As far as debuts go, the waters don’t get much deeper than it did for Ambrose, Reigns and Rollins that night. Not only was this a major PPV match, and a TLC match no less, but it was only The Shield’s second match ever as a team, following a house show match against Kane, Danielson, and Ryback the night before. Naturally, it didn’t matter one bit; the three made an immediate statement with what most fans considered to be the Match of the Night at WWE TLC, and one of the greatest debut matches ever. It didn’t hurt either that they won, defeating Kane, Danielson, and Ryback decisively and beginning a televised undefeated streak that would last until June 2013. Save for a brief lull following that loss and the start of their association with The Authority in August, The Shield never looked back, remaining a force till their break up in 2014.

Since then, all three Shield members turned out to be franchise singles stars, though not necessarily for WWE. Ambrose, Reigns, and Rollins would all become WWE Champions during their run with the promotion, and Reigns, after a rocky few years, would cement himself as WWE’s top wrestler in the 2020s. He remains that today, as does Rollins, who recently began his second reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam. As for Ambrose, his time as a top guy would come in AEW instead, after he jumped to the promotion in 2019 and became Jon Moxley once more. Moxley now holds the record for most AEW World Championship reigns, and is considered by many to be their top star and the promotion’s heart and soul. So in a way, one could argue The Shield, and their successful debut all those years ago, was responsible for creating top stars in multiple promotions. Just another feather in the cap of arguably the best stable of the 21st century.