The Shield made their WWE debut at the 2012 Survivor Series pay-per-view ten years ago today. In the Triple Threat main event, current WWE United States Champion Seth Rollins, current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and current AEW World Champion Jon Moxley (then known as Dean Ambrose) debuted to assist then-WWE Champion CM Punk in retaining his title over John Cena and Ryback. The three-man group went on to become one of WWE’s most dominant factions.
Moxley left WWE when his contract expired on April 30, 2019, and he is the only Shield member to have found success outside of WWE in AEW, NJPW, and various indie promotions. He recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso about The Shield and how things were early in their WWE careers.
“Looking back, it was like we were kids,” Moxley said. “The first few months of The Shield were fucking intense. It was a different time back then. We weren’t necessarily welcomed with open arms by everybody, but we didn’t give a fuck. We were going to push the pace and have good fucking matches. Before long, everybody wanted to start working with us.”
Moxley went on to discuss the “Shield work ethic,” which he claims they all have.
“We created that ‘Shield work ethic,’” Moxley said. “The people we were around have that, too. Claudio [Castagnoli] is an old riding partner of The Shield. Hell, Bryan [Danielson] was our opponent in our first match. I still have that. We all do. It makes us who we are.”
Moxley will defend against MJF on Saturday’s AEW Full Gear pay-per-view.
