13 Greatest Moments In WWE Survivor Series History
4. The Shield’s Debut - Survivor Series 2012
Maybe I’ve been a little generous with this next entry, partly on account of being a Shield fanboy.
Personal bias aside though, the debut of the renegade faction at the 2012 Survivor Series was one of the most unexpected, refreshing and emphatic arrivals on the scene that we’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.
Making their presence known in the middle of the main event between CM Punk, Ryback and John Cena, the Shield emerged through the Indianapolis crowd dressed in some pretty badass swat gear to preserve Punk's WWE Championship reign. With Ryback right in the ascendency, a savage beat down on the big guy ensued before we got our first taste of that trademark triple powerbomb through the announce table, by which point fans were started to catch on to who the mystery trio were.
Michael Cole filled the rest of us in. He helpfully identified the interlopers as Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns from NXT, in what was one of the most exciting invasion angles I’ve personally ever seen.
Everything from the trio’s mannerisms, their gear and the beat down itself was spot on here, and it marked the start of a very special 18-month period in WWE.