Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins have established themselves as two of WWE’s most respected Superstars over the past decade. However, the former SHIELD members’ reputation among their co-workers hasn’t always been as good as it is now.
In 2013, rumors surfaced that Reigns and Rollins got into backstage heat after an incident with Randy Orton during an untelevised tag team match.
At the time, they were the Tag Team Champions while The Shield’s stablemate Dean Ambrose held the United States Championship.
Brian Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer reported the story in the Figure Four Weekly newsletter:
“There’s been heat over the Shield in recent weeks. It was said that Rollins and Reigns were the two that upset the office (…) Another WWE source said that the issue with Reigns was that a house show tag match which featured Reigns and Randy. Orton was inside, and he missed an opportunity and joined the match backstage yelling about it. A man in Reigns’ spot arguing with a guy over Randy Orton’s spot. been, it’s a great way to get massive heat on you.” (h/t Cageside Seats)
According to Alvarez, then-Chairman of WWE, Vince McMahon disagreed with his son-in-law, Triple H, about how the two should be reprimanded:
“Whatever happened, we were told Vince McMahon wanted to punish people and Triple H didn’t want to punish him, so he was fighting to keep him strong on TV.”
Alvarez also pointed out that around the same time The Big Show had a problem with Rollins. The architect was reportedly harassing the former WWE veteran due to his “inappropriate conduct” backstage.
How Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins handled the backstage heat
The report on The Shield’s behind-the-scenes drama was published on July 26, 2013. Two weeks earlier, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins defeated The Usos in a classic match at the Money in the Bank 2013 kickoff show.
One of the most dominant groups in wrestling history, The Shield had a standout year in 2013 with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins capturing the WWE Tag Team Championship and Dean Ambrose winning and retaining the WWE United States Championship. was. Stayed with him for 351 days.
Bryan Alvarez said that the high quality of The Shield vs. The Usos caused WWE higher officials to quickly forget about the backstage problems:
“I don’t know if things have changed, but another good source in WWE claimed that when the heat was on, the pre-show match with The Shield vs. The Usos was so good that it took all the heat afterwards ”
Nearly a decade later, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins remain two of WWE’s star attractions. The former tag team partners will celebrate 10 years of the main roster on November 18, 2022.
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