One WWE Match You MUST Watch From Every Year 1984-2024

A decade and change removed from The Shield debuting as a fully formed unit in 2012, all three men are comfortably the biggest three stars to emerge from the first NXT class and/or dying embers of the woeful Florida Championship Wrestling developmental brand presided over by the omni-disgraced John Laurinaitis. 

Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley and Seth Rollins have been vital components to the shows they've contributed to ever since, but that almost understates the value of 'The Hounds Of Justice' when they first landed on the scene. And just how much they were about to save the product was abundantly clear from their very first match.

Fought under tornado and No Disqualification rules, this could have been standard plunder fare to establish the new talents as cosplaying tough guys with chairs in hand. Instead, WWE rolled out one of the most elegantly arranged six-man tags in the history of the organisation. The Shield never acted alone, never allowed for a deficit, never permitted themselves to be in a minority situation. The spots and stunts were wild, with Reigns, Ambrose and especially Rollins given multiple opportunities to shine, but the constant threat the vicious new heels but the established babyfaces under immediately established the group as a puzzle WWE's biggest heroes might struggle to solve.

Influential on their own terms, The Shield remain one of the few success stories from Vince McMahon's mostly bad last full decade in charge, and it stands to reason that three voices fighting against the idiotic ones in his head stood a better chance of succeeding than anybody stuck fighting for themselves.