10 Times WWE Tried To Recapture The Magic (And Failed)
2. Shield Split 2.0
When Seth Rollins took two steps behind his Shield colleagues in 2014, chair in hand, it was a stunning moment in wrestling. The group had been on an absolute tear since their introduction to the company as a team two years prior, and the timing was perfect. To leave the fans wanting more and create an outcry that it was too soon to break up the group was admittedly excellent booking on WWE's part.
Rollins went on to become WWE Champion with the greatest Money In The Bank cash-in we've ever seen, Reigns was freed up to be the next John Cena, and Ambrose was criminally misused until his exit from the company in 2019. Before Jon Moxley returned to our screens, though, we were made to wait three years to see The Shield get back together, in a rare case of WWE not rushing through storylines for a diminished payoff. Then, WWE rushed the second betrayal of The Shield for a diminished payoff.
Ambrose's initial attack on Rollins was a surprise moment for sure, due to the fresh announcement regarding Reigns' leukaemia. Everything that happened after that was just a letdown. The direction Ambrose's character went was such left-field cringe that it actually hurt the legacy of the group. The second Shield split didn't catch fire like the first, due mainly down to WWE's appalling treatment of Ambrose.