The Shield (professional wrestling)

The Shield were a professional wrestling stable that are best known for their time 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 portrayed as 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
At Survivor Series, The Shield made their WWE debut. They interfered during the triple threat main event featuring John Cena, Ryback, and WWE Champion CM Punk. They triple-powerbombed Ryback through the announcers table and helped Punk retain his WWE Championship. The next night on Raw, the trio announced their name as The Shield and said that they were fighting "injustice" in the WWE. 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. 

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. 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. Paul Heyman revealed later that he was the one in control of the Shield. 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. At WrestleMania 29, the Shield made their WrestleMania debut. They defeated the team of Big Show, Randy Orton, and Sheamus.

On the Raw after WrestleMania, the Shield surrounded The Undertaker in the ring and began a feud with him. On the April 22 episode of Raw, the Shield defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) and The Undertaker. 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 Tag Team Championship. 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. 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. At the Royal Rumble, Ambrose tried to eliminate both Rollins and Reigns during he Rumble match. Both Rollins and Ambrose were eliminated by Reigns. 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.

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. 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. At Payback, the Shield defeated the recently-revived Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton, and Triple H) in a No Holds Barred Elimination match. 

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. 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.

After Cesaro and Seamus began to constantly attack both Ambrose and Rollins, the two decided to briefly reunite the Shield on the August 14, 2017 episode of Raw. The two reunited with Reigns and the reunited Shield was scheduled to face off against The Miz, and The Bar (Cesaro and Seamus) 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. At TLC, the Shield and Angle defeated Stroman, Miz, Kane, and The Bar.

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. Ambrose left the company afterwards because he was suffering mental and emotional exhaustion. He was also very unhappy with creative and McMahon's writing. He later joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his former ring name Jon Moxley.

 Championships and accomplishments 
 Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 Tag Team of the Year (2013) – Reigns and Rollins
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 Most Improved (2013) – Reigns
 Tag Team of the Year (2013) – Reigns and Rollins
 Worst Feud of the Year (2013) – as part of The Authority vs. Big Show
 WWE
NXT Championship (1 time) – Rollins
WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times) – Reigns (1), Rollins (1)
 WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (3 times) – Reigns and Rollins (1), Ambrose and Rollins (2)
 WWE United States Championship (1 time) – Ambrose
 WWE Universal Championship (2 times) – Reigns (1), Rollins (1)
 Slammy Award (5 times)
 Breakout Star of the Year (2013)
 Faction of the Year (2013, 2014)
 Trending Now (Hashtag) of the Year (2013) – #BelieveInTheShield
 "What a Maneuver" of the Year (2013) – Reigns' spear
WWE Year-End Award for Best Reunion (2018)

References

 Other websites 
The Shield's Online World of Wrestling profile

Category:WWE teams and stables