Sierra, hotel, India, echo, Lima, delta. ... Shield. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns were walking down the stairs, through the crowd as they always did, but the unusual part was the absence of the third member, Seth Rollins. It might not have come as a surprise that he was not by their side since they had a good reason to be mad at him, therefore it was pretty dangerous for him to be so close to them.
The Shield summit, as the segment was named, was supposed to help the trio set their problems which reached the high point on Monday, right after Seth abandoned his mates and refused to wrestle against The Wyatts. According to him, that was a good idea. Unfortunately, Dean and Roman would have to disagree with him. As Dean was saying, they could handle physical pain but being lied to by somebody they trust is intolerable. And that was exactly what Dean saw Seth as. A traitor. Seth lost Dean's trust when he walked out on them in the middle of a war.
For Seth's defense, he did what he thought was the best and what would help to save The Shield from extinction. He was the one who called the summit after all, and although he took his time, after Dean called him out several times, he finally showed his unworthy face to the ones he let down, in order to explain himself.
When Dean warned Seth saying "Judging by the look on Roman's face, you got about 30 seconds", Seth did not want to risk it, he knew Roman too well and would never mistake his quiet appearance for inner peace. He was just that good at self-control. But when necessary, he could start a war, that Dean was so convincingly talking about, in an instance.
The Shield music hit again and it was not usual for Dean and Roman to listen to their own theme song unless they were the ones coming to the ring. Now they were already standing in the ring, and the music was supposed to welcome their "lost" partner, Seth Rollins. They kept looking around, as did the fans, in order to spot him but for a while, he was nowhere in sight. Cameras were focused on the staircase entrances but he chose another way to come. He was walking slowly beside the audience, from the corner towards the ring. His face unreadable, emotions stirring in him. There was fear, but there was courage as well.
Dean alerted Roman who was looking the wrong way and pointed at Seth who wouldn't stop walking until he finally reached the ropes. Dean was surprised by his courage to face them after what he did; and Roman was as well. Seth wondered whether he should get inside or keep standing in a safe distance. The latter probably made more sense considering Roman and Dean's mood.
But Seth did not care. On Raw, he wanted to prove his point and he did. He succeeded in bringing Roman and Dean together and getting them on the same page, even if it meant hating him. But those two haven't cooperated in a while and Seth, as the architect of the group, had to do something about it. And, in his words, he did what he always does; he sacrificed himself for the greater good.
Unfortunately, they did not seem to see it, they did not want to see what Seth did as a good deed. In their eyes, he was the one who left them to death. But Seth would not give up. He kept explaining to them his reasons, and did his best to make them realize that he did not betray them.
Roman wanted to believe him and somehow understood that he did what he considered to be right at the moment, but Dean was never an open-minded person. He saw only his own truth. He saw Seth walking out on them and he craved for revenge. They might be on the same side of the fight but when it comes to lies, even brother has to pay for his actions.
Seth saw he did not persuade Dean; if something, he made him angrier. But he still believed that crossing the ropes and walking inside the ring would a good idea. There was Roman after all, who would stop Dean from doing anything stupid; at least Seth thought so.
Dean tried to be the leader, so did Roman but it seemed both men's egos were too big to actually do something about the situation and the internal conflicts. Seth believed if they weren't to do something about it, he should. He still believed in The Shield and didn't want to give up on the faction just yet. If it was him walking out on them that it took to make the guys go back to the beginning when The Shield was a relentless faction of three men who would bring the justice and take everybody down, then let them hate him for it. He would do it again. He would do everything to bring back the real Shield.
"From the moment we came to WWE," he spoke loudly, "we were taking down walls. And if we stand together, united," he exclaimed, "no one can touch us, not The Wyatt Family, not The Undertaker, not John Cena, no one! You know it," he pointed at Roman and then at Dean, continuing in his speech, "you know it. So let's do what we do. Let's be The Shield and take this place back," he shouted.
Dean was definitely not impressed by Seth's speech. His explanation was, according to Dean, not good enough. He wanted to fight; he wanted to release his anger. He pushed Seth and then again, making him fall down on the ground. That was when Roman stroke and slammed Dean down. Both guys stood up quickly but neither of them decided to strike back. Not at first. But then when suddenly fight appeared as a legitimate way of getting rid of their energy and anger, Seth slapped Dean.
"I feel a lot better. That felt great," he got everybody know while Dean couldn't believe what just happened.
When Seth said he would take one for the team, as usual, Dean took it as a permission to strike. Seth truly took one for the team when Dean vengefully hit him. And he hit him hard. Maybe it was what Seth wanted him to do, to 'get that out of his system' but Roman strongly disagreed. He did not want to see his mates fighting or taking revenge on each other. But it seemed that Seth's strategy worked once again.
Seth stood up and asked," Are we done here? Or are we done?" Then he formed a fist and placed it in front of him to see if his partners would join him to prove everybody that The Shield still existed. He needed to know himself.
Dean looked at Roman to see what he would do about it. Would he use his fist as a symbol of unison or instead as a weapon to punch Seth and get his anger out of the system, like the other two? He adjusted his wrist pads while keeping everyone tense and wondering what would happen. He might not have fully trusted Seth yet but he joined him in the gesture anyway. Now it was time for Dean to decide whether they were really done or not. Finally he did, although he wouldn't shut his mouth about it. People couldn't hear him but he would trash-talk anyway. He certainly couldn't stay quiet for more than two minutes. But that was not important at the moment.
Roman Reigns, as the leader that he became, looked at both Dean and Seth to make sure they were on the same page. Each member really seemed to have swallowed his pride. And at the end, what everybody learned that night was that The Shield resisted breaking up and postponed their disbandment by another day.