WWE superstar Roman Reigns is the man that the WWE universe loves to hate. Reigns burst onto the WWE roster as a member of the tag team, The Shield, alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Reigns and his Shield brothers vowed to fight against “injustice” and frequently interfered in matches involving CM Punk, invariably to help Punk to win. The Shield disbanded in 2014 and Reigns was immediately promoted to main event status. It was immediately clear that Vince McMahon intended to promote Reigns as the “face” of WWE.
After the dissolution of The Shield, Reigns was handed title shots at both the Money In The Bank and Battleground PPV events. It was arguably the speed of Reigns elevation to championship contender that turned the WWE universe against him. Since then Reigns has been pushed relentlessly as the Face of WWW, and this year’s WrestleMania even saw Reigns retire The Undertaker.
The reality is that Reigns splits wrestling fans in a way that no other wrestler on the WWE roster manages. Last year even saw fans vote Reigns the world’s “worst wrestler.”
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , last week’s Monday Night Raw saw Reigns tease the reunion of The Shield. Reigns was in a match with The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship when Rollins and Ambrose join Reigns to attack the Miztourage. Reigns won the match, but The Miz retained his championship due to a ridiculous decision that allowed him to keep the belt because he was disqualified.
Backstage Reigns was furious, and Monday Night Raw closed with Rollins and Ambrose flanking their former Shield-brother in the locker room. After months of rumors, it seemed that the WWE had finally confirmed that The Shield was set to reunite.
The timing of The Shield reunion is interesting as it coincides with John Cena and Brock Lesnar going on hiatus. That means that both are out of the picture for the next Raw exclusive PPV, TLC [Tables Ladders and Chairs] at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 22nd. Sportskeeda claims that this leaves the event lacking an obvious headline match .
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman would be an obvious choice to headline a PPV, but the pair has been feuding for most of 2017. Strowman also interjected in Reigns’ match on last week’s Monday Night Raw, so perhaps we will see Strowman form a new heel team to challenge The Shield.
Deadspin is rather more direct with its view of The Shield reunion. They claim that the reunion is simply to give the WWE Universe “a reason to love Roman Reigns.” We should not forget that The Shield was hugely popular before it was dissolved, and none of its members have managed to retain that popularity as solo wrestlers. A Shield reunion could be just the thing to push Rollins and Ambrose on to the next level. If it is a success, perhaps wrestling fans will fall in love with Roman Reigns at long last.
The official WWE website has announced that Cesaro and Sheamus will join The Miz on tonight’s “Miz TV,” after Monday Night Raw. Look out for a confrontation with the Shield-brothers to set up a headline tag match at the TLC PPV.
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