Was The Shield Inspired by Impact Wrestling?

There's no denying that The Shield is one of the best gimmicks offered up by the WWE over the last several years. The iconic trio of Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose got over with the WWE crowd almost from the very beginning.

However, there's someone who claims that gimmick wasn't all WWE's idea after all. Wes Brisco, son of the legendary Gerald Brisco, recently spoke about The Shield during an appearance on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show. Brisco formerly worked in WWE developmental (FCW) as well as with Impact Wrestling.

It was during his time with Impact that Brisco starred with the stable known as Aces and Eights. It was that stable that inspired The Shield, according to Brisco.

"All those guys that we were together with, we stuck together, we hung out together, we were together. I mean, we took this [seriously]. We wanted to be very successful. We wanted to treat it like it was our baby, our opportunity to set an example and create something totally different."

"Because if you look at it, that's what started The Shield because of us. If you really look at it, we started before The Shield even came through the crowd, we had the mask on. Basically, [they did] the exact same thing."

Aces and Eights began in the summer of 2012, while The Shield debuted in the fall of 2012. Aces and Eights included the likes of Brisco, Bubba Ray Dudley (Bully Ray), Devon Dudley (Devon), Garett Bischoff, Taz, D'Lo Brown, and many others.

While it would be a stretch to say The Shield happened, period, because of Aces and Eights, it's certainly possible that some of the gimmick could have been inspired by what Brisco and others were doing in TNA Wrestling. You'll have to be the judge for yourself.

[H/T to Wrestling Inc.]