Road to Wrestlemania: The Shield vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus & Big Show

michael dworkis breaks down a six-man showdown at this year’s ‘Mania …

WrestleMania is getting closer and we have a strange match to look forward to.

What do Randy Orton, Sheamus, and The Big Show have in common?

If you answered nothing. You are 100% correct. In fact, that is what brings them together to face The Shield at WrestleMania. Nothing. These three men once engaged in worthwhile feuds, now, they all share the same fate, an absence of ideas.

Since each man ended his major feud about two months ago at the Royal Rumble, none of them have engaged in anything worthwhile. Sheamus lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show, who promptly lost it to Alberto del Rio (fair and square I should add). Randy Orton had an on again-off again feud with Wade Barrett, and the only benefit came to Barrett who got a good push from the sleepwalking Orton (see my commentaries on their matches). Ryback has been plowing through the roster, but going no-where. While he does not have an undefeated streak, he still possesses the “Goldberg” aura which fans still hold onto.

Enter The Shield.

Now we know they are good for two things. One, for Dean Ambrose becoming a hit internet meme (see “Nope” and the “We Kill The Ryback” rip from Joker of The Dark Knight), and two, being able to give previous main eventers a chance to remain in the minds of the WWE Universe. For the past few weeks The Shield has targeted Sheamus and Orton, and most recently “accidentally” attacked Big Show. To this day, despite my years of being an avid fan of wrestling, I am still amazed when someone is “accidentally” attacked. How do you go Ooops, I just hit The Big Show” and not realize how scripted this is? In any event, Big Show now has beef with The Shield, but he still hates Orton and Sheamus.

With Big Show we will see the whole “heel reluctant to team with two baby-faces” angle, and Orton and Sheamus will do the whole “we-can’t-trust-anyone” bit. I originally thought it to make sense for Sheamus, Orton, and Big Show to team up against Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns, but on the recent SmackDown, we saw Orton and Sheamus choose Ryback as their third man. Wait, just this week on Raw, they pulled another switch and pulled Ryback from the match so he can face Mark Henry, and now Big Show looks to finally get his spot at WrestleMania. Well, that is great, substitute the irresistible force with the immovable object. Either way you cut it, everyone in this match is suffering from stagnation. I love Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns, but the whole invade-and-attack gimmick is losing steam because after you beat a team of Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus, you should be main eventing. Instead, you cut more promos and do not have another match for a month, the gimmick gets forgotten.

Making an impact is more than Triple Powerbombing Ryback through a table. It is sticking in the minds of wrestling fans, and making them want to see you come back. Being a “Oh, look, there they are again” stable turns you into a worse stable than the Dungeon of Doom.

Unless we see a major swerve for this match, will anyone really care?