What If... it wasn't Seth Rollins who turned on The Shield?

What if The Shield wasn't betrayed by Seth Rollins in 2014?

It doesn’t happen often but, every now and then, you’ll witness a moment that you just know is going to change everything. Perhaps it was Hulk Hogan defeating Iron Sheik for the WWE Championship, ushering in Hulkamania, and the company’s nationwide expansion. Perhaps it was when Scott Hall appeared on WCW Nitro, genuinely kicking off the Monday Night War. Or even the very last episode of Nitro, simulcast alongside Raw, bringing an end to Monday Night War.

Of course, those were all major events, and it wasn’t a stretch to imagine the future ramifications they would have on the business. Other moments, however, may seem much more innocuous, but you just know… you’re watching history.

The implosion of The Shield - arguably the most historically relevant faction of the past decade in WWE.

Who were The Shield?

In order to understand why this moment was so important, we need to have a quick history lesson. The Shield - Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose - left behind their years in developmental (going as far back as FCW) and made an immediate impact while doing so. The trio made their mark at the 2012 Survivor Series during the main event, attacking the two opponents of then-WWE Champion CM Punk and allowing him to retain the title.

The Shield became more than a faction. They were a foreboding presence. It was never certain when the group’s music would begin to play, and the three mercenaries would cut through the crowd, head into the ring, and attack whoever happened to be in it. By becoming feared as a unit, the profiles of Seth, Roman, and Dean began to rise, as well. The Shield would hold championships - Dean with the United States Champions, Roman and Seth as tag team champs - and major main event shows.

Eventually, The Shield became so popular, they inevitably turned babyface. No matter what end of the good guy/bad guy spectrum they were on, The Shield’s defining quality was their commitment to each other. So many teams and factions in wrestling spend so much time telling the audience how devoted they are to each other - they’re like brothers, they have an unbreakable bond, etc. The Shield, however, didn’t have to tell anybody that - it was obvious just from watching them.

Which is why their eventual break-up was so momentous.

The Implosion

So… let’s go back to the June 2nd, 2014 episode of WWE Raw. The night before at Payback, The Shield defeated Evolution (Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton) in a brutal No Holds Barred elimination match. The Shield then managed to come away with no eliminations, but they went through Hell to get there.

At the start of the episode, Triple H gathered his co-horts into the ring to discuss how to get revenge, but Batista was having none of it. He not only quit the group, but left WWE altogether, leaving Triple H and Orton to come up with a Plan B against The Shield.

That Plan B,however, turned out to be Seth Rollins attacking Ambrose and Reigns from behind, betraying his brothers and siding with Triple H. This instantly moved Rollins into the position of the top heel in the company, while also allowing Ambrose and Reigns a chance to establish singles careers of their own.

Fast forward to today, Roman has had multiple reigns with both the WWE and Universal Championships, Seth Rollins on the other hand has had similar success and has not only held multiple world titles but has also shown an ability to reinvent himself. Dean Ambrose also held the Grand Slam in WWE, but is creating even more of a legacy now as Jon Moxley, the two-time AEW World Champion.

What’s important about this WWE moment isn’t the fact that The Shield split up so dramatically - though that certainly was important. It’s how they broke up - and who caused it.

The Devil’s in the details

So, no matter which one of the three had grabbed that chair and slammed it into the other two, two things are set in stone. One, whoever would be the turncoat, would end up being aligned with Triple H and The Authority while the other two would be lazer-focused on revenge against the third.

With that in mind, how would the events afterwards have played out if it was for Dean Ambrose or Roman Reigns to turn against their brothers?

Dean Ambrose, Corporate Lunatic

Dean Ambrose following the break-up of The Shield

It is kind of stunning that it took as long as it did for Dean Ambrose to turn heel post-Sheild.

While the majority of his WWE career as a face was spent as a goofy, fun-loving kind of guy, there was always an element of the potential for unhinged violence under the surface. It’s why he was slapped with the “Lunatic Fringe” nickname. However, him being betrayed in this situation added an element of sympathy to his character - which was great at the time, but added a level of difficulty to switching him heel down the line.

Putting Ambrose in the role of The Shield's Judas here would open a world of possibilities. His reasoning for doing it could range from ruthless ambition - “The Sheild was holding me back!” - all the way to doing it just because he felt like it.

The story could have branched out in a multitude of different ways. Did The Authority bite off more than they can chew by aligning with such a maniac? Could Rollins become as unhinged as Ambrose in his quest for revenge? Where does Roman Reigns fit into all of this?

Most importantly, it would establish Ambrose as a cutthroat heel early on - as well as getting him into the main event scene. It wouldn’t affect the career trajectory of either Reigns or Rollins - in fact, setting up Rollins as a babyface to start would not only work well, but it could make his heel turn town the road even more impactful.

Frankly, if it had been Dean Ambrose betraying The Sheild, there would be a good chance he’d still be Dean Ambrose today.

The Head of the Table

It didn’t take long after The Sheild’s debut that WWE had big plans for Roman Reigns. Like, John Cena-level-mega-babyface-big plans. Which meant that having him be the one turning on Ambrose and Rollins just wasn’t in the cards. Following the split, Reigns focused on contending for the WWE Championship as opposed to seeking revenge against Rollins. It’s doubtful that would have changed much if it were Ambrose instead of Seth.

It took years - and a lot of clamoring from the audience - before Reigns finally turned heel and became the Head of the Table. Could he have jumped right into that lofty position if he had turned on his brothers?

Picture Triple H filling Roman’s head with images of global domination - world titles, riches, respect. “I can give you all of that,” he’d tell him. You just have to drop that dead weight and join us over on the dark side. He probably wouldn’t call it the “dark side” - that’s a little on the nose. The point being, we’d see the domineering tyrant that we currently see on Raw and SmackDown now way earlier.

Much like with Ambrose, starting Reigns out as a heel doesn’t disqualify him from turning babyface - and subsequently becoming the face of the company WWE initially planned for him. Provided he got over as a heel back then, much like he has now, turning him into the “next John Cena” probably wouldn’t have met with as much resistance.

As for where Rollins or Ambrose would be right now, it’s hard to speculate. Would the two of them seek vengeance together? Or would they drift apart? It’s this scenario that we’d probably still Ambrose heading to AEW. Ambrose vs Reigns just doesn’t have the same ring to it as the rivalry that Ambrose vs. Rollins did. Without that early feud, would WWE have successfully jump-started his career like they did?

In any scenario, all three men in The Shield would have still become world champions - the wrestling world pretty much revolves around them right now as it is - but the individual careers of each would most likely be drastically different - and so would wrestling itself.