The Best Feud Of The Shield’s WWE Career
Daniel Foster
Published Mar 28, 2026
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Despite not being together overly long compared to some other all-time great factions, The Shield managed to make enough of an impact to be considered among the best ever stables in WWE history. The trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose will always be synonymous with one another due to their time spent as a unit in WWE, with them having several strong matches, great moments, and a lot of success. When it comes to their feuds, there is an argument to be made about which one was the best. Their rivalry with the Rhodes Family makes as good a case as any for holding that particular distinction.
The Shield Had Several Great Matches And Feuds
The Shield have had various feuds against other tandems and even just individuals, with them initially targeting Ryback upon their debut. From there, they feuded with the likes of Daniel Bryan, Kane, Randy Orton, Sheamus, CM Punk, John Cena, and many more as they climbed the ranks in WWE to become three prominent stars. Even in their subsequent reunions, they took on the likes of Braun Strowman, The Miz, Drew McIntyre, and others.
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In terms of their most notable feuds, there are a few candidates in the discussion. Their matches with The Wyatt Family were stunning, although there wasn’t much of a storyline outside the fact that the two trios didn’t like each other. They would also take on Evolution in a huge clash of generations, in which The Shield would come out on top over the three multi-time World Champion veterans in a great rivalry, giving them a massive rub. However, in terms of storyline and emotion, nothing came close to their bad blood with the Rhodes Family.
The Feud Between The Rhodes Family & The Shield Was The Hottest Thing In WWE
In 2013, Cody Rhodes was picking up some steam as a recently turned babyface, and he further cemented his good guy role by speaking up against the dictatorship rule of The Authority. This led to he and Goldust getting fired from the company, with The Shield used as paid goons to ensure that the Rhodes Family stayed gone. However, Cody and Goldust would continually break onto shows, with the crowd going crazy for them each and every time they made an appearance.
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The Rhodes Family are among the most likable in professional wrestling, so playing the babyface role was natural, with the fans easily rooting for them. Whilst The Shield were doing the dirty work for The Authority, they would also develop personal bad blood with those in the Rhodes Family due to their various brawls and interactions. This all led to a match at the Battleground PPV with Cody and Goldust vs Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. The stipulation stated that if the Rhodes brothers lost, then their father, Dusty Rhodes would also get fired from WWE, but if they won, they would get reinstated.
To this point, The Shield hadn’t suffered too many losses, with them being among the more protected acts on the roster, so there felt like there were very real stakes on the line going in. This was by far the most anticipated match on the show and the hottest storyline in the company. The match itself was brilliant, with great back and forth action, some fun interactions on the outside between Dusty Rhodes and Dean Ambrose, all capped off with one of the most satisfying match conclusions of the year as the babyfaces overcame The Shield to a huge ovation.
The Rhodes Family Got A Satisfying Conclusion To Their Rivalry With The Shield
The story didn’t end there, as the two sides faced off again on Raw, this time with the WWE Tag Team Titles on the line. Once again, the Rhodes Family defeated The Shield to be crowned as the new champions, completing a great journey from unemployment to gold. This elevated the Tag Team Titles, allowed an undercard feud to flourish, and it further helped develop The Shield as individuals too, bringing out great weekly performances.
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In the aftermath, both Cody Rhodes and Goldust wouldn’t keep up with their momentum, and The Shield would go onto other things, but for the couple of months in which these men faced off with one another, it was a lot of fun and full of intense, passionate, and fantastic storytelling, both in and out of matches. The Shield would do a lot of good throughout their WWE run, but this rivalry produced some bouts which are up there with their best matches as a group, along with being their greatest feud ever, even with some very strong alternatives such as Evolution, The Wyatt Family, and various selections of three babyface stars.
