“The Shield will walk in together, and the Shield will walk out together. You three may not walk out at all. I SUGGEST YOU BREATHE AS MUCH FRESH AIR AS YOU CAN, because The Shield is going to drown you in your own failure. Believe that.” Those were the words of one Dean Ambrose before The Shield were set to face off against the team of John Cena, Sheamus and Ryback at the Elimination Chamber PPV in 2013. With gelled-up hair, a menacing look that was comparable to the Joker, and a tone of voice that meant business, Ambrose gave off an aura that had the look of a bonafide heel. It is time to revisit those days. Now I’m sure that some of you may disagree with this piece, (actually, I’m expecting a great deal to disagree) claiming perhaps Ambrose shouldn’t be a full-fledged heel and be a tweener, or some of you may believe he shouldn’t be touched. I will argue for a full heel turn, because I can’t find a middle ground with him. So feel free to exchange with me in an intelligent discourse in the comments section.
Fellow ewrestlingnews writer Kyle Dunning just wrote a very interesting piece that I highly recommend all of you go and read, entitled “The Roman Reigns Situation”, regarding Roman Reigns and the deficiencies in his character. Well, let’s just say that Roman isn’t the only one worthy of such criticism. I have a bone to pick with another former Shield member.
When I reviewed WrestleMania 32 (and if you haven’t read my review, do yourself a 110 Comments), I called Dean Ambrose’s “Street Fight”, if you want to call it that, the biggest disappointment of the evening’s festivities. When I look at a card that featured Roman Reigns vs. Triple H, a ladder match and a Hell In A Cell match, I bypassed all of those in lieu of Ambrose’s match with Lesnar. Why? Because it screamed physicality and brutality. I was expecting it to be an intense back and forth affair with Ambrose perhaps showing some of the physical fortitude that he showed in his CZW days. Of course I wasn’t expecting a death-match, broken glass, screwdrivers or anything of the sort, but I was expecting a fight. What we got, however, was an extended squash. When Brock Lesnar hit a German Suplex on a pile of chairs that Ambrose piled in the ring, and then subsequently hitting an F-5, I was expecting Ambrose to kick out, because I wouldn’t think that after only 12 minutes in a Street Fight, and after all the challenges he threw out at Lesnar in the weeks prior to WrestleMania, I wasn’t expecting him to lose so easily. However, in fact, he stayed there. CM Punk gave Brock Lesnar a much bigger fight, and a much better match, and while Ambrose isn’t the worker Punk is, I couldn’t believe how fragile and weak Ambrose looked, and it is for that reason, why we need to stop having him put smiles of people’s faces.
Since the trio of The Shield split up, Ambrose has had, by far, the most most disenchanting run. Seth Rollins, since he turned on his Shield brethren has won the Money In The Bank contract, became the first person to cash in MITB at WrestleMania, became the first person to win the WWE Championship and United States Championship at the same time, defeated Sting while facing John Cena on the same night and became Superstar of the Year in 2015. Roman Reigns, since splitting from The Shield, has won a Royal Rumble, has won the WWE Championship 3 times, and was Superstar of the Year in 2014. Meanwhile, Ambrose has lost feud after feud. Whether it was his consistent losses to Seth Rollins in Hell In A Cell or at Money In The Bank, or Bray Wyatt at TLC or even on Christmas (seriously, what face loses on CHRISTMAS?!), and in the most recent situation, Brock Lesnar, Ambrose has yet to pick up a signature victory. Sure, he did defeat Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Championship at TLC last year, but the reign only lasted 64 days and was far from memorable. He has even lost to his former Shield brothers in Rollins and Reigns for the WWE Championship on multiple occassions. See what I am getting at here?
Now, some of you may say, “Well, Richard, wins and losses no longer matter in today’s WWE.” To an extent, I agree. After all, Zack Ryder has been jobbing for nearly half a decade and he ended up winning the Intercontinental Championship in a match with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, though he did subsequently lose it to the Miz the next night (As I successfully predicted after he won it). Since Ambrose split from The Shield, his PPV record? 5-16 by my count. His victories? A street fight that ended up in separate segments against Luke Harper at Extreme Rules last year. A DQ victory over Seth Rollins at Elimination Chamber. A tag team victory with Roman Reigns at Summerslam. And three consecutive victories against Kevin Owens at Survivor Series, TLC and Royal Rumble. That isn’t particularly impressive. Ambrose has accomplished practically zilch since he went solo. Admittedly, when he initially split, he was very hot and over with the crowd in his initial feud with Seth Rollins. Unfortunately, not only was he the victim of a brutal chair assault from Rollins, he ended up losing the feud in Hell In A Cell with interference from Bray Wyatt, whom he would also lose his next subsequent feud. But let’s talk about Dean’s character, and why he should make the turn to the dark side.
Perhaps some of you will disagree with me, and if you do feel free to have at it, but when I see Ambrose, all I see is a knock off cartoon villian from a Disney channel show. From his weird facial expressions to the way he sort of rants off when he speaks during his promos, he doesn’t speak like a person kids would want to emulate. Rather, he gives off a vibe in which he is just worried about fighting and making hell. Some have even gone as far as to call him this generation’s Mick Foley, and to a greater extent, Stone Cold Steve Austin. I guess I can see why people can make that, albeit outlandish, assumption. But all the more reason why Ambrose should be a heel. If Ambrose was a heel, attacking their enemies backstage, looking into the microphone and verbally destroying opponents, he’d be much more effective. Instead, he’s out there with his tanktop and jeans with his sort of cartoonish move set, and nothing is fresh about him. Of course, a part of his collapse can be blamed on WWE creative. They do determine the outcomes, and Ambrose essentially became Roman Reigns’ cheerleader.
What Ambrose needs to do is come out one night and attack a face sympathetic with the crowd. He then needs to say something along the lines of “Since I split The Shield, I’ve done nothing but fight The Authority and be a nice guy, and what has that gotten me? Nothing. So I no longer care about you people, or anyone else. The only person I’m looking out for is me. Mark Henry said something similar to that when he turned heel during his monster year in 2011, and he ended up defeating Randy Orton to win his first World title. Now, Ambrose isn’t a monster heel, but the difference was the change in attitude. Ambrose was the clear leader of The Shield as he had the most time in the mic, stood in the middle when they were gathered in the ring and carried a singles belt as opposed to the tag belts of Rollins and Reigns. Now, Ambrose is watching from behind, and if Ambrose keeps up this attitude, he will continue lagging behind.
I don’t consider Ambrose a tweener, because he doesn’t attack faces often enough, if ever. Him as a tweener may work, but Ambrose a full heel would work much better for him. He needs to replace his semi-grin with a menacing scowl. He needs to develop more mature moves in the ring and take nonsense from no one. Beat up people backstage for the hell of it. Abandon the moniker of The Lunatic Fringe (or Cringe as some would use a pun) and just become a straight up ass-kicker. I believe a heel Ambrose and a face Rollins would make for a much better feud that if the roles were reversed. Rollins’ athletic nature and just natural babyface look just screams for him to get the crowd on his side. Ambrose doesn’t have those qualities. Ambrose is in the same boat as Reigns. Reigns has the look of a monster heel, the face of an ass-kicker and, on occassion, the attitude of a no-nonsense heel. Just keep those two away from each other. So in closing, Ambrose is near the point of no return.
WrestleMania’s bout with Lesnar reaffirmed to me that Ambrose a face simply doesn’t work. I was willing to give Ambrose as a face one more chance if he were to pick up the win that he needed, and he didn’t get it. So now, there can be no other alternative. Heel Ambrose must occur this year. WWE, quit with the formalities. Unleash the heel wanting to get out of Ambrose, or he will be mired in obscurity for the rest of his professional career.
Agree? Disagree? Want me to have sex with myself? Comment below. Until next time.
