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Even though we have had months to prepare for Dean Ambrose's departure from WWE, the fact that he just wrestled his last match as a member of Shield against the trio of Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin still seems unreal. The event was promoted as the Shield's Final Chapter and rightly so as it has been one of the most formidable trios in the history and it brought Ambrose's career to a full circle as he is leaving WWE just the way he came in: as part of the Shield.
Ever since his debut in 2013 as part of the Shield, he has become a household name in the world of pro wrestling and while his character arc took some weird turns every now and then, he always had a special place in our hearts. The Lunatic Fringe is someone who is easily likable as a character and has the tendency to leave a mark wherever he goes.
If we wouldn't count the last few months, Dean goes out of WWE with a strong resume. In all, his achievements include gaining the Money in the Bank briefcase, three reigns with the Intercontinental Championship, two with the Raw Tag Team Championships and one each with the United States and WWE World Championships.
On top of that, he was also named the Pro Wrestling Illustrated‘s Most Popular Wrestler of the Year for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015. He has done it all and to think that he was with the company for only seven years is just surreal.
If his eventual exit from the company is a work or not will be debated among the fans till he would finally show up in some other promotion, but let's keep that issue aside and have a look at all the different characters Dean had played in his career with the company.
#1 The Shield (2012-14, 2017, Aug-Oct. 2018, Mar. 2019)
As you can see with the sub-title, there have been many Shield reunions over the years and while fans have expressed their concern regarding the same, it is everybody's guilty pleasure to see Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose make their way into the ring from crowds wearing their iconic vests.
Ever since his debut in November 2012 as part of The Shield, Ambrose has become a household name in the world of pro wrestling. It is always difficult to shine alone if you are part of a faction, but the sensible booking and the trio's individual talents gave them enough space to showcase their own skills.
They remained undefeated for quite a few months after their debut and had successful feuds against the likes of Team Hell No and The Authority. In the summer of 2013, Dean entered into a rivalry with then United States Champion Kofi Kingston, who he defeated at Extreme Rules to win his first belt in WWE. He held that championship for 351 days defending it successfully against wrestlers such as Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, and Mark Henry. He also became the mouthpiece of the faction during this time.
However, the association started weakening in 2014 because the trio had become bigger than the faction itself and just the friendship was not enough to satisfy them creatively. On the Raw after Payback 2014, much to everyone's shock, Rollins turned on his teammates to join The Authority.
Ambrose and Roman continued to team for a little longer but soon decided to go on their separate paths. The trio reunited a couple of times in 2018 and 2019 to take on different opponents, but it was not the same and they wrestled less than 10 times as a team following the initial break-up.
#2 Feud with Seth Rollins (2014-15; June-July 2016)
Ambrose couldn't move on from Rollins' betrayal and thus decided to take revenge. This started a long rivalry between the two, which produced some of the best and most memorable matches of Ambrose's WWE career. Rollins was hiding behind Kane and The Authority for the most part of it to stop Ambrose from attacking him.
The two finally faced off in a classic encounter at Hell in a Cell 2014 which resulted in Rollins winning after an assist from Bray Wyatt. After taking care of Bray, Ambrose again turned his attention on Rollins after WrestleMania 31, but this time, the stakes were much higher as it also involved the WWE Championship.
Seth Rollins retained his WWE Championship in the fatal four match way against Ambrose, Roman and Randy Orton at Payback 2015 and then again at Extremes Rules by disqualification. The duo against clashed at Money in the Bank, where after a classic half-hour encounter, both ended up grabbing the title and falling to the mat at the same time, with Rollins hanging on, just barely edging out his former Shield-brother.
Dean finally got to lay his hand on the company's top prize a year later at Money in the Bank 2016, when he defeated Seth Rollins after cashing his Money in the Bank contract on the same night that he won it and started his run as the WWE Champion. He retained his championship against Rollins on Raw and then again at Battleground 2016 to end their feud.
#3 The fighting champion (2016-2017)
Whether it was the Intercontinental or WWE Championship, Ambrose was always portrayed as a fighting champion. He defeated Rollins on a couple of occasions for WWE Championship on Raw and then retained it in a triple threat match at Battleground that year to make the championship exclusive to SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shake-up.
Even in SmackDown, he did everything he could to keep the renamed "WWE World Championship" more prestigious than Raw's Universal championship. He had feuds against wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler and AJ Styles for the title which established its legacy as the blue brand's top prize.
As an Intercontinental Champion in 2017, he gave the title many decent storylines which were needed to keep it relevant. He defeated Miz in the first SmackDown episode of the year to win the IC title for the secon time and carried it for 152 days. During the period he defended the title at WrestleMania 33 against Baron Corbin, which did not get much reception due to it being on the pre-show but was a great fight anyway.
He then won the Raw Tag Team Championships with Seth Rollins against The Bar at SummerSlam 2017 to make him both Grand Slam and Triple Crown champion in the process. He was the first Shield member to achieve it.
#4 Underwhelming heel turn and final exit (August 2018-April 2019)
When Dean made his long awaiting return a week before SummerSlam 2018, everybody was expecting him to turn on his Shield brothers sooner than later. Everything from his looks to behavior was screaming of a heel turn.
It was even executed perfectly by having him attack Rollins on the same day Roman had announced that he had leukemia, but then everything went south from there. He just kept on running away from Rollins for weeks to come and started calling himself "The Moral Compass of WWE", which many don't even remember. During the build-up of his match at TLC against Rollins, he started doing weird stuff like wearing gas masks and taking vaccinations on live TV.
When he and Seth finally collided for the Intercontinental Championship, what should have been the encounter between two longtime enemies, was just a sequence of submission holds with an anti-climatic ending. Dean never got to showcase himself as a dangerous heel. In 2019, he kept on putting other guys over after announcing his release from the company.
He lost matches against EC3, Elias, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley on his way out of the company. But, those last few months will never affect his legacy as a WWE Superstar because people will always remember him as a Shield member who never settled for anything other than perfection. He was and will always be considered as a legend of pro wrestling.
