WWE Roadblock 2016: Dean Ambrose is Taking Advantage of Main Event Opportunity

Looking at how Dean Ambrose has taken advantage of other people’s injuries to take up his spot in the main event at WWE Roadblock.

At the end of Jan., Roman Reigns was forced to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Royal Rumble match. He was eliminated, and eventually lost his title to Triple H. The last man eliminated in the match by the Game was Dean Ambrose, Reigns’ friend and former Shield partner.

A few weeks later at WWE Fastlane, Ambrose, Reigns and perennial title contender Brock Lesnar faced each other in a triple threat match to decide who would face the Champion at WrestleMania. After a wild match, it was Reigns who stood victorious and was destined to face Triple H for the belt he lost a few weeks earlier.

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A few weeks later, Triple H beat the life out of Reigns, leaving him needing surgery to repair a nose injury that would see him out of action for a few weeks (if the rumours are true, Reigns had a legitimate facial injury which made the surgery necessary). While Reigns has been out of action his great friend Ambrose has stepped up to take on the champion at WWE Roadblock. Ambrose and Reigns have spent the majority of the last 18 months as partners, taking on all comers and usually coming out victorious. The WWE has spent a similar amount of time trying to build Reigns as the next big babyface to carry the company on his back, along the same lines as John Cena has over the last decade or so.

Fans have been less than willing to accept Reigns as the man that Vince McMahon and company have been desperate for them to do. You’re more likely to hear boos than cheers when Reigns stands victorious in the ring. Ambrose, on the other hand, is a totally different prospect. Having to take the back seat to his more illustrious friend, Ambrose has sat back and built up a following. He hasn’t been pushed down fans throats, he hasn’t been pushed at the expense of men that the crowd have got behind, he has shown in the ring why he should be in the main event bracket and he has built a connection with the WWE Universe that Reigns would love to have.

When it became apparent that Reigns would be missing for WWE Roadblock, there must have been a lot of panic amongst the higher ups in WWE headquarters. Step up one Dean Ambrose, who has risen to the occasion to the main event and challenged Triple H for his shiny gold belt. With the WrestleMania main event of Triple H vs. Reigns set in stone, there seems little chance that Ambrose will walk away from this match with the title, but he can build himself up a little more with a good showing against the champion.

Ambrose, The Lunatic, comes as a cross between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Brian Pillman, with a little bit of Roddy Piper thrown in for good measure. A man who isn’t afraid to step up to men much bigger than him (looking at you, Brock Lesnar) has also taken a beating from Triple H in recent weeks. In fact, he took a beating only a week after being brutally attacked by Lesnar in the parking lot at Raw, only hours before challenging the Beast Incarnate to a Streetfight at ‘Mania. Ambrose always takes his beatings with a smile and always looks happy to come back for more. He has no fear and apparently will not back down from anyone. That may very well be a massive factor in understanding why he seemingly has a connection with the crowd that Reigns would die for.

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At a time when WWE has so many men on the injured list, it’s not hard to imagine that having Ambrose in such a lofty position was not in the original plans for Roadblock, or WrestleMania for that matter. Ambrose has taken all of the momentum he built in the Royal Rumble and then at Fastlane to push himself into a spot that not many men on the roster could have filed. Ambrose is a unique prospect in the WWE, he has become a huge baby face with the crowd despite the fact the company doesn’t see him as one. Ambrose has taken advantage of all the injuries that have stacked up in the last six months and forced his way into the main event picture.

In a different Universe the Roadblock main event could easily have been the main event of WrestleMania. If it weren’t for the Roman Reigns vanity project that Vince McMahon seems determined to fulfil, whether the crowd likes it or not, we may very well have seen that match finish off the biggest card of the year in less than a months time. As it is, Dean Ambrose can only hope that when he puts in a career highlight performance on Saturday night, he gets the opportunity to stand alone as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion in the not to distant future.

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