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Dean Ambrose is certainly one of the central characters in the current WWE roster. Therefore, it came as a shock to the world when rumours surfaced about him wanting to leave the company. Ambrose may be done with WWE as soon as right after WrestleMania 35. What could the reasons for this possibly be?
Let me try and list some of them down here, for your reading pleasure. Bear in mind that I'm only speculating and making educated guesses based upon rumours and buzz that I've heard from various parties. I do not have access to the WWE locker room and do not know of any specific incidents that may have triggered Ambrose's decision to quit the company.
If you think you know why, please leave a comment. What could possibly make one of the highest paid stars in the company want to quit?
Ambrose maintained that it was creative frustration and not a financial decision to quit, according to the rumour, so here are 5 possible reasons why he allegedly took such a drastic step:
#5 General sense of discontentment in the locker room
So, Dean Ambrose may not be the only party in the locker room who is dissatisfied with where he is at the moment. We know that, allegedly, not long ago, The Revival asked to quit the company too. There may be a sense of discontentment in the RAW locker room at the moment.
We all know that when one person in the locker room is unhappy, it can rub off on one's peers. And therefore, I'm not surprised that Dean Ambrose may be upset with the way things are. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the show could be booked better.
Even Ziggler is on a hiatus from the company, barring his Royal Rumble cameo. And therefore, Ambrose may have echoed the general feeling of dissatisfaction with the current WWE product.
#4 Long-standing frustrations with his booking
You may say that Dean Ambrose has always been one of WWE's top stars for the entirety of his length in the company. This is factually true, but there is a glaring issue with this statement. WWE has always refused to go all the way with him.
He has always been the most misused member of The Shield. Quite a few times, he'd be handpicked as the man to take the fall in Shield matches, to make Reigns and Rollins look strong. And we all remember just how comprehensively he was beaten by Brock Lesnar during their WrestleMania 32 match.
Remember how everyone expected him to branch out and have the spotlight on SmackDown Live immediately after the brand split first happened? He was overshadowed by superstars like AJ Styles and John Cena and subsequently slipped down the ranks.
#3 Nixing what could have been a red-hot feud
The narrative that is doing the rounds is that Dean Ambrose is upset that his character comes across as 'hokey'. He has every reason to be upset if this is indeed the reason for his departure.
Dean Ambrose's heel turn could not have been booked better. WWE used a real-life tragedy to shock the WWE Universe and have Ambrose turn on his brother Seth Rollins, soon after they won the RAW Tag Team Championships.
We all expected heel Ambrose to be a dark, mysterious character whose ominous presence lurks over the crowd. But instead, he was shown in a medical facility getting shots to ward off the audience.
Nothing Ambrose has done since then does justice to the amazing heel turn that he was part of. Rollins vs. Ambrose should have been much better than it turned out to be.
#2 A terrible Intercontinental Championship run
So, we addressed the fact that Dean Ambrose's heel turn was as badly booked as could potentially be. And so, WWE decided to mix it up by offering him the Intercontinental Championship for a spell. I stress on the last three words because that's what it really was.
Dean Ambrose became the Intercontinental Champion at WWE TLC. He did not even retain the Championship until the next pay-per-view, The Royal Rumble. He would lose the title to Bobby Lashley, a fellow heel, much prior to the Rumble.
While I may be guessing, I suppose this could have been a big source of frustration to Ambrose who could have used the title to really push his heel character across in the right manner. The fact that the title left his waist soon after he won it may be a source of frustration for Ambrose!
#1 The arrival of AEW
There is a new player in town and it is called AEW. The reason why so many WWE Superstars are speaking up about their frustrations is because AEW could become an alternative source of employment for them.
While the company has not put together a single event yet, many consider AEW to be the second coming of WCW. There's Cody Rhodes at the helm, a friend of theirs. Many of the WWE talents are aware that if they decide to walk out of the door, Rhodes will take care of them.
Ambrose may actually get to do a lot more in AEW than he does in WWE. Ambrose's hands are tied to an extent when he's under Vince McMahon's scanner.
It remains to be seen if Ambrose will stick around with WWE or not, but let's wish him all the best with whatever he chooses.
