Twelve months ago at the start of 2014, The Shield had become one of the most popular acts on the roster, and after taking out pretty much the entire WWE locker room, it seemed like there was nothing left for them to do. With no-one to challenge them externally, the Shield members began sniping at each other, and tension began to grow within the group. The main divide in The Shield was between Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, and it started to bleed over into their matches. Dean Ambrose was seen by many as The Shields leader in the early days, but by 2014 it seemed he was becoming jealous of Reigns inherent charisma and popularity. At Royal Rumble 2014, Roman Reigns set a record for most eliminations in a single match and while on that roll, he eliminated Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family. As he took a moment to celebrate, Dean Ambrose took his chance and tried to dump Reigns over the top rope and eliminate the biggest threat in the entire Rumble. Seth Rollins accosted Ambrose for his actions, and reminded him that The Shield work together, and the pair started working on Cesaro. As they nearly eliminated The Swiss Superman, Reigns returned and eliminated all of them at once, adding another three to his growing tally.
