WWE: Heel Dean Ambrose Needs To Be As Remorseless And Psychotic As Possible

Dean Ambrose has been out since December of 2017 with a triceps injury, and when he makes his return to WWE Raw, here’s to hoping he’ll do so as a callous heel who unleashes old-school psychological warfare on his opponents.

For years, Dean Ambrose has been one of the WWE’s most important babyfaces. His “Lunatic Fringe” character has been one of the company’s most relatable, and there was a point in time in 2016 when he was carrying much of the load night in and night out.

Ambrose is a workhorse, but it is often the most tireless workers who are left the most vulnerable to a potentially serious injury. That’s exactly what befell Ambrose at the end of 2017, as he tore his triceps and has been out ever since.

The Shield member’s return should be coming on the horizon, and while he’s undoubtedly a successful babyface, most fans are quietly hoping that he will turn heel. Now, that’s usually a paradox, because heels are supposed to be booed. So if the fans are hoping for a heel turn, then it isn’t necessarily in the promotion’s best interests to turn that wrestler heel.

In this case, however, the WWE may need to make an exception. Assuming Ambrose stays on Raw when he returns, he’d be on a crowded roster that includes Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, and Braun Strowman as top babyfaces. Perhaps one of those wrestlers turns heel, namely Balor, and Ambrose continues to work with Reigns and Rollins as a part of the Shield. Furthermore, is it better for the brothers in the Shield to remain united when they are all on the same brand instead of having a second heel turn within the faction?

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It’s hard to say, but assuming Ambrose turns heel, the WWE would need to go all-in and have Ambrose play the most remorseless, psychologically disturbing heel on the roster. For an Ambrose heel turn to be worth it, he needs to be doing something more enriching and engaging than his babyface work. That’s a high bar to surpass, but it’s one Ambrose is more than capable of exceeding as a heel.

Fans of Ambrose’s work outside of WWE will undoubtedly bring up “Jon Moxley”. Often compared to legendary wrestler Brian Pillman, Moxley was one of the most deranged and unique characters in recent memory. He was willing to absorb insane amounts of pain in order to inflict even greater damage on his opponents. His promos were chilling and seemed to speak to a part of the human condition that few would even want to acknowledge.

The WWE is in an “PG” era, but that doesn’t mean they have to shy away from dark characters. Ambrose could be more Jake “The Snake” Roberts (skillful and manipulative) than Bray Wyatt, whose character work bordered on “hokey” as the years went on.

As a babyface, Ambrose was a bad-ass, but he was often silly, cracking bizarre jokes. That was fine and served to make him seem extremely nonchalant even in tense moments, but the silly humor would need to yield into a more creepy, disconnected type of comedic delivery. To clarify, Ambrose could still tell jokes as a heel, but they would be more sick, twisted, and inappropriate. And by inappropriate, I don’t mean non-PG. I mean things like telling a joke that is hollow and morbid, perhaps doing this after beating up an opponent mercilessly.

We’ve seen Samoa Joe set a new standard for heel promos lately, as he commands the arena every time he enters it. Joe makes the fans hang onto every single word he says, and he makes everything feel “real” in a way that nobody else in WWE does right now.

Ambrose has the talent to do the same as a heel, and given the emotional connection the fans have with him and the people he interacts with, any act of betrayal from The Lunatic Fringe would be met with pure shock and anger by most fans. Although Ambrose is well-liked and one of the most respected talents in the WWE, the fans would surely boo him relentlessly if he were psychotic, tortured his opponents emotionally, and attacked beloved babyfaces with reckless abandon.

In a way, Ambrose is almost tailor-made to be an era-defining heel who changes what it means to be a heel in the modern WWE. Fans lament that it’s harder to get behind babyfaces nowadays, simply because heels don’t do enough to be despised. Ambrose strikes me as the type of performer who would unequivocally “get” how to play a heel, in turn boosting babyfaces.

One big advantage he has? Ambrose, unlike most superstars, has no social media footprint. He just isn’t online. It’s hard to know what he’s up to. In a way, he’s invisible, aside from the occasional photo of him with Renee Young at a UFC fight or Las Vegas Golden Knights game. This, of course, boosts his ability to be a heel, because he can do a better job of keeping kayfabe and being that mysterious, evil character who destroys the minds of his rivals.

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It’s always risky to turn someone has respected and popular as Ambrose heel, but there wouldn’t be a better time to do it than after his return from an injury to a babyface-heavy Raw roster. With Monday Night Rollins and Roman Reigns as “The Guy”, Ambrose could come back pissed off at how the WWE forgot about him while he was on the shelf. Then, he would haunt the babyfaces on the roster to the extent that he would never go forgotten again.

Ambrose has clear motivations to turn heel, and the upside for everyone involved is enormous, even if there may be a gamble. And if he does turn heel, he has to be as scary and merciless as possible.