Journey To Summerslam: Destruction of the Shield Review

This is two months late but better late than never.

On the road to any Pay Per View, WWE’s production team comes up with video promos for each and every one of its publicized matches. Many videos are actually better than the match or feud itself. Many promos are so good that they make the match feel like a must-see event. WWE’s production team almost always never disappoints.

On the road to this year’s Summerslam or rather after Summerslam, the production team came out with a documentary on the Shield’s journey. It wasn’t on a DVD or anything; it was made exclusively for the WWE Network. The documentary is titled “Journey To Summerslam: The Destruction of the Shield”

The point of this documentary was to build up one moment and that was highlighting the fact that Summerslam is the first PPV where all three members of the Shield were competing in singles matches after their split.

The Reel and Real

The documentary is a combination of the fictional and the non-fictional elements, which is the trend in the company’s present Reality Era. The non-fictional elements constituted of the three members of the Shield, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, talking about their respective journeys in the wrestling world. And all of them mostly talked like they were out of character yet exuding of their respective gimmicks here and there.

It starts with Rollins talking about his journey.

This is what he had to say about being a wrestler, “There are many days, many shows, many matches where quitting is the best thing to do. And I don’t mean quitting a match or not doing the show. I mean finding another path in life. Realistically, the only reason you keep doing this is because you love it”

It was also mentioned how he and Triple H came at loggerheads and Rollins was almost on his way out of the company. It is quite impressive how he managed to still carve a successful path for himself.

That much talked about confidence was easily traceable in all of the bytes that Rollins had to give.

Then we moved to see Ambrose’s journey which began by him stating, “ When people ask me pretty much I just say that I was raised by wolves”

It was emphasized time and again how his journey has been unconventional and how easy it is for him to stand out. An interesting detail to note is that Reigns and Rollins gave out their exact date and place of birthday while Ambrose has a very ambiguous answer to his origins- ‘Born in Cincinnati in 1985’

Because of their elaborate Independent careers, Rollins and Ambrose’s journey seemed interesting and it seemed to have come after a lot of struggle. On the other hand, Reigns’ journey wasn’t as elaborate as his teammates. The emphasis on his build and look was made early on in the part of his journey. It got the personal treatment when Reigns talked about his daughter and his role as a father and the choices he made because of it.

The Highlight Reel

The major highlight of the documentary was to show that the WWE knows what they have with these superstars all the while making all the speculations clear as well. It was apt to have Paul Heyman as a mouthpiece. It was apt to have Triple H speack out about them as well. Seth Rollins is the technician, the wrestler who is fun to watch. Dean Ambrose is the anti-hero, anti-establishment and Roman Reigns is a badass. It was the best and the most direct way WWE could tell the fans that they know what is being discussed around. Watching it will give a good idea about what the WWEthinks they can do with these guys. Joey Mercury clearly states that these three guys are like “three Wrestlemania main events waiting to happen”

The journey was filled with their moments of triumph and it was more of a look at the good times which made the future look full of hope. Ambrose’s quote started and ended the documentary and it is so apt to end this article with that, “Whether we’re friends or enemies, we’re going to own this place.”