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 The creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts May 3, 2015. Within the Universe, there exists a cohesive stream of coordinated occurrences. This cooperative interaction appears everywhere. The Earth rotates around the Sun and is positioned just far enough from it that life can be sustained. It then spins on its axis to regulate the climate and provide us day and night. There are an infinite number of chemical reactions that take place inside of the human body every nanosecond, vital in all their subconsciously recurring glory. There is a Law of Attraction dictating that certain people are put into our lives for specific purposes, nudging our destiny forward. People of faith refer to these respective activities as “acts of God.” Label it however you wish, but they are all examples of the Universe at work. It's called SYNERGY. Eleven months from today, the greatest spectacle in pop culture, WrestleMania, will descend upon Arlington, Texas. By then, WWE will have been waiting nearly thirty years for such a night. Back in 1987, when Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant catapulted the fledgling WrestleMania brand to dizzying heights and a 23-year record for North American indoor attendance, it was written in the stars that, someday, a grander event would be held on professional wrestling's “Grandest Stage.” Someday is less than a year away. WrestleMania III has been surpassed in many ways over the last 29 years; its financial records broken, its show-stealing match topped, and its passing of the generational torch moment bettered and furthered in scope. Yet, what remains is its legacy. Every great WrestleMania since has still been compared to it. WrestleMania 32 will attempt to become the new measuring stick, likely setting the pace in the WWE Network era for “Show of Shows” viewership and earning a new WWE attendance record. In order to accomplish that feat, several things must fall into place. The modern formula for creating a WrestleMania must be perfected; mainstream media must provide unprecedented coverage, nostalgic resonance must reach an all-time high and, perhaps just as importantly, there must be a strong willingness on WWE's part to embrace the present and future. It has been said throughout sports entertainment lore that the industry in the modern era has innumerably benefited from several key instances of “right place and right time.” WrestleMania 1, The Monday Night War, The Attitude Era, and other major happenings all were the recipients of a fair amount of good fortune. In order to rewrite the history created at WrestleMania III, there has to be a place capable of topping the 93,173 gate set in Pontiac, Michigan's Silverdome. On April 3, 2016, AT&T Stadium just outside of Dallas, Texas, will host WrestleMania 32 with a maximum capacity close to 110,000. The state-of-the-art, monolithic home of the National Football League's Cowboys would seem to be, then, the “right place.” Now, after years of scheduling conflicts prevented the union of WWE’s most prestigious event and the world-renowned sporting venue, it is finally the “right time.” Synergy is what has allowed WWE and AT&T Stadium to come together at this particular place and time – the right place and time. This was meant to be. In the study of Synergistic flow, the manner in which something occurs is less relevant than the reason it occurs. It follows the age old philosophical question: does one need to know how if they already know why? When “Hulkamania” met “The 8th Wonder of the World,” the wrestling Universe was OK with mere observation of history as it unfolded. It was the wrestling equivalent to marveling at Earth's exact distance from the Sun. The perfect storm of confluent events (the behind the scenes fate) that made Hogan vs. Andre such an attraction was immaterial. The existential was favored over the empirical. Sports entertainment was a black and white world. Kayfabe, the art of selling the theatrical outside of the theater, was still in vogue in 1987. In fact, it was reaching its modern peak. WrestleMania III was the biggest WrestleMania of all-time because the audience was completely engrossed in a larger than life spectacle. To borrow from this weekend's Hollywood record-breaking attraction, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Hulk vs. The Giant was like a comic book concept materializing before our eyes. Times have changed, though. If an immobile mammoth were to be booked against a white meat hero in 2016, modern enthusiasts would revolt. People care about the particulars, now. The internet provides revolutionary access and intercommunication amongst fans and critics. The devil may be in the details, but – today – so is the intrigue. An insatiable quest for knowledge permeates the wrestling fanbase; such is the foundational principle upon which the current historical period in WWE was created. The lines have been blurred between what we really know and what we only thought we knew, creating a time-appropriate Synergy between promotion and fan that was once thought lost when the shroud of kayfabe was lifted. Appropriately, WrestleMania in the present could only top the greatest WrestleMania of the past when the industry’s mystique – formerly driven by kayfabe – returned. Kayfabe’s cause of death is commonly thought to have been the internet. Fittingly, when its replacement was born, it was the internet that groomed and nurtured it. The Reality Era, as we know it today, is the cornerstone of how we have approached the precipice of such a massively historic WrestleMania next year. Through an organic process of development, WWE has found a way to reengage fans of all ages so that they can, once again, become engrossed. Why WrestleMania 32 will be the biggest event in wrestling history is that endings and beginnings, the past, present, and future will all come together cohesively. Attraction matches combining the most relevant stars of various generations, the appearances of legendary figures, the inclusion of celebrities from outside the wrestling bubble, and the elaborate set designs, pyrotechnics, and special entrances all will serve to enhance the electric atmosphere. The anchor – the primary draw that enraptures the core of the audience - will be a much-anticipated supreme clash of modern titans destined to reshape the very definition of what WrestleMania can be. Three decades ago in a time of kayfabe, an “irresistible force” could meet an “immoveable object” and fans were content; they needed nothing more. In the Reality Era, the origin story of WrestleMania's exemplar for the next 30 years of WWE lore must be uncovered. How we collectively reached a place in history where deemphasizing the reliance on the glitz, glam, and celebration of yesterday in favor of a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match that will carry into tomorrow the momentum of literally the greatest show ever; that is the question that matters most. So, How did we get here? Synergy – the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose are a microcosm of Synergy. It was while the Reality Era was being created that the three men most responsible for its development were stuck in a holding pattern in FCW and later NXT – WWE's developmental territory. Fate is not without a sense of irony. A trio of Hounds hungry to change the industry but kept on a leash for various reasons, The S.H.I.E.L.D. stewed in southern Florida begging the masters of the wrestling universe to throw them a bone. It was not the right time. Rollins had an attitude problem and a stubbornness to stick with the skills that brought him to the dance instead of adapting them to allow him to thrive at a higher level. Terry Taylor, one of his trainers, told him that “You speak French and we speak English, but you think that if you keep speaking French long enough [then] we're going to start speaking it.” Frustrated and desperate, Rollins conformed to WWE's system, but the opportunities that doing so afforded him allowed future WWE Champion to become a revolutionary – to weave his ideas into their philosophy like an Architect. Ambrose had overcome obstacles from his earliest days, but his unconventional journey to superstardom hit a snag when his major debut program was scrapped due to his legendary opponent's inability to pass a physical exam. The self-professed “good guy that came from a world of bad guys” seemed to have missed his window to avoid becoming a product of his childhood environment. On the Fringe of Lunacy, when he got his chance, he grabbed hold of it like his life depended on it...because it probably did. Reigns had a very different kind of challenge than his peers, but it was a tall mountain to climb nonetheless; he had to deal with massive expectations. “He comes from a royal blood line,” notes Paul Heyman. The most royal blood line in the industry to boot. When you arrive in WWE and everyone who has an opinion that matters deems that you have, as Joey Mercury put it, “everything you could ever want in a WWE Superstar,” then failure is amplified to match the prospect of success. Reigns simply refused to fail. The “I Can and I Will” mantra was quietly born. When you take those three unique elements and put them together, you have Synergy. Specifically, you have definiteness of purpose. The attitude from these Hounds was to take every perceived injustice, every deterrent, and every unknown, stick them in a blender and create a rabid desire to achieve greatness. “The goal from day one,” according to Ambrose, “was to take over the business.” The S.H.I.E.L.D. classically embodied the ideal of being given an inch, but taking a mile. All they were asked to do for their initial appearance was to interfere in a WWE title match; and they promptly stole the show. They made such an impression with their surprise debut at Survivor Series 2012 (and with their ensuing gritty promos) that they were given a headlining situation for their first in-ring performance; and promptly stole the show. They were frequently thrown into 6-man Tag Team bouts on Raw and PPV to give them air time; and promptly became one of the most desirable reasons to watch WWE programming by redefining the 6-man Tag genre. Their mindset was “screw everybody,” as Ambrose recalls. The wrestling business has long been known for asking its talent to choose between making money and making friends. The S.H.I.E.L.D. became friends in order to make money, watching each others' backs, pushing to the front of the line to pedal their creative influence, and being unafraid to stand up for what they believed in. WWE creative gave their group the tag line “Believe in the Shield.” So, they did; they wholeheartedly believed in themselves en route to becoming the most celebrated faction of the century, thus far. Their 6-man Tag Team matches are the stuff of legend, with unquestionable classics against the Wyatt Family and Evolution highlighting their critical achievements. Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose represent Synergy amongst people. They were of one mind and, consequently, they set in motion the dawning of a new generation. There is also Synergy in time, of which the aforementioned groundbreaking WrestleManias separated by three decades serve as one example. Another example of Synergy in time is the dynamic trio to whom old school wrestling aficionados often cite as the S.H.I.E.L.D's most accurate historical comparison. It was thirty years ago that Dallas played host to The Fabulous Freebirds, a group of Southern renegades that joined forces “to get to the top faster and stay there longer.” They famously turned down lucrative offers that would have better accommodated them each individually to remain a unit. Rollins, on the other hand, ensured nearly one year ago the possibility of what seems destined to happen nearly one year from now, turning on his brethren to join the vile Authority. One may assume that the S.H.I.E.L.D. splitting up meant breaking the Synergistic chain. Rollins said after “destroying his creation” that they “had gone as far as [they] could possibly go as a group; and my ultimate goal is to be THE very best...to be the standard bearer.” However, in creating a dynamic in which there will be, as Rollins further stated, an “arms race to see who can get to the top fastest” amongst the former stablemates, the Synergy that defined them as a unit has merely evolved. Like the infamous Kliq (Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Triple H, and X-Pac) spread its power across the battle lines during the Monday Night War, the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s desire to succeed as a team has the potential to translate so influentially to the main-event that wrestling's next great, historically competitive period may result. Their resumes in just 2 ½ years, respectively, read as follows: Dean Ambrose held the United States Championship longer than any other wrestler under the WWE banner and was in the main-event of two of the last three PPVs of 2014. Roman Reigns holds the record for both eliminations in a Survivor Series match and a Royal Rumble match. He won the 2015 Royal Rumble and main-evented both PPVs that followed, including WrestleMania 31. Seth Rollins is the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, having cashed in the Money in the Bank contract during the main-event at WrestleMania. He leads the way amongst his former cohorts with three advertised PPV main-events to his name and counting. It would be an injustice if the S.H.I.E.L.D. were passed over by part-time independent contractors fulfilling their latest “one and done” obligation. The Hounds will, therefore, find a way. Reigns, perhaps the face of WWE's changing of the guard, has already made his intentions clear, stating that they “should reunite to fight for one more night [in the main-event at WrestleMania].” As recently as two years ago, the only dream matches that could be created in WWE involved the use of at least one legend. That is no longer the case. As brothers-in-arms or bitter enemies, Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose crossing paths again would make fans, young and old, buzz in expectation. The Synergy in numbers draws the conclusive line on the calendar from the present to WrestleMania 32. Synergistically, numbers are consequentially linked. Take the number 3, for instance. WrestleMania 3 is the event that will be topped next year (nearly 3 decades in the making); its WWE attendance record broken and the all-time North American attendance record reset to WWE standards. The show will take place on April 3rd and will be the 3rd WrestleMania to be hosted in the state of Texas. On that night, 3 superstars that redefined groups of 3 will compete in a 3-way championship match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The 3 former S.H.I.E.L.D. members will take ownership of the WWE main-event for the generation to come.
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