It’s fair to say that The Shield are WWE’s hottest asset right now. I mean come on, they’re strong, dominant, and have a bad-ass theme song and entrance. But surely there’s something more to them that has led to their ever-growing popularity. This article aims to analyse the reasons as to why The Shield have become a huge success, by comparing them with the stables of professional wrestling’s extensive past.
The ‘main’ guy
Let’s take a moment to recall some of the great factions that pro wrestling has seen throughout its existence. The Four Horsemen, nWo, D-Generation X, The Nation of Domination, The Ministry of Darkness, Evolution, and The Nexus, are to name a few. There’s no doubt that the groups just mentioned have all been extremely popular/influential/revolutionary throughout their pro wrestling runs. However, they all have one thing in common: A main man or group leader. The Four Horsemen had Ric Flair, nWo had Hollywood Hogan, DX had Triple H, The Nation had Farooq (and then Rock), The Ministry had Undertaker, Evolution had Triple H, and The Nexus had Wade Barrett. What has this got anything to do with The Shield, you ask?
For a while, it was portrayed that Dean Ambrose was the leader of The Shield. Not only did he have all the mic time when cutting promos, but he was even crowned the United States Champion, while Rollins and Reigns held on to the Tag-Team Championships. The Shield, for a while, were like any other stable we’ve seen in the past. However, forward several months later and all of a sudden Roman Reigns seems to be the new dominant force of The Shield. Forward several weeks later and all of a sudden Seth Rollins begins to have more of a voice of his own and makes his architectural presence in the group seem valuable. Forward to present day and you have three equal shining stars that could easily break-out as top-flight singles competitors, all in one group.
Yes, the stables mentioned above had leaders and were extremely successful. However, instead of following suit, The Shield have 
been revolutionary in stemming away from the norm of having one main guy in a team and have evolved into three main guys of their own. Each member is equally as important as the other, which adds to their presence as a stable in general. This is the reason why many people believe that The Shield are a more superior group than The Wyatt Family, as while The Wyatts are an incredible faction of their own, the focus is solely on Bray Wyatt – the clear leader of the trio. Aside from the sheep mask and the epic spinning clothesline, there has been no emphasis or character development on Luke Harper or Eric Rowan. They have so far been portrayed simply as underlings of Bray Wyatt.
Individual traits and personalities
Continuing-on from the above point, being three equal entities has led to the personas of each Shield member to become further highlighted. Having no leader makes it even more important for The Shield to establish individual characteristics, and both they and the WWE have done this well. You’ve got the Joker-like technical machine, Dean Ambrose; the high-flying, loyal workaholic, Seth Rollins; and man-with-few-words, the powerhouse of the trio, Roman Reigns. This makes it easier for fans to get behind each member, as their personas are more identifiable. Three individuals, with three different personalities and wrestling styles – a recipe for success!
Going further on the point of unique styles, it is great that each Shield member possesses their own recognisable arsenal of moves. As mentioned earlier, Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns could easily break-out as upper-carder singles competitors, and having an established move-set certainly supports this. Other factions in the past have had this, which is a discrete but definite factor as to why they’ve become as popular as they have today. The difference with The Shield, however, is that they weren’t once stars in singles competition that fans got to know first. They’ve still managed to create distinct personalties and styles for themselves, which can be hard to exhibit when debuting on WWE television as an unknown group. That leads us nicely onto the next section…
Stars bundled together
The Corporation were a dominant group in the late 90s during the ‘Attitude’ era, consisting of top stars such as Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Rock, The Big Show, and Triple H. They were an awesome group, but aside from The Rock, it seemed as if the star-power from each member was overshadowed by the boss of the faction, Vince McMahon, and his mission to conquer the WWE. The ‘Corporate sell-outs’ seemed to be portrayed as nothing more than mere minions who did McMahon’s dirty laundry. This is a prime example of the problem with simply ‘bundling’ stars together instead of grouping roster members together to organically build new stars.
It got even worse when The Corporation and The Ministry of Darkness joined forces, forming The Corporate Ministry. Yes, on paper, it was an awesome idea – they were the ultimate heel group that nobody could touch. However, again, this deemphasised the star power that the group obtained. Imagine fusing WWE’s current main stars in one group, let’s say Cena, Orton, Bryan, and dare I say, Punk. Think of how played-down each of their characters would be. The group’s ambitions would be the sole focus and priority, which would significantly reduce the potential of any further character development – if any was needed. This is why The Shield are such a polished faction so far. They have each become stars through their journey as The Shield – instead of each being built as single competitors and just thrown together – which helps validate the stable as a worthy entity.
Overall, it is clear that The Shield are a unique group that have revolutionised factions as a whole in the industry of professional wrestling. Although the groups mentioned were game-changing in their own rights, both the WWE and The Shield have done well to do something different. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns have each emerged into top-flight Superstars through their ride with the stable, possessing their own distinct styles and characteristics, making each of them a distinguishable ‘Hound of Justice’. As of right now, The Shield are unbreakable.
Do you agree? What’s your opinion on The Shield? Comment below, and don’t forget to share!
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story between the two fizzled away fairly quickly. Prior to this, Ziggler also had a temporary rivalry with Chris Jericho. Although Ziggler ‘terminated’ Y2J’s career and then eliminated him in the Royal Rumble upon his return, it was again short-lived. Had WWE built this feud up even more, it could’ve been something special.
but he’s done the complete opposite – joined the ‘Real Americans’!
who the real ‘leader’ of the group is, and small things such as having Reigns stand in the middle of The Shield when confronting The Wyatt Family can get frustrating.
undeniably a gifted performer, but his character has grown stale and nobody cares for him anymore. Along comes big Dave in his shining armour, only to be boo’d out of every arena. WWE have now turned ‘The Animal’ from face to heel, which should allow him to absorb the jeers more gracefully. However, we now have a heel vs heel title match, and the only cheers generated from this match will come from the joyous feeling of each combatant being torn apart. WWE cannot simply close WrestleMania XXX with a match of these characteristics. Then again, it’s wrong to close the show with a match that isn’t for the grand prize on the grandest stage of them all. Unless they turn Orton face and hope for the best…
Despite his match interruptions and backstage yelling, The Miz still hasn’t been relevant on television at the slightest. It’s still hard to believe that he headlined WrestleMania XXVII against John Cena and retained the title.
Canvas to Canvas 