4 years ago, with the swing of a chair, Seth Rollins bought an end to one of the most dominant and popular stables in recent WWE history, The Shield. At the time it seemed to make little to no sense. The trio of Rollins, Reigns and Ambrose were at their collective height, and coming off a winning feud with Evolution, they looked rubber-stamped to rule over the company, side by side, for years to come.
However, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and as time has shown, the end of The Shield was just the beginning, leading to all three Hounds of Justice to ride the momentum of their implosion to successful singles careers, the likes of which seemed just out of reach when they were together.
The break-up was the catalyst for a new era in WWE, and all three stars have continued to lead the company ever since, though obviously some have been more successful than others.
Dean Ambrose
Whilst part of The Shield, Ambrose was painted as the de facto leader. He was their mouth-piece; a charismatic psychopath greenlit to carry the trio with the kind of frenetic unpredictability he has since become synonymous with. So when the split came, it was assumed he would be the first of the three to get a rocket strapped to his back.
This was not the case, and it would be two years before The Lunatic Fringe got his chance to hold a World Title, becoming the last of the trio to do so. A dilution of his character from the whirling ball of madness to just being “a wacky guy” also didn’t help.
Even though he hasn’t quite lit the main event scene alight as much as his former compadres, his post-Shield C.V. consists of one Tag Team Title reign, two Intercontinental Championships, a Money In The Bank victory and the aforementioned WWE World Heavyweight reign. He was however the first of the three to become a GrandSlam Champion.
Roman Reigns
4 Wrestlemania main events in a row. That should be all you need to know about Roman Reigns standing in the company ever since the split. Whilst he was the most unpolished, and least critically popular of the three at the time, he was almost immediately christened as “The Guy” by the company, and has basically lived rent-free in the main event scene ever since.
Whilst some fans disdain for being made to accept Reigns as the face of company has reached john Cena-esque levels of pantomime, Roman has, in the ring at least, lived up to his billing, putting on excellent matches with everyone from AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens and even against his former brethren.
Despite his top guy status, he just misses out on being the most decorated of the three, with one US Title run, one IC run, three WWE World Heavyweight Championships and one (notoriously ill-fated) Royal Rumble win.
Seth Rollins
The Architect of The Shield’s demise, at the time Rollins was considered to be the one most at risk of slipping through the cracks and getting lost in the shuffle of WWE’s burgeoning roster. Oh how wrong we were. Becoming’s The Authority’s hand picked champion, Rollins has been on absolute tear these past 4 years, gaining a reputation as one of the best wrestlers not only in the company, but on the planet.
From lasting over an hour in a gauntlet match, to defending titles in eight separate countries on four different continents in the space of 4 weeks, he has growing into a beast of a workhorse for the company. All those miles and hours he has put in have not gone unrewarded, with him being the most successful member of The Shield in terms of silverware.
The KingSlayer has two post-split Tag Team Title runs to his name, along with one reign a piece with the Intercontinental and US belts. He also is a two-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, one of which came about from a Money In The Bank win.
While a reunion has been teased and even attempted (you can’t really count late 2017 as the wheels fell off well before it was even out of the garage), and it would be insanely profitable for the company, you’ve got to commend the WWE for not fully pulling that particular trigger. It’s refreshing to see them hold off for so long and bank on all three to individually carry the company, becoming some of the biggest stars they have at their disposal.
4 years on from a moment that genuinely shocked and surprised audiences around the world, the break-up of The Shield has proved to be beneficial not only to the three individuals who ran roughshod over the company for two years, but also for the WWE, fans and wrestling as a whole.
What did you make of The Shield’s split, and it’s impact on the landscape of the WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
