On Smackdown, The Shield continued their feud with Kane, Daniel Bryan, and Randy Orton. Kane is getting a shot at Ambrose's U.S. Championship and Daniel Bryan and Orton are going for the tag titles. How do they further the feud on Smackdown? 6-man tag. That is what you would come to expect from feuds with The Shield. And what happens? The faces defeat The Shield and hand them their first loss as a 3-man team. The Shield is no longer undefeated.
I don't like it. It's no surprise that the heels lost to this kind of team. Orton, Bryan, and Kane are all top guys who have been World Champion before. This is the kind of team I was expecting to eventually beat The Shield. And I am a fan of both Orton and Kane. Daniel Bryan is definitely over and deserves a big win. I'm not even really a fan of The Shield. So what is my problem? I don't think it was developed properly. You waste it on a Smackdown? I was saying months ago that Wrestlemania would have been a great time to have a top face team beat The Shield. It didn't happen. That's fine. Developing The Shield's credibility and momentum could eventually lead to that big moment when they do lose. Not only was it wasted on a Smackdown, but the story here really wasn't about overcoming The Shield. The real storyline involving all these guys recently was Daniel Bryan being the weak link and having issues with Kane and Randy Orton. A lot of people were speculating who would turn heel out of the three. Even if they did not want to turn anyone heel, there were still ways to end this storyline by making Daniel Bryan not look like the weak link and keep The Shield undefeated as a unit. Having Daniel Bryan win on Raw was a start.
All The Shield really had for a long time was that momentum from being undefeated. Aside from their fancy entrance and wrestling gear, their gimmick was dead. There was no real character development. In terms of storyline development, they have really just been used as supporting players in the storylines of others. I just talked about how they were being used in the storyline between Kane, Daniel Bryan, and Randy Orton. Before that, they were involved in Cena's feud against Ryback. Before that, while they were feuding with Sheamus, Big Show, and Randy Orton heading into Wrestlemania, the real story seemed to be whether Sheamus and Orton could trust Big Show. They had that feud against Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback, which lacked any kind of unique storyline. And if you just look at how they started out and spent their first few months, they were being used to help CM Punk retain his title. Throughout all these months, their undefeated streak as a team was all the story they had for themselves. I'm not saying that they should never have lost ever. I am saying their loss should have come off a feud that was more about beating them and not as a paragraph in the larger story involving three other people and their issues with each other.
Where does that leave The Shield for Payback? Prior to recent developments, what I was prepared to say was that I could imagine one title change occurring and The Shield retaining the other title. If Kane won the U.S. title and Daniel Bryan failed to win the tag titles, that could further the storyline that Daniel Bryan was the weak link. If Daniel Bryan won the tag titles and Kane did not win the U.S. title, that could lead to Daniel Bryan saying Kane was the weak link. Since The Shield would still be undefeated as a 3-man team, there would be no need complaining about a short title reign for the member(s) who lost their gold. That streak as a team was where their real value lied.
What do I have to say now? Given how they booked Daniel Bryan this week, there is no need to continue the storyline about an inferiority complex. Combine that with the fact that the undefeated run is officially over for The Shield, that really changes a lot. I really can't give a good prediction for this one. I will admit it. The Shield's credibility has taken a huge hit. It would be nice to keep the tag titles on them to give some teams further down the card time to feud against them, like The Usos. I think it would be less likely to see Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton feuding with those lower-midcard teams. As for Kane vs. Ambrose, Kane doesn't really need the U.S. title that badly. I know he has never held that title, so it would look good on his title resume, but it is not necessary. Let Ambrose hold it. Let all the members retain their titles for now. Unless they are in trouble for something, there is no need to take away their win streak and all their titles in such a short time. Without all that, I can picture The Shield getting buried down the card very easily. It was going to happen eventually, but I just think it is not the right time.
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