Over the last decade, WWE has been blessed by two of the biggest and best trios factions of all time. Both The Shield and New Day have been major parts of WWE programming, but each in vastly different ways, bringing a lot of success to the company. With The Shield no longer being a faction, with one of the members not even with the company anymore, compared to the New Day who is still going strong today, it bodes the question of which trio was more important to the company?

The Shield Created Three World Champions And Main Eventers

The Shield made their debut at the end of 2012, coming a couple of years before The New Day. Immediately, the three new names of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns felt like big deals, and WWE committed to their push as a top act. They were strong heels for their first year, winning titles and beating everyone in their path. At the start of 2014, the team turned face, with their popularity skyrocketing as they defied authority, and bulldozed through the legendary team of Evolution, each with big performances over the last year. The three men were clearly primed to be main event stars, and the wheels started turning that year.

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The Shield Roman Reigns Universal Champion

The team broke up in June 2014, but it was the genesis of the three men becoming singles stars. All three men would main event PPVs, win titles, and have big moments over the next five years or so. At times, the men would team up again, and it felt significant every time due to their previous popularity as a team. Rollins and Reigns were pushed more by WWE, each winning world titles at WrestleMania, but Ambrose would eventually leave the company in 2019. For a long time, Reigns was hated as a babyface, with Rollins suffering from the same at the latter end of 2019, but heel turns for both have elevated their stock hugely, with Reigns becoming the best act in WWE and the number one name that they have on the roster, with Rollins being hugely popular and successful too, and perhaps only second to Reigns in terms of the full-time male roster.

The Longevity And Success Of The New Day Is Unmatched

The New Day came together in 2014, but being happy, smiling, and clapping babyfaces wasn’t working out, with the crowd turning on them. This led to a heel turn which saved their team and allowed them to become one of the most entertaining teams in recent memory, bringing huge importance to the tag team division, which they would continue to do by becoming the most successful tag team in WWE history with eleven tag title reigns.

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The New Day America Cropped

Their popularity allowed them to naturally transition into being babyfaces, and they are one of very few acts that have managed to retain their support from the crowd over many years, with them still going strong over seven years since their creation. Their character work and chemistry are both incredible, and their great work in the team allowed two of the members, Kofi Kingston and Big E, to each win the WWE Championship, with Kingston becoming the first African-born WWE Champion in history. Xavier Woods has also experienced singles success, becoming the 2021 King of the Ring. WWE has failed to keep both Kingston and E in the main event scenes since their respective championship losses, which is a shame considering their talents.

Which Team Is More Important To WWE?

Both teams are important for different reasons. In the case of The Shield, they produced three of the top names in wrestling today, with Dean Ambrose being one of the top stars in AEW as Jon Moxley. Reigns and Rollins are two of the most reliable performers and have been part of the main event consistently, being two of the most important names to modern-day WWE. The New Day has helped tag team wrestling limp along even in its worst stages, and as a team, their merchandise sales and ability to create money has been something most modern-day tag teams have struggled to do, with the team becoming the number one seller at one point.

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Roman Reigns Paul Heyman

The longevity of the New Day must be acknowledged too as something unheard of in modern-day WWE, though perhaps a breakup would push them into being main event singles stars. Looking at the treatment of Kingston and E during their title reigns may be a clear indication that they aren’t what WWE wants in a champion. It is so hard to compare, but in terms of importance to WWE alone, The Shield has helped produce the natural successor to John Cena, so they just beat New Day.