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I think The Shield being put back together would be a step forward for all three. The basic premise of the failures of The Shield are true. Seth Rollins got the belt and was booked horrendously, was an anti-draw, and instead of returning as some sort of bad-ass looking to prove how good he really is, they forced him into a heel role and then did a soft turn. No one cares now.
Rollins has something of a Jeff Hardy charisma to him, in a more restrained sense. He's got that "long hair, don't care" dive off things vibe. While I like the content of some of his promos, getting him to do monologues is a bad idea. I don't think Seth's ability is what holds him back, as opposed to how the company tries to square-peg him into a round hole. But Seth has displayed zero top star presence in his role and has basically been working like a mid-carder happy to have the spot instead of nixing shitty ideas, refusing to suck up to Triple H even though he was the champion and going along with the same sort of stuff that a top star personality would never do, because they understand how it is death. I do think that "top star mentality" is a thing, and that guys need to be accountable for not having it. Seth doesn't have it.
Roman doesn't have it either. The Royal Rumble where he asked to be helped to the back during the match was proof that he doesn't get how to be a babyface yet. He's been throwing himself into all his matches, but he still brings zero charisma out during his "entertainment" segments. Seriously, have the WWE tried to push anyone with worse mic skills to the forefront? I liked the idea, in theory, of putting the US Title on him and that being his little niche to be a champion for the kids away from the World Title, but it was like a vacuum in there when he beat Rusev. The dude not over in the slightest. At least Cena was eliciting responses out of people. Cena had the benefit of going first too. People see the long game with Reigns and it disengages them.
Dean Ambrose is a hard one, because while I used to think he had the charisma and presence to be a top guy, since Mania he has flopped hard. We live in an era where kayfabe is treated like its dead, but I think that the way guys are booked, when they are pushed, how they are pushed, etc. is still very important. I feel they missed the window with Ambrose. I think they could try again with him as a heel, but when he loses non-title matches and he's done, then that's that too then. He still hasn't evolved himself past his "2000 Hardcore Division" look, and Wishbone said it best in the "wrong roster" thread when he said that Ambrose being on SmackDown is like the trouble-maker being best friends with the principal.
Putting The Shield back together runs the risk of instantly sucking. They could do them as the semi-Shield, with their attire all still personalized, and trying to give them all the main event spotlight through the group. They could keep all the individual products out there and really make it look like DX circa 2006. Once they do that, all value in these guys is gone. It really feels like they are humming along based on the fact that a commentator can scream "remember when they were in The Shield!". If The Shield becomes a dead issue, then they won't even have that.
Oh, and it can't be the replacement for John Cena. What it can be is a hot angle. It can be the impetus for a six-man tag division featuring the likes of The Wyatt Family and The New Day. It can provide fun television main events and a guaranteed stamp of something exciting happening. It can be a definite position to the WWE in a way that the three guys currently aren't.
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