7 Years of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in WWE: 5 positives and 5 negatives
Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins burst onto the WWE scene with Dean Ambrose at Survivor Series 2012. The trio, known as The Shield, attacked Ryback in the main event, allowing CM Punk to retain his WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match which also involved John Cena.
Between their debut on November 18, 2012 and their eventual demise on June 2, 2014, The Shield established themselves as WWE’s next group of main-event Superstars, particularly towards the end of their time as a faction when they won back-to-back PPV matches against Evolution.
Fast forward to 2019 and, after multiple reunions, The Shield’s final chapter was written in April when Ambrose decided to leave WWE at the end of his contract. Now going by the name Jon Moxley, the one-time WWE Champion is among the top stars in AEW, while he has also competed for NJPW in recent months.
Reigns and Rollins, meanwhile, remain two of WWE’s highest-profile names, with “The Big Dog” currently starring on SmackDown and “The Beastslayer” performing as one of the main attractions every Monday night on RAW.
Seven years to the day since their first main-roster WWE appearance, let’s take a look at five positives and five negatives from Reigns and Rollins’ time with the company so far.
#5 Positive: One of the greatest factions of all time
Shortly after The Shield’s 2018 reunion, WWE posted a list on social media of the top 10 factions of all time, which included “The Hounds of Justice” in the No.1 position.
It might be an exaggeration to say that Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were the greatest team in WWE history, but they were certainly the most dominant faction of their generation.
#5 Negative: Not enough opponents for The Shield
All three members of The Shield have explained in media interviews throughout the years that WWE decided to separate the trio in June 2014 because they did not have any opponents left to face on RAW and SmackDown.
Looking back, could WWE have done more to build future opponents for three of the company’s rising stars? The Shield’s most memorable rivalries came towards the end of their initial run against teams including The Rhodes Brothers, The Wyatt Family and Evolution, while Reigns and Rollins had some impressive matches against The Usos.
Other than that, many of their matches were against makeshift tag teams and trios.