I rarely write about specific wrestling angles, but this one made me scrap what I had planned after Payback (I don't even remember what it was at this point). Anyway, be sure to catch the potential spoiler for my possible next article that, if I write it, might get certain sections of smarkdom to break out the pitchforks on me.
http://placetobenation.com/as-the-shield-turns/
http://placetobenation.com/as-the-shield-turns/
This post just got Meekin'd times three
ReplyDeleteI really want a Haku shoot. I want to hear him talk about all of his road stories. Another good review Bayless.
ReplyDeleteIn my head, i like to imagine Haku just hitting everyone with Tongan death grips at the bar.
ReplyDeleteTo me, its just that they blew up the best part of the show for a SWERVE that now we're hearing might not have even been more than one of Vince's whims. People will say OH WHAT YOU THINK ROLLINS IS BEING BURIED but I don't think that at all. I think it was the hottest most interesting act they've had in awhile that hadn't been face for very long and they blew it up to hotshot a TV rating. Sure Rollins and the other two will be big stars. Vince hasn't pushed new guys like those 3 almost ever. I don't doubt between their talent and the front offices faith in them they still go far but as a fan they took my favorite act and ended it, IMO prematurely because they hasn't been faces for that long.
ReplyDeleteWrestling ribs are so fucking disgusting
ReplyDeleteHow so?
ReplyDeleteI guess it means when someone puts up a post right after you do and 20 minutes after this was posted, three of them went up.
ReplyDeleteI could care less, personally though. Its not my blog
I'm enjoying picturing a tripping balls Curt Hennig out gathering hundreds of ladybugs.
ReplyDeleteThese shoot reviews are a bigger draw though. I just had to tap out on the last great matches thread because Vince Jordan is in there saying the Canadian Stampede tag match is a average match. I'm sure this will start to get hits.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who states that the Cena/Rock storyline from last year's WrestleMania was good is just telling everyone that they are a contrarian anyway
ReplyDeleteI kind of agree, which is why I wrote about it. Truthfully I'm not sure if I'm really happy with this article, because I'm not sure I fleshed out enough what this represented to me. The question is whether there's ever a good time to end a good thing. Better to get out while the getting's good, or squeeze every last drop out of it?
ReplyDeleteIn this case, though, the real-life reason wasn't as important to me. It might've been a snap-judgment, ratings-panic Vince whim, but there've been Shield breakup rumors and on-screen hints for months (though not so much of the latter recently).
Warlord was a guy I thought was ferocious as a little kid. Looked like a monster, and had a bad ass gimmick with the helment and sepctre. Then re watching that stuff as a teenager I was like "Holy shit this guy sucks and he looks like a moron with the outfit"
ReplyDeleteYeah.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for Harvey, guys are stuffing dead mice in his shoes and his wife was a total whore.
He did look like a monster and loved him as a kid too, but yeah when they gave him the singles push and gave him that goofy outfit, it was all over for him.
ReplyDeleteI think on screen there was plenty of mileage left for them to just be the Shield, but now as top faces. The wwe did an amazing job building these guys up so I do believe they know what they have in them.
ReplyDeleteI think there was at least six months of mileage with them as like a super group baby face four horsemen type. This is also one of the few factions ever where the sum was greater than the parts.
Just as a viewer, the shield was the most exciting part of the show. Not only where they great on the mic and just as a spectacle but they also had amazing matches. I just sort of feels like they shook things up just for the sake of change. Is that good? Yes and no. Obviously you don't want the Shield to get stale but I think the natural progression was to have them in individual feuds while still being a unit. The nwo did this all the time. However the nwo was also kept together way too long.
I just think the timing, where they were the best part of the shown during sort of a traditional dead time in wrestling should have been enough to keep them going. I'm not sure thisnp turn gets anyone more over, which should be the end game when you turn main event guys.
That's the kind of shit where you might just snap and kill people.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you get when you cross Seth Rollins with a knife and your back?
ReplyDeleteSTABBED!!!
Another good review on another good shoot. You might make it in this business, kid. Just gotta be able to review the present day stuff with the right amount of vinegar and anger...
ReplyDelete;)
(Seriously, very good stuff here. This is why I don't do silly things like voting for a shoot that I already know is a trainwreck...)
The Shield doesn't have to completely die yet though, just because HHH said it did in storyline. They could keep Ambrose and Reigns as a tag team or add a new member, the latter of which is risky but could really help out a new talent.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't believe everything Meltzer reports as fact.
I love those stories about Haku beating the shit out of people.
ReplyDeleteThe more of these I read, the more Mr. Fuji seems like a despicable human being.
ReplyDeleteTo me the major point of all this is that at the moment the WWE is struggling to create genuine stars. And they got there with the Shield. The Shield were what people wanted to see. And they were cool. Forget about angles or TV or pushes, people just wanted to see The Shield.
ReplyDeleteAnd they've thrown all that away as far as I can see for no good reason.
They already made them stars. All three, no matter what they do from here on out, have credibility from being in that group.
ReplyDeleteNext, they are asked about Chris Walker. Warlord laughs as he tells a story of how they ribbed him. They told Walker that he should never share a room with Barbarian because he would sit in his underwear and spit into a cup while staring you down. When the hotel only had one extra bed in his roon, Walker got nervous and refused to go into his room. When asked why Walker never made it in the WWF, Warlord said that he had no idea and that he was a good worker.
ReplyDeleteJust had to reiterate this one.
They all really treated him like garbage.
ReplyDeleteYeah but what I'm saying is people want to see The Shield. They don't want to see Ambrose, Reigns and Rollins they want to see The Shield.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's a hell of a thing to throw away.
I've read some interviews with him where the questioner asks him about his reputation but he kind of just smiles and shrugs them off. I guess he's one of those guys who knows he's a bad ass and doesn't need to promote it.
ReplyDeleteIt still boggles my mind that the barefoot guy who was a WWF jobber and a wrestler of little consequence in WCW is generally renowned as the toughest and most dangerous wrestler there was.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit dubious to claim. I mean those three made up the group and you think if they lose the flack jackets and name people will suddenly stop caring? Rollins and Ambrose are talented enough to stay over without the it. Reigns now as well.
ReplyDeleteHe wasnt a jobber...more like the middle of the midcard.
ReplyDeleteReally? I don't remember him ever winning a match.
ReplyDeleteI not talking about being over, I'm purely talking about fans wanting to see 'The Shield'
ReplyDeleteAnd there's not much in the WWE these days that fans genuinely want to see.
I don't know about that. Fans are genuinely invested Wyatt, Cesaro, Barrett, always Cena, Bryan of course...whether it's cheering or booing those are all things in which the audience is positively responding to, in my estimation.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much fully agree with this.
ReplyDeleteAre they struggling to do that? I'd say in Reigns, Ambrose, Rollins, Wyatt, Cesaro and Barrett they have six potential Wrestlemania main eventers they've developed recently (I know Barrett's been around a lot longer than the others, but the elbow injury and his visa issues were the problems with him, obviously).
ReplyDeleteCreative issues persist like they almost always do, but I guess I don't agree that they've had issues creating new stars.
It's fair to say that they didn't elevate enough people during the late 00's and are finally starting to right the ship in that regard.
ReplyDeleteI get your point I just think all three guys are talented enough to stay over whether as faces or heels in Rollins case.
ReplyDeleteAnd they can just put them back together later on if they wish.
While I agree there was more stuff the Shield could have done together it could be argued that "too soon" is better than "finally".
ReplyDeleteAnd as I said before, the gimmick did it's job and got all three over. WWE is not about groups, it's about individual stars.
The wwe doesn't have tons of super popular faces everyone is behind. The Shield hit that level. Why tinker with it?
ReplyDeleteThe crowds will still cheer Reigns and Ambrose though.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/gqqguGmtHws
ReplyDeleteFound this funny.
New champ.
ReplyDeleteMan, I love Savage and he's one of my favorite guys ever, but every single person who's asked about him in a shoot makes note of how insanely jealous and protective he was of Elizabeth. I certainly wouldn't blame him for being a bit protective of her in an industry like this, but man, collectively the stories of his insane jealousy are a bit unsettling.
ReplyDeleteWhy not give them all three?
ReplyDeleteI think The Shield push might be the best ever in terms of creating new stars. has there ever been a group that started with three guys that were just debuting and turned them all into top stars?
ReplyDeleteyou could even argue that the WWE almost overarchieved here because there is not one single "breakout" star. yes, the company seems to be behind Reigns as "the guy" - but I think at this point you can easily envision Ambrose or Rollins becoming a bigger deal than him.
Yeah I agree. Who's gotten a better push on their debut? Hogan? Yokozuna? Maybe Sid? This is probably the hardest they've pushed new guys and the best they've done actually achieving something in at least two decades.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree with that.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is that rollins was half of the best spots from a wrestling perspective in the stable. Now he'll resort to heel tactics and be cheered when he dies crazy shit. Kinda backwards.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem with this turn is the timing. Not because The Shield hadn't been faces that long, but it came the night after a brutal match where Evolution completely decimated the group for a good 10 minutes. And when the match ended, Rollins and Reigns were lying in the ring and they got a great shot of them clasping hands in celebration of a hard-earned victory.
ReplyDeleteI have never liked someone turning on their friends to join the opposing side after beating the shit out of each other. It just doesn't make any sense. HHH blasted Rollins in the head with a big piece of metal Sunday night, but on Monday they're buds? It'd be easier to stomach if he turned after a routine tag match instead of an all-out war.