4 things you may not know about The Shield in WWE

The Shield is arguably the most notable and successful stable in the history of WWE. After the trio broke up, they became successful individual performers. While many backstage moments and plans have come to light in recent years, some are still quite unknown.

The Shield was established in 2012 during that year's Survivor Series event. Roman Reigns, Jon Moxley (FKA Dean Ambrose), and Seth Rollins interfered during the main event to help CM Punk retain the WWE Championship against John Cena and Ryback.

They quickly made a name for themselves and achieved several championships as a team. In 2014, they separated following Seth's betrayal. Brief reunions occurred in later years, and their final break-up was in 2019 after Jon left the company. Years later, more stories about their debut and formation have come to light.

For this list, we will look at four things that fans may not know about WWE's The Shield.

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#4. CM Punk is the mastermind behind The Shield

CM Punk has contributed a lot to professional wrestling. From encouraging others to speak up for their rights to delivering pipebombs he has done it all. Along with all that, it was actually his idea to pair up with several stars from FCW to form a stable which later became The Shield.

CM Punk previously revealed that he was pitched to be part of a stable with Big Show (aka Paul Wight) and Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson). However, Punk suggested a few names from FCW instead for the said stable. Dean and Seth were two of the stars that he wanted, But interestingly, the third name he picked wasn't of Roman Reigns.

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#3. Roman Reigns wasn't initially part of the lineup

It's hard to imagine The Shield with a different lineup after everything the three men went through. Although they had temporary members like Triple H and Kurt Angle when one of them was unable to compete, it was mainly Seth, Dean, and Roman. As it turns out, Reigns wasn't even supposed to be part of the group.

As mentioned above, Seth and Dean were pitched by Punk to join the group, and the third name he suggested was Kassius Ohno (AKA Chris Hero). However, Vince McMahon suggested Reigns instead, who was previously named Leakee.

In a 2021 interview with Kenny McIntosh of Inside the Ropes, Chris Hero shared that the story isn't 100% accurate. He stated that Punk pitched the trio of Hero, Ambrose, and Rollins but no concept of 'The Shield' was made. He added that he was never supposed to be a member of the group because the group didn't exist when it was pitched.

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#2. The Shield refused to lose at WWE Elimination Chamber 2013

Roman, Dean, and Seth competed in several matches together as a group, duo, and individuals during their run as a trio. Although they won several matches, they also lost a few. However, one match they refused to lose happened in 2013.

According to Jon's autobiography, MOX, the former WWE Superstar shared that they refused to lose against John Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus at the 2013 Elimination Chamber. He stated that the group at the time was still fresh and losing to somebody like Cena would've likely killed their momentum.

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#1. The Shield was supposed to break up sooner

Seth attacked Roman and Dean in June 2014 after successfully defeating Evolution in a tag team match. Many were heartbroken and shocked when this happened, but their break-up was supposed to happen much earlier.

According to Seth Rollins in 2021, WWE planned to break them up as early as December 2013 or the following month to set up a match between Dean and Roman at WrestleMania 30, with Rollins possibly serving as the guest referee. However, they talked it out with Triple H and faced The New Age Outlaws and Kane instead at The Grandest Stage of Them All.