Is The Shield reunion foreshadowing the WWE WrestleMania 35 main event?

The reunion of The Shield this past episode of Monday Night RAW has caused quite a stir in sports entertainment circles. Was this a heel turn for the Hounds of Justice? Did Vince McMahon see this as another misguided opportunity to get Roman Reigns cheered? Perhaps the answers to these questions will be clearer next week, but until then we can speculate that this may all be part of an ingenious long game on the part of the creative team.

The short-lived reunion of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in 2017 didn’t live up to expectations for various reasons.

Poorly timed illnesses and injuries led to Kurt Angle and Triple H donning the iconic flak jacket as temporary members of the group.

The band was back together but they barely had the opportunity to play. The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was the long term injury that put Ambrose on the shelf until recently.

Now, the 2018 version of the trio’s reunification feels like a more permanent storyline in the WWE ecosystem. There also appears to be a strong possibility that this is all leading to a booking outcome that fans have anticipated for quite some time.

Over seven months remain between now and WrestleMania 35 in New York, but this storyline may have set the wheels in motion for a blockbuster main event at the big dance.

On one previous occasion the WWE Universe has been treated to a triple threat match between the Shield brothers. This took place at the Battleground pay-per-view in 2016 and resulted in Dean Ambrose retaining the WWE Championship.

The match was a huge disappointment for several reasons, but the major issues were that it took place on a B-grade pay-per-view and the distinct lack of build for a match of that magnitude. The writers in WWE can now right this wrong by building towards a second Shield triple threat at ‘Mania 35.

This second reunion comes at a time when The Shield are in possession of the two major titles on the RAW brand, the Universal Championship and the Intercontinental Championship. Some future fantasy booking could foresee another Tag Team Championship run for Rollins and Ambrose, gaining the faction full control of all the major men’s championships on the red brand.

The range of creative options are vast from booking the stable as a villainous, power-hungry group bent on controlling the company or to booking the group as valiant anti-heroes. However they are aligned, the eventual pay-off has to be a splintering of the group leading to a feud over the Universal Championship at WrestleMania.

Roman Reigns has headlined the last four WrestleMania’s, all against part-time superstars. Recent reports suggested that WWE were considering continuing this trend by pitting Reigns against The Rock at ‘Mania 35. But the company now have a golden opportunity to create an iconic WrestleMania main event featuring their three most recognisable full-time wrestlers.

This is also a chance to finally coronate Seth Rollins as the top babyface in the WWE by having him end WrestleMania holding aloft the Universal title. Whatever happens, the next seven months promises to be very interesting on the RAW brand.