Despite your feelings on various portions of the WWE main roster, the company does get some things right. SummerSlam is less than two weeks away, and with expected profit numbers below anticipated levels and interest level down across the board, this is not a small event for Vince McMahon. We’ve almost reached football season, not to mention the fall premieres, so the television competition is inching ever nearer to the front lines.
The Monday Night War may be no more, but there’s always a battle for eyeballs and attention.
WWE has done a piss poor job with the likes of Bayley, whose character and development has been handled to a degree so awful it’s almost beyond classification. The tag division is cucumber skin off a new vegetable peeler thin, though the company has still found its way into an excellent pairing with Cesaro and Sheamus, as well as the Uso heel turn that has been the best creative decision this side of giving Samoa Joe the WWE Universal Championship shot at Great Balls of Fire.
While we lament misuses and miscalculations, WWE has knocked it out of the park with the slow build to the true reconciliation between two of its biggest stars, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. As a result of the chair shot that shall not be named, WWE’s newest Targaryen became persona non grata with its only Lunatic Fringe. The two men engaged in one of 2014’s hottest rivalries, culminating in October of that year inside the steel at Hell in a Cell. Unfortunately, that bout would end with a dumb-ass hologram, but that’s what you get with Bray Wyatt in this company.
So often in pro wrestling, because the business has shifted to so many important shows, the growth of various angles is stunted or rushed. Due to that truth, writers often can’t handle lengthy programs that aren’t buttressed or broken up with Pay Per View matches. How often have we discussed the idea of less Pay Per Views, only to watch the creative team struggle to fill the time without rehashing the same match or escalating a particular pairing to a comical degree?
That’s why this slow burn to a Shield reunion has been so successful and so well-executed. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are two guys the vast majority of the fan base wants to see on the same team again. The Shield, as a faction, was the single most important discovery of the decade, and each member has been a World Champion since the group’s disillusion. The concept of placing these three men back together is one that WWE simply cannot afford to botch, and so far, they haven’t.
It’s been laid out perfectly, leading into last night’s RAW, which gave us Seth hung out to dry and Dean saved by his old pal a little over an hour. Ambrose has been reticent to trust Rollins, which, unlike so much of what we see on WWE television, makes complete sense. Even though it’s been painful at times, because we both want to see these two reunite in spirit and body, it’s been a masterpiece of pacing.
Just like we don’t really want to see our favorite character get the girl until the last possible second, we think we want to see it immediately. Once Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly got married, much of the enjoyment level from those two quickly dissipated on The Office. It was the chase that we liked, it was Jim’s desire that had our emotions on our sleeve, and it was the repeated “almost, but not quite,” that made it work. Plus, the false finishes before the romantic component of the relationship began made everything that followed so much more rewarding.
Thus, as the Toronto crowd booed once it was clear the fist bump wasn’t coming last night, WWE gave the fans what they didn’t even know they want. These people were treated to another flawless tease amidst the long con of professional wrestling. That beloved Shield hand gesture is on the way, but it’s coming up in two weeks in Brooklyn, not on television. If this were to be given away on the go-home show, I officially give up on this promotion ever saving anything of importance again.
Here’s how Vince should handle the payoff to the angle at SummerSlam.
Next week, Kurt Angle will announce Cesaro and Sheamus defending the WWE Tag Team Championships against the still friction-filled team of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Or that’s the assumption. Begrudgingly, the two accept the chance to hold gold, even with their fractured friendship. Flash forward to SummerSlam, where you switch the titles. There’s no reason to pay this angle off in September. There’s also no reason to turn Dean on Seth. This is one moment where you simply give the fans what they want at the big show.
At SummerSlam, Ambrose and Rollins become WWE Tag Team Champions in a tremendous match, and after, Cesaro and Sheamus powder to the back quickly and hand Seth and Dean the stage. Finally, one puts out the fist, and the other accepts and responds in kind. Then, the fist becomes a serious embrace, which is when the crowd goes from hot to red hot to nuclear. After the embrace, the two raise arms together and walk out as a team.
Later in the night, we cut backstage to Rollins and Ambrose walking the Barclays Center hallways. Who should they run into while conversing but...Roman Reigns. He’s got a main event match coming up, but as he walks up to them, his mood goes from all business to a sheepish, almost subtle smile. Then his eyes widen a bit, and after a few quick words, he puts out the fist. The crowd goes nuts again, even watching this on a screen, and Dean and Seth both put out their fists to join Roman’s.
It’s a tease of what’s to come, as we know the trio isn’t together immediately. But, WWE sets the scene for...
SURVIVOR SERIES.
That’s when you reunite The Shield in the ring, and that becomes the big draw for that show. Yes, it’s a WrestleMania-level angle, but we know WWE will want Roman Reigns in the main event, or at the very least in a high profile singles match. With that as the probable reality, the best option for all involved is to make the fourth of the big four a monumental moment in time. Make sure the opposition is strong and comprised of three guys the audience would want to see mix it up with the 2017 Shield, write it with a brain, and print money in NOVEMBER for a change.
The slow play has worked like gangbusters in the run-up to Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose coming together again for the long-ish haul. There’s no reason to rush the third cog into this gear, not when none of these three men is in danger of going anywhere. Whatever happens in the four way, Roman Reigns can continue to be tertiary to his old pals without being directly associated or affiliated with them.
Keep this car rolling at 25, and don’t break the speed limit with this thing. There’s real potential in a tag team run for Seth and Dean, and adding Roman for a blockbuster six-man bout at Survivor Series in Houston. Or, if it’s part of a five on five traditional Survivor Series match, it comes DOWN to The Shield as a unit. All WWE needs to do is save the Cesaro/Sheamus rematch for September, maybe a blow off match in October, and they’ve bought all the time necessary to execute this idea properly.
This Dean/Seth emotional tug of war has been such good television, and it appears to have reinvigorated Ambrose in particular in the ring. Both guys were superb last night, and the chemistry between the two has made for excellent content. Here’s hoping it continues.
We’ll hear the ICAO phonetic alphabet again down the line, but there’s no reason to do it yet. Let it marinate, make sure the green shifts to yellow on that banana, and then eat the shit out of it in three months.
Sierra. Hotel. India. Echo. Lima... Delay, but not for much longer.
It’s coming.