2016 is winding down and although there are still some big events left for WWE this year, all focus us shifting towards 2017 which WWE hopes will be big. While the first part of 2017 will be focused on building towards WrestleMania 33, WWE would be wise to look at addressing 3 of their top stars and elevating them to the next level.
It wasn't that long ago, a few short years, since The Shield was one of WWE's hottest and most promising collection of talent. The faction dismantled and their members Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins have each gone on to develop individual personas and each have held major championships at one time or another.
But in the cases of Reigns and Ambrose, and to a lesser degree Rollins, WWE may want to spend 2017 fine-tuning their characters so that they can be elevated to an even higher level in WWE.
Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is easily the most controversial member of this list. Reigns has been shoved and forced down WWE fans throats with illogical pushes, angled to get him popular with fans, that have mostly fallen flat.
Reigns is a main event talent who is awkwardly positioned and booked to be a babyface. While he does have his fans, Reigns' fan reaction indicates that his current role is stale, forced and simply not working and WWE has failed to make any changes.
Reigns would be an overwhelming success in a heel role and although WWE has had plenty of opportunities to turn him heel in a logical manner, they have failed to do so.
Reigns has been given enough time to "get over" with the fans and his character has not resonated. There is simply nothing organic about Reigns' booking.
A Reigns heel turn would be refreshing for his character, which has fallen towards mid-card level, and would easily be a trending topic on social media which would show WWE Reigns' true potential.
Seth Rollins
Rollins has been booked brilliantly since disbanding the Shield and he is one of the best in-ring performers in the industry today. It can be argued that Rollins could end, when it's all said and done, with the most impressive career out of the 3 former Shield members as well as a future Hall of Famer.
What could benefit Rollins is an added wrinkle to his character, which is currently positioned as a babyface.
Rollins' biggest issue, from my perspective, is that RAW simply isn't a fit for him. Rollins would be better suited for SmackDown where he could have legendary feuds with the likes of Aj Styles, Dolph Ziggler and even re-visit his feud with Dean Ambrose.
While RAW offers him the opportunity to feud with Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Chris Jericho, Reigns and others, RAW's 3-hour program seems disjointed and would be better suited going back to it's 2-hour format. In it's current state, RAW seems like a deterrent for Rollins more than a benefit and a landmark trade sending Rollins from RAW to SmackDown would ignite social media discussion and give WWE some much-needed buzz.
Dean Ambrose
Earlier this week, I spoke about the issues with Ambrose's current booking, which I will avoid reiterating in this piece. Bottom line; Ambrose needs a change in a big way.
Perhaps that Rollins trade I mentioned could be a straight up swap for Dean Ambrose, which would send him to RAW. If that did go down it sets up some interesting scenarios in near-perfect fashion.
Ambrose heading to RAW would allow him to reunite with his close friend Roman Reigns and would give WWE a golden opportunity to have Reigns turn on Ambrose, turning Reigns heel. Amrbose's character doesn't need to be a clear cut babyface or heel, which gives his character unique flexibility.
Reigns turning on Ambrose could set Ambrose off, making him snap, and would lay the foundation towards a brutal feud between Reigns and Ambrose that could, if executed properly, pay off much like the Bret Hart/Steve Austin feud that cemented Austin as a superstar and established a heel element for Hart.
In a similar scenario Reigns could be cemented as a heel, legitimizing him as a WWE elite superstar, and add a new element to what has become a stale Ambrose character. This feud could play out over the course of the year and, if booked properly, could lead to a WrestleMania 34 showdown which could "make" both Reigns and Ambrose.
WWE has a lot of options in regards to Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins and they would be wise to look at making a big splash with each as we enter 2017.
