Shield

Shield’s Final Chapter

21st April 2019 by Thomas Hall

Shield’s Final Chapter
Date: April 21, 2019
Location: Taxslayer Center, Moline, Illinois
Commentators: Renee Young, Corey Graves, Michael Cole

Welcome to your weekly “WWE must have fresh content” show as we get a special look in at a house show where the Shield is teaming together for THE LAST TIME EVER WE PROMISE AND WE’RE NOT CHANGING IT AGAIN FOR REAL THIS TIME. This would be at least the third farewell moment for the team, but this time it’s televised. Oh and we get an Intercontinental Title match for a bonus. Let’s get to it.

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Monday Night Raw – March 11, 2019

11th March 2019 by Thomas Hall

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 11, 2019
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re finally (and I do mean FINALLY) clear to head towards Wrestlemania after getting Fastlane out of the way. Fastlane was a fun show but nothing exactly thrilling or necessary to see. Tonight should see the real start of the build towards the show, which can’t come fast enough. Let’s get to it.

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Fastlane 2019

10th March 2019 by Thomas Hall

Fastlane 2019
Date: March 10, 2019
Location: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Renee Young, Corey Graves

I’m not sure what to think of with this show as there’s only so much that can be done with a show that clearly serves as nothing more than a last stop on the way to Wrestlemania. There are some matches tonight that could go somewhere but a lot of what we’ll be seeing is going to be a stepping stone towards next month. Let’s get to it.

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Monday Night Raw – October 15, 2018

15th October 2018 by Thomas Hall

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 15, 2018
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re two and a half weeks away from Crown Jewel from…..wherever WWE wants to announce it from being at the moment. Tonight we have more World Cup qualifying matches, which seems to be the main force of the entire show. Other than that, expect the tall old guys to talk about the smaller old guys. Let’s get to it.

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Monday Night Raw – October 8, 2018

8th October 2018 by Thomas Hall

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 8, 2018
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re done with Super Show-Down and that means we have less than a month to go before Crown Jewel. The big story coming out of Saturday seems to be an impending tag match between four people with more than two hundred years of age between them. Other than that, it’s time for Roman Reigns to remember that he’s Universal Champion. Let’s get to it.

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Super Show-Down

6th October 2018 by Thomas Hall

Super Show-Down
Date: October 6, 2018
Location: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves

We’re at the latest big international show here and that means…well it’s hard to say actually. There’s a lot going on at the moment in WWE but they have a tendency to turn these shows into a glorified house show with almost nothing happening. Hopefully WWE has figured that out and knows that we need to actually get something important on the show. Let’s get to it.

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Monday Night Raw – October 1, 2018

2nd October 2018 by Thomas Hall

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 1, 2018
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole, Renee Young

It’s another night about the old guys as we have the go home show for Super Show-Down. Tonight, Shawn Michaels is scheduled to appear to make the final push towards Undertaker vs. Triple H on Saturday and you know full well he’s not going to be the only one here. Other than that we also have the issues between Dean Ambrose and the rest of the Shield, which could go several ways. Let’s get to it.

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Monday Night Raw – September 24, 2018

25th September 2018 by Thomas Hall

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 24, 2018
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

Somehow Super Show-Down is next week and that means we need to firm up the card a little bit. They’ve done a great job of setting up HHH vs. Undertaker for the Australia show, but there are still a lot of other things that need to be put together. Tonight’s show could go in a variety of directions so let’s get to it.

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Monday Night Raw – September 10, 2018

11th September 2018 by Thomas Hall

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 10, 2018
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Renee Young, Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Hell in a Cell, though I’m not sure how much attention that is going to get since we’re about a month away from Super Show-Down and a month and a half away from Evolution. WWE doesn’t seem to mind about going that far into the future so Sunday might not get the most attention. Let’s get to it.

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Monday Night Raw – September 3, 2018

3rd September 2018 by Thomas Hall

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 3, 2018
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

As the months change, so do things around here on Raw. Last week saw Braun Strowman turn heel and join forces with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre for the sake of fighting the Shield. Now that being said, the fans aren’t likely to boo them anyway, because that’s just how things work with Roman Reigns. Let’s get to it.

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Smackdown – November 14, 2017

14th November 2017 by Thomas Hall

Smackdown
Date: November 14, 2017
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re finally ready to wrap up the Survivor Series build but first there are two more title matches to get to, both of which could change how things look heading into Sunday. Tonight United States Champion Baron Corbin will defend against Sin Cara and Women’s Champion Natalya will defend against Charlotte. Let’s get to it.

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New E-Book: KB’s Complete 2014 Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I

15th September 2016 by Thomas Hall

raw-2014-part-i
 

A comprehensive look back at every episode of WWE Monday Night Raw and Smackdown from the first half of 2014, starting at the beginning of January and wrapping up at the end of April. This is a very interesting time in WWE history as we witnessed the rise of Daniel Bryan and the Shield as the new generation was taking the company by storm. The first part of the year culminated in the huge Wrestlemania XXX and was followed by a game changing fallout. In this book, every episode of both shows in the first half of 2014 is reviewed in full, complete with analysis, ratings and complete content included.

The book sells for $3.99 or the equivalent in other currencies. In case you don’t have a Kindle, there are plenty of FREE apps you can get from Amazon for pretty much any electronic device, all of which are available at this link.

You can pick up the book from Amazon here.

From the UK Amazon here.

From the Canadian Amazon here.

Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search “KB Raw 2014” and it should be the first thing to come up.

I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.

Thomas Hall

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Why is Reigns still in the Shield?

23rd February 2015 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott,


Was just thinking, is the fact that Reigns basically the same guy he was in the Shield hurting him?

In the past, if a tag team broke up and Wrestler A was getting a push, that guy would get a total make over (Re: Rick Martel, HBK, JBL, Scott Steiner) Meanwhile, the other guy, if nothing was really in the works for him, would basically do the same old pre-break up stuff (Marty, Tito, Rick Steiner),

With the Shield, it's entirely reversed. Rollins and Ambrose got new and distinct personalities, outfits and music while Reigns (Intense love of Looney Tunes aside) is basically the same guy was before.

Shouldn't they be doing everything possible to help him stand out?
That is the LEAST of his problems, but yes, absolutely.  If anything Ambrose should have kept the Shield music and look because it fits his character and personality.  
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QOTD #31: The Shield

21st July 2014 by Scott Keith
Today’s Question:
In 5 years from now, which
Shield member will be the biggest star, and why?
We’ll look into this tomorrow. In the meantime, jump right
into the discussion by scrolling to the end of this article, or clicking the
Comments. Otherwise, stick around for yesterday’s discussion.

We were reliving the moments that hooked you on as a
wrestling lifer. Lots of old school answers here, which are no surprises. Let’s
dive in.
Extant1979: What got me hooked? Hulkamania all the way,
baby. He was a comic book character come to life, and he was fighting other
larger-than-life figures and beating them. Whatcha gonna do, brother? I’m gonna
watch Hulk Hogan win another match.
RosAlGhulScoe: For me, it was Savage chasing HTM for the IC
title and Jimmy Hart and the Hart Foundation doing anything to help HTM keep
the title. One of the first matches I watched that I still remember was that
great Savage vs Bret Hart SNME match where an injured Savage rolled him up for
the win. My memory is hazy, but this feud led to the friendship of Savage and
Hogan and Savage’s WM4 title win and HTM escaping this feud with the belt
eventually ended perfectly with Ultimate Warrior winning that title.
Mark Joseph: Start watching in the early 80’s, but I was
hooked when Savage attacked Steamboat. And, as a child, I was cheering for
Savage. Was hooked on NWA watching the first Clash of the Champions. Stopped
watching for a long time in the 90’s, only to return during the nWo/Attitude
era. It was actually ECW that got me to start watching again, it would air on
MSG Network at like 2am, and I found it by accident. Stopped again during the
Invasion angle (such a poor job by WWE that I just turned the product off 100%)
and only returned last year. Not sure how long I will last now, but
Ambrose/Rollins has my interest.
Chefazzy: I was already getting into wrestling a
little bit due to Hulkamania. But I vividly remember to this day, seeing that a
wrestling program was on TBS one Saturday night. I decided to tune in. When I
saw these two huge guys in facepaint with mohawks/reverse mohawks, wearing
leather with spikes on them, walking in to Iron Man, I was all in at that point.
dirtyearsbill: The first angle I vividly remember was
Earthquake squashing Hogan before Summerslam 90. I was terrified of the whole
ordeal but it hooked me. I was five years old and had my mom dictate a get well
soon letter to Hulk and everything. I know I’d watched before that because I
have pictures of my third birthday where I got a bunch of AWA toys and I went
to house shows prior, but Hogan/Quake is the first thing I clearly remember.
Scott Malec: I was watching the WWF for about a year (the
first major match I saw was the Savage IC title win over Santana in Boston on
my bday in 1986) but when I gave the NWA on TBS a chance…I was hooked for
life. The first major NWA angle I remember was Jim Cornette torching Ronnie
Garvin and Jimmy Garvin coming out to help his estranged “brother.”
This was right after Starrcade ’86 and I remember being awed by the Skywalker
video COMMERCIALS, let alone the event itself. The Road Warriors sealed the
deal and about 6 months later the first Wargames in 1987 became my favorite
match of all time to this day.
SRogo: I discovered WWF and Hogan leading up to the
first Wrestlemania. After, the Orndorff turn on Hogan had me tuning in more
often. But the Hogan/Andre and Piper/Adonis stuff leading up to WM3 is what
hooked me for life. By then, I was also watching the NWA on TBS, World
Class/AWA depending on what ESPN was carrying, and the local WWA show where a
young Scott Rechsteiner was getting his start. I’d also beg my parents to take
me to the video store and rent Coliseum Video tapes over and over every week.
Couldn’t get enough back then.
redman: Shawn michaels being attacked by somewhere
between 2 and 43 thugs and then collapsing during his match with Owen hart. Im
not sure if its what hooked me but its the first angle I remember. I was 7
years old and only been watching for a couple of months but shawn was my
favorite. I really thought he may die. Then he came back and won the 96 royal
rumble then beat bret at WM12 which was the first ppv my dad and I watched
together. We got nearly every single one until judgment day 2004.
thebraziliankid: Cena vs Umaga.As sad as it is John Cena is
the reason I became a wrestling fan.When saw the LMS match between these two I
just said”I don’t care if people think it’s fake,I’m a fan of
wrestling”
VoxPhantom: The Mankind/Cactus Jack feud with HHH
between Royal Rumble and No Way Out 2000. Had never seen wrestling before
watching the Street Fight, was a huge Foley mark by the time he was
“retired” after the Hell in the Cell.
PrimeTimeTen: I started watching just after Hogan’s first
retirement in 1992. The big angle at the time played out in a series of
interviews involving Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior where Mean Gene
would press them on if either had hired Mr. Perfect as their manager heading
into SummerSlam. I gravitated to the two “WWF-approved babyfaces” but
in retrospect it was really Ric Flair’s antagonizing presence that drew me in.
Going back and watching those interviews recently for the first time in 20+
years is illuminating, including some of Flair’s meta lines. “I’ve been
beating up guys with paint on their face my whole career. I specialize in
it.” Then a few months later I turn on Superstars one morning and learn
that Bret Hart – a fellow Canadian – had defeated Flair – the most hated
villain in the company – for the belt. I was all in. 22 years later, Bret and
Naitch are my two favourite wrestlers ever.
SodiePop: I wish I could remember a specific angle,
show or match that I watched as a little kid that got me hooked, but I can’t. I
can say my first wrestling memories as being around 6 or 7 years old and
watching the weekend WWF shows for all the classic characters we know and love
(the one on Sunday around noon that featured Bobby Heenan and Gene Okerlund
always come to mind first, second being the Todd Pentingale/Million Dollar Man
duo). That was my first instance of any regular viewing habit, and I really
looked forward to the weekends so I could watch my shows. I can also remember
growing up and frequenting my local video rental stores to rent out copies of
the WWF PPVs on weekends, usually the Wrestlemanias, Royal Rumbles, Summerslams
and the Coliseum Video releases (Bloopers, Bleeps and Bodyslams!). I did this
all the time, and funnily enough I remember WM9 being a favorite, marking out
like the little dumbshit I was for Hulk Hogan upsetting Yoko and walking out
with the belt. Fast forward a bit to Jan 1993 with the advent of RAW, and I
became a die-hard viewer all the way up until 2002 where I stopped being a fan
for the first time in my life. But that’s another topic.
Crikey Mate Down
Under Aussie: HBK coming out of
retirement and the Benoit title chase. My first experience with wrestling was
this legend coming out of retirement with a wrecked back and a guy just
pummelling him with a ladder for 30 minutes, and the bleeding! And then I
experience a Royal Rumble, Benoit beating Big Show, into Wrestlemania with everything
coming together, and this cool mysterious Undertaker guy, blown away as a kid.
Elmo Machete: Some random episode of Sunday Night Heat – I
was channel surfing & happened to tune in while they showed a replay from
Raw of Jackie ripping Sable’s dress off. I was 12, and not used to seeing
boobies on TV. I thought to myself, “I’m gonna keep watching this.”
Then the main event of the night was a tag match with D’Lo, Mankind, Shamrock
and X-Pac. That weird combination of personalities hooked me. A couple weeks
(months? IDK) later was Survivor Series ’98, and THAT hooked me for good.
Tournament for the world title? Introducing me to every important character in
the company all at once? “Real Man’s Man” William Regal? How could I
NOT get hooked?
Magoonie NOT Teddy
Belmont: The first time I watched
wrestling was at my older cousins house with him and his grandmother (who was a
huge fan) and I really liked it but it didn’t quite hook me yet. Also I got no
time to believe it was real as when I told my step dad about what I had just
watched he told me “it’s fake”. What hooked me was a few months later
I went over to my cousins house and his grandmother had taped The Main Event.
Watching Savage beat up the asshole Honky Tonk Man, seeing The Hart Foundation
wrestle and the Hogan/Andre match all combined to hook me for life.
TM Cooltrainer Bret:
IIRC it was the best 2 out of 3 falls
match between Edge/Mysterio and Angle/Benoit. I couldn’t afford PPV so I had to
watch the inferior version, and that made me a huge Edge mark for some time. I
can’t say I love or hate him now, but back in 2002 he was SO COOL. I marked at
Edge coming back to Raw in 2004 because half-mark half-smark me thought finally
he was gonna destroy Evolution, and then the crowd turned him heel. Bastards.
WILLYOUSTOP?!?: I’ve mentioned it before, but seeing my
first AWA show on TV, where the announcers were hyping the next show in Denver
headlines by The Road Warriors v. The Fabulous Freebirds. I had no idea who any
of these people were, why they were fighting, or why I cared…but for some
reason, hearing these guys on TV talk about it, I felt like I HAD to see it –
it was too important to miss. I didn’t get to go to that show, but weekly AWA
TV became required viewing for me. My dad finally took me to my first AWA show
sometime after that, and I never looked back.
Will1225: I saw Stone Cold Steve Austin raising hell
on a Monday night show called WWF Raw at a friend’s house in December 1998.
Became a fan of Austin that day and began watching the WWF every chance I could
after that.
Jared Bellow: I was a big VHS junkie as a kid and one day
my mom went to the Meijer store where they had a video club (as we called them
in those days) and rented me Wrestlemania VIII. I loved the stories and the
matches, especially Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper (Bret was definitely my favorite)
and Ric Flair vs. Macho Man Randy Savage, and Sid who I was also crazy about. I
started watching Prime Time Wrestling and Superstars every week and my parents
took me to see a show sometime after Summerslam 92 which I was incredibly hyped
for.
Jon Eks: I’ve told this story already on my personal
site, but I went to a house show when I was about 5 during the build to
WrestleMania 2. Hogan fought Bundy and Bundy was kicking his ass. I looked at
my dad and asked with genuine fear, “Is Hulk gonna win?” My dad
looked at the ring, looked back at me, and said with absolute certainty,
“Yes.” I wondered how he could be so sure, but after Hogan won, and
then continued to always win, I figured it out pretty fast. But then I was free
to watch it as performance art, and I enjoyed it always from that perspective.
So, WrestleMania 2. I LOVED the British Bulldogs, thought Beefcake looked so
cool, and loved Bret Hart’s sunglasses. That’s all it really took. I hated
Terry Funk so much at that event, I loved the way JYD pounded the crap out of
him. I was in from there.
joedust: Having something to talk to my dad about
something is what made me a lifelong fan. My dad and I had the worst possible
relationship when I was 10 — he was a drunk and I was the “adult
child” in the family. Anyway he was a fan before me (I actually told him
when I was six “that’s fake” when he turned his wrestling on and my
Saturday morning cartoons off). I started to watch it a little bit in the
summer of 88, and he went to rehab that fall, so I would watch and tell him
what was going on. And it became our thing. And my naturally obsessive nature
meant that I had to follow everything, including getting to college and finding
out that it was work, and who was really in charge and what a Booker was, and
reporting all that stuff back to my dad when he would pick me up at college to
drive me home from weekend breaks. Tonight he’s coming over to watch a shitty
ppv and eat dinner, and ten year old me could have never envisioned that
happening, and I thank wrestling for that. So that’s why I got hooked. Sure I remember
things like The Warrior killing the Honky Tonk Man, the Mega-Powers exploding,
Bret coming out with the World title in Saskatoon, Heenan showing up with
Flair’s world title on Wrestling Challenge, and a bunch of other holy shit
moments from 88-92 as the things that cemented my fandom for good, but I
wouldn’t have watched any of it if it didn’t become the only thing my dad and I
could share when I was a kid.
Joe, I’m closing on your story. The WWE marketing team would
kill to get their hands on a feel good ordeal like this. It’s the strangest of
things that bring us together sometimes. Wrestling as family therapy? Who would
have thought. It’s great to hear you were able to overcome, and turn an unfair
childhood into a healthy adult relationship.
Thanks to everyone for sharing today. I hope you have a
great Monday, as we kick off another week. Enjoy RAW, and I’ll be back again
tomorrow.
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5 stars for Shield vs. Wyatts?

25th February 2014 by Scott Keith
1. Was the Shield-Wyatts match from Elimination Chamber a five-star match?
2. Was it the best 6-man tag match of all time? (Or at least in your memory?)
1.  Nope, I had it at ****1/2.  Their debut match at TLC 2012 was better, for one.  
2.  Hells no.  I can think of half a dozen Michinoku Pro six-mans that were better, including the one at Barely Legal, but it was certainly still a great match.  
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Shield Reunion (!?!)

20th February 2014 by Scott Keith
From the most recent RAW Rant re: The Shield–"Shame they’re breaking up because they’re all coming into their own as workers and talkers."  Isn't that actually the best possible scenario?  Each of them becomes their own unique force and they have a great blow-off at Wrestlemania before moving on to becoming three upper-Mid to Main Event players?

Furthermore, imagine if they were one of the few stables to have a great blow-off without becoming diluted and/or limping around forever.  A few years from now you could have some storyline that brings the three back together for a legitimate "grown men mark out" moment unlike every tedious nWo or DX reunion.
I'd be fine with swapping out Reigns and replacing him with someone from NXT like Adrian Neville, or ideally Chris Hero if he hadn't left, but it feels like there's still a ton of juice left in the original gimmick, much like D-X getting reinvented in 1998.  Splitting them now would just leave Seth Rollins in no man's land, whereas if you spread it out a bit you can get two or three big storylines out of it.  
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SHIELD EXPLODES

7th May 2013 by Scott Keith

Triple threat with all 3 members (Roman Reigns was Leakee at this point).  Figured it’s appropriate as it’s the only good thing about Raw these days. Hey now, there’s also recaps of Smackdown and Main Event. 

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