3 Reasons Each Member Of The Shield Was The True Leader

There are few factions in WWE history more iconic than The Shield. Though the group didn’t remain together as long as a number of other stables and their reunions felt repetitive at times, it’s difficult to deny the history they made.

The Shield’s resume includes a slate of great matches, producing three eventual world champions, and thriving as both a heel and face unit. But who was the true leader of The Shield? An argument could be made for each of the group’s members: Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins.

9 Dean Ambrose: The First Singles Champion

When The Shield debuted, they faced the unusual situation of working top stars, but none of their core members having an established relationship with the fans. Unlike Evolution in which Triple H and Ric Flair provided a veteran presence or the Legacy group starring Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins were all essentially rookies to the general audience.

Ambrose immediately stepped out in front of the pack as the first member of the group to capture singles gold—the United States Championship. Rollins and Reigns picked up an early tag title run but felt a bit secondary to The Lunatic Fringe right out of the gate.

8 Roman Reigns: Royal Rumble Eliminations

By virtue of his look and his family heritage, many fans pegged Roman Reigns as the eventual breakout star from The Shield. One of the surest signs of him realizing that destiny came in the 2014 Royal Rumble, when Roman Reigns broke the record for eliminations in a single Rumble at the time, with twelve.

This star-making performance firmly established the young up and comer as a player who could hang at the highest level. He was also the last man standing opposite eventual winner Batista, signaling to fans that Reigns would one day be punching his own ticket to the main event of WrestleMania.

7 Seth Rollins: The Peacemaker

In early 2014, WWE heavily teased a rift in The Shield, including Dean Ambrose showing signs of arrogance and thinking he was above the group and a number of on-screen arguments between the guys.

Out of The Shield, Seth Rollins was the closest thing to a peacemaker, trying to keep the faction together. He lived up to his nickname as The Architect of the group, and whether it was his kayfabe negotiating skill that one out or a simple change in creative direction, the group did hang together for months to follow, including a face turn.

6 Dean Ambrose: The Mouthpiece

Early in The Shield’s run, Dean Ambrose did most of the group’s talking. He was a natural fit for the role. While Seth Rollins had comparable experience as a wrestler (and was arguably more polished in the ring), he wasn’t as well established on the microphone. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns, for all his star potential, was the greenest member of the group in just about every way.

As the de facto mouthpiece of The Shield for its first year-plus, Ambrose felt like the star of the group. While Reigns, in particular, had at least as high of a ceiling in terms of potential, Ambrose looked the most readily prepared to be a singles star.

5 Roman Reigns: The Center Of The Shield Bomb

There are very few triple-team finishers in the history of WWE, and it’s hard to argue that any was more iconic than The Shield Bomb. The maneuver saw Roman Reigns deliver a powerbomb, with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose standing to either side to add additional force on their opponent’s descent to the mat.

This signature move only really made sense with Reigns as the focal point. Though Ambrose and Rollins did do it with Kurt Angle as a substitute at TLC 2017, the move just wasn’t the same, and further affirmed Reigns’ place as the anchor of the faction.

4 Seth Rollins: The Steadiest Member

It’s well documented that Dean Ambrose was the member of The Shield to leave WWE, thus putting an end to the group for good (or at least for the foreseeable future). Meanwhile, Roman Reigns has had multiple extended absences from the WWE landscape, including his battle with leukemia and more recent departure from WWE television during the pandemic. While neither man can be blamed—Ambrose for his frustrations with the company, nor Reigns for health and family matters—that nonetheless left Seth Rollins as the steadiest presence out of the three for WWE.

Aside from a half year absence due to injury from late 2015 to mid-2016, Rollins has been a consistent upper-tier talent for WWE for nearly seven years. That includes being world champion as both a face and heel and working in a prominent role against the biggest names WWE has to offer, night in and night out.

3 Dean Ambrose: Striking Out On His Own

When The Shield first split up, Seth Rollins turned heel and Roman Reigns look poised to become a main event face. Dean Ambrose had the least clear path forward but got over on his own via charisma and a wild style in the ring.

In a parallel journey, it was Ambrose who left WWE behind. As he’s discussed in a number of shoot interviews, including a stop on Chris Jericho’s podcast, he was frustrated with WWE management and creative, and so opted to leave money on the table to blaze a different trail. As Jon Moxley, he emerged as arguably the top star for the fledgling AEW, proving that he can thrive outside the WWE machine in a way that Rollins and Reigns haven’t necessarily done.

2 Roman Reigns: The Guy

There are only a handful of WWE talents who can say that they were world champions, or that they main evented WrestleManias. The shortest list of all is the roster of Superstars who were “the guy,” or the face of the company.

Roman Reigns succeeded John Cena in this role. It’s why he’s the only member of The Shield to have properly main evented a WrestleMania (excluding Seth Rollins inserting himself via Money in the Bank cash-in)—let alone to have done so four times, and why it’s hard not to think of him as the faction’s top star.

1 Seth Rollins: The First World Champion

While all three members of The Shield won world titles in time, it’s noteworthy that Seth Rollins did so first. He won Money in the Bank in 2014 and made history when he cashed in mid-match during the WrestleMania 31 main event, only to steal the WWE Championship.

As such, Rollins became a breakout star from the group, going on to hold the title for half a year before he went down to injury. Reigns would be the next WWE Champion and quite arguably surpass The Architect in terms of accomplishments. Rollins got there first, though making a reasonable argument to being the leader of the pack from The Shield.

Next: 5 Wrestlers The Shield Put Over (& 5 They Buried)