So let’s talk Dean Ambrose.
What are WWE’s intentions with the ‘Lunatic Fringe’? He seems to be one of many who the company seem to have no real long term plan for, along with the likes of Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro. The fans are fully behind Ambrose, but he never seems to reach that level to make him a real star.
I’ll admit this right off the bat, I never really liked Dean Ambrose as part of The Shield, he was always the weakest member for me. The thing that irritated me most about Ambrose, was his United States title ‘reign’, which was possibly one of the worst in history.
He held that title for what seemed like forever, barely defending it, and on occasions not even bringing it to the ring with him. I felt like the title was such a waste, and yes that is mostly down to the creative team, but Ambrose not acknowledging the title really devalued it, and I was so relieved when he finally lost it.
When The Shield broke up, I was excited to see the progress of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, without giving Ambrose a second thought, however, that’s because I was never given a reason to.
I wasn’t aware of his indie work as Jon Moxley, or anything he did pre WWE, so I really failed to see the hype surrounding him, and so far all I’d witnessed was an overshadowed wrestler and a poor U.S title reign.
Fast forward to 2016 and my opinion has completely changed of him.
Why is this? It’s because he has SO much more personality about him, it allows us to care about his character, and get behind his gimmick.
He bring humour, without dumbing down, he bring a great presence, he has a large fanbase, great in the ring AND he can cut a good promo.
Since his split from The Shield, he’s been Intercontinental Champion (on more than one occasion I think) as well as feuding with The Wyatt Family for a large part of his singles career, but this is without ever hitting the next level.
His Wrestlemania 32 match against Brock Lesnar was the ultimate chance for WWE to pull the trigger on Ambrose and set him up as a star, as a win over ‘The Beast’ would have done wonders for his career, however, he lost the match.
Now while there’s no shame in losing to Brock Lesnar (he was very lucky to have such a big name match at Wrestlemania), you can’t help but feel that defeat in that match discredited his character, and what he’d worked hard to build in the weeks prior to Wrestlemania.
Currently, Ambrose has a feud penned against Chris Jericho, which promises to go above and beyond what’s expected, and let’s face it, Chris Jericho is one of the best workers in professional wrestling, his name is paired with entertainment.
The thing I like about Ambrose’s current personality, is that he’s funny, without being goofy. His segment with Jericho on the April 11th edition of RAW was funny, yet Ambrose remained in character as a tough ass kicker, very similar to Jericho’s.
This is why in my opinion their feud will be one of the highlights of the year so far.
Here is the question though, what will it take to get Ambrose to the main event?
In my opinion, it’s not about a heel turn, it’s not about reuniting The Shield, it’s about Money In The Bank.
I feel the BEST way to elevate Dean Ambrose would be by winning Money In The Bank, just like Seth Rollins did back in 2014, which saw his career go from strength to strength.
Then, (and this is the important part), he HAS to cash in the briefcase on Roman Reigns. This is not to turn heel, this is to establish himself amongst the main guys, and to boost his persona that he will go through anyone to get to the top.
I see a lot of Stone Cold in Ambrose, in the sense that, much like Austin, Ambrose could go against heels or faces, and his character wouldn’t have to change much at all, which is because the fans are drawn to it regardless of the opponent.
In his hey day Stone Cold could face off against the very popular Rock or the bad guy Triple H, and fans would still cheer him.
Ambrose has this also, where he could face Sheamus and be cheered on, or John Cena and receive just as many cheers.
Fans respect him.
Would WWE put faith in Ambrose as the Money In The Bank winner? If there was a time to give him that ‘brass ring’ that’s talked about so frequently amongst WWE higher ups, then now is the time. I personally feel that once the company pulls the trigger on a main event spot for Ambrose, there’ll be no looking back, we’ll be in the Ambrose Asylum for good.
Does Dean Ambrose have what it takes to be a WWE main event guy? What do YOU think?
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