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Right now, the WWE has several impressive talents on the sidelines, suffering with injury. One such talent is former World Champion, Dean Ambrose.
According to reports, Ambrose has actually been reporting to the WWE Performance Centre over the past few weeks as he looks to rehab, his triceps injury ahead of an imminent return.
Said injury took place in December 2017, with the return date estimated to be nine months down the line, suggesting that, all being well, Ambrose will be back in action in September or possibly even in August.
If we’re being perfectly honest, though, the former Shield member had become a little stale before his injury. With that in mind, then, here are five ways to freshen Dean Ambrose up once he returns to action.
New Attire
Sure, the jeans and vest look lends itself well to a brawling style or for use in a one-off Street Fight bout, but for day-to-day competition it looks nothing if not low rent.
As a trio, The Shield looked absolutely awesome in their unique riot squad gear. Since that trio disbanded, Roman Reigns kept hold of The Shield music, attire, and even their entrance for a little while. Where Dean Ambrose is concerned, he made the decision to wrestle in jeans and a vest once The Shield came to an end.
Upon his impending return from injury, a change of attire would give the Lunatic Fringe a fresh feel and hopefully get him away from feeling like the stale act he was for the months prior to his unfortunate injury.
No Rabbit Punches
Granted, the cat has long been out of the bag that wrestling is pre-determined and that opponents are actually out to take care of one another in the ring, but a key part of the wrestling game is still to try and make the action look as authentic as possible.
Going totally against that at times, however, is the offense of Dean Ambrose – in particular, the rabbit punches that he chooses to throw throughout his matches.
Ambrose is undoubtedly a great worker, but this is one part of his in-ring work that needs some serious work. If he’s unable to throw a decent punch, learn how to do so. It’s that simple. Instead, substituting real-looking punches for feeble, weak rabbit punches just to make himself and his opponent look bad.
Free Rein on the Mic
Before arriving in the WWE, Dean Ambrose – then working under the Jon Moxley name – was renowned for two things: his intense, erratic working style, and his impressive mic skills.
To be fair to Ambrose, he’s regularly cited as one of the best promo men in the WWE right now, and his early work with The Shield was particularly stunning. In more recent years, though, he feels a little too held back in his promo work as his act has become repetitive and stale.
If the WWE is looking to give the Dean Ambrose a shot in the arm upon his return to action, one easy way to do so would be to just let him have more of a free rein on the microphone.
The WWE excessively script their talent these days, but by now you’d have thought that the Lunatic Fringe would have built up enough trust to be let off the leash a little.
Less Zany
By the very definition of his Lunatic Fringe nickname, Dean Ambrose is pegged as an erratic character, a zany performer, and the proverbial loose cannon.
With that in mind though, sometimes Ambrose has felt like almost a parody of himself over the past couple of years. It seems like he’s simply playing crazy for the sake of playing crazy, and it rarely seems to have any sort of impact on his in-ring success.
It doesn’t help that Ambrose yucks it up a little too much with his facial expressions, which mean audiences can at times struggle to take the former World Champion seriously.
Upon his return, a less zany Dean Ambrose would be a hugely welcome prospect for most wrestling fans.
T
urn Him Heel
When a performer returns from injury, the instant reaction is for them to get a hugely positive response. For Dean Ambrose, he could well be best served to go against the grain here and come back as a vicious, ruthless heel.
Of course, that first appearance or two will see him cheered simply by habit and by the excitement of seeing the former Shield member back in action, but if the WWE handles it correctly (which is a big if!), then they could have a true top tier heel on their hands in Dean Ambrose.
Removing the almost comedic edge that Ambrose has built up over the past few years is key to refreshing the character and stopping him falling in to the rut he was in before his injury, and having him target a pure babyface act – someone such as Seth Rollins or AJ Styles – would be a great way to give him that menacing edge as a heel upon his return.
