run together should have been enough. It was still fun while it lasted.

I am excited to see how Reigns, as well as Rollins, in his tag team with Jason Jordan, will go into and come out of WrestleMania 34, whilst even more intrigued to see how Ambrose will return.

But it seems The Shield is done for the foreseeable future.