Since the Hounds of Justice reunited on WWE Raw, one main thing has jumped out at me: How damn good The Shield version of Dean Ambrose is.
Dean Ambrose has had a funny few years in WWE. Ironically, when The Shield self-destructed, he seemed like the star with the most potential. Roman Reigns was, of course, positioned to be the face of the company, however, Ambrose seemed to be much more valuable than both Reigns and Rollins. The fast-talking, gritty, aggressive star looked to be a main event level guy.
Fast forward to just before Ambrose and Rollins teamed up on WWE Raw, ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ was doing, well, nothing. From all accounts, he was still popular, but he wasn’t going anywhere. Early on, he had brief runs with the WWE Championship and the Intercontinental Championship, but they were far from memorable. And it seemed as if fans were starting to give up on Ambrose.
Ever since that awkward podcast with Steve Austin, where ‘The Rattlesnake’ asked seemingly the wrong questions, Ambrose has felt average. Maybe Vince McMahon was watching the podcast, listening to the ‘hard hitting’ questions by Austin, hearing the lifeless replies from Ambrose, and realized that he wasn’t the guy – or more fitting, ‘the dude’.
It may sound like a silly case to make, but honestly, from that point onwards it seemed as if McMahon had given up on Ambrose. Not in the complete sense, but in terms of pushing him to a main event level. After his loss to AJ Styles, following the Austin podcast, he was stuck in mid-card purgatory, slowly losing credibility piece by piece.
Add to the equation that he was booked as a cartoonish ‘lunatic’ character with really no substance, and it wasn’t looking good.
I recently wrote a piece detailing why I think Reigns will benefit the most from The Shield reunion, however, upon reflection, I actually think Ambrose will benefit the most. Not in the sense of crowd reaction, like Reigns, but in terms of his character.
The Ambrose of old is bland, generic, and boring. The Shield version of Ambrose is dark, sadistic, gritty, aggressive, and most importantly, real. Ambrose is phenomenal at expressing emotions without saying a word, and his body language (whilst in The Shield character) just feels right.
It’s a throwback to Jon Moxley, the character Ambrose created whilst on the Indies – which got him employed by WWE. And I love every single second of it. It’s the polar opposite of how I feel about the cartoonish Ambrose of old. Moreover, it needs to continue even after The Shield’s eventual break-up.
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If I was working backstage, I’d currently be pitching for the continuation of serious Dean Ambrose, and what’s more, a mega heel turn on Reigns and Rollins (which was perfectly explained by Josh Raibick in the article linked).
If a heel Ambrose is in the future plans, sign me up. He’s far too talented to be stuck on the sidelines. And wouldn’t it be fitting, after all the reluctance from Ambrose to realign with Rollins, that he’s the one to stab his ‘brother’ in the back, just like Rollins did? Vince, book it!