FanPost

Why I will always be a fan of The Shield

Let me just start off by saying that I have been a wrestling fan since I was five years old. I am thirty now so this has been roughly since 1989.

Over the years, I have had my favorites. Macho Man Randy Savage and Roddy Piper are still my all time favorites but, as time passes, I have become obsessed (and yes, that word is appropriate in my mind) with several other professional wrestlers.

In the mid 90s, it was Diesel.

Not many people look back on 1995 WWF with fond memories. I do. I had grown tired of the old guard in the WWF in most regards (not Macho Man, mind you) so I was looking for a new guy that I could get behind. In walks Big Daddy Cool Diesel and I fell in love at first sight.

Mind you, I am prepubescent at this age and am just starting to find the opposite sex attractive. So, yes, his looks helped out a great deal. But, it's not as though I did not think my previous faves were attractive as well. It's just that something about Diesel made me lose all sense when he graced my screen. There had been a lot of big guys wrestling that I liked but none of them made me run from whatever I was doing to the television screen as soon as their music hit. Diesel did. He was big and intimidating . . . and dreamy. Like, if I was with him, I did not have to be afraid of anything. He was the man. And I was in love.

Eventually, I moved on to loving other wrestlers for very different reasons than Kevin Nash, but the fact still remained that he was my number one. So much so that when he moved to WCW, that was the first time I even gave the product a chance. Before that, I just saw WCW as a knockoff WWF (a fact I'm sure Vince McMahon would love to hear).

Hall and Nash went to WCW and formed the NWO and I became a loyal NWO-ite, except for the fact that I have never liked Hogan that much and he ruined the stable for me. But, hey, I had my Diesel, now Kevin Nash, so I was happy. And it did not matter to me what he was doing. Just put him on my screen. I'm satisfied.

As I am typing this, I realize that this comes off as a bit shallow, so maybe I should also point out that I am not all about looks when it comes to my pro wrestlers but it definitely helps. I am also a Bret "The Hitman" Hart mark and I thought he was the cutest (not manly sexy like Diesel) wrestler in the company as a preteen. And Shawn Michaels in '96 made me realize that I can have very dirty thoughts about the men I watch in the ring.

However, two of my all time favorites to watch work are Mick Foley and Chris Benoit. Now, I'm not criticizing the looks of either but they definitely never made me think those type of dirty thoughts.

Now to The Shield.

I had to sigh just thinking about them. Honestly, people, I could probably stare at all three of them doing nothing for the better part of my day and be completely satisfied.

When The Shield made their debut, I was in a weird space with the WWE where I would not watch every week but I would check in from time to time when the story was centered around the "big" pay-per-views (PPVs). CM Punk was champion, which I loved because he is another one of the guys I was always behind. But the story of the 2012 Survivor Series centered around these three new guys that had attacked Ryback and put him through a table.

Then I saw The Shield's interview with Michael Cole. My first impression was "Gee, all these guys look great, if they can work, they're made men." But I did not start watching regularly at that time because The Rock was set to make his return shortly and challenge CM Punk. Having watched wrestling long enough, I did not want to see The Rock take the belt from CM Punk in predictable form so I skipped Royal Rumble. But I am a loyal WrestleMania purchaser since the early 2000s, so I decided to start paying attention again so I would not be completely lost watching the event.

The first time I got to experience The Shield, honestly, I did not like them. They were just some nobodies jumping on established talent in my eyes. Who were these clowns and why should I care about them?

WrestleMania 29 completely changed my mind. The trio had the first match of the night and, in my humble opinion, the second best match behind Punk/'Taker, which STOLE THE SHOW AND MADE ME NOT GIVE TWO CRAPS ABOUT A MATCH I JUST SAW LAST YEAR.

Anyway, I fell in love at first match with them. In that one match, I figured out each of the guys roles and I didn't really even know their names.

I was like "So the guy with the blond patch is the risk taker who bumps the most" and "The guy with the short hair is the wild card whose a bit off his rocker" and "The big guy is the muscle who comes in and closes the match." It was like someone had taken everything I loved about the wrestlers from my past and put it all into one group.

After that, whenever I heard, "Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta . . ." I was eleven years old again, running to the tv before the three would even enter through the crowd.

I hear a lot of Attitude Era babies like myself comment that CM Punk and his pipebomb brought them back to wrestling full time.

It didn't for me. I felt like CM Punk is just one guy and one guy cannot change the WWE. For me, the Shield brought me back to wrestling full time.

Some people have their favorite of the three. I honestly cannot choose. They are three different types of pro wrestler: a technical high flyer, a brawling powerhouse, and, well, I really haven't figured out exactly what type of wrestler Dean Ambrose is because I think he's a unicorn. Nobody else performs like him to me. Scratch that, nobody else performs like any of those guys to me.

Seth Rollins is pretty much Mr. All Around. I've never seen someone his size pull off as many convincing power moves as he has. Roman Reigns is the "big man" but he's not slow and clunky in the ring like most big guys.

I did not want The Shield to break up.

Hell, I still refer to them as The Shield when casual fans or even nonfans ask me who my favorite wrestler is. I do not say Seth Rollins or Dean Ambrose or Roman Reigns. I say The Shield. When someone asks me who they are, I am happy explain that they are "the best damn thing to happen to the WWE in a very long time". I know they are broken up and that going solo is healthy for their overall careers. But I was not ready for it to end.

Since the split DID happen, I think the WWE fucked it up royally and I do not see them giving me what I want, which is Dean and Roman harassing Seth for months and months until he finally gives a real explanation as to why he would leave what was working to join up with Triple H and be an assclown every week.

I have been on the Internet since 1997 talking about professional wrestling. I have never been as personally invested in seeing any wrestler succeed in the business as I have these three.

I feel like I see the business a lot differently than a lot of fans on the web. I know I am not going to like everything. I have never liked everything. But, if you can make me a fan of yours in one match after all my years as a fan, I am behind you.

I have no idea what the future holds for Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, or Roman Reigns. But, if the WWE wants to continue to receive my 9.99 monthly, they should make all three look really, really strong- just liked they bugged CM Punk to do.

That is all.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.