Although heated rivalries like The Rock vs. John Cena and The Undertaker vs. CM Punk are already setting The Road to WrestleMania 29 ablaze, a newly created and extremely volatile contest could very well steal The Show of Shows’ spotlight and prove to be the most intense and personal match of all: Randy Orton, Sheamus & Big Show vs. The Shield.
After weeks of vicious attacks and fierce reprisals, the infamous Shield threw down the gauntlet on the March 15 edition of SmackDown. Unhappy with not being part of The Showcase of The Immortals, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns interrupted the post-match celebration of two Superstars who have been locked in their crosshairs of late: Randy Orton and Sheamus. The treacherous trio told the two former World Champions to find a partner to face them in a Six-Man Tag Team Match on The Grandest Stage of Them All on April 7.
Never ones to back down from a fight, The Viper and the Irish brawler immediately declared the blockbuster match was on, and quickly set out to find a powerhouse third Superstar who is just as hungry to defeat the “Hounds of Justice” as they are. Although their initial selection for a third member was Ryback, the “Human Wrecking Ball’s” found himself removed from the bout by Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero, leading Orton and Sheamus to select Big Show (who had expressed a previous interest in joining The Celtic Warrior and Apex Predator) as his replacement.
The move could swing the contest either way. The monstrous Big Show has a huge score to settle with The Shield, following the trio's repeated attacks against him over the span of several weeks. Pairing with two former World Heavyweight Champions in Sheamus and Orton, Show certainly has been spoiling for a fight against Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns. This could be his chance.
But the giant, as has been made abundantly clear since he signed his ironclad contract under former Raw and SmackDown General Manager John Laurinaitis, is in it for himself these days. Show does not play well with others and has openly admitted there's no love lost between him and his partners. The feeling would apparently be mutual, and taking into account Show's past issues with Orton and Sheamus (from whom the giant wrested the World Heavyweight Championship last year), and it's a very fragile partnership between The World's Largest Athlete and his A-list teammates indeed.
This, of course, is not the ideal situation with which to confront The Sheild. If recent events are any indication, the men in black should not be underestimated for a second. They have made this abundantly clear with their series of victories as a team, which have come at the expense of some of WWE's most powerful Superstars.
Working as a seamless, vicious unit, they fight tooth-and-nail like a pack of wild dogs. Having defeated or devastated the likes of WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No, The Rock and John Cena, in addition to each of the three Superstars they will face on April 7, Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns could be the most cohesive and dangerous entity in WWE, as they continue their quest to eradicate injustice.
At WrestleMania 29, will Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show prove to be the Superstars to break The Shield? Or will The Showcase of the Immortals become, as Rollins put it, “the showcase of justice”? The stage is set and the answer will come April 7.