Survivor Series holds a very special place in the hearts of The Shield as this was the event where The Hounds Of Justice first made their presence known. The trio popped up during the main event of the 2012 event, attacking Ryback and putting him through the announce table to help CM Punk retain his WWE Championship.
Since that point, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns have gone on to create their own specific Survivor Series moments. They've been involved in a wide array of matches at this major event, from opening bouts to championship matches and, of course, the traditional elimination bouts. But which match featuring a member of The Shield has been the best in Survivor Series history?
11 Roman Reigns vs Sheamus (2015)
While this was the final match of the night, it only lasted a few minutes. Roman Reigns had already been involved in two matches on this show when Sheamus popped up with his Money In The Bank briefcase.
Because of that, this 'match' was literally just Sheamus nailing a Brogue Kick to take advantage of a tired Reigns and get the win. Therefore, it's no surprise that this was the worst match of any Shield member at Survivor Series, although it was a shocking moment.
10 Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt (2014)
There was a lot of excitement heading into this match, but the bout was very much one of two halves. Things started out very slow between Wyatt and Reigns, and there was a real lack of action, which didn't make sense for their storyline, which had been heated.
However, after a strange mid-match promo from Wyatt, Dean Ambrose ended up attacking him with a chair. It caused a disqualification finish, which hurt the match further, but then they picked things up with a huge brawl featuring Ambrose putting Bray through a table. The live crowd absolutely loved this section of the battle, it's just a shame the whole match didn't have that feel.
9 Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose (2015)
This match was the true main event of Survivor Series 2015, but it didn't quite live up to its potential. While they were both selling the fact they had already had one match, this just never got into the gears expected of the two former partners.
It was much shorter than most people would've expected, and while Dean Ambrose got in some offence, he never seemed like a true threat. This should have been a big back-and-forth bout with lots of twists and turns, but that just didn't happen.
8 Roman Reigns vs Alberto Del Rio (2015)
This was actually the opening bout for the 2015 version of Survivor Series in what was the semi-finals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament. It was a fun opening bout with Roman Reigns and Alberto Del Rio having nice chemistry together.
They didn't hold back here which was good to see, with Roman really pushing the power moves, while Del Rio targetted the arm of Roman. It was a real back-and-forth match, which allowed for some really fun moments between them.
7 Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens (2015)
The other semi-final match from that tournament saw Dean Ambrose battle Kevin Owens, and this was the better of the two matches. While it was similar in length, it was just slightly more competitive and the audience was more invested due to KO being more popular than Alberto Del Rio.
Things started a little slow, but it didn't take long for them to get going. KO was full of trash-talking and he came very close to winning several times which really added to the excitement of this one.
6 The Shield, Antonio Cesaro & Jack Swagger vs The Usos, Rey Mysterio, Stardust, & Goldust (2013)
This was The Shield's first-ever official match at a Survivor Series event, and of course, they were part of a traditional elimination match. This was a really fun one as well, with the eliminations throughout this one being booked well.
While Dean Ambrose was eliminated early as he acted too cocky, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns had better showings. In the end, the match boiled down to just Roman for his team. The Big Dog was at his best here, wrecking everything in his way, nailing an amazing Spear to Rey Mysterio off the springboard to win the match overall.
5 Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura (2018)
Seth Rollins going one-on-one with Shinsuke Nakamura was a true dream match and they certainly did a good job of living up to the billing. There was no real rivalry behind this situation as it was just a Raw vs. SmackDown match, but that didn't stop it from being a good one.
It was competitive and they certainly went back-and-forth with some fun action. Each man came close to winning, which made this a gripping encounter, but the lack of storyline just stopped it from reaching the next level. The match was centered around a clash between champions as Nakamura held the United States Title and Rollins was the Intercontinental Champion. The King Slayer emerged victorious in this contest over The King of Strong Style.
4 Team Cena vs Team Authority (2014)
This is a perfect example of how good a traditional Survivor Series match can be. This match had everything you could ask for, brilliant wrestlers, big stakes on the line, with The Authority's future or the jobs of Team Cena (except John) all being on the line, and some great in-ring work.
Every elimination was different in this match and that really set the tone and showcased creativity. Dolph Ziggler was the highlight, working as the sole survivor as he took a huge beating, while Seth Rollins really impressed for his team as a cocky captain. Of course, the debut of Sting was also epic and provided a great finish to a really good match.
3 Team Raw vs Team NXT vs Team SmackDown (2019)
Both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were involved in this one, being on different teams, and they were two of the best performers in this one. Roman won the match for SmackDown as a sole survivor, but Seth also was the last man alive in this one for Raw.
The match had tons of amazing moments with lots of callbacks to old issues while teasing dream matches from the NXT talent. Seth and Roman teamed up slightly towards the end when battling Keith Lee and Tommaso Ciampa which was also a fun callback, and overall it was a fantastic match with some great eliminations and fantastic in-ring action.
2 The Shield vs The New Day (2017)
The Shield has only had one six-man tag team match at Survivor Series, but it was one incredible match. A true dream encounter against The New Day, WWE's other dominant trio, both teams made sure this lived up to the occasion.
New Day showed new levels of aggression here in an attempt to match The Shield, while they were their usual chaotic selves. There was amazing near falls, brilliant teamwork, and tremendous back-and-forth action which could have gone either way at points, making for a tremendous encounter. In the end, The Shield stood victorious.
1 Team Raw vs Team SmackDown (2016)
All three members of The Shield were involved in this particular match, which is arguably the best Survivor Series elimination match in modern history. This had everything, from inner feuds between the talent to callbacks from the past and tension within the groups.
This one lasted nearly an hour, which allowed for a lot of storytelling as the drama was ramped up throughout. In the end, none of the three members was able to survive, but this was a simply brilliant wrestling match.