WWE Extreme Rules 2015: Why Dean Ambrose Must Defeat Luke Harper
Dean Ambrose must win tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules match to make up for poor booking he has received.
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Dean Ambrose will wrestle at tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view against Luke Harper in a Chicago Street Fight. This would seem to be the golden opportunity for the Lunatic Fringe to get his first pay-per-view victory. Doesn’t that sound strange? Someone of Ambrose’s ability to not have a critical win is ludicrous, which makes it every bit necessary for him to score a victory this evening.
Coming off the breakup of the Shield in June 2014, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins jumped into a feud together. From Money in the Bank through Hell in a Cell, these two had the best program of the year. Ambrose and Rollins were both over with the fans, but for the former, many felt that big things were in his future.
Six months after Hell in a Cell, Rollins is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and Ambrose still doesn’t have a pay-per-view victory.
The Lunatic Fringe faced Rollins at SummerSlam and HIAC last year in one-on-one matches. The two even had an epic encounter on an episode of Monday Night Raw last August. However, Ambrose never came out on top in a match.
Immediately after HIAC, the former CZW star went into a feud with Bray Wyatt. Despite being disqualified in their match at Survivor Series, Ambrose piled up tables, ladders and chairs on the Eater of Worlds before exiting the ring. While WWE was likely classifying this as a “victory” for the former Shield member, fans saw this as another PPV loss.
Ambrose would go onto lose at TLC and in an Ambulance Match on Raw with Wyatt. These big, clean losses really hurt his stock, as it became obvious he was doing the job for Wyatt, who was being built for the Undertaker.
Once this feud concluded, Ambrose’s time on the microphone dwindled. When was the last time fans saw him cut one of his crazy promos that were consistent on Raw throughout last fall? They always riled up the audience because they were entertaining and he connected with them. Isn’t that what Vince McMahon wants in his Superstars?
Ambrose would go into a brief feud with Bad News Barrett at Fastlane for the WWE Intercontinental Championship and once again lose. He would get put into the ladder match for the IC Title at WrestleMania 31, but end up getting thrown through a ladder by Harper. This took him out of the match.
Three and a half weeks and a lack of a story line later, here we are.
Ambrose still gets a solid reaction from the crowd because of the past. However, that roar we used to hear for him is absent. You can thank WWE Creative for that. All those losses and being pushed to the side for Rollins really hurt his standing.
If Ambrose wins tonight’s match at Extreme Rules, it will be a start in the right direction. If Harper walks out with a victory, we will really see where the former United States Champion stands in the company. He won’t fall into complete obscurity, but he risks being an irrelevant part of WWE.
While Dean Ambrose may be going in the right direction after tonight, how much could a win really help him after months of losses?
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