The Shield The Shield was a professional wrestling stable in WWE consisting of Dean Ambrose , Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins . The group debuted in November 2012 at the Survivor Series pay - per - view , and later declared their intention to fight what they perceive as " injustice " in WWE . Ambrose held the WWE United States Championship , being the longest reign under the current WWE banner at 351 days , while Reigns and Rollins previously held the WWE Tag Team Championship . The Shield are known for their black ring attire ( most notably their protective vests ) , their tendency to approach the ring through the live audience , and their trademark promos , which are recorded from a first - person perspective using a handheld camcorder . Their gimmick is that of a stable that possesses excellent teamwork and a willingness to sacrifice themselves for the good of the stable , and which achieves victories by overwhelming opponents with superior numbers after incapacitating their teammates . History . Mercenaries for CM Punk ( 2012 – 2013 ) . The group debuted on November 18 , 2012 at the Survivor Series pay - per - view , when the debuting Ambrose , Reigns , and Rollins interfered in the main event , a triple threat match between CM Punk , John Cena , and Ryback for the WWE Championship . They powerbomb ed Ryback through the announcers ' table , allowing Punk to pin Cena to win the match and retain his title . The group identified themselves as the " The Shield " , and vowed to rally against injustice . The Shield make their entrance by walking down through the crowd . Despite claiming that they were not working for CM Punk or Paul Heyman , over the next few weeks , on both " Raw " and " SmackDown " , they would routinely emerge from the crowd to attack Punk ' s adversaries such as Ryback , The Miz , Kane , and Daniel Bryan . They also attacked Randy Orton after he defeated Brad Maddox ; Maddox was the referee who helped Punk defeat Ryback during their Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship . This led to their debut match at the pay - per - view , where they faced Ryback and Team Hell No ( Kane and Bryan ) in a Tables , Ladders , and Chairs match and emerged victorious . After TLC , despite continuing to attack Punk ' s and Maddox ' s adversaries such as Ric Flair , Brodus Clay , and Sheamus , the Shield soon expanded their ambushes to other faces , such as Mick Foley and Ricardo Rodriguez . The Shield ' s attacks were also used to write off wrestlers from television via injury angles , such as Randy Orton and Sin Cara , who were already suffering from legitimate injuries . During the January 2nd episode of " NXT " , which was taped on December 6 , 2012 , the Shield made their first appearance in " NXT " , though Reigns and Rollins had already wrestled there before and Rollins was the inaugural NXT Champion . Rollins defended his title against Corey Graves ; as Graves was about to win the match , Ambrose and Reigns attacked him to cause a disqualification , but Rollins retained his title . On the January 9th episode of " NXT " , taped on the same date , Rollins faced Big E Langston in a no disqualification title match . The other NXT wrestlers neutralized the other Shield members , and Langston defeated Rollins to win the title . On the January 7 episode of " Raw " , the Shield once again aided CM Punk by attacking Ryback during their Tables , Ladders , and Chairs match for the WWE Championship , which resulted in Punk retaining his title . On the January 21 , during the last episode of " Raw " before the 2013 Royal Rumble , the Shield triple - powerbombed The Rock , Punk ' s WWE Championship contender at the event , resulting in Vince McMahon declaring that their interference in the title match would result in Punk being stripped of the title . Four days later on " SmackDown " , Punk denied an alliance with the Shield before calling them out and informing them that he did not want them to interfere in his upcoming title match . However , during Punk ' s title match at the Royal Rumble , a blackout occurred and The Rock was attacked by the Shield in the darkness , leading to Punk pinning The Rock and retaining his title . The match was later restarted by McMahon with The Rock winning the WWE Championship . The following night on " Raw " , the Shield attacked John Cena ; Sheamus and Ryback suffered the same fate when they attempted to save Cena . Later in the show , it was revealed through footage played by Vince McMahon that Punk ' s manager Paul Heyman had been paying the Shield and Brad Maddox to work for him all along . Undefeated Streak ( 2013 ) . The next week on " Raw " , while calling out the Shield , Maddox revealed that he was the one who gave McMahon the footage . The Shield then attacked Maddox , but were forced to battle due to an attack by Cena , Ryback , and Sheamus . The Shield justified their feud with the trio due to a " decade of injustice " caused by Cena creating an environment where any wrestler would not face consequences for his actions , and whose mentality they felt had spread to other wrestlers like Ryback and Sheamus . This set up a six - man tag team match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber , which the Shield won . The Shield had their first " Raw " match the following night , where they defeated Ryback , Sheamus , and Chris Jericho . Sheamus then formed an alliance with Randy Orton to feud with the Shield . On the March 1 episode of " SmackDown " , while attacking Orton during his match with Big Show , the Shield inadvertently provoked Show into attacking them ; the Shield thus started a feud with Show as well . On the March 11 episode of " Raw " , the Shield ' s first singles match occurred when Rollins faced Show ; Show won via disqualification as the Shield interfered and beat him down . Despite twice helping Orton and Sheamus to fend off the Shield , Show would turn on the duo immediately after . The Shield then challenged Orton and Sheamus to find a partner and have a match with them at WrestleMania 29 . Show volunteered , but Orton and Sheamus chose Ryback as their partner . Meanwhile , Mark Henry ' s distraction of Ryback resulted in the Shield conducting a successful assault on Ryback , resulting in Ryback being inserted into a WrestleMania match against Henry . Without a partner , Orton and Sheamus eventually accepted Show ' s offer to take on a common enemy despite their mistrust of him . On April 7 at WrestleMania 29 , the Shield took advantage of their opponents ' inability to work together to win in their WrestleMania debut . Championship reigns , Triple H ' s enforcers ( 2013 ) . The following night on " Raw " , the group attempted to attack The Undertaker , but were ultimately forced to retreat by Team Hell No . On the April 22 episode of " Raw " , the Shield faced and defeated the combination of The Brothers of Destruction and Team Hell No ( Undertaker , Kane and Bryan ) . Four days later on " SmackDown " , Ambrose made his singles debut against Undertaker but lost via submission , after which the Shield attacked Undertaker and triple - powerbombed him through the announcer ' s table . Three days later on " Raw " , they defeated Team Hell No and WWE Champion John Cena in a six - man tag team match with Reigns pinning Cena for the win . Ambrose then started a feud with WWE United States Champion Kofi Kingston after pinning him in a six - man tag team match also involving The Usos . On May 19 at Extreme Rules , Ambrose defeated Kofi Kingston to become the new United States Champion . Later that night , Rollins and Reigns defeated Team Hell No to become the WWE Tag Team Champions . Ambrose faced Kingston on the May 24 episode of " SmackDown " in a rematch for the title , and retained when Reigns and Rollins interfered causing a disqualification ; Ambrose also pinned Kingston in yet another rematch for the title three days later on " Raw " . That same night , Rollins and Reigns retained their tag titles in a rematch for the titles against Team Hell No . On the June 14 episode of " SmackDown " , the Shield ' s unpinned / unsubmitted streak in televised six - man tag team matches came to an end at the hands of Team Hell No and Randy Orton , when Daniel Bryan submitted Seth Rollins . At WWE Payback , Ambrose defeated Kane via countout to retain the US title while Rollins and Reigns defeated Orton and Bryan to retain the tag team titles . The next night on " Raw " , Ambrose had a title rematch against Kane and retained after being disqualified . On the June 21 episode of " Raw " , The Shield attacked Christian and started a feud with him . It was also revealed that Ambrose would compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank . On the same " Raw " , it was announced that The Usos will face Rollins and Reigns for the Tag Team Championship at Money in the Bank kickoff . Later on in the pay - per - view , they interfered in Ambrose ' s World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match , but the Usos in turn attacked Reigns and Rollins and Ambrose failed to win the match . The Shield then began a feud with Mark Henry , defeating Henry and the Usos in two six - man tag team matches , but losing to the team of Henry , Big Show and Rob Van Dam . Ambrose retained his championship via disqualification against Van Dam at the SummerSlam kickoff show . The Shield then began a feud with Mark Henry , defeating Henry and the Usos in two six - man tag team matches , but losing to the team of Henry , Big Show and Rob Van Dam . Ambrose retained his championship via disqualification against Rob Van Dam at the SumerSlam kickoff show . The following night on " Raw " , the Shield began working for chief operating officer Triple H . They would aid WWE Champion and " the face of the WWE " Randy Orton against his number one contender , Daniel Bryan , while also attacking wrestlers like Big Show and Dolph Ziggler for speaking out against Triple H ' s regime . At Night of Champions , the Shield enjoyed successful title defenses when Ambrose defeated Ziggler while Reigns and Rollins defeated the Prime Time Players . At Battleground , a fired Cody Rhodes and Goldust earned their jobs back by beating Rollins and Reigns in a non - title match . On the 14 October " Raw " , Rollins and Reigns faced the Rhodes brothers again with the tag titles on the line in a no disqualification match ; the Shield lost the tag titles after an attack by Big Show . Two days later on " Main Event " , Ambrose successfully retained his title against Ziggler . Cracks in the Shield ( 2013 - 2014 ) . The first seeds of dissension were sown in the Shield with Ambrose ' s boasting of being the only member left with a championship , but from then on Ambrose was frequently pinned during the Shield ' s matches . At Survivor Series , the Shield teamed with the Real Americans ( Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro ) to beat the team of Rey Mysterio , the Rhodes brothers and the Usos ; Ambrose was the first man eliminated , Rollins ( with one elimination ) was the fourth man eliminated for his team and Reigns was the Sole Survivor after eliminating four opponents . Next , CM Punk ' s criticism of Triple H earned him an attack by the Shield , but Punk tasted revenge at when he overcame the Shield in a handicap match after Ambrose received a Reigns spear aimed for Punk . Punk ' s taunts increased tension between the Shield members , and Reigns emerged as the only Shield member to defeat Punk in a singles match , albeit with Ambrose ' s interference on the 6 January 2014 edition of Old School " Raw " . All three members of the Shield competed in the 2014 Royal Rumble match . Late in the match , Ambrose tried to eliminate Reigns , who retaliated by eliminating both Ambrose and Rollins . Reigns eventually finished as runner - up in the match while setting a new record for most eliminations in a single Rumble with 12 ; Ambrose and Rollins scored three eliminations each , and Rollins spent the second longest amount of time in the match . On the next " Raw " on 27 January 2014 , the Shield faced Daniel Bryan , Sheamus and John Cena for the chance to enter the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship , and were denied that opportunity when the Wyatt Family attacked their opponents , causing the Shield to lose via disqualification . The Shield vowed revenge , so a match was set up between them and the Wyatt Family at the Elimination Chamber pay - per - view . On the 10 February episode of " Raw " , Ambrose ' s open challenge for his title was answered by Mark Henry , in which Ambrose only retained his title upon disqualification due to the Shield ' s interference ; Reigns continued his tension with Ambrose by defeating Henry without interference on the next " Raw " . At the Elimination Chamber pay - per - view , the Shield lost to the Wyatt Family ; during the match , Ambrose and Bray Wyatt brawled into the crowd , but Wyatt returned to the ring with no sign of Ambrose , which caused Rollins and Reigns to be outnumbered and overwhelmed . On the March 3 " Raw " , the Shield lost a rematch with the Wyatt Family when the Shield ' s poor teamwork led to Rollins walking out during the match ; Rollins claimed that he had enough of being the glue holding the group together . Rebellion against the Authority ( 2014 ) . On the March 7 SmackDown , the members of the Shield met in the ring to clear the air on their disharmony . Rollins said that his actions achieved his purpose of getting Ambrose and Reigns to finally see eye - to - eye . After Ambrose and Rollins hit each other , the trio reconciled . The Shield ' s next feud was against Kane , who was now acting as ' Director of Operations ' for the Authority . Kane had ordered the Shield to attack commentator Jerry Lawler on the March 17 episode of Raw , however the Shield attacked Kane instead , thus turning face and assuming heroic characters for the first time . In retaliation , Kane and the New Age Outlaws attacked the Shield on the March 21 episode of SmackDown while the group was already being double - teamed by RybAxel ( Ryback and Curtis Axel ) and the Real Americans after an inconclusive fatal - four - way match meant to determine the contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship . This set up a match pitting the Shield against Kane and the Outlaws at WrestleMania XXX , which the Shield won quickly and decisively . The next night on the post - WrestleMania Raw , Kane inadvertently revealed that Triple H masterminded the attack on the Shield on the previous month ' s SmackDown . As a result , when Triple H faced WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan in a title match after Bryan was attacked by Kane , Randy Orton and Batista , the Shield interrupted the match to turn on Triple H , chasing the other wrestlers away to protect Bryan . On the April 8 episode of Main Event , The Shield finally defeated The Wyatt Family in a six man tag team match . Three days later , The Shield would again save Bryan from Kane , Randy Orton , and Batista , by giving a triple powerbomb to Kane . On the April 14 episode of Raw , after they had ambushed Batista and Randy Orton earlier in the night , the Shield were forced to face 11 other wrestlers in a 11 - on - 3 handicap match , which ended in a no - contest after descending into a brawl in which the Shield members were outnumbered and beaten down by their opponents . They were then further attacked by Triple H , Orton and Batista , who reformed the group Evolution . Four days later on SmackDown , Triple H would announce that The Shield would be competing in a six - man tag team match against Evolution at Extreme Rules . In retaliation , The Shield would assault Jack Swagger , 3MB , Fandango , Curtis Axel , and even Raw General Manager Brad Maddox before winning a 5 - on - 3 handicap match against Ryback , Bad News Barrett , Titus O ' Neil , Damien Sandow and Alberto Del Rio a week later on SmackDown . It was initially supposed to be another 11 on 3 match , but the Shield had attacked their opponents throughout the show to whittle down the opposition . The Shield would go on to defeat Evolution at Extreme Rules . The next night on Raw , Triple H would force Ambrose to defend his United States Championship against 19 other wrestlers in a 20 - man battle royal , which Ambrose was eliminated last by Sheamus , ending Ambrose ' s WWE record reign at 351 days . Triple H would then book The Shield to compete in a six - man tag team match against The Wyatt Family , which the group lost with a distraction by Evolution , who proceeded to assault the Shield . A rematch between the Shield and Evolution was arranged for Payback , in which The Shield won yet again . Rollins ' betrayal and disbandment ( 2014 ) . On the post - Payback " Raw " on June 2 , Triple H intended to continue Evolution ' s feud with the Shield , but Batista quit . Later that night , with the Shield in the ring , Triple H declared that he was resorting to " Plan B " in destroying the Shield . This prompted Rollins to attack Ambrose and Reigns with a chair , joining Evolution and turning heel in the process . The following week on " Raw " , Rollins took sole credit for the Shield ' s successes and claimed that he had destroyed the group to further his own interests . Meanwhile , Ambrose and Reigns vowed to exact revenge on Rollins as well as Orton and Triple H . Ambrose and Reigns went on to team with John Cena to defeat the Wyatt Family in the night ' s main - event . ] Later in the week on SmackDown , Reigns fought WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett to a no - contest due to interference from 3MB , and Ambrose fought Bray Wyatt for a spot in the 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship , but lost after being distracted by Rollins . From then on , Ambrose would begin to feud with Rollins . Meanwhile Reigns goad Vickie Guerrero , who left in charge by The Authority , to put him in the battle royal for a spot for the Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship ; he won by eliminating Rusev . On the June 20 " SmackDown " , Ambrose debuted new theme music while no longer wearing the Shield ' s attire . There is not going to be a formal split between Reigns and Ambrose but they have now begun going their separate ways .