WWE Talking Smack Takeaways: Dean Ambrose is Figuring it Out

In this week’s recap of WWE Talking Smack, Dean Ambrose took awhile to get there, but may have finally hit jackpot on his character.

Talking Smack has proven more adept at providing spotlight for heel guests than faces in its early going. The Miz’s now-famous eruption put the show on the map. Nascent heels like Baron Corbin and Alexa Bliss showed more in a few minutes at the desk than arguably weeks in the ring.

So Tuesday, when Carmella and Dean Ambrose came on, it looked like we’d get a litmus test for how the show handled heel and face guests in the same week now that it’s found its rhythm.

Instead, WWE gave us a Rorschach test when it came to its recent world champion. Along the way, Ambrose may also have unlocked the next evolution of his character. Here are the biggest takeaways from the show’s two guests and other material.

Dean Ambrose

Ambrose came on as the second guest, but was obviously the more important booking. How you responded to his appearance says a lot about how you view him. If you still see Ambrose as a face, his segment will strike you as another overlooked hard worker finally lashing out against the machine. If you see him as a transitioning heel, his words carried an undertone of turning his back on fans and the company. Shades of gray can go either way. Let’s get to the bullets.

• Ambrose actually started the segment off pretty poorly. Saying he ambushed John Cena with Dirty Deeds last week because Cena would’ve done it to him did not jive. Especially in this Captain America phase of his career, Cena’s character simply wouldn’t have it in him to turn on a fellow face like that after tagging with him. It made Ambrose sound like a lunatic, and not in the way his merchandise would want you to believe.

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• The former Shield eccentric later went on to say he completely condoned going for the throat or the groin in a bar fight, but not in a WWE championship match. But that kids should stay away from fighting in the first place. Despite Ambrose building his entire character on the idea of doing whatever it takes brawling in the ring. Does a lunatic have a code? Does Ambrose? His rambling continued to show that Ambrose doesn’t quite know what his character is supposed to believe yet.

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• Until, that is, literally the last 90 seconds of the show. Here, Ambrose shined. He pointed out he’s main-evented four nights in a row (including the live events people don’t see on TV and that Cena doesn’t show up for). He called himself “The Mechanic,” as in the guy WWE will call whenever they need someone to make an event work. It was a brilliant callback to stories that outlets like PWMania reported of Ambrose working multiple live events in the same night this summer. He called out Cena for not putting time in with the locker room. He called out A.J. Styles for stealing catchphrases and the Too Sweet sign. All this while reminding us he’s the company workhorse. And here, finally, Ambrose may have discovered the path down which to run. He’s the disrespected, overworked, underappreciated everyman who’s going to take out everyone in his way until he’s paid his due. If he makes or loses friends along the way, so be it. Our advice to Ambrose: ditch the lunatic, embrace the disrespect.

Carmella

The Princess of Staten Island has no such issues finding her character. She’s, um, the Princess of Staten Island. Her problem, unlike Ambrose’s, comes in the execution. Unfortunately, her Talking Smack appearance after an earlier attack of Nikki Bella didn’t do much to change that.

• Credit where it’s due, Carmella did unleash an awesome Sally Jesse Raphael burn at Renee Young. Insults work on Renee because you can tell the heels deliver them from a place of respect. Unlike, say, with Tom Phillips, a guy heels demean as if he’s not there or is unworthy of their time.
• Very weak reasoning for Carmella’s heel turn. She was mad at the returning Nikki Bella for stealing her shine at her hometown SummerSlam debut? It was a six-woman match! The spotlight was never Carmella’s.
• Carmella went on to drop a forced Bronx Zoo reference on us and herein lies the problem with her character: she can’t live it. The old wrestling adage says the best characters are the real people turned up to 11. The New York City-area shtick works for Carmella’s old running mates Enzo and Cass because Enzo really is from right across the Hudson River. Cass really did grow up in Queens. Carmella, in reality, is from Massachusetts. If she played a Masshole gimmick, it would fit a lot better. But she’s literally trying to be someone she’s not. And, as we’ve seen time and again in wrestling history, that doesn’t deliver a high success rate.

Other Notes

• Daniel Bryan asking the WWE Universe to demand the release of his secret documentary was obviously a work. It is interesting to wonder to what extent, though. Like, did Vince tell him “pretend we’re holding this secret and you’re going totally rogue;” or had they actually not formulated a release plan yet and Bryan took it upon himself to grease the skids?
• The general manager’s prediction that the Usos get the tag titles at No Mercy would actually be a nice timeline. Two more Smackdown episodes of Slater/Rhyno shenanigans seems about right, before the tag division gets back on a non-comical course.
• It made sense for Bryan to acknowledge that he and Shane McMahon need to look into the Miz’s cheating ways. It will surely lead to a blow-off match with Maryse banned from ringside or with no DQs. But the cool thing here is putting the show’s general manager immediately on the hot seat to face the blatant cheating. If Roger Goodell were on Talking Pigskin every Sunday night, we’d expect him to respond to any transgressions that day. Good to see Bryan doing the same.

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While it’s probably best for the NFL that Roger Goodell doesn’t have his own show each week, Talking Smack has certainly been a boon for WWE. This week was no exception.