101 Shocking Wrestling Plans You Won't Believe Almost Happened

Vince McMahon's final decade plus as full overseer of WWE operations was speckled with some of the worst creative fans had ever seen. Those who had championed McMahon's brilliance during the 'Attitude' days bemoaned an out of touch old man who'd lost his magic touch, but credit where it's due: Even Vince knew that The Shield needed to be strait-laced and to the point.

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose debuted together at Survivor Series 2012. Whilst waiting for their cue to enter and annihilate, the trio clutched massive plexiglass shields with "SHIELD" in all caps emblazoned across them. Away from the ears of management, Roman, Seth and Dean knew that this was cheesier than Chester McCheeserton's cheesy pants.

Thankfully, they had a powerful ally. The most powerful ally.

McMahon wished all 3 men good luck, then asked if they were "wussies" because they had to hide behind giant shields. Spotting opportunity, The Shield crew tossed those props to the side then delivered a memorable beatdown that peaked with a soon-to-be trademark triple powerbomb through the announce desk.

He might not have known it at the time, but Vince was saving The Shield from audience scorn. Those shields were clunky and hard to handle, so it would've been challenging for the group to perform quick run-ins and make their mark on matches/segments going forwards.

Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose were happy to ditch those crappy shields and prevent their new stable from looking like a literal gag. It'd be like asking the New World Order to carry globes around with them 4 life.