10 years of The Shield: What were WWE's original plans for their Survivor Series debut?
The Shield made their dominant debut at Survivor Series on November 18, 2012. During their first appearance as a group, they didn't wear the tactical gear and vest they are famous for, but rather a simple black outfit with a turtleneck. As it turns out, they were also originally slated to have something else for their debut.
During the aforementioned event 10 years ago, CM Punk successfully defended his WWE Championship against Ryback and John Cena.
Still, a big part of the former superstar's victory was the attack of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose). Since then, superstars and legends felt the wrath of The Hounds of Justice until their initial breakup in 2014.
In a Talk is Jericho podcast, The Visionary opened up that they were supposed to enter with an actual shield along with other items like tear gas, sticks, and clubs.
"I believe the idea was that initially we were supposed to be a security force for Punk...Well, we go to wardrobe, we got these pants, we've got these awful turtlenecks, like, I don't know why we had turtlenecks...And then we had these shields, like big plastic riot shields...and you had tear gas, that's the shield. It said 'SHIELD' on it and we had the sticks, the clubs, too." [H/T Cageside Seats]
However, riot gear wasn't used during the event. As explained by Rollins later on, Vince McMahon was the one who suggested ditching the rest of the props.
"I distinctly remember we were walking through the path that we were going to run and we had these shields and these clubs, and we're walking down the thing and Vince is by the ring. He looks over and he says 'oh, what you can't kick his a*s by yourself?' And we're sitting here just looking like doofus's with these shields and clubs and we're like 'yeah, we can' and we just throw the stuff down."
Dug @WWENetwork @steveaustinBSR Podcast with Ambrose- he mentioned the infamous Shield Shields. Never saw TV- enjoy! https://t.co/AmeYAhyTJ9
What happened to The Shield?
The Hounds of Justice was one of the most dominant and memorable groups in the Stamford-based promotion's history. Still, all great things must come to an end.
After The Shield defeated Evolution at the 2014 Payback event, fans were shocked when in the RAW episode that followed when Rollins betrayed them and joined Triple H. Dean and Roman remained as a duo for a bit before they became solo competitors.
In 2017, Ambrose and Rollins reunited as a duo before Roman Reigns joined them later on. They continued briefly in 2018 and 2019, until it was announced that Ambrose had decided not to renew his contract.
The last match for The Shield occurred at a WWE event in Illinois, wherein they defeated Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre.
Although The Shield is done, all three members have found massive success. Jon Moxley joined AEW and is the current World Champion. Meanwhile, Rollins is one of RAW's top stars and the current US Champion. Roman Reigns has also become one of the biggest wrestlers in the world, especially with the formation of The Bloodline.