The Shield's Final Chapter was a professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. A portion of the live event aired exclusively on the WWE Network as a one-hour special. It took place on April 21, 2019, at TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois. This event marked the final match for The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins) as a group, as well as Ambrose's final match in WWE.
| The Shield's Final Chapter | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown 205 Live | ||
| Date | April 21, 2019 | ||
| City | Moline, Illinois | ||
| Venue | TaxSlayer Center | ||
| WWE Network event chronology | |||
| |||
Seven matches were contested on the card, three of which were shown for the one-hour WWE Network special. In the main event, The Shield defeated Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre in a six-man tag team match.
Production
editBackground
edit
In 2015, WWE began to expand its content on the WWE Network by presenting televised house shows. These one-hour WWE Network-exclusive specials did not show the entire card, but only a select few matches. The Shield's Final Chapter took place on April 21, 2019, at TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois and featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The one-hour WWE Network special was livestreamed.[1][2]
Storylines
editThe event comprised a total of seven matches, three of which were shown for the one-hour WWE Network special. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3][4] Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live,[5] and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.[6]
On January 29, 2019, WWE confirmed that Dean Ambrose had decided to not renew his contract that was expiring in April.[7] The following month, Roman Reigns, who took time off in October 2018 due to leukemia, returned.[8] Ambrose, Reigns, and Seth Rollins then reunited The Shield for a match at Fastlane, where they defeated the team of Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre.[9] Although this had been promoted as The Shield's final match, one further match was scheduled, which featured both The Shield as a group and Ambrose's final match in WWE. That match was the one aired as the main event of the Shield's Final Chapter.[1]
Event
edit| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Michael Cole |
| Corey Graves | |
| Renee Young | |
| Ring announcer | Mike Rome |
| Referees | Chad Patton |
| Rod Zapata |
Dark matches
editBefore the event aired live on the WWE Network, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins defeated The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) and Aleister Black and Ricochet in a triple threat tag team match to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship, Tony Nese defeated Buddy Murphy to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, a six-man tag team match pitting Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik, Kalisto, and Lince Dorado) against Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers (Sunil Singh and Samir Singh) ended in a no contest, and Alexa Bliss and Lacey Evans defeated Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross in a tag team match.[10]
Televised matches
editThe first televised match featured Finn Bálor defending the Intercontinental Championship against Elias. In the end, Elias tried to send Bálor off the ring apron through an announce table, but Bálor countered into a sunset flip for a nearfall. Bálor pinned Elias with a small package to win the match.[11]
In the second televised match, Bayley and Ember Moon took on The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan) (accompanied by Liv Morgan). In the end, Riott attempted to pin Moon while using the ropes for leverage and Morgan tried to add leverage from the apron, but the referee saw it and ejected Morgan from ringside. Moon then performed the Eclipse on a distracted Riott to win the match.[11]
In the final match, The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose) took on Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley. In the climax, Ambrose performed an elbow drop on Lashley, but McIntyre broke up the pin. Reigns performed a Spear on Lashley. Rollins performed The Stomp on McIntyre. Ambrose performed Dirty Deeds on Corbin before tagging in Reigns, who tagged in Rollins. The Shield performed the Triple Powerbomb on Corbin, and Rollins pinned him to win the match for The Shield. After the match, The Shield gave a heartfelt speech to the crowd about how much they have accomplished, and they performed their signature fistbump one more time as the event ended.[11]
Results
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "The Shield's Final Chapter - This Sunday on WWE Network". WWE. April 15, 2019. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (April 15, 2019). "The Shield's Final Chapter To Air Live On WWE Network". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ^ Csonka, Larry (November 11, 2016). "Triple H Conference Call Report: Discusses 205 Live, NXT Takeover: Toronto, Says HBK Working at the Performance Center and More". 411Mania. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (January 29, 2019). "Dean Ambrose not renewing WWE contract when it expires in April". WWE. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ Crosby, Jack (February 25, 2019). "WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Shocking return, Reigns news, Rousey statement lead memorable show". CBSSports. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ^ Campbell, Brian; Crosby, Jack (March 10, 2019). "2019 WWE Fastlane results, recap, grades: Tons of twists, turns and swerves ahead of WrestleMania 35". CBSSports. Archived from the original on March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Krotchsen, Billy (April 21, 2019). "Before The Shield's Last Chapter: Complete WWE Raw in Moline, IL results". PWInsider. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Powell, Jason (April 21, 2019). "WWE "The Shield's Final Chapter" results: Powell's live review of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin, Finn Balor defends the Intercontinental Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2019.