The breakup of the Shield in 2014 has had a massive residual effect on the WWE. Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns are all poised for big things. Rollins talked about the angle in a recent interview and if it was up to the WWE, it would have happened sooner.
If you remember, the breakup of the Shield actually started months earlier and the breakup soon turned into a babyface turn for the trio. Rollins told Jericho that the team saw more time in a run together and recalled how he and his teammates delayed the angle and bought time for a big babyface run.
“We said no, we stopped it,” Rollins said. “One major time for sure. They wanted us to be prepared for that, but we’re not cowardly heels. People like us. We put a huge kibosh on it.”
Rollins went on to tell Jericho that the reason they stopped it was because they felt they had a babyface run in them. Rollins felt that the team was appealing to both men and women and that they were leaving money on the table by breaking up without a turn.
“In this company no one had really cornered the market on six-man tags,” Rollins said. “As an attraction, the six-man match had never been an attraction here. We had that six man thing down. We had a pace that catered to our fans. They went with it (the babyface run) for a little while. We talked to them (Vince) and got it settled.”
It is interesting if you think back on it and you have to wonder where things would be today if the trio had broken up when the angle initially started. We wouldn’t have seen the feud vs. Evolution which means Rollins trajectory would have been much different. I think Rollins was the biggest benefactor here as he was looking as the odd man out when the angle started with Ambrose cemented as a U.S. champion and Reigns poised for big things.
Listen to the rest of the interview over at Talk is Jericho.
Randy Macho Man Savage Collector’s Edition Box Set
[amazon_link id=”B00JHH1YAW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]WWE The Paul Heyman Story[/amazon_link]
Grab discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t -shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com