The Shield: What is their purpose?

The Shield has made waves in the WWE ever since they debuted back in November at Survivor Series. The talented trio have taken the entire organization by storm, destroying anything and everything in their path in name of ‘justice’. Nicknamed the ‘Hounds of Justice’ by the commentators, they have behaved exactly like hounds, and are unlike any other group that the WWE has ever seen.

Now embroiled in a feud against Team Hell No and the Undertaker to an extent, the Shield finally have a semblance of a real rivalry. Their ‘rivalry’ against Ryback doesn’t count, as all they ever did was beat down on Mr. FEED ME MORE. The rivalry against the legendary Undertaker makes sense to an extent, as they seek to establish a name for themselves, and a clean victory over the Phenom is the biggest thing any young superstar could ever hope for.

However, it doesn’t fail to hide the fact that the Shield have no true purpose as yet. The ‘justice’ thing made sense while attacking the likes of Ryback and Sheamus, but it makes absolutely no sense against the Undertaker and Team Hell No. Beating Hell No for the Tag Team titles seems inevitable in a very good way, and would be an excellent stepping stone. We could see the return of the old Freebird Rule when it comes to defending the titles.

Pinning the Undertaker in team action after a triple power bomb is the logical way forward, but the Shield quickly needs a purpose. The window for unveiling CM Punk, Randy Orton or Brock Lesnar as their true leader has passed, but Paul Heyman is still connected to the dangerous trio. Their momentum can be sustained only for some more time with the ‘pack of dogs mentality’ that they currently possess.

The fans would eventually lose interest in them. Same thing happened between John Cena and the adult male demograph, because he simply never stopped doing the same damn thing year after year. Unlike Cena, the Shield doesn’t possess legions of dedicated fans as yet to save their behinds. I’m not saying that the trio are going to start receiving X-Pac heat, but the crowd reactions to them might definitely wane over time, even if they are still undefeated.

The WWE have booked the Shield well to this point of time, and one would expect them to continue booking them well. Perhaps they could continue with the ‘injustice’ angle and attack Fandango, who has become an overnight sensation. Or perhaps they could attack Fandango’s current rival Chris Jericho, saying that the part-timers are stealing their limelight.

It is no doubt that the Shield are on the course to become top superstars in the wrestling organization, and who knows, they could become some of the greatest stars the company has ever seen; as individuals and as a team. They haven’t cut enough promos to truly show how capable they are on the mic, and Dean Ambrose in particular needs to be given the mic more often to display his madman persona.

If the Shield have no greater purpose, the ‘injustices’ must continue to prevail for it to actually make sense when the Shield attacks somebody. Their WrestleMania match was a little gem, but the storyline was rather weak, and just based on the Shield attacking the two men and Big Show accidentally punching one of them.

I have faith in the much criticized WWE creative team to continue building up the Shield properly, but they need to get more interesting really fast.

BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD!