During the first four days this post was on the forum, a handful of posters chose to put over all three members and noted that everyone had main event potential. And one contrarian thinks nobody is ready to break out. Among those with an opinion, I counted 12 votes (50%) for Ambrose as the Shield member who transcends the rest, 7 votes (29%) for Reigns, and 5 votes (21%) for Rollins. Even WrestleZone’s own editorial staff is split. Josh Isenberg worships at the altar of Roman Reigns, while Justin LaBar and Mark Madden are unabashedly in favor of Dean Ambrose. Mark Madden: “I want to see Dean Ambrose break out sooner, not later. I want to see them stop wasting time with guys like Sheamus and guys like Orton.” Madden goes so far as to say that The Shield should be repurposed immediately as a vehicle for elevating Dean Ambrose.
I won’t quite go that far. I love how The Shield currently operates, simultaneously bringing prestige to a mid-card title, breathing life into a moribund tag team division, and representing a viable threat to literally any force on the roster, no matter how strongly that individual has been booked. As currently constituted, The Shield still has a tremendous number of unexplored storyline opportunities. And they are still brutally effective. They recently took Mark Henry, who had been in the headliner match of a pay-per-view the previous week, from heel to face with a single attack. Nevertheless, all teams must eventually break up. Before that happens, let’s take a look at the individual cases that each performer can make.
