Seth Rollins recently discussed the beginnings of The Shield and what CM Punk had in mind for the trio from the get-go.

WWE continually and deservedly gets a bad wrap for a lot of the work it does, or fails to do, with call-ups from NXT. Superstars that blazed a trail on the black and yellow brand, but failed to make a mark on Raw and SmackDown Live. What is all too often forgotten, however, are some of the success stories to come out of NXT.

Without question, the biggest of those success stories is that of The Shield. Not only did the trio become one of the most popular factions in wrestling history, but all three of its members have gone on to become World Champions. However, The Shield that we came to know and love is not the one that was originally pitched.

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It has become common knowledge that CM Punk was integral in the formation of The Shield. After all, they were introduced as a trio tasked with making sure he remained WWE Champion. It is also well known that Punk wanted Kassius Ohno in the faction, not Roman Reigns. Seth Rollins, a man Punk did want to be a part of The Shield, recently reminisced about those times on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness.

"He wanted to get us in there, us being myself, and Ambrose, and I think, maybe, Kassius Ohno/Chris Hero," Rollins explained. He then confirmed that it was WWE who wanted Reigns to be a part of the group. The Architect discussed how Punk had become fed up of no one on the main roster pushing for more, yet saw plenty of wrestlers fighting for more in NXT. From that, The Shield was born.

It's really tough to imagine where WWE would be right now had Punk had his way. Suffice to say, Ohno would be in a much better spot than he currently finds himself. We're certain Reigns would have found success one way or another too. Who knows, perhaps if he had been a singles star all along, fans wouldn't have turned against him in the way that they did.

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