PWTorch.com - CALDWELL'S DVD REVIEW: "Destruction of The Shield" - Historically Significant glimpse into WWE's next decade

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CALDWELL'S DVD REVIEW: "Destruction of The Shield" - Historically Significant glimpse into WWE's next decade

Feb 17, 2015 - 2:23:38 PM

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WWE DVD Review
"Destruction of The Shield"
Released February 17, 2015
Review by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE's three-disc release on The Shield faction is historically significant. Not necessarily because the DVD covers any new ground that was not already covered in WWE Network's "Journey to Summerslam" special, but because the three individuals - Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose - will be big players over the next decade in WWE.

The DVD serves as ground floor of all three individuals's back-stories and introductions to WWE television. Ten years from now when all three are jockeying for position to main-event WrestleMania 41, this DVD will be an important flashback to how it all started.

This is especially true because of WWE's emphasis on the NXT brand/Developmental system/Performance Center/Triple H's project, which began to rise at the same time that Ambrose completed the Final FCW Feud with William Regal and Seth Rollins became the First NXT Champion. Meanwhile, Reigns was a greener-than-grass wrestler who WWE identified as the Face of the Performance Center Machine - taking raw talent without the "bad habits" from the independents and trying to manufacture a WrestleMania Main-Eventer.

The Disc 1 documentary is essentially the Network special that aired in August. Six months later, it's interesting to look back at the documentary to see how Reigns was positioned as WWE's future top star trying to accentuate his strengths and minimize his weaknesses, how Rollins's drive put him in a position to more than hold his own with Brock Lesnar and John Cena at the Royal Rumble, and how Ambrose was, well, Dean Ambrose.

Ambrose's cool factor shines throughout the DVD. He's a utility main-eventer who can slide in for the occasional Hell in a Cell PPV main event (and lose), feud with Bray Wyatt (and lose) to set up Bray against The Undertaker, and antagonize even the saltiest villain like William Regal (and not get his win). He's just Dean Ambrose, resident cool, crazy, independent, lone wolf who can work with just about anyone on the roster (and lose). But, not be a guy positioned for a 2-3 year sustained run on top.

Those roles go to Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, who could be the next heel C.M. Punk to hold the WWE Title for 434 days, following up on how long Rollins has held the MITB briefcase.

But, the most interesting content on Discs 2 and 3 of the DVD go to Ambrose, whose feud with Regal in FCW and pre-Shield "run-in" with Mick Foley are highlighted. Plus, Ambrose just has a way of talking that (a) got him signed by WWE and (b) makes you want to hear more.

The strongest points of Disc 2 and 3 are the talking head interviews leading into each match/promo clip from the FCW/NXT and Shield eras. It's still interesting to watch the actual matches/promos with the benefit of hindsight and seeing the foundation WWE was laying back then, but Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns (in that order) add a lot of interesting insight to what was going on at the time.

In that respect, this DVD is important to look back a decade from now and compare to where all three men are positioned and have changed. Will Roman Reigns be more than a kick/punch guy in the ring? How many title runs will Rollins have had? Will Ambrose ever actually win a feud? Or, does it matter for Teflon Dean?

The Disc 1 documentary will be underwhelming if you already watched the Network special in August - with the main benefit being Time to see where things are now compared to where the doc left off at Summerslam - but the complete package of matches, promos, and talking heads on Discs 2 and 3 make this an important DVD release, especially through the lens of how WWE wants you to view all three wrestlers and the NXT system going forward for the next ten years.

[ FYI: The DVD can be found on Amazon HERE and the Bluray version HERE ]