Seth Rollins Reveals CM Punk's Original Idea for The Shield

No one knew exactly how big The Shield would get when they made their WWE debut as CM Punk's bodyguards. However Punk knew the blueprint, and it didn't include Roman Reigns.

In during an appearance on E&C's Pod of Awesomeness, Seth Rollins shared the origin's of The Shield call up, particular what Punk envision for the Hounds of Justice. According to Rollins, Punk thought WWE's roster was a little stale, and an injection of hungry wrestlers from NXT would be good for the company.

"What I think happened, it's a little fuzzy to me because it was behind the scenes, weird stuff going on, Punk was looking to help turn the roster around," he said.

"He saw the main roster, he saw that there were some hungry guys in NXT that, sort of, came up the same way he did, and he also saw that there was a lot of complacency on the main roster at the time with a lot of the guys. Especially some of the younger guys were just there, just happy to be there. Not trying to get better every week, and not trying to dish storylines, not pushing the envelope for themselves and for the company, and it was starting to hurt the product overall," said Rollins.

However, Rollins went on to say that Punk's original composition of the Shield had nothing to do with Roman Reigns. But given that Reigns was already on WWE's radar, he was added to the group.

"So he wanted to get us in there, us being myself, and Ambrose, and I think, maybe, Kassius Ohno/Chris Hero, but I'm not sure. But the company loved Roman from the get-go, and for all the right reasons," said Rollins.

Not only was Reigns installed as the third Shield member, but it wouldn't be long until it was obvious that he was WWE's pick for mega-stardom. But before Reigns was unleashed, The Shield spent a few year padding an iconic resume — one that touts them as one of the best groups in wrestling history.

The Shield's story—and the course of WWE—was altered in 2014 when Rollins betrayed Dean Ambrose and Reigns in one of the most effective heel turns in company history. Ever since, all three Superstars have dominated WWE, but in 2019, Reigns is out of the company, and Ambrose is set to leave in April.

Since their 2012 debut, WWE has heavily relied on The Shield, but at WrestleMania 35, only one of them may be wrestling.

[H/T Ringside News]