10 Harsh Realities About The Shield Fans Need To Realize

The Shield have a reputation for being one of the most dominant amd greatest factions in WWE history. The WWE careers of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose were kicked off, and they would each go on to have tremendous success in the professional wrestling industry on the back of it.

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Whilst The Shield had some great matches, memorable moments, and were given the rub by taking out notable names like John Cena, The Rock, The Undertaker, and more over the years. However, not everything about the group’s run in WWE was perfect, and there are some harsh realities that even their biggest fans need to accept.

10 Broken Up At The Height Of Their Popularity

WWE’s booking of The Shield was certainly good at times, and whilst Seth Rollins’ heel turn propelled him to the next level, their breakup came at one of the worst possible times for the group overall.

They were at the absolute peak of their popularity with every member hugely over, and they were split up right when they were the number one babyface act in WWE. Sure, John Cena was still around, but The Shield had taken over from the heel Daniel Bryan as the top stars, but breaking them up cut short a great babyface run.

9 WWE Didn’t Make The Most Of Wyatt Family Feud

The Elimination Chamber 2014 match between The Shield and Wyatt Family was an all-timer. They did have more matches but they were understated, and the feud overall was very short as both moved on to other things, and a harsh reality of it was that it was wasted.

This could have been a truly defining feud if it turned into a multi-PPV series, and it would have probably helped both teams if it stretched to WrestleMania 30. Wyatt wouldn’t have gotten that loss against John Cena and The Shield would have had something better to do,

8 Babyface Turn Was Underwhelming

The Shield became very popular in 2014 following their move from being bad guys to good guys, but the turn itself is one which many fans don’t remember - and for good reason too, as it wasn’t handled well.

They simply saved Jerry Lawler from being bullied by Corporate Kane in a forgotten segment. It should have been a big deal to see this trio change their allegiance, but it simply wasn’t, which is a massive shame.

7 Lackluster Tag Team Championship Reign

The Shield’s original run saw them win titles. At Extreme Rules 2013, it was a good visual to see them with both the US and Tag Team Titles. When it comes to the Tag Team Championship reign of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, it was hugely underwhelming.

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When looking back, a harsh reality that fans need to face was that they were not particularly good champions. The best part of this tag title reign came when they finally lost the belts to Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a great match at Battleground. Everything before that was bland and weak though.

6 Nothing More Than Hired Guns For A While

The Shield are often looked at as one of the best factions in WWE history, but when looking back at their time, fans would come to the harsh realization that much of their early days was defined by being hired goons.

For both CM Punk and The Authority, The Shield simply did the dirty work for heels and failed to have their own identity for a while. They would go on to gain popularity, but there was a stretch where they had little momentum and were just treated like any other heels on the roster.

5 Dean Ambrose Was Wasted After The Shield

The breakup of The Shield was, on paper, supposed to elevate the members of the group. When it comes to Dean Ambrose, he was used solely to put over Seth Rollins, and from there he just fell down the card.

Whereas Reigns and Rollins went on to the top of the card, both factoring into the main event of WrestleMania 31, Ambrose was treated like a midcarder. He would get a world title reign in WWE eventually, but for most of his run he was undoubtedly the least important member of the group. He was supposed to be the star early on, but the reality is WWE didn’t seem to like him all that much.

4 Poor WrestleMania Matches

When it comes to the biggest wrestlers or factions, there are often defining matches in their run, and they can come at WrestleMania. However, when it comes to the biggest stage, The Shield didn’t have a classic match.

Their first bout against Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show was fine, but their quick squash match against Kane & The New Age Outlaws was completely pointless and a waste of everyone involved given how over they were at the time.

3 Infighting Storylines Were Poor

Even though The Shield had several dominant moments where they laid out legends and top stars, winning most of their matches as a group, there were some storytelling moments which left a lot to be desired. They fell into the same traps that many factions and teams in WWE fall into.

There were several occasions where there was infighting and tension which just felt awkward and unnecessary, and it also led to their weakest moment when they lost a 3-on-1 handicap match to CM Punk at TLC 2013.

2 Dean Ambrose’s US Title Reign Was Awful

Dean Ambrose was presented as the leader of The Shield early on, and he was handed the United States Championship to highlight this more. On paper, a reign of 351 days with defenses against names like Kofi Kingston, Kane, Adrian Neville, RVD, Big E, Dolph Ziggler, and more, sounds like an all-timer run. In reality, it was dreadful.

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Ambrose’s title matches felt sporadic and uncommon, and many of his title matches ended in disqualification or cheap cheating. It was painfully poor and it led to the title feeling like a prop.

1 Reunions Were Lacking

The Shield had a few reunions, though they never quite recaptured the magic of their original run. It often felt like a ploy to get Roman Reigns cheered, and seeing them dress up in their old gear felt like a cheap rehashing of the past.

Feuds against the likes of the “Dogs of War” and Baron Corbin’s thrown together tandem were very repetitive, and despite WWE billing it as a big deal, The Shield’s reunions weren’t ever very good.