Few wrestling factions have ever been as effective or successful as The Shield for WWE. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose aka Jon Moxley all broke out as rising stars in the trio and are still among the most valuable performers today. A new group starting off with no track record and everyone involved becoming huge stars is almost impossible.
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However, The Shield worked so well that the audience loved every step along the way. WWE tried to reunite the group multiple times before Ambrose eventually left the promotion. Fans have lots of thoughts about such a relevant and impressive act. The following things are often what viewers get wrong about The Shield.
10 Instant Success Story
The start of The Shield was such a great interesting new act getting three main roster call-ups over quickly. However, fans often say that The Shield was a top act from the start, and that removes all nuance from the story.
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There was some skepticism about a new act wearing turtlenecks and naming themselves The Shield with no real backstory. WWE giving them huge wins and great opportunities to get over with the audience is why they became a huge success after a month or two.
9 Chris Hero Was Considered For Third Spot
CM Punk talking about pitching an idea that eventually became The Shield led to some confusion among fans. The claim of Punk was that he suggested Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Chris Hero get called up from developmental as his backup. WWE did have The Shield help Punk in their start to make the idea sound realistic.
However, Dave Meltzer and other pundits have made it clear that Vince McMahon and Triple H each wanted Roman Reigns in the third spot. The Shield was meant to be three top prospects with Hero unfortunately never fitting that mold in WWE’s system.
8 They Were All Called Up From NXT At Survivor Series 2011
Most talents in NXT through each incarnation of the developmental brand have high hopes for joining the main roster. The Shield were arguably the most successful stories of talents proving they were ready for the next level when called up.
However, it wasn’t a full-fledged call up from the main roster since they continued appearing in NXT for months. Seth Rollins was the NXT Champion when The Shield formed on the main roster and continued his title reign until finally dropping it to Big E ending their NXT run.
7 Face Turn After WrestleMania 30
There is a popular thought that The Shield officially turned face on the Raw after WrestleMania 30 since that was the night that they finally stood up to Triple H. WWE made The Shield allies of Triple H’s Authority faction often doing his bidding against faces like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.
All three members actually turned face a few months earlier, especially when clashing with The Authority’s stooges Kane and the New Age Outlaws. The Shield received fan support during that program to make them babyfaces heading into the clash with Triple H.
6 Triple H Had Close Bond With All Three Members
One of the backstage elements of The Shield’s success saw many fans viewing them as a Triple H success story. Quite a few NXT standout talents became known for Triple H booking them strongly and trying to protect their booking on the main roster.
Triple H has had good relationships with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to make that part true. Dean Ambrose aka Jon Moxley spoke negatively about feeling patronized by Triple H during his time in WWE. There was some praise when Moxley stated Triple H would be a better choice to run the show than Vince McMahon, but they didn’t have a close relationship.
5 Roman Reigns Was Always The Most Heavily Pushed
WWE having high hopes for Roman Reigns from day one saw him as a highly successful member of The Shield. It is true that Roman was always planned to be one of the faces of the company, but he didn’t have get an absurd push significantly bigger than everyone else until years later.
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Dean Ambrose was actually the first one of the three to receive a strong push. WWE made Ambrose United States Champion for a long reign while Seth Rollins and Reigns dominated the tag division. Ambrose received the rare singles attention more than the others early.
4 They Didn't Have Many Great Team Rivals
A common thought about The Shield is that they were a breakout team act when WWE had few successful tag teams. The belief that they had more singles wrestlers as great rivals was not true when looking back at some of their team feuds.
WWE booked great feuds for The Shield against the Wyatt Family and Evolution that still hold up. Earlier runs featured the Usos and Team Hell No having their best tag matches at the time coming against The Shield. There was even an underrated feud with New Day when The Shield reunited down the line.
3 WWE Considered Adding Women's Shield Group
An urban legend online featured fans wondering if WWE almost had another Shield group of all women. Online footage leaked of Paige, Summer Rae and a lesser known Anna Bogomazova cutting a promo in developmental class about being a part of The Shield.
WWE promo classes at the time allowed talents to cut promos using any creative concepts they had since it was all to learn. Paige did hope it could be a real idea, but it was more a dream scenario than anything WWE realistically planned.
2 Evolution Feud Meant Less With Breakup Coming Right After
The final feud for The Shield ahead of their first breakup was a program with Evolution. Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton united to take on the new group as mutual enemies. WWE booked two stellar matches on PPV between the two teams with great results.
Some fans and even Batista felt that it was a waste of time having Evolution putting over an act that ended one night after their final match when Seth Rollins turned heel. WWE knew what they were doing since the wins put all three in a great spot before heading their separate ways.
1 Seth Rollins Was The First Disloyal Member
WWE created an all-time shocking moment when Seth Rollins betrayed Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to join The Authority. Rollins proved he cared more about his own success when ending The Shield to become Triple H’s new protégé.
Most fans view this as the first time a Shield member was unfair to others. However, Ambrose started to show signs of being selfish when The Shield had dissent in early 2014. It was Ambrose who tried to eliminate Reigns from the Royal Rumble to cause their first bit of friction.
