Last Monday Night (3/17/14) on RAW, the ever evolving, constantly dynamic stable, The Shield made yet another change. For months on months (actually over a year) since their debut, The Shield have been and looked as if like they would always be heels. But, the aforementioned RAW may have just changed that. Lately The Shield have been… rebellious in a way: Defying HHH’s orders to cease their attack on the Wyatts, openly challenging HHH for NOT giving them a rematch after being screwed out of the Elimination Chamber, and of course not helping Kane the best they could have when he faced Big Show on Smackdown (which led to a confrontation and ended as expected with a Spear by Roman Reigns).
But RAW took it to a new level. When Kane, The Director of Operations and direct extension of the Authority’s will, gave them an assignment, The Shield refused and instead attacked Kane and planted him with their patented Triple Powerbomb finisher. With Kane and the Authority being bona fide heels, this means that The Shield must be turning face: something I never thought possible with this (sure to be) legendary stable that fought for their pseudo-justice.
But lately Roman Reigns, big man and muscle of The Shield, has been getting chants from the crowd and was even cheered over what was supposed to be a fan favorite in Batista when the two were facing off at the culmination of the brutal Royal Rumble Match. And he’s not the only The Shield member to get positive reactions.
Seth Rollins, the small high flyer of The Shield, has begun to let loose and embrace his athleticism, performing awe-inspiring moves, dives over the top ropes and generally visually enticing stunts. This has garnered him some cheers from the crowd as well.
So, two of the three members of The Shield have gotten face reactions, and now the group as a whole is defying the big bad heel itself: The Authority. So clearly the turn is happening, and may already be complete, but the real question is, “can The Shield transition into the role of face stable successfully?” Or rather, “can WWE book them as faces successfully?”
In a perfect world, The Shield as faces would be exactly the same, except they would fight for REAL justice this time and merely turn their aggression against heels. They would remain the same badasses who swarmed opponents, and NOT become smiling, happy go-lucky faces that “do the right thing.” WWE Creative has a bad habit of messing up certain characters when turning them face, or at least watering them down significantly a la CM Punk’s first run, John Morrison, MVP, and R-Truth. Hopefully, this doesn’t happen to The Shield and they remain who they are and maintain their identity.
This will leave us with the other questions that need to be answered like, “Who is the true leader of The Shield (was Ambrose, then Reigns, and now…Rollins?)? “, “Which of The Shield will be pushed the hardest?”, and of course “Will they keep their unique attire after the group had its run?” etc. So hopefully, WWE does what they did with Randy Orton and what WCW did with Goldberg, and let The Shield remain virtually the same, even as faces. Try not to ruin their essence, and it all should work out. Believe that. And believe in The Shield.
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