WWE The Shield
The Shield (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns) powerbomb Ryback as WWE Champion CM Punk watches. WWE.com

Last night’s WWE “RAW” from the Cajundome in Lafayette, La., saw the first interview with Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, who are now referring to themselves as The Shield. The NXT trio was featured along with John Cena, who defeated Dolph Ziggler, and WWE Champion CM Punk beat Kane, who is one-half of the Tag Team Champions

In an interview with Michael Cole, the three men responsible for a great deal of mayhem over the past week claimed that their actions were not to serve CM Punk, but to stop injustices. Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns said plainly that they weren’t Nexus or NOW, but a new group, though they do bear similarities to and appear to be working with the WWE champion.

The group declared themselves as The Shield in the interview.

After the Second City Saint won a match against Kane in the show’s main event, the Shield came ringside and attacked Kane and his partner, Daniel Bryan. Their assault continued as Ryback stormed the ring and was beaten down by the newly formed group.

Ryback started the show on a stronger note by defeating one-half of the Prime Time Players, Titus O’Neil. After his victory, Vickie Guerrero set Ryback vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship in a TLC match at WWE’s Dec. 16 pay-per-view event.

The AJ Lee scandal continued, though it deteriorated to just Vickie taunting AJ and Cena as the two embraced in response, but “RAW” saw a Main Event level match-up with the Cenation Leader facing Vickie’s client Dolph Ziggler. Cena prevailed, but the Showoff looked strong against the WWE’s top talent, and the match was exciting, with false finishes and near falls.

The match that followed Cena vs. Ziggler was just as impressive. Former World Champion Sheamus fought the current United States Champion, Antonio Cesaro, in a bout that showed Cesaro’s potential as a top talent.

The U.S. Champion is a rookie, but the way he went up against the Celtic Warrior was impressive by any standard. Officials even kept Cesaro strong by not having Sheamus pin him; the Great White won by count out.

Big Show came out to the entrance ramp at the end of the match with a steel chair. Sheamus called him down to the ring, but the Giant destroyed the chair instead, flaunting his power as he wrecked the metal with ease.

Rey Mysterio defeated Daniel Bryan in a singles match that lived up to last night’s high standards. Bryan was in control most of the match, but he lost at the very end to the 619.

Alberto del Rio defeated The Great Khali in a singles match despite his severe height disadvantage. The Mexican Aristocrat took on the Punjabi Nightmare to defend the honor of Rosa Mendes, the manager of Primo and Epico, who Del Rio appeared to be coupled with.

Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston won a match against Tensai as Wade Barrett sat at the announcer’s table again. Barrett handed Kingston the strap after the match to build up to the two men meeting at TLC next month.

Zack Ryder lost another “RAW” match, this time against Damien Sandow. Officials pushing the Intellectual Savior of the Masses was a logical choice, and it has been going on since his debut earlier this year, but ignoring Ryder’s fan appeal is a move that the company has stuck with for the entire year.

Tamina Snuka squashed Alicia Fox in a one-on-one Divas match. The daughter of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka is a top performing woman in WWE, and if her rivalry with AJ leads to a match at TLC in December, it could do a great deal for the floundering Divas division.