The Shield (professional wrestling)

The Shield
The Shield (Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose) during a Raw event on April 7, 2014
Stable
MembersDean Ambrose
Roman Reigns
Seth Rollins
Name(s)The Shield
DebutNovember 18, 2012
DisbandedApril 21, 2019
Years active2012–2014
2017
2018
2019

The Shield were a professional wrestling stable in WWE. They are best known for their run from 2012 until 2014. The members of the stable were Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins.

The members of the team were mercenaries that fought what they saw as "injustice" inside the WWE. They wore black tactical vests during their matches and entered the arena through the crowd.

Career

On November 18, 2012, at Survivor Series, The Shield made their WWE debut. They interfered during the show's main event, a triple threat match for the WWE Championship, featuring John Cena, Ryback, and Champion CM Punk. They triple-powerbombed Ryback through the announcers table and helped Punk in keeping his WWE Championship.[1] The next night on Raw, the trio announced their name as The Shield and said that they were fighting "injustice" in WWE.[2] Over the course of the next few weeks, the trio interfered in matches and attacked other wrestlers. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, the trio made their in-ring debut. The Shield defeated the team of Ryback and Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan) in a six-man tag team Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.[3]

Rollins was still NXT Champion at this time and went between the main roster and NXT to defend his championship. On the January 9, 2013 episode of NXT, Rollins lost the championship to Big E Langston.[4] After the loss, The Shield became full-time members of the main roster.

After interfering and helping CM Punk during his matches, many assumed that they were working for Punk which they denied. WWE chairman Mr. McMahon banned any interference in the championship match between Punk and The Rock at the Royal Rumble. The Shield ended up interfering anyway and triple-powerbombed The Rock through the announcers table after the lights went out in the arena. McMahon came out and restarted the match before The Rock hit the People's Elbow on Punk and pinned him to win the championship and end Punk's historic 434-day reign as champion.[5] Paul Heyman revealed later that he was the one in control of the Shield.[6] The Shield went on an undefeated streak. They defeated the team of John Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus in a six-man tag team match at Elimination Chamber.[7] At WrestleMania 29, the Shield made their WrestleMania debut. They defeated the team of Big Show, Randy Orton, and Sheamus.[8]

On the Raw after WrestleMania, the Shield surrounded The Undertaker in the ring and began a feud with him.[9] On the April 22 episode of Raw, the Shield defeated Team Hell No and The Undertaker.[10] The Shield found huge success at Extreme Rules with all three members winning championships. Ambrose defeated Kofi Kingston to win the United States Championship, while Rollins and Reigns defeated Team Hell No to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.[11][12] In the following weeks, the Shield began to interfere in Orton's matches on his behalf and align themselves with Triple H's Authority stable. On the October 14 episode of Raw, Rollins and Reigns lost the Tag Team Championship to Cody Rhodes and Goldust after Big Show interfered in the match the Knockout Punch on each member.[13] Ambrose started to become cocky about being the only member of the group with a championship which caused annoyance and jealousy from Rollins and Reigns. Ambrose was also the member which began to be pinned during Shield losses. More tension between the members began after they started to feud with CM Punk and lost their 3-on-1 handicap match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs after Reigns accidently speared Ambrose.[14] At the 2014 Royal Rumble, Ambrose tried to eliminate both Rollins and Reigns during he Rumble match. Both Rollins and Ambrose were eliminated by Reigns.[15] At Elimination Chamber, the Shield lost to The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan) and after losing a rematch on Raw, Rollins walked out on the team.[16][17]

On the March 17 episode of Raw, the Shield surrounded Jerry Lawler in the ring before turning around and attacking Kane, turning babyface and beginning a feud with The Authority.[18] On the May 5 episode of Raw, Triple H banned Rollins and Reigns from ringside and forced Ambrose to defend his United States championship in a 20-man battle royal. Ambrose made it to the end but was last eliminated by Sheamus and lost his championship.[19] At Payback, the Shield defeated the recently reunited Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton, and Triple H) in a No Holds Barred Elimination match.[20]

On the June 2 episode of Raw, Batista announced that he was quitting the company and Evolution. Triple H and Orton confronted the Shield with Triple H saying he had a "plan B". After saying this, Rollins betrayed the group and attacked Reigns in the back with a steel chair before laying out Ambrose as well, turning heel and joining the Authority.[21] Ambrose and Reigns began to focus on their singles careers afterwards, with Reigns confirming on the June 24 episode of Main Event that the Shield was over.[22]

After Cesaro and Sheamus began to constantly attack both Ambrose and Rollins, the two decided to briefly reunite the Shield on the August 14, 2017 episode of Raw.[23] The two reunited with Reigns and the reunited Shield was scheduled to face off against The Miz, and The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Before the pay-per-view, Braun Strowman was added to the match and Reigns had to be pulled off the card because of an illness so Kurt Angle was named as a one-night member of the Shield.[24] At TLC, the Shield and Angle defeated Stroman, Miz, Kane, and The Bar.[25]

On April 21, 2019 at WWE's The Shield's Final Chapter event, the Shield competed in their final match and defeated the team of Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre.[26] Ambrose left the company afterwards because he was suffering mental and emotional exhaustion. He was also very unhappy with creative and McMahon's writing.[27] He later joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his former ring name Jon Moxley.[28]

Championships and accomplishments

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Tag Team of the Year (2013) – Reigns and Rollins
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter
    • Most Improved (2013) – Reigns[29]
    • Tag Team of the Year (2013) – Reigns and Rollins[29]
    • Worst Feud of the Year (2013) – as part of The Authority vs. Big Show[29]
  • WWE
  1. ↑ The title was called "WWE Tag Team Championship" during their first reign and "WWE Raw Tag Team Championship" during their second reign

References

  1. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Survivor Series PPV Report 11/18: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV - Punk-Cena-Ryback". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Raw Results 11/26: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – The Shield speaks, Cena-Ziggler". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE TLC PPV results 12/16: Complete 'virtual-time' coverage of final 2012 PPV - Cena vs. Ziggler main event, Shield makes a statement". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  4. ↑ "NXT spoilers: New champion, The Shield involved, Nash's role, Hall of Famer at next TV taping". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  5. ↑ "PPV Lookback: Royal Rumble 2013 – C.M. Punk vs. The Rock, Del Rio vs. Big Show, Team Hell No vs. Rhodes Scholars, Rumble Match". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Raw Results 1/28: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – Huge Return ends Raw, Rock's first night as WWE champ, Raw Roulette, Heyman-McMahon". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Elimination Chamber PPV results 2/17: Complete 'virtual-time' coverage of Rock-Punk II, Elimination Chamber match, Shield beats Team Cena". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE WrestleMania 29 PPV results: Complete 'virtual-time' coverage of live PPV from MetLife Stadium - Rock-Cena II, Taker-Punk, Lesnar-Hunter, more". Pro Wresting Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  9. ↑ "WWE RAW Results – 4/8/13 (New World Champion)". Wrestleview. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  10. ↑ "WWE RAW Results - 4/22/13 (The Undertaker in action)". Wrestleview. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Extreme Rules PPV results 5/19 (Hour 1): Jericho vs. Fandango, U.S. Title change, Strap match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Extreme Rules PPV results 5/19 (Hour 2): Tag Title change, Swagger vs. Del Rio I Quit match, Orton returns home in Extreme Rules match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  13. ↑ "WWE RAW Results - 10/14/13 (New Tag Team Champions)". Wrestleview. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE TLC PPV results 12/15: Live, in-person coverage of Cena vs. Orton unification match from Houston". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Upset fans overshadow Batista's big win at uneven 2014 Royal Rumble". SLAM! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  16. ↑ "WWE E. Chamber PPV results 2/23 (Hour 2): Shield vs. Wyatts big six-man tag, Batista vs. Del Rio, Divas Title". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  17. ↑ "WWE Raw Results (3-3-2014): Keller's report on Heyman coming out to "Cult of Personality" theme for CM Punk after Punk quit, Bryan vs. Batista, Wyatt Family vs. Shield, plus Usos, Stephanie, Cena, Christian". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  18. ↑ "WWE RAW Results - 3/17/14 (Triple H attacks Daniel Bryan)". Wrestleview. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  19. ↑ "WWE RAW Results - 5/5/14 (The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family)". Wrestleview. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Payback PPV results 6/1: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live PPV - Bryan's Decision, Shield vs. Evolution "Final Battle," Cena vs. Wyatt". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Raw results 6/2: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – PPV fall-out, huge angle at the end of Raw, post-Raw coverage, MITB hype, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  22. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Main Event results 6/24: Team Ziggler vs. Team Rollins six-man tag, Reigns-Kane, Triple H, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  23. ↑ "WWE Raw Live Results: SummerSlam Go-Home Show". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  24. ↑ "Keller's WWE Raw Report 10/9: Shield reunion continues, Miz TV with Sheamus & Cesaro, TLC build up continues". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Powell's WWE TLC 2017 live review: Kurt Angle, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman, Kane, The Miz, Sheamus, and Cesaro in a TLC match, AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor, Asuka debuts, Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James for the Raw Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  26. ↑ "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. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Exclusive: Backstage WWE News On Reactions To Jon Moxley Talk Is Jericho Interview". Fightful. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  28. ↑ "AEW Double Or Nothing results: Powell's live review of Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr. and Fenix for the AAA Tag Titles, Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes, Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose vs. Kylie Rae". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  29. 1 2 3 "Jan 27 2014 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2013 Annual awards issue, best in the world in numerous categories, plus all the news in pro-wrestling and MMA over the past week and more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  30. ↑ "NXT Championship history". WWE. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  31. ↑ "Intercontinental Championship history". WWE. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  32. ↑ "World Tag Team Championship history". WWE. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  33. ↑ "United States Championship history". WWE. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  34. ↑ "Universal Championship history". WWE. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  35. 1 2 3 4 "2013 Slammy Award winners". WWE. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  36. ↑ "Early 2014 WWE Slammy Award winners announced". Wrestleview. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  37. ↑ "WWE Announces Year-End Awards on Instagram". 411Mania. Retrieved October 3, 2025.

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