The Shield officially reunited last week on Raw. But will the three WWE superstars be a cohesive unit for very long?
One of my favorite pastimes as a WWE fan is to try and guess what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t go out of my way to spoil myself. But trying to get into the heads of the creative department is a good way to kill some time.
This week, Raw heads towards its next exclusive pay per view, TLC. With only four matches announced for the show on Sunday, obviously Team Red will work towards filling the card. And SmackDown Live has a big Hell in a Cell rematch set for this week. But the Blue Team has a lack of challengers for its championships. Something has to happen, right?
Here’s this week’s bold predictions for WWE programming.
The Shield Can’t Really Coexist
Look, everyone was pretty happy when Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose finally, officially got back together last week. Seeing the trio do what made them among WWE’s top superstars once again was a breath of fresh air. And did you hear those cheers for Reigns? Good looks all around.
But let’s be real: despite what WWE would have us believe about this reunion, it’s likely going to be short-lived. While some, like good brother TH over at The Wrestling Blog, think The Shield should be somewhat like The Avengers – unite when needed, but go their separate ways as friends in the interim – it’s probably not going to happen.
So to get us to the end of the road this time, it’s likely that dissension will rear its ugly head, probably as early as this week. With The Hounds of Justice scheduled for a 4-on-3 TLC match on Sunday, one or more of their opponents could provide some sort of impetus to a (second) breakup.
My money would be on The Miz, since he’s the brains of the opposition. But with Reigns taking on Braun Strowman in a steel cage match this week, the catalyst could come from that clash. Even the match at TLC itself could ultimately lead to a disintegration of The Shield.
Emma Builds Useless Momentum, Loses Anyway
Emma used her brains to survive a fatal five way elimination match last week on Raw. This earned her the right to face Asuka at TLC, as the undefeated NXT superstar makes the jump to the main roster. The Empress of Tomorrow is a heavy favorite, even though she’s been out of action with injury since the late summer.
Heading into this match, a big shock would be if Asuka showed up on Raw to hype her match. However, I feel like that would be a waste of the special nature of a pay per view debut. So the final build to the big match will be up to Emma alone.
To really set up the importance of the contest at TLC, Emma will have to do something impactful to make herself seem like a really worthy challenger. And bailing on Alicia Fox or running away for most of a fatal five way isn’t going to do it. No, Emma is going to have to win a huge match on Raw.
The only possible opponent that would make Asuka seem beatable would be Nia Jax. If Emma is able to take down Jax, it would go a long way to make her seem like she stands a chance at TLC. (Spoiler: She doesn’t stand a chance at TLC.)
Ziggler Gets His Win Back, No One Cares
At Hell in a Cell, Bobby Roode won his first pay per view match since his SmackDown Live debut. He defeated Dolph Ziggler after a series of rollups and reversals, where each superstar grabbed hold of the other’s tights for additional leverage.
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Because of the “cheating” perpetrated against him, Ziggler attacked Roode after the bell with a Zig Zag. On SmackDown, The Glorious One called Ziggler out for the cowardly actions. Roode wanted another fight, but Ziggler refused to accommodate right then and there. Instead, the rematch will happen this week.
If you’ve watched WWE for any length of time, you’ll know that in a situation like this, the first rematch never ends anything. Especially in today’s climate, these feuds last two to three pay per view cycles. If Roode and Ziggler are having their rematch after a mere week, well, whatever happens is going to prolong the story.
The only outcome here that would accomplish that? A Ziggler victory to even the score. If I was a betting man (and thanks to an ill-advised Super Bowl bet a decade and a half ago, I’m not), I’d say not only does Ziggler win, but he wins in the same manner Roode did at HIAC. It’ll be less than 100% clean, but whether it’s a handful of tights, or feet on the ropes, or something else, I don’t know.
Either way, it’s going to be poorly received by the WWE Universe. People are thrilled to see Roode these days, but Ziggler is old hat.
Who’s Next In Line For SmackDown’s Championships?
Heading into this week, none of SmackDown’s singles champions have an official challenger. First, Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair at Hell in a Cell, and no new number one contender has been named (although Carmella has her Money in the Bank contract).
Baron Corbin won the United States Championship at HIAC, and has already successfully defended it against former champ AJ Styles. This would seemingly take Styles out of the picture. And Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura again at HIAC, leaving him without a new challenger as well.
So where does this leave the championship pictures? With plenty of time before Survivor Series to sort things out, SmackDown Live can afford to take things slow if necessary. Figure on Charlotte again getting a shot at Natalya somehow – perhaps defeating her BFF Becky Lynch. Becky did defeat Carmella last week, after all – it’s the most logical way to set a number one contender.
As for the US Title, Tye Dillinger should still be in the mix. He was part of the triple threat match at HIAC won by Corbin. Even though he was the one to get pinned, Dillinger should get a one on one chance to face The Lone Wolf. Superstars like Rusev and Nakamura could also fall into the title picture.
The WWE Championship is a bit trickier. After all, rumors of Jinder Mahal’s opponent at Survivor Series have broken, and, well, they’re not pleasant ones. But with Styles seemingly done with the US Title, he could easily slide into the world title picture.
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There’s always free agent John Cena, poised to break Ric Flair’s record of world title victories. Randy Orton is always lurking somewhere. And don’t forget the reunited best friends Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.