5 Reasons James Ellsworth Needed to Turn Heel at WWE TLC

Rob Wolkenbrod

With James Ellsworth costing Dean Ambrose the title match at WWE TLC, we looked at why this heel turn needed to happen.

James Ellsworth started out in WWE as just a jobber. He showed up at the post-WWE Draft edition of Raw and jobbed to Braun Strowman, who had his singles push begin. However, a promo about “any man with two hands having a fighting chance” would send this man to superstardom. Unlikely, yes, but in one of the most organic ways you will see in WWE in a long time.

WWE realized that Ellsworth became popular with the fans, so they brought him back multiple times. He eventually became a weekly part of SmackDown, before signing a full-time contract to join the brand in late November. This seemed to solidify a partnership with Dean Ambrose, who he established terrific chemistry with as they looked to go after AJ Styles and the WWE World Championship.

Well, that friendship crumbled at TLC. This saw Ellsworth shockingly push Ambrose off a ladder in the show’s main event. The Lunatic Fringe had been inches away from grabbing the world title, putting it around his waist, and becoming a two-time champion. The Chinless Wonder then stood at ringside, watched, and waved his arms in excitement as he cheered on Styles’ struggling climb up the ladder to retain his belt.

The James Ellsworth heel turn may have been seen coming by some, but it made sense for WWE to pull off. Specifically, though, why was this decision a logical one?

WWE.com

5. Swerves Create Interest

WWE pay-per-views have somewhat avoided the swerve finish throughout 2016. While Money in the Bank and arguably Survivor Series fit the bill, most of the other shows did not. Having unexpected finishes creates interest and a desire to want to see what’s next. It’s something that has especially been missing from Raw during the brand split.

4. Why Wouldn’t Ellsworth Want to Face the Man He’s Beaten?

James Ellsworth has faced AJ Styles three times since seeing his role on WWE SmackDown increase. Every time this has happened, Ellsworth has found a fluky way to walk out with a victory. One time, it led to a world title match, and other times, it just seemed to be a joke.

Well, after beating the Phenomenal One again, Ellsworth wanted his latest title match and got it granted. The date wouldn’t be known until TLC, though.

So, when Ellsworth saw Dean Ambrose climbing the ladder, he knew he would have had to face his friend for the world title. These two haven’t faced off before, making it unknown to the 31-year-old if he stood a chance at being successful in a match. Knowing that, he decided to turn on Ambrose to face the man that he’s beaten so many times, however, fluky it may have been.

From the moment the title match got set, it seemed like there would be an opening for Ellsworth to turn heel at TLC. The likelihood of him turning on Ambrose increased, and ended up happening at the show.

WWE.com

3. He’s Just Delusional

James Ellsworth may have been a fan favorite, but he did this by making silly moves that made you feel sympathy for him. In reality, though, he was just delusional, which got proved at WWE TLC.

It started with his first match against Braun Strowman. Ellsworth had no chance of winning that match, but the two hands promo indicated that he felt he had a chance of beating his giant. No one thought this could happen except him, and he got crushed into pieces by the Mountain of a Man.

Ellsworth stepped into a ring with AJ Styles not once, not twice, but three times and won in every opportunity. Despite this, as he’s been booked, there’s no way anyone like him should be stepping into the ring with the WWE World Champion. He even put his contract on the line in a match that Styles challenged him too? Was there any reason for this to be accepted? Nope. Ellsworth could have just declined, signed his deal, and start his official SmackDown career.

Then came Sunday night. Ellsworth felt that him helping Styles win will give him a shot in their world title match. He also thinks Dean Ambrose is going to come back to him and be okay with everything that happened. This isn’t going to be the case, James.

So, all of Ellsworth’s delusional decisions came back to haunt him at TLC, with the latest one indicating that he can go rogue with his foolishness. He doesn’t understand how his wins over Styles were fluky, so he’s going to test his luck again, and probably lose.

WWE.com

2. Potential Ellsworth and Styles Partnership

The Dean Ambrose-James Ellsworth partnership had probably run its course by the time TLC aired. They had their comedy bits, Ambrose helped Ellsworth despite his illogical decisions and the babyface duo act can only last for so long before getting stale.

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With Ellsworth’s heel turn, though, it sets up the possibility of him aligning with AJ Styles. This didn’t get teased in his words on Talking Smack, as the former jobber noted how he just wanted an opportunity versus someone who he’s defeated every time.

Well, if the title match doesn’t go as advertised, maybe there’s something else being developed for this: an alliance between Ellsworth and Styles. The former can become the lackey to Styles that gets the daylights beaten out of him while the champion remains untouched. He would get crushed and destroyed by every potential challenger, but it would allow for distractions to lead to the former TNA star retaining his belt.

If there’s a future Undertaker match in store for Styles, Ellsworth would be able to play a comedic heel role in this. He would be so scared of the Dead Man that he’d either run away or make an even worse decision of freezing up and taking a Tombstone Piledriver (over and over again).

WWE.com

1. The Novelty Act Would Have Worn Off

James Ellsworth started off as an unexpected, beloved figure in WWE. He had been meant to simply job to Braun Strowman on a July episode of Raw. However, the famous “any man with two hands” promo ended up landing him a job nearly four months later. This came with fan love in between and all the return appearances where he got Goldberg-like chants.

However, over the past few weeks, the crowd support for Ellsworth seemed to wane the more he showed up on SmackDown. His act of running with Dean Ambrose and being goofy seemed to wear off, which means for someone who pretty much signed on the dotted line yesterday, it’s not a good sign. Something had to be done to spice things up, and in wrestling, that usually means a heel turn.

Now, we get to see a long-term heel out of James Ellsworth. He probably won’t move away from this role in WWE anytime soon, if ever. A babyface character would just resort to what we’ve seen for the past few months, which would wear off, and begin the latest transition.

Did WWE make the right call in turning Ellsworth heel at TLC? Or did he need a longer run as a babyface?

Rob Wolkenbrod

Robert is an editor, writer, and video editor. He covers the San Antonio Spurs for Forbes and the Toronto Raptors for Hoops Habit.