wrestling / Columns
Burn It Down! – The Rebirth of The Shield (Part 1)
Part 1 of 2
One night. One triple power bomb is all it took for three men, whom individually garnered success on the independent circuit and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) respectively to make their mark in the annals of WWE history forever. Survivor Series 2012. Roman Reigns. Seth Rollins. Dean Ambrose. Three amazingly talented individuals, each with their own set of strengths and weaknesses, joined forces to form one single solitary unit that would forever alter the course of the WWE Universe for years to come.
The intention of this article is to give both a history lesson and to talk about what may come in the future for Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. This will be a two part column. I hope you enjoy the ride and take a trip with me down memory lane as we examine the ups and downs of one of wrestling’s greatest factions of all-time.
“Sierra. Hotel. India. Echo. Lima. Delta. SHIELD.”
Dean Ambrose. Seth Rollins. Roman Reigns. The three men would make their debut together on November 18th, 2012 at the WWE Survivor Series. The event was headlined by a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship, as champion CM Punk defended his title against Ryback and John Cena. The trio would make their debut, as heels, by attacking Ryback. They would deliver what would be their calling card; a devastating Triple Powerbomb through the announce table on Ryback before fleeing the scene. Two weeks later on an episode of Monday Night RAW, the men would appear in a video identifying themselves as “The Shield”. Three men, whose sole mission was to destroy and rally against “injustice” throughout the WWE.
Their next major move would come at T.L.C. 2012, as The Shield would make their debut in-ring against Ryback and Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match in victorious fashion. The Shield would go on to attack babyfaces such as WWE Legends Mick Foley and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, along with other WWE Superstars, Brodus Clay, Tommy Dreamer, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Randy Orton, Ricardo Rodriguez, and furthered their heated rivalry with Ryback.
The group also aided CM Punk in helping him defeat Ryback in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the WWE Championship, costing Ryback an opportunity in defeating Punk and ending his WWE Championship reign. Mr. McMahon would announce for CM Punk’s match against The Rock at 2013 Royal Rumble, if The Shield were to interfere in the match, Punk would automatically be stripped of the championship. The Shield would resist McMahon’s threats by interfering during the match after a “black out”, delivering a Triple Powerbomb to The Rock through the announce table in the darkness. Punk would pin The Rock and retain the title. Mr. McMahon would come out to ringside, and with some encouragement from The Rock, McMahon would restart the match. This led to The Rock pinning CM Punk and capturing the WWE Championship.
Following the events of the Royal Rumble, through security footage evidence, Mr. McMahon revealed what had been (obvious) from the start — The Shield were paid off by CM Punk’s manager, Paul Heyman, to assist CM Punk in his championship matches.
Sheer Domination – The Shield power bombs the competition!
The Shield would continue their dominance inside and outside of the ring throughout 2013. Their next primary target was the face of the WWE, John Cena. They targeted Cena by justifying their attacks as a “Decade of Injustice”. These attacks on Cena, along with attacks on Ryback and Sheamus would setup a 6-man tag match for Elimination Chamber. The Shield would go on to defeat Cena, Ryback and Sheamus with ease.
Following the Elimination Chamber, Sheamus formed a tag team with “The Viper” Randy Orton to battle The Shield over the course of the next few weeks leading into WrestleMania XXIX. The Big Show was thrown into the mix, as he had a score to settle with The Shield following a 3-on-1 assault, despite Show being a heel. Therefore, in an honor-amongst-thieves maneuver, Sheamus and Randy Orton allowed Big Show to be their tag team partner, only for Show to turn on the duo after the match. Seeing that Big Show could not be trusted, Orton and Sheamus chose Ryback to be their new third man. Following Ryback’s own issues with Mark Henry, Ryback chose to settle matters with Henry at WrestleMania XXIX instead. Having no other option, Orton and Sheamus chose the Big Show, despite their reluctance, to be the third man for their match against The Shield for WrestleMania. Capitalizing on the bad chemistry with the team, The Shield would pick up the win and defeat Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus.
Following the events of WrestleMania XXIX. The Shield would go on to feud with the likes of Team Hell No! (Daniel Bryan & Kane), along with The Undertaker, Kane’s older brother. The Shield would follow-up by taking The Undertaker out of action on an episode of SmackDown by delivering their signature Triple Powerbomb through the table as a way for The Undertaker to exit the WWE until next year. The group would turn their attention toward WWE United States Champion, Kofi Kingston and WWE Tag Team Champions, The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso).
At Extreme Rules 2013, we would see Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins, representing The Shield, defeat The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Later on in the same night, Dean Ambrose would defeat Kofi Kingston to become the new United States Champion. Despite their dominance, the group would suffer their very first defeat in tag competition, as The Shield would lose a match to Team Hell No! and Randy Orton on an episode of SmackDown. Over the next couple of months, The Shield would develop and carry out their feuds with Team Hell No! (Daniel Bryan & Kane), Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Big Show and Rob Van Dam.
Corporate Enforcers!
Following SummerSlam 2013, WWE’s Chief Operating Officer Triple H turned heel, along with “The Viper” Randy Orton following Hunter’s assist in helping Orton cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase to become the new WWE Champion after defeating Daniel Bryan. The next night on RAW, Triple H would officially hire The Shield to be his, and also Randy Orton’s, special enforcers. The group would do battle against anyone who were deemed a threat to Triple H or Randy Orton. They would battle the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, The Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young), Cody Rhodes and Goldust.
The group would lose possession of their WWE Tag Team Champions by losing a title match at Battleground 2013 against Cody Rhodes and Goldust. The Shield would challenge for the tag team titles against Cody Rhodes and Goldust, along with The Usos, as part of a Triple Threat match in a losing effort. Dean Ambrose would go on to retain his United States Championship against Big E. Langston.
A crack in the foundation?
Leading into the 2013 Survivor Series, the group began to develop animosity amongst themselves. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins began arguing and having friction, whilst Ambrose bragged about being the old Shield member holding a championship. In spite of these issues, The Shield would go on to team up with the Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger) to face Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, Goldust, and The Usos in a traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match. Every member of The Shield and Real American team was eliminated, except for Roman Reigns, who faced a 4-on-1 deficit. Roman Reigns would mount a huge comeback by eliminating the remaining four men on the opposing team to win the match for his group.
CM Punk would become their next target, even though the trio were having issues internally. A special 3-on-1 Handicap match was booked between The Shield versus CM Punk for T.L.C 2013. During the match, some miscommunication led to a spear from Roman Reigns to Dean Ambrose, which led to a pinfall victory for CM Punk. The feud continued into the 2014 Royal Rumble event. All three members of The Shield participated in the 30-man Royal Rumble match. Roman Reigns would become the second to last man remaining in the contest, but was eliminated by the winner, Batista. During the match, Ambrose attempted to eliminate Roman Reigns, then Reigns retaliated by eliminating by Rollins and Ambrose simultaneously.
The Shield would face the team of Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and John Cena to determine which group would go on to participate in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The Shield would lose the match via disqualification thanks to surprise interference from The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan). Following this result, The Shield became enraged and came together to vow their revenge upon the Wyatt’s. The Shield would confront The Wyatt Family in an intense stare down that left The Wyatt Family backing down out of fear. This was the first time The Shield were positioned to become babyfaces, as the WWE Universe embraced their call to “injustice”.
At the Elimination Chamber, The Shield would face The Wyatt Family in a losing effort. During the match, Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose brawled throughout the crowd as Reigns and Ambrose continued fighting Harper and Rowan inside the ring. This led to Dean Ambrose becoming missing in action when Bray Wyatt would later return, causing a 3-on-2 situation and caused further dissension. This left Ambrose and Rollins questioning why Dean Ambrose would abandon them. The following week on RAW, a rematch was scheduled between the two factions, with The Wyatt Family winning yet again due to poor judgement calls and teamwork by The Shield. A frustrated Seth Rollins claimed that he had enough of being the glue that held The Shield together. This remark would be a foreshadowing of what would come later on.
As an effort to mend fences and get on the same page. The Shield held a special meeting on the March 7th episode of SmackDown. Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns cleared the air of their differences and disagreements before reconciling. The Shield, in a sense, became reborn and better than ever before!
Leading into WrestleMania XXX. Kane, who is now the Director of Operations for The Authority, began rekindling the grudge he had with The Shield after he placed an order for the group to attack WWE Hall of Famer and Color Commentator, Jerry “The King” Lawler. Instead, The Shield attacked Kane and became new targets of The Authority (Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Randy Orton, Kane, Batista, Billy Gunn & Road Dogg). The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg), whom were representatives of The Authority, double teamed The Shield along with Rybaxel (Curtis Axel & Ryback) and The Real Americans (Cesaro & Jack Swagger) following a match intended to determine a #1 contender of the WWE Tag Team Championship. This would lead into a 6-man tag match, where The Shield would dominate The Authority (Kane & The New Age Outlaws) at WrestleMania XXX.
After the smoke cleared from WrestleMania XXX. Kane revealed that Triple H was indeed the mastermind behind the attacks against The Shield. Now that the cat was out of the bag, The Shield targeted Triple H and cost him his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against new champion Daniel Bryan on RAW. As a mark of retaliation, Triple H booked an 11-on-3 Handicap match that left The Shield shattered in pieces. We officially saw the rebirth of Evolution (sans Ric Flair), as Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton came together as a subsidiary group to The Authority with the sole purpose of destroying The Shield.
These events would lead into a showdown between The Shield and Evolution at Extreme Rules 2014, where The Shield would defeat Evolution. As a result of this victory, The Authority ordered Dean Ambrose to defend his United States Championship in a 20-man Battle Royal. The catch? Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns would not be a part of the match. Ambrose would lose the battle royal by being last eliminated by Sheamus. This would end Dean Ambrose’s unprecedented 351 day reign as U.S. Champion.
The Shield and Evolution would face off one last time in a rematch at Payback 2014 in a No Holds Barred Elimination match. The Shield would dominate Evolution, with Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins surviving the contest. The Shield were now at the top of the food chain as the most dominant force in the WWE… or were they?
“
There’s always a Plan B” – Triple H
The night following Payback, Evolution officially disbanded. Batista would quit the WWE out of frustration. Batista walked out on Triple H and WWE, leading many to believe this was the end of the Evolution and Shield rivalry. Later on the evening, with The Shield already in the ring, Triple H and Randy Orton made their intentions known they would destroy the group at any cost. “The King of Kings” would tell The Shield: “There’s always a Plan B”. This led to Seth Rollins taking a steel chair and bashing Roman Reigns into the back with it. A shocked Dean Ambrose turned around and he too was met with a thunderous steel chair shot from Rollins. After the heinous assault by Seth Rollins. Triple H and Randy Orton officially welcomed Seth into The Authority. This would mark the end of The Shield, and start a new chapter for the careers of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.
