Seth Rollins Shares Behind-the-Scenes Details on The Shield’s Iconic Tactical Gear

Seth Rollins recounted the decision process behind The Shield’s iconic tactical gear during a recent appearance on WWE Break It Down.

The Shield, composed of Rollins, Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley), and Roman Reigns, initially debuted wearing turtlenecks before transitioning to their now-famous tactical attire.

Two first impressions when I put on the Shield gear. One, ‘Oh, this is great. I don’t have to shave my legs anymore.’ Two, ‘Hot. It’s hot.’ It was so warm because it was everything was tucked in, tied in. I was just sweating bullets every single night. So it was like an extra like, it was like a sauna suit you were wearing out there.

Rollins appreciated how the tactical gear eliminated certain performance pressures.

We as performers. There’s a certain scrutiny that comes with being in your underwear in front of millions of people all the time, and not having to deal with that scrutiny was kind of nice. Just iconic, just an iconic look. The mask was sick. We only got one or two of those uses, unfortunately.

The trio quickly agreed to change their initial attire after debuting.

I mean, the turtleneck was iconic, but I remember immediately going, ‘Why are we wearing turtlenecks?’ That was the literal first thing is like, ‘Okay, by Monday of the next week. We need a new look. We gotta go tactical. We gotta do something else.’ I mean, all three of us, me, Roman, Dean, we were all in agreement: Turtlenecks back in the closet, and we gotta go full tactical.

The group conducted their own research to develop better ring gear.

So we went and kind of did our own reconnaissance, if you will, on new gear for The Shield. The boots were an adjustment, and we had to go through a series of boots to find which one was going to be the lightest. We had to buy, I want to say, like two or three different sets we had to go through because the first ones were given to us. We didn’t even know the look when we came with the turtleneck. The first set of combat boots, they were just given to us. Those were heavy. Those were like you’re trudging through some forests with those suckers, those you do not want to do anything athletic in those and so we had to find some alternatives that we’re going to make moving around in the ring a little bit easier.

The tactical gear became an iconic part of wrestling history for all three performers.

Rollins occasionally wears the Shield gear to play mind games with Roman Reigns.

Rollins recently stated he believes a match between himself, Reigns, and CM Punk has sufficient name value to transcend special placement considerations at WrestleMania.