The Shield Reunited During One Of The Better Monday Night RAW Endings In Recent Memory
You see, kids, the key to unbiased journalism, which I excel greatly at (see: my work covering the “Fight of the Century”, Mayweather vs McGregor), is reporting from every angle. Covering all sides. Giving credit where credit is due. And today, I get to do just that. Despite my displeasure with the build to SummerSlam, and the show itself, mainly the main event, I think the WWE could very well be onto something with this Roman Reigns Universal Championship reign after what I saw on Monday Night RAW last night.
After one of the biggest “FUCK YOU”s to their entire fanbase I’ve ever seen on Sunday night – sending Braun Strowman out to tease a Money In The Bank cash-in during the main event of SummerSlam to make sure the crowd didn’t revolt, chant nonsense, and beat traffic, only to have Reigns go over clean – I was somehow even more disenchanted with Reigns and the company than I was prior to the “Hottest Party of the Summer”. I think my buddy summed it up really well here…
Let me be clear, if you’re new to my blogs: I don’t dislike Roman Reigns. I actually think he’s fantastic in-ring, and I’ve got multiple friends that have shared the ring with him that have confirmed that for me, citing him as a “top ten worker” they’ve ever been in there with. I don’t think he’s a GREAT promo, but I also don’t think he should really be cutting promos at all. I’m just fucking EXHAUSTED by his main event push, which has lasted over a year longer than the ENTIRE Attitude Era lasted. I think he should just be a wrecking ball of badassery, backed by The Shield, who doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of him. And last night…he was exactly that.
In the midst of a grueling match Reigns was having with Finn Bálor with his newly regained WWE Universal Championship on the line, Braun Strowman decided he couldn’t wait any longer, and walked his way down the aisle with a cash-in in mind. Reigns’ brethren in The Shield were none too pleased with that, however.
Hearing “Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta…SHIELD!” blare throughout the arena will very rarely fail to give me chills. It definitely didn’t fail last night, and if the route for Roman going forward is having the Hounds of Justice as backup while he defends the title regularly on television, and they’re constantly preventing Braun from cashing in, he’s officially been reinvigorated. That would be fucking awesome. And maybe Braun enlists the Bálor Club as backup? Oooooooo baby does that sound great!
Now they’ve just gotta keep this up, which, I don’t have faith in, necessarily, but it’s a nice thought. Oh, and P.S., no, I don’t think this was a heel turn for Reigns or The Shield. Listen to the commentary, specifically Michael Cole. That’s Vince’s narrative coming through his voice, and it’s not, “HOW COULD THEY?!”, it’s “WHAT A MOMENT!!!” Roman’ll stay baby as long as Vince is alive.