There's no doubt that between 2012 and 2014, The Shield were one of the most dominant stables in WWE. 

Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose made their debuts in November 2012, interfering in a WWE Championship match between CM Punk, Ryback and John Cena. 

The trio then went on to make their mark on the company by going on a long undefeated streak, which also saw each member win titles shortly after their debuts.

Ambrose won the United States Championship the same night that Rollins and Reigns won the Tag Team titles at Extreme Rules in May 2013.  

Of course, the good times didn't last forever - and by June 2014, following a long feud with Evolution, Rollins turned his back on The Shield. 

Each member pursued singles glory over the next three years and the former trio dominated the main event scene on multiple occasions. 

To the delight of the WWE Universe, The Shield did reunite in 2017, but due to Ambrose suffering an injury, they've been on hiatus since December. 

Despite that setback, the stable has a huge legacy in WWE and will no doubt return to the top once The Lunatic Fringe recovers from his injury. 

But things could have been very, very different for two members of The Shield if one pitched storyline hadn't been rejected. 

THE REJECTED IDEA

Back in 2012, before The Shield made its debut, Rollins and Ambrose were still in FCW.

According to former WWE creative team member Kevin Eck, there was an interesting plan that surrounded those two, Daniel Bryan and Kassius Ohno.

Eck revealed that in July 2012, there was a plan to have ECW legend Tommy Dreamer return to WWE in a fictional role as the head of the company’s scouting department. 

For the 1000th episode of Raw, aired in that month, Dreamer would introduce babyface Rollins, Ambrose and Ohno to the roster - rather than have them debut with Reigns. 

Eck, who posted a blog on PressBox detailing this idea, went on to reveal that things would have got even crazier. 

The trio would have won their debut match against three heels before turning against Dreamer by attacking him in the ring.

The following week, they would have confirmed their heel turn by saying they used Dreamer as a stepping stone to make their way to WWE, and they would then reveal that the leader of their faction was actually Daniel Bryan. 

Had the idea been accepted, the whole landscape of WWE would be drastically different to what it is today. 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF TURNBUCKLE TALK - GIVEMESPORT'S WWE PODCAST - THIS WEEK FEATURING ROMAN REIGNS AND CHRIS JERICHO