[2014-03-03-WWE-Raw] The Shield vs Wyatt Family

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Badlittlekitten]

I might have liked this even more than Elimination Chamber match. This was just mental. Rollins got his time to shine with his flippy stuff and the storyline advancement, he felt ready to take off. But more importantly (to me) this was Ambrose's match. The pulling of Rowan's beard, the taunting of Bray, the spitting, the Terry Funk stumbling and drunken Thesz pummelling. He was the eye of the chaos. The match peaked with the crazy big man bumps from Reign's and Rowan through the announce table. Not to mention the glorious Harper, the violent sick fuck, with his stomping and stiffness, topping things off with his tope. I'd like to know what Loss made of this match after his criticism of the beginning of the first one. This felt wild from the start.

[Timbo Slice]

More story driven than the first match, but with the finish they went with, everything Rollins did amplified the story even more. He was the guy from the start who wanted to put the Wyatts out, going crazy with his dives and really putting over how he didn't want to lose to these guys again. Everything about this was chaotic, really reminded me of the Shield's early 6-mans, with the Team Hell No/Ryback match from TLC standing out as the best comparison. Dean really amped up the crazy and everyone went nuts with their big spots. It's hard to separate the two matches, but this is right up there with it, and the PPV match is my runaway MOTY.

[ohtani's jacket]

This is only the second time for me to see the Shield, so I shouldn't be making this sort of a value judgement, but they have to be one of the most overrated things in wrestling in recent memory. I do not get them at all. I guess they're energetic and hit a lot of highspots, but their offence is crap. That Lou Thesz press spot Ambrose does with the punches is awful looking and every other move they do seems involve leaping or diving before hitting a move. It's as bad as modern day CMLL. And for a story match, this had a shitty layout with a really crappy FIP narrative. I wonder if in 10 years time people will be looking back and calling this era of WWE overrated the way they do with the Smackdown Six stuff.

[Dylan Waco]

Other than Virus, I can't think of any other modern wrestler or wrestling you have strong praise for. Maybe Tanahashi. Still I'd be more surprised if you liked The Shield.

[ohtani's jacket]

I'm sure I could come up with a top 25 for modern workers; I just don't get the Shield. Is Reigns as good as Rey Escorpion? It doesn't seem so yet people are saying Reigns is one of the best workers in the world.

 

I did enjoy the PPV match, though.

[Guest TheGreatPuma]

I must say I really do like how the Seth Rollins is now taking a more prominent position within the Shield. I'm also enjoying the tease of the breakup only for the Shield to come together as one again. I did enjoy what I saw . I was busy so I didn't get to see the whole match though.

[MikeCampbell]

My cable box decided to lock up and make me reboot it right as the match was starting, the only match I gave a flying crap about. I didn't like what I saw of this, as much as the PPV match though.

[dawho5]

I did like how they used the Wyatts to strengthen the bond between the bickering Shield members despite Bray going after Cena. The match was all kinds of chaotic great, but I liked the PPV match more. I did think the chaotic brawl fit the way the rivalry had developed to this point, expecially with the Shield pushing things in that direction from the start. They were down one and the Wyatts had proven they could play the Shield's game, so throw something different at them. I want a third match between these two teams with a focused Shield, but I know I won't get one.

[Superstar Sleeze]

The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE RAW 3/3/14

It was around the Harper double stomp to break up an Ambrose bridging FIgure-4 that I thought to myself if the WWE produced something better in 2014, I must have a really foggy memory. The sense of struggle and urgency in this match from all six combatants was unparalleled in the WWE this past year and was downright All Japan-ish in nature. Harper was the God King Prick of the match. With the chippy big boot to Reigns' face when he was on the apron, clawing Rollins' face and stepping all over Ambrose's face, Harper did everything he could to get under their skin and hurt his opponents. It was not about entertaining the fans, it was about inflicting pain and proving the Wyatts were the top faction in this turf war. His counterpart was the crazy, violent Dean Ambrose. It is amazing that in nine months, I find Ambrose to be this lame, moody, and sulky spaz. This Dean Ambrose in this match. He is the fucking man. The Ambrose Swarm is the greatest thing ever. He is just bowling people over with his boundless rage. Even the little shove he gave Bray had me and my brother marking out on initial watch because it is so atypical in the neat, orderly WWE matches. I want it rough around the edges, I want it RAW, goddamnit. Ambrose gave that performance. From the craziness that was Ambrose, there was the high flying excitement of Seth Rollins. I watched a lot of 2013 Shield matches at the beginning of 2014 and remembering being impressed by Rollins' ring awareness and movements in the tag settings. In this match as a babyface, he was finally set free and opened the match up with gangbusters, but unfortunately a skirmish between Ambrose and Bray caused him to lose his balance on the top rope. Ambrose losing his cool and Reigns being belted cost Rollins the ability to make a tag, but is finally able to tag Ambrose. Ambrose is just a burst of energy onto Rowan and does some quick, but effective leg work on Rowan to set up a figure-4, where he bridges on his head for more pressure!!! HARPER DOUBLE STOMPS AMBROSE!!! I LOVE THIS MATCH!

Let's talk Rowan, dude was a beast dismantling Ambrose and keeping him contained. Harper is the firebrand like an Ambrose he is going to get shit started and be a jerk. Rowan is there as a heavy hitter that is going to pummel you. Crowd chants for CM Punk, fuck them! If you want pro wrestling, watch what is going on in front of you, numbskulls. Ambrose hits a JBL-Orgasm-Inducing clothesline, but Harper hangs on to tag in Bray Wyatt. Ambrose with a DDT. Wyatt comes in and wipes Reigns out. Ambrose hits a DDT on Wyatt. Rollins is all pissy and leaves Ambrose hanging because of what happened earlier. Fine be a bitch, I am going to go destroy everything. Roman Reigns is an amazing ring clearing presence. The Superman Punch is just fucking cool. He just goes to town on the Wyatts. Ambrose holding Harper down for the Reigns dropkick was awesome. The Spear onto Rowan was badass and Harper wipes Reigns out with a suicide dive then sends Reigns flying. Somewhere in there, Ambrose was just swarming muthafuckas with punches. Wyatt picks his spot and hits his wicked cross body block on Ambrose and hits Sister Abigail as Rollins watches.

Finally, lets talk about Wyatt, who carefully waited in all the chaos with all the bodies piling up to attack Ambrose and swing the match in their favor. At Elimination Chamber, the Wyatts were able to out-Shield the Shield by taking out one at a time. Here, the Shield collapsed on itself and the Wyatts took advantage of the chaos to win the match. Rollins and Reigns were used perfectly to get the crowd hot as hell at the beginning and end. Ambrose anchored the middle and showed why he is an incredible face in peril. He can sell, but he is always fighting. It is always chippy. That's what made this match special was the constant struggle and urgency everyone displayed. This sounds shocking, but I thought this was a bit too short. I think they could have added more to the beginning and more to why Rollins was pissed to really drive home the point. Still if anything can top this I will shocked. Cena/Lesnar had the big match atmosphere and the Bryan Wrestlemania matches will have emotion, but I don't think they can top the chaotic and violent feel of this. ****1/4

[supersonic]

Another wild match with an even better crowd, but this wasn't the timeless spectacle of their original. The action was definitely great, but what mattered was that the Wyatts had so badly gotten to the Shield that Ambrose & Reigns weren't in their corner when Rollins went for the hot tag, having suffered another Ricky Morton style tag team beating. Minutes later, Rollins refused to tag in and walked out on the match, watching his teammates crumble, feeling all the bit conflicted. ***1/2

[xlynwoodx]

I felt like this was nowhere near as enjoyable as the first match.  The major reason being the crowd.  The crowd would make noise during the highspots but either stayed quiet or chanted for CM Punk throughout the match.  It really struck me at the end when Ambrose did his crazy Thesz press punch attack and the crowd barely reacted.

Also, they should have done more with Rollins walking out.  Ambrose and Reigns walked away from the corner for about ten seconds, Rollins couldn't tag out, and then got pulled away without even a reaction shot from Rollins.  He hit one move, then got to his corner and tagged out.  There was no shots of Rollins upset in the corner or arguing with Reigns to show his frustration.  Rollins started the match on fire until he accidentally got knocked off the turnbuckle to the floor by Ambrose.  No follow up there either.  Walking away from his teammates just came across like a huge overraction and could have been built up a better.

I did enjoy the match, Harper in particular was especially violent, but those two things really held it back for me.