WWE Royal Rumble 2019: Dean Ambrose Is The Dark Horse

WWE Royal Rumble 2019 will feature 30 superstars hurling each other over the top rope in the Royal Rumble, a match that guarantees the winner a main event title match WrestleMania. The following will debate a potential winner for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble.

There are many favorites to win this match, such as Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, John Cena, and Braun Strowman. However, there is a dark horse lurking in the shadows who could take the WWE Universe by storm and win this year’s Royal Rumble: Dean Ambrose!

Popcorn? Thumbtacks? Ambulances? Asylums? Barbed Wire? Vaccinations? SWAT Teams? Indeed, these buzz-words are frequently associated with the renown ‘Lunatic Fringe’.

Despite his creative yet bizarre gimmick, the Grand Slam Champion Dean Ambrose remains the most overlooked Shield Member of the past five years. The majority of WWE fans think of Seth Rollins’ MITB Cash-In at WrestleMania 31 before even thinking about Ambrose’s MITB Cash-In at MITB 2016.

Take a look at Ambrose’s cash-in and listen to how loud the legion of fans was for this lunatic.

Most WWE fans also think of Roman Reigns’ long-term feud with current Universal Champion Brock Lesnar before even thinking about Ambrose’s WrestleMania 32 feud with Brock Lesnar. Take a look at Ambrose’s well-built feud with Brock Lesnar and observe how he played clever mind games with the Beast Incarnate.

It is clear that this superstar puts an immense amount of effort into his feuds and has experienced many profound moments in his career. However, it seems that he tends to have a hard time making them as memorable as his Shield Brethren’s.

This disadvantage elicited a huge chip on Ambrose’s shoulder, which resulted in him being overshadowed from top guys like Rollins and Reigns.

Nonetheless, his momentum kept him going until he encountered his very first major injury in his WWE career that required him to undergo surgery on his tricep. This injury seemed grueling, but it actually could have been a well-timed blessing in disguise.

Ambrose’s babyface character was growing stale, and he needed some time to reboot for his big return before SummerSlam.

While Ambrose’s return was heartwarming, he was relegated to being at Rollins’ corner for his Intercontinental Championship match at SummerSlam. This is not necessarily the most ideal way to bring back a top-notch superstar like Ambrose.

However, it was not as bothersome and still made storyline sense since he was initially teamed up with Rollins before he left to get surgery, and since most WWE fans were desperately waiting for Ambrose to eventually and justifiably turn heel on the Shield as payback for when Rollins unjustifiably turned on the Shield in 2014.

While all three of them were together, tensions were stirring up as Ambrose continued to be unappreciated by Rollins and Reigns. Indeed, Ambrose’s heel turn was inevitable, but no one knew when Ambrose would strike.

Unexpectedly, Ambrose’s heel turn came at a pivotal moment that rightfully resulted in boos, rather than cheers. Take a look at Ambrose unleashing a stunning assault on Rollins on the very night Reigns relinquished his Universal Championship.

In fact, this seemed like it was supposed to be an incredible build up to a Shield Triple Threat Main Event at WrestleMania 35 for Reigns’ Universal Championship until Reigns’ mournful leukemia incident was announced.

This was the pinnacle of a new beginning for Ambrose, and his heel turn seemed to have a bright future. He even set his Shield vest on fire to indicate the absolute culmination of one of the greatest factions in WWE history.

However, his heel turn became a bust after his feud with Rollins resulted in a very boring match at TLC.

To make things even worse, Ambrose lost more momentum after losing his newly won Intercontinental Championship to Bobby Lashley in a recent triple threat match on Raw.

Although a Shield Triple Threat is no longer possible due to Reigns’ absence, Brock Lesnar did regain the Universal Championship and a triple threat could still remain intact with both Rollins and Ambrose at WrestleMania 35.

Since Ambrose lost the Intercontinental Championship two weeks before the Rumble, this could be a sign that he’s set for something epic, something so epic that it can revitalize his heel persona and propel it to even greater heights.

If Rollins and Ambrose end up being the last two standing in the Rumble, a shocking Royal Rumble victory over the betting favorite Rollins could spark the heel heat Ambrose needs, and actually provide him a legitimate defining moment in his career that would be difficult to forget.

The majority of the WWE fan base are behind Rollins deservingly winning the Royal Rumble after his MVP performance in 2018, but Ambrose eliminating him at the very last-minute could put a memorable bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

In order to orchestrate a triple threat for WrestleMania 35 and avoid an Ambrose-Lesnar rematch from WrestleMania 32, Rollins could unleash his inner animal on the Authority and ruthlessly request and earn a match against Ambrose at the Elimination Chamber PPV three weeks later in order to be included in the Universal Title match at Mania with Ambrose and Lesnar.

Due to the fact that Rollins has not won a singles match against Ambrose ever since Ambrose returned from injury, this would be a good win for him on the road to WrestleMania.

All in all, the purpose of Ambrose’s heel turn was to spite his Shield brethren for all the years he was overlooked. He took away Rollins’ Intercontinental Championship, which he never regained. Now, it’s time to take away Reigns’ relinquished Universal Championship, which Lesnar currently holds and Reigns never lost.

If his heel run is implemented correctly going forward, a historic Royal Rumble victory for Ambrose this year would definitely be talked about more than Reigns’ Royal Rumble victory in 2015 and would be even sweeter if it pays off with a Universal Title victory at WrestleMania 35.