The first ever Shield triple threat match has been set for WWE Battleground on July 24. Seth Rollins wrestled Roman Reigns in the main event of Raw, it ended in a double countout and as a result of that, they are set to do battle against the new WWE Champion Dean Ambrose.

It was two years ago when The Shield broke up due to Rollins turning heel against his allies Reigns and Ambrose. Ever since that moment, WWE fans have been clamoring for a Shield triple threat match. Last year, it was teased at Payback when the three men were in a four-way match that also involved Randy Orton, but we have been waiting for that triple threat. Finally, after two years and a lengthy injury to Rollins, it is set for Battleground.

Raw began with the new WWE Champion Dean Ambrose walking out with the WWE Title. The crowd loved seeing him with the title, which was a great sight. Then Roman Reigns interrupted him leading to some boos from the crowd. Seth Rollins also interrupted as the three former allies argued over who should be the rightful WWE Champion. That led to Shane McMahon announcing a Rollins vs. Reigns rematch in the main event of Raw to see who faces Ambrose at Battleground.

Rollins vs. Reigns was a big match that was built up well and they were given about 20 minutes. Both guys hit some big moves, although neither man was able to hit their finishing move. The action spilled to the floor, Reigns nailed a huge Spear on Rollins outside the ring and they weren’t able to get back in the ring to break the 10-count. That’s what led to Shane announcing the triple threat match at Battleground.

After the match was over, Ambrose dropped both Reigns and Rollins with his Dirty Deeds finishing move as he stood tall over his “brothers” from The Shield.

Why are they going to do it at Battleground? It’s likely because of the upcoming brand extension draft on July 19, which is five days before Battleground. If two guys are drafted to Raw and one is going to Smackdown (or vice versa), then that would mean this is the last time they could do the match. Of course, this is WWE — so if they want to do it at SummerSlam next month, then they would probably find some storyline excuse to make that happen as well.

The match at Battleground should be awesome with so many possibilities. Speaking of the brand extension, the rumor is that there will be two World Titles again, so WWE could do some sort of disputed finish in the triple threat match and that could lead to two titles. They could also just say whoever wins the match is the champion on whatever show they are drafted to, while doing a tournament or something else to determine the other show’s champion. There really are a lot of options. At this point, my only prediction is that Ambrose is probably going to leave with the title because a one-month title reign would be damaging to him.

A lot of fans have been waiting for this Shield triple threat match, myself included. Calling it a dream match is fair because ever since they showed up in WWE four years ago, people have anticipated that match. Now that we know it’s coming, it’s up to WWE to build it up the right way over the next five weeks on the road to Battleground.

 

This Week’s Raw Matches

Here’s a rundown of this week’s matches on Raw with quick notes on each.

Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens

This was a good match between two of my favorites. It was only given about nine minutes, but they made the most of it. Zayn got the win with a creative rollup. Post-match, Owens attacked Zayn and they brawled backstage. It looks like the feud will continue, which is a good thing for us because their matches are always awesome. They may be split up when WWE has their draft on July 19, so it may be one of their last opportunities to have a feud.

Enzo Amore & Big Cass defeated The Vaudevillains

Both teams are considered teams on the rise, but Enzo & Cass are definitely further up on the food chain, so to speak. That’s why they won this match in about three minutes. It was pretty basic.

John Cena defeated Karl Anderson by disqualification

They only wrestled for about three minutes, with Cena on offense the entire time. It really hurt Anderson to have him get in pretty much no offense, but it was part of a bigger story. Cena was attacked by AJ Styles and Luke Gallows. After a Magic Killer and Styles Clash, Cena was laid out. This is one of those instances where you say it was an angle more than a match.

Baron Corbin defeated Zack Ryder

In a show full of short matches, here’s another match that went about four minutes. Ryder had a bit of offense, but it was another match where Corbin was made to look strong. WWE is trying to get Corbin over with JBL, saying that he’s a future World Champion. If you listen to the crowd, though, there’s barely a reaction. Corbin needs something more to his act because it’s just too basic right now.

WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte defeated Paige

It was nice to see a title match, even though it followed the same formula as most Charlotte title matches. She won because of a distraction by Dana Brooke, who was thrown out by the referee right before the finish. The big story was after the match, as Sasha Banks made her TV return to take out Charlotte and Brooke. It looks like Banks vs. Charlotte will be a summer feud with matches at Battleground and likely SummerSlam, which could lead to a title change.

Rusev vs. Titus O’Neil ended in a no contest

The match never really got started. O’Neil was really mad about Rusev insulting his family on Sunday, so he was aggressive. This was probably the best O’Neil has ever looked in terms of coming off like a legit tough guy, instead of a smiling guy who is happy to be there. This feud is likely going to continue.

Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns ended in a double countout

This was covered earlier. The match at Money in the Bank was better, but this was still a pretty good main event match.

 

Three Other Key Items From Raw

1. The WWE draft will take place on the debut edition of Smackdown live on Tuesday nights on July 19. It was announced earlier on Monday and then the announcers mentioned it on Raw as well. Doing the draft on Smackdown instead of Raw shows that WWE is committed to making Smackdown as important as ever because the big reason for doing the brand extension is getting more people to watch Smackdown long-term. Raw may be hurt by it, but Smackdown should do much better ratings than it is now.

There was a cheesy segment on Raw with former Raw (and briefly Smackdown) GM John Laurinaitis trying to get an on-camera job again. Shane McMahon shut him down, thinking he’ll get to run both Raw and Smackdown. That’s not official and it’s unlikely as well. I’ve enjoyed the cameos by former GMs. Hopefully former Raw GM Eric Bischoff is back at some point as well.

2. Following his win over John Cena at Money in the Bank, AJ Styles called out his buddies in the The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) for an apology. He wanted them to say sorry for interfering in his match with Cena, which led to Styles winning. It didn’t come off as a genuine thing because Styles is a cocky heel who’s very smug about everything he does.

Cena did a solid promo against Styles, saying that when your back is up against a wall, you have two things: your balls and your word. Cena claimed that Styles didn’t have either. It was a pretty good line that also reminded us that Cena can talk trash very well when he’s not doing promos for the children watching.

All of it led to the Cena match against Anderson that was very short. The night ended with Styles standing over a fallen Cena, and it looks like we’ll get Styles vs. Cena II at Battleground next month.

3. The Wyatt Family returned to Raw after being away for over two months. The reason they were away is because Bray Wyatt suffered a calf strain at a live event. Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan have been working live events, but they were kept off television. Luke Harper has been out for several months with a torn ACL in his knee.

Bray was out there talking about how they are as dangerous as ever when the Tag Team Champions The New Day showed up to interrupt them. It was a surprise to see a face team randomly do that because typically heels would interrupt faces in that situation. There was no brawl or altercation, but that’s probably coming at some point.

It will be interesting to see if it’s a Tag Team Title feud or if they will simply make it a six-man tag match at Battleground. I still feel like it will be Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson that win the Tag Titles from New Day rather than any of the other teams.

 

Looking Ahead To Battleground

The next WWE pay-per-view event takes place in less than five weeks in Washington, DC on July 24. The name of the show is Battleground.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins

That’s it for official matches at this point.

Based on what happened on Raw, it looks like we might also get Cena vs. Styles II, Owens vs. Zayn possibly in a Street Fight type match, New Day vs. The Wyatt Family in a six-man tag (or a tag title match) and Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks for the Women’s Title.

They could do Rusev vs. O’Neil once again as well. The Intercontinental Champion The Miz should be back in the ring possibly next week, so he could have a title feud. I’d like to see Cesaro challenge him again and this time Cesaro should leave with the title. No word on what Chris Jericho may be doing for Battleground yet.

 

In Closing

It felt like a very average edition of Raw once again. The major news item of significance was the announcement of the Battleground main event on July 24. Ambrose vs. Reigns vs. Rollins is a dream match for a lot of fans and it’s really cool to know that it’s about to happen.

About John Canton

John has been writing about WWE online since the late 1990s. He joined The Comeback/Awful Announcing team in 2015. Follow John Canton on Twitter @johnreport or email him at mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any comments or questions. For more of his wrestling opinions, visit his website at TJRWrestling.net. Cheap pop!