The Shield made an impactful WWE debut at Survivor Series 2012 when they attacked John Cena and Ryback to help CM Punk retain the WWE Title.
One month later, Big E had an impactful debut of his own, attacking Cena and aligning himself with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee.
According to Big E during his WWE 24 special, the two debuts were talked about as being one.
"My first feeling of getting called up was 2012. I was doing loops. Any collective period of days is a loop. It's Roman [Reigns], Seth [Rollins], Dean [Ambrose], and me. There was some thought of bringing all four of us in together as a group. Obviously, that changes, they go on to international fame as The Shield. I was told, 'You're going to be with Dolph and AJ, on your very first night, you're going to attack John Cena.' I'm thinking, 'Man, this is it,'" said Big E.
Big E went on to say that he needed the call-up at the time because he felt like he was good, but he needed to grow. At the time, he was also NXT Champion and continued his five-count gimmick in NXT, but was a stoic bodyguard on the main roster.
Less than a year on the main roster, Big E would win the Intercontinental Championship.
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