Adios Ambrose?

The day after the 2019 Royal Rumble, rumors started swirling around the internet that Dean Ambrose was set to leave World Wrestling Entertainment after Wrestlemania 35. Those rumors seemingly turned to fact as WWE released a statement confirming that Ambrose would not be renewing his contract once it expired in April. Reports indicated that Ambrose had grown frustrated with the creative direction of his character and had reached his breaking point with the company.  

Ambrose first debuted with the company in late 2012 as part of the faction known as the Shield along with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins with Ambrose capturing the United States Championship in 2013. The trio ran roughshod in WWE before embarking on singles careers after Wrestlemania 30 in 2014. Ambrose would go on to capture the Intercontinental Championship in 2015 and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in 2016 before winning the Tag Team Championship with Seth Rollins in 2017 making him the first member of the Shield to become a Grand Slam Champion. He missed most of 2018 with an injury and when he returned around SummerSlam, the Shield briefly reunited before Reigns had to leave the company due to cancer. Ambrose later turned heel on Rollins, but the feud between the two and Ambrose’s heel turn never gained any real traction.

With WWE confirming that Ambrose will not be renewing his contract, the top wrestling promotion in the world will be without one of its biggest stars following Wrestlemania 35. This could be beneficial for both sides as Ambrose leaving the company will allow somebody to take his place in the company. For Ambrose, there might be no better time than now to be a free agent in the wrestling industry. New Japan Pro Wrestling is growing in popularity outside of Japan and Ring of Honor has been a nice alternative to WWE for wrestlers looking for a new home. Impact Wrestling is seemingly rising back up the ranks, and the National Wrestling Alliance is starting to make waves in the pro wrestling world once again. There is also All Elite Wrestling which is a very real threat to WWE. It has legitimate big-name stars with Cody Rhodes, the Young Bucks, and Chris Jericho already signed to its roster, and it is backed by the Khan family. The Khans are billionaires and are providing the financial support for AEW. I would not be surprised if Ambrose winds up in AEW as he will undoubtedly become the hottest free agent on the market. 

This could also be a work by WWE. Their confirmation of Ambrose leaving the company was uncharacteristically addressed months in advance and was also very pleasant when compared to the statements that WWE released when they parted ways with other wrestlers. I would not be shocked if this all part of a storyline, but I would also not be surprised if Ambrose is truly leaving the company. Either way, it has definitely created a buzz for the WWE and Ambrose. Combine that with the upcoming Wrestlemania 35 pay-per-view, and you have must see TV for wrestling fans.

If Ambrose really is leaving though, it will be a sad day for Cincinnati wrestling fans. Ambrose is the most popular wrestler to come from the Queen City since Brian Pillman. He became the last undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion in company history and is also the first member of the Shield to become a Grand Slam Champion. More importantly, he made me heavily invested in pro wrestling again which is something that has not happened since I was a kid during the Attitude Era. Having a hometown favorite to root for in WWE is fun, and I will never forget where I was or how I reacted when Ambrose cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I am and will always be a Dean Ambrose fan, and whether or not he returns to the WWE as Dean Ambrose or wrestles for another company as Jon Moxley, I will always be in his corner.

Way Too Early Wrestlemania Prediction

Please note this was written before Reigns relinquished the Universal Championship and before Ambrose turned heel.

It's a little early to predict the main event of Wrestlemania, but I'm thinking the Shield will have a triple threat match with the Universal Championship on the line. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns have previously faced off in a triple threat match at Battleground 2016 in which Ambrose retained his WWE Championship over his Shield brothers in an exciting main event. That match was worthy of headlining Wrestlemania. It was odd for WWE to relegate it to smaller pay-per-view in the middle of the summer. Wrestlemania 35 will be the stage for the battle of the Shield round two. Here's how.

As I write this, WWE is building the card for Crown Jewel and teasing a Dean Ambrose heel turn. He most recently left Rollins and Reigns in the ring after being pinned by Drew McIntyre in a six-man tag team match that also featured Braun Strowman and Dolph Ziggler. I think Ambrose will turn into a full-fledged heel by the Royal Rumble but no earlier than Survivor Series. 

If it happens at Survivor Series, I can see him snapping should the Shield lose a match or perhaps he costs his team and is the reason they come up short. Either way, he will be the one to break the Shield. He will then battle mainly Seth Rollins through the Royal Rumble while also having a few encounters with Reigns. I think Reigns will be Universal Champion at Wrestlemania, but how will both Ambrose and Rollins join him in the main event? I have two scenarios. 

Option one has Rollins winning the Royal Rumble and putting his main event title shot on the line against Ambrose. The Lunatic Fringe will win the match via nefarious means and steal away Rollins' title match. Rollins will then be added to the match because of how Ambrose won and the Shield will be set up for a triple threat at Wrestlemania. Option two has both Ambrose and Rollins winning the Royal Rumble via a double elimination. Reigns, being the fighting champion that he is, will agree to face both of them at Wrestlemania and the Shield will headline WWE's biggest event of the year.  

The question everybody will be asking is who will win this potential Wrestlemania 35 Shield triple threat match for the Universal Championship? We all know how the crowd reacts to Reigns as an individual star. While I wouldn't put it past WWE to have Reigns walk out with the belt, I feel like WWE will continue to push Reigns as an unstoppable underdog and having him lose the title will allow the company to continue to position Reigns in that role. Rollins has arguably been WWE's best in ring performer throughout 2018, and the crowd adores him. He gets one of the best pops in the company, and he will undoubtedly garner a huge reaction should he win. He's already done that however, as he walked out of Wrestlemania 31 with the WWE Championship. That leaves Ambrose. While all three have been World champs, Ambrose is the only one who has not won the title in a Wrestlemania main event and there would be no better way to solidify Ambrose as the top heel in the business by having him defeat his two former Shield brothers for the Universal Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania 35. 

That's what I think will happen at Wrestlemania. The Shield will implode, Ambrose and Rollins will somehow both get a title shot at Wrestlemania against Reigns, and Ambrose will walk away with the belt. In my option, WWE has been doing a good job on teasing Ambrose's heel turn. It has been a slow build and hopefully the payoff is memorable. Should it lead to a Shield triple threat at the showcase of the immortals, then it could result in some of the best storytelling WWE has ever produced. If this is the route WWE is heading, I cannot wait to watch it play out on television. 

A Brilliant Heel Turn

Without question, the October 22 episode of Monday Night Raw was one of the most emotional episodes that WWE has ever produced. Roman Reigns revealed he is battling leukemia and had to relinquish the Universal Championship. It was a very real segment that separated Joseph Anoa’i the man from Roman Reigns the character. I wish nothing but the best for Reigns and hope he is able to beat the cancer. The emotional announcement was capped off by an embrace from his Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins and a Hounds of Justice triple fist bump at the top of entrance ramp. 

After the announcement, it appeared that the Ambrose heel turn that has been hinted at for weeks was put on hold. He and Rollins were set to challenge Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler for the Raw Tag Team Championships later in the main event, and the two members of the Shield cut a promo before their match that pretty much stated they were fighting for Reigns. The match itself was very entertaining and worthy of being in the main event. In the end, Ambrose and Rollins emerged victorious and came away with the tag title belts. It seemed like a night that began with heart wrenching news would end on a brighter note. That was not the case.

The emotional victory celebration was cut short as Ambrose hit Rollins with a Dirty Deeds much to the shock of those in attendance as well as the world-wide audience watching on television. The beating continued. Ambrose unloaded a storm of punches on Rollins before tossing him out of the ring. The assault continued at ringside before a cranium cracking Dirty Deeds to Rollins on the exposed arena floor left the Lunatic Fringe satisfied with the damage he had done to his co-tag team champion. Boos and A$$hole chants were reverberating off the walls as Ambrose tore off his Shield vest and exited the arena through the crowd. 

In my opinion, it was one of the most brilliant heel turns WWE has ever had. The emotion was real throughout the night and to see Ambrose destroy what would have been a feel-good moment to close a show that had a somber beginning generated a massive amount of very real heat. It was the heel turn everybody saw coming at the moment nobody expected to see it, and that is why it will be remembered as one of the best in professional wrestling.

Survivor Series 2018 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Survivor Series 2018.

Starrcade in Cincinnati

Starrcade is back and coming to Cincinnati! World Championship Wrestling’s flagship pay-per-view which was revived by World Wrestling Entertainment last year is coming to the Queen City, and the card looks stacked.

At the time that this post was written, five matches have been advertised. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe will clash inside a steel cage for the WWE Championship. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair are also scheduled to battle inside the cage with the SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line. The United States Championship will be up for grabs as Shinsuke Nakamura will take on Rusev, and the Bar and the New Day are scheduled to face off for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.  The Starrcade main event is a Cincinnati Street Fight that will pit the team of Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre against the Shield. Also scheduled for the event is a special Elias concert that will feature “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.

The Starrcade 2018 card is looking great, and the matches that have been announced are all worthy of Wrestlemania. Personally, I am looking forward to the Cincinnati Street Fight that will feature Cincinnati’s own Dean Ambrose in action. That match alone is why all wrestling fans in Cincinnati should try to attend the event. Tickets for Starrcade 2018 can be purchased through the US Bank Arena website.

Hell in a Cell 2018 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Hell in a Cell 2018.

The Hounds Are Back

The Monday Night Raw after SummerSlam 2018 was one of the best episodes of Raw in recent memory. The show kicked off with a bang when Finn Balor accepted Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship challenge and the momentum seemingly carried throughout the show. Ronda Rousey nearly ripped out Stephanie McMahon’s arm, Elias avoided ending Curt Hawkins’ losing streak, and Dean Ambrose had his first match back from injury in a very entertaining bout against Dolph Ziggler. All were great moments, but all paled in comparison to the return of one of wrestling’s most dominant factions: the Shield.

After a thrilling main event that saw Reigns successfully defend his title against Finn Balor, the stage appeared to be set for Braun Strowman to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. He delivered a big boot to the Universal Champ, handed his briefcase to the referee, and the ring announcer proclaimed that “Monster Among Men” was cashing in for a Universal Title shot. Before the bell could ring, a familiar tune echoed throughout the Barclay’s Center. The crowd erupted when Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins stormed down to the ring in their traditional black gear as the Shield theme music played over the speakers. 

Reigns stood up in the ring as Ambrose and Rollins climbed onto the apron. Strowman looked around at the Hounds of Justice and, despite knowing he was outnumbered, went on the attack. It was a futile attempt as the numbers game proved to be too much for the monster to overcome as the Shield easily handled Strowman and capped off their reunion by triple powerbombing him through the announce table. It was a fantastic ending to what had been a great episode of Monday Night Raw. 

So is the Shield heel? That remains to be seen. While Strowman is one of the biggest faces on the roster, so is the Shield. WWE could be setting up for a face versus face rivalry, but imagine how much more fun it would be to see a heel Shield run roughshod over WWE similar to what they did when they burst on the scene nearly six year ago. Only time will tell if the Shield is face or heel, but there is one thing that we do know and that is to always believe in the Shield.

Face or Heel?

Dean Ambrose has been out with an injury since December. He was in the midst of a storyline in which and he his Shield brother Seth Rollins were battling the Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championship. The injury brought an abrupt end to what had been an abbreviated Shield reunion and has left Raw without one of its biggest stars and storylines. Rumors were swirling that Ambrose was going to turn heel and betray Rollins in a rivalry that would lead to a Wrestlemania match between the former tag team champs. I was hoping the rumors turned out to be true. A heel Ambrose vs. a face Rollins could have been the rivalry of the year. When Ambrose does return, should he be face or heel?

Aside from the early days of the Shield, Ambrose has been a face during his time on the main roster. When the Shield broke up, Ambrose became the breakout face of the group. Reigns garnered boos despite being positioned as the main good guy of the Shield while Ambrose consistently revived great crowd reactions. The Lunatic Fringe gimmick worked as he tweaked it to become more goofy than unpredictable and it worked for the most part. The act did get stale though and Ambrose was in need of a character change. That change came in the form of the Shield reunion. The goofy aspect of The Lunatic Fringe was dropped as Ambrose embraced his unpredictable side once again. His promos were more intense and he regained the "mox" that made him a fan favorite on the Indy wrestling circuit. 

But what if Ambrose took that attitude and unpredictability to the next level? As a heel, I believe that he can. The Lunatic Fringe could morph into Jon Moxley. He could blend the CZW style of violence with WWE wrestling and run roughshod over the WWE roster. The promos he could cut as a heel would be some of the best in the business. Ambrose has always been one of the best promo cutters in WWE and as a full fledged heel, he could be one of the best promo cutters on wrestling history. He has an ability to demand your attention and make you hang on every word when he has a mic in his hand. As a he, his promos would be even better as he wouldn't have to suck up the crowd or try and make people laugh. He could be serious, intense, and real.

So should Ambrose return as a face or a heel? In my opinion, Ambrose should come back as a full force heel. WWE has a lot of face wrestlers at the moment and is in need of a true top heel. Ambrose can fill that role. The Lunatic Fringe character could thrive as a heel and make WWE much more interesting.

WWE Survivor Series 2017 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Survivor Series 2017. 

WWE TLC 2017 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE TLC 2017. 

Release the Hounds

Sierra

Hotel

India

Echo

Lima

Delta

SHIELD.

Three years ago, the most dominant faction in WWE history imploded as Seth Rollins slammed a chair into the backs of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. The Shield was destroyed and each man embarked on a successful singles career. All have been WWE World Heavyweight Champion and all became triple crown champions with Amrbose being the only member so far to become a grand slam champion. Despite that success, many people felt that that the “Hounds of Justice” broke up too soon. They were easily one of the hottest factions in professional wrestling and were coming off an epic rivalry with Evolution. Instead, they went their separate ways and had off and on battles with each other over the next three years.

However, WWE always dropped hints of a potential Shield reunion. Ambrose in Reigns teamed together quite often, Rollins and Reigns worked together toward the end of 2016, and all three briefly reunited at Survivor Series 2016 for an epic triple power bomb. A reunion finally began to take shape when Ambrose and Rollins, bitter enemies during the post Shield era, reunited in time for SummerSlam 2017 in route to capturing the Raw Tag Team Championships. Fast forward two months and Roman Reigns is having issues with the both the Miztourage and the Bar, two factions that played a key role in reuniting Ambrose and Rollins. The tag champs were having a problem with Braun Strowman, a huge rival to Reigns during the early months of 2017. Their paths finally crossed and on October 9, 2017, in the same city where they were destroyed form within, they reunited and sent wrestling fans around the world into a frenzy.

It didn’t take them long to find their old footing as a unit as they crushed the Miztoruage, the Bar, and Strowman in the same night. This led to a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at the TLC pay-per-view between the Shield and the team of the Miz, Strowman, and the Bar. I cannot wait to watch this match as Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns have tremendous chemistry together and routinely put on fantastic matches during the Shield’s first run. I expect them to continue that trend during their second reincarnation.

I just have one question about this reunion. How long will it last?  I initially thought that the Shield would not get back together for a long time as I thought that Ambrose would turn heel on Rollins which would lead to a Wrestlemania 34 bout and that Reigns would challenge Lesnar for the Universal title. That could still happen, but would it be worth reuniting the Shield? Wrestlemania is about 6 months away and if the Shield were to break up before then, why have them reunite for such a short period of time? I also thought the reunion was going to be a one night only event at TLC, but with WWE selling brand new Shield shirts, it appears that is not the case either. Hopefully WWE allows the Shield to have a lengthy run together. They are my favorite faction and I would love to see them destroy everything in their path once again. It felt like they had unfinished business and now that the hounds are together again, nobody in WWE is safe from their wrath.

Believe that.

No Shield Reunion...Yet

For those of you who do not follow professional wrestling, a faction is a group of wrestlers that stick together like a team. The New World Order, the Four Horsemen, and D-Generation X are perhaps the most well factions in wrestling history, but a group that was composed of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns made their case a few years ago to be mentioned in the same breath as the factions previously mentioned. They were known as the Shield and dominated the wrestling landscape from the end of 2012 to the summer of 2014. The pop they got when they entered arenas was deafening and their attitude and in ring work was a perfect recipe for success. They acted as the best and were perceived by fans as the best. However, as quick as they skyrocketed in popularity, they were disbanded and set their sights on solo careers after Rollins ended the Shield with a couple of chair shots to his former “brothers.”

They all captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and competed in a triple threat match at Battleground 2016. Since then, Rollins has turned face while Ambrose and Reigns have been faces ever since the group disbanded. Ambrose and Reigns have teamed up in the past as have Rollins and Reigns, but Ambrose and Rollins have not teamed together and are scheduled to join forces for the first time since 2014 on the July 24, 2017, episode of Raw. The seeds have been planted for a Shield reunion and reactions for each hint WWE drops have been great, but will it happen? Not yet.

Reason number one the Shield will not regroup anytime soon is Roman Reigns. WWE is still trying to position him as the next big superstar of the company. Despite the negative fan reaction he receives, Reigns is still considered a face, and WWE will not put their attempt to launch him into the stratosphere as a solo start on the backburner in order to reunite the Shield.

Reason number two, and the reason I am most interest in, is that Ambrose and Rollins appear to have a rivalry brewing. The storyline of Ambrose having a hard time trusting Rollins has been simmering with tension and has the potential to be one of the best rivalries of the year. As good as Ambrose and Rollins were as a team, they were even better as enemies and brought the best out of each other during their feuds in 2014 and in 2016. Their promos and matches are always some of the best on the show and the fact that Ambrose could turn heel during this storyline adds a dynamic layer to the Ambrose versus Rollins saga.

In conclusion, that is why the Shield will not reunite yet. Roman Reigns is in the midst of a meteoric push and Rollins and Ambrose appear to be coming close to igniting their rivalry once again. I am not saying the Shield will never reunite. I’m just saying it wont happen now. Believe that.

WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Extreme Rules 2017.

Are We Being Trolled?

I am by no means a Roman Reigns hater. Despite his shortcomings on the microphone, I find his ring work entertaining. His career in WWE, however, has me asking one question: Are we being trolled? It is no secret that WWE wants to push Roman Reigns as the next top star of the company. WWE has done seemingly everything in their power to position Reigns as the heir apparent to John Cena and lead the company over the next decade. He has been booked as an unstoppable underdog. No matter how high the odds seem to be stacked against him, he usually overcomes them. Whether it be the Authority, the League of Nations, or a WWE wellness policy violation and suspension, Roman Reigns has always come out on top. His booking history is a very clear indicator of WWE’s big plans for the “big dog.”

He debuted as a member of the Shield in 2012 alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, and the trio received a massive push by running over everybody that stood in their way. While the group appeared as a unit of solidarity, Roman Reigns was actually being portrayed as the best of the bunch. At Survivor Series 2013, Reigns was the sole survivor in a traditional Survivor Series 5-on-5 elimination tag team match. During the 2014 Royal Rumble match, Reigns eliminated both of his Shield brethren in route to tossing a record total of 12 people over the top rope while finishing as the bout’s runner-up. When Rollins dismantled the Shield during the summer of 2014, Reigns was immediately thrust into the main event scene and world title contention. He won the 2015 Royal Rumble and earned a main event Wrestlemania 31 WWE World Heavyweight title shot. Although he lost the match, he still managed to win the title by the end of 2015. He lost the title at the 2016 Royal Rumble but regained it in the main event of Wrestlemania 32. He then lost it again at Money in the Bank 2016 and was suspended for a month for violating the WWE wellness policy. However, his first match back from his suspension was a WWE title match and although he lost, he was inserted into the United States Championship picture. He proceeded to win the United States title and was again back in world title contention.

As you can see, Reigns has had arguably the best booking of any WWE wrestler since 2012. However, it has not been well received by fans. Despite being a face, he gets mixed reactions at best as the boos and jeers generally drown out the little amount of cheers he gets in wrestling arenas. Every time he takes on a heel, it is as if the roles are reversed. The heel gets the face reaction while Reigns is the target of the heel reaction. Why is this?

I believe it stems from the booking. With Reigns being positioned as the unstoppable underdog and next big megastar of the company, he rarely loses cleanly which can have negative effects on the other wrestlers on the roster as they generally come out of a match with Reigns looking weaker than they did heading into it. His booking has also prevented other wrestles from reaching the next level of superstardom in the WWE. In 2015, Daniel Bryan was the clear choice of the fans to main event Wrestlemania 31, but instead the nod went to Reigns. In 2016, Dean Ambrose was white hot in terms of popularity and should have been in the main event of Wrestlemania 32 but was cast aside by WWE in favor of Reigns again. Both Bryan and Ambrose were still popular, but Bryan had to retire due to injury and never reached that next level of superstardom, and Ambrose cooled off significantly over the course of the past year.

So here we are in 2017 and Reigns is still being booked the same way and is having the same type of fan reactions. He was the 30^th and final entrant in the 2017 Royal Rumble match and was greeted with a chorus of boos from the Alamodome crowd. Chants of “this is bull sh*t” could also be heard and only grew louder when Reigns eliminated the massively popular and respected Undertaker from the match. It was at this point in time I began to wonder if WWE is using Roman Reigns to mess with the fans. He is one of the most hated wrestlers on the roster, and WWE clearly knows it. They have done everything possible to get Reigns over and have even edited videos of fan reactions to Reigns to make it seem like the fans support him. The lengths WWE is willing to go to protect Reigns is laughable. At the same time, they are still irking fans with how they book him. This is the most stubborn booking by WWE I have ever seen. It is not working at all, but WWE keeps pushing it.

So how do you fix this situation? It is cliché for people to call for a wrestler to have a heel turn in order get over with the crowd. It doesn’t always work, but it could actually be beneficial for Reigns. He already gets a heel reaction so WWE should heavily consider turning the “big dog” heel. It may delay their plans to have Reigns as the next big face of the company, but the boos will at least match the character being portrayed. A potential Wrestlemania feud with the Undertaker could finally lead Reigns to the dark side, but until that happens expect the WWE to continue trolling the fans with the nonsensical booking of Roman Reigns.

Will The Shield Ever Fully Reunite?

Factions have and always will be big factors in professional wrestling. For those of you who do not know, a faction is a group of wrestlers that are tied together through some sort of alliance. Whether that alliance is from the sharing of a manager or a common goal, factions generally stick together and will try to eliminate everything that stands in their way. Even though factions usually rise to power before breaking up, a reunion between the faction’s members down the line is usually inevitable. From groups like the Four Horsemen, the New World Order, and D-Generation X, factions have proven that even though it appears that the wrestlers that formed the group have parted ways, there is always a possibility of a reunion.

In the current WWE landscape, the most successful faction has been the Shield. The trio of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns burst on the scene in 2012 as a group of renegades that set out to right the wrongs that they believed tainted the WWE. The Shield was booked as a three man wrecking crew that steamrolled opponents such as Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Ryback, and John Cena among others. They made waves by triple powerbombing the Undertaker through an announce table on SmackDown and by capturing the United States Championship and the Tag Team Championships on the same night at Extreme Rules 2013.

As the trio rose in power, so did their popularity. It became more apparent with each passing week that this faction was destined for greatness as Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns began to become some of the most popular wrestlers on the roster. After dominating 2013, the group looked to do the same in 2014. They waged war with the Wyatt Family, the New Age Outlaws, and Evolution, and it appeared that the era of the Shield would never end. That is until Rollins leveled Ambrose and Reigns with a chair and dismantled the brotherhood that he helped bring to power. Rollins aligned himself with the Authority, and Ambrose and Reigns embarked on singles careers while still remaining tag team partners.

Even though the Shield went their separate ways, their careers continued to intertwine as they battled each other multiple times in their quest to become the best in the professional wrestling business. All three eventually captured the top prize in the industry: the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins won his first title at Wrestlemania 31, Reigns would earn his first championship at Survivor Series 2015, and Ambrose would finally become champion at Money in the Bank 2016. In fact, Money in the Bank 2016 was the night that each Shield member was WWE World Heavyweight Champion as Reigns was defeated by Rollins who was then defeated by Ambrose after Ambrose cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. The Shield battled for the title in a triple threat match at Battleground 2016 with Ambrose once again emerging victorious.

Since Battleground 2016, Ambrose has been on SmackDown while Rollins and Reigns have been on Raw. The faction briefly reunited at Survivor Series 2016 when they triple powerbombed A.J. Styles through an announce table, and they shared screen time during 2016’s Tribute to the Troops special. While hints have been dropped of a Shield reunion, it still has not fully happened. The trio continues to pursue singles glory, and any interaction between the three wrestlers has been brief aside from a few tag team matches and a recent alignment of Reigns and Rollins on Raw.

As it stands now, a Shield reunion does not appear to be happening anytime soon. Ambrose is on SmackDown, Rollins is gunning for Triple H, and Reigns is in the midst of a feud with Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship. That isn’t to say a full-fledged reunion is out of the question. As WWE has proven before, never say never. The New World Order reunited in 2002 and D-Generation X in 2006. With all three wrestlers currently being faces, all it would take is for them to be on the same show. Ambrose could easily be traded to Raw, or WWE could decide to end the brand extension. Until then, the only thing WWE fans can do is wait for the hounds of justice to once again reign supreme over WWE.

Believe in the Shield!

WWE Battleground 2016 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Battleground 2016.

Wresltemania 28 Two-Disc Blu-ray Set Review

Wrestlemania is the biggest wrestling event of all time. It features high profile matches, celebrity involvement, and showcases World Wrestling Entertainment’s product on a global stage. An event this big only happens once a year, but that does not mean you only have to watch it once every 365 days. WWE has released every Wrestlemania on some sort of home video format whether it be on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray. Over the course of the next few weeks, I will review the different home video editions of Wrestlemania that I own.

In this post, I will take a look at the two-disc Blu-ray version of Wrestlemania 28. This is the first Wrestlemania on Blu-ray that I have ever bought. I have only watched it on a Blu-ray player hooked up to a 16:9 television, so I do not know if it will switch to a cropped version if viewed on a 4:3 television.

Disc 1 contains the entire Wrestlemania 28 event. It starts with the traditional singing of “America the Beautiful” and ends with the “Once in a Lifetime” dream match between John Cena and the Rock. There are also a few special features on the first disc as such as the Triple Threat WWE Tag Team Championship match that occurred before Wrestlemania 28 went live on pay-per-view.

Disc 2 contains the entire 2012 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony and it was a star-studded class. 2012 inductees included the Four Horseman, Mike Tyson, and Edge among other wrestling personalities. The second disc also contains bonus features such as segments from past episodes of Monday Night Raw and some of the buildup to the “End of an Era” Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and the Undertaker.

The packaging for Wrestlemania 28 is pretty solid. Since it was packaged in a standard Blu-ray case, the space was limited but I think WWE did a good job with working with what they had. The front of the case features the wrestlers involved in the biggest matches of the night, and the back features a list of matches and special features as well as a nice collage of pictures from the event. The inside of the packaging showcases a cool panoramic picture of the stadium that hosted Wrestlemania 28 with a list of the matches.

In conclusion, the Wrestlemania 28 two-disc Blu-ray edition is a great home video version of a phenomenal Wrestlemania. I can honestly say that this was one of the best Wrestlemanias I have ever seen. Chris Jericho and CM Punk put on a wrestling clinic, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and the Undertaker told an emotional and thrilling story filled with violence and brutality, and John Cena and the Rock closed out the show in tremendous fashion. This is a must-see Wrestlemania for every wrestling fan. I highly recommend you pick up this Wrestlemania on either Blu-ray or DVD. It was one of the best wrestling events produced by WWE during the “PG Era.”

Up next is the Wrestlemania 29 two-disc Blu-ray set review!