5 things we learned from Dean Ambrose's WWE Chronicle special

One of the best things about Dean Ambrose's WWE Chronicle special is that it provides more context for Dean's peculiar on-screen character in a way we have never seen it done before.

WWE Chronicle: Dean Ambrose blends kayfabe & reality by using elements from both events to complement the other as Dean's personality unfolds right in front of us.

It covers the events from Dean's recovery from an injury, right up to his shocking heel turn this year. Lets take a look at the top 5 things we learned from WWE Chronicle: Dean Ambrose.

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#5 Ambrose hints towards the "end of something" in several moments of realisation

Dean Ambrose realises that the end might be sooner than what other people think

Throughout the whole documentary, Ambrose realises that his body is giving up on him. He also mentions his love for The Shield, but at the same time, Ambrose keeps contradicting his own thoughts as the documentary proceeds even further.

This brings out the ambiguous quality embedded in his 'Lunatic Fringe' persona. Ambrose keeps hinting towards the end of "something", whether it be his career or his time with The Shield.

The reason why this chronicle of events works so well is that it loops in Ambrose's real-life frustrations and frames them as one of the main reasons behind why he finally snaps at the end.

But as far as the end of "something" is concerned, below is an example highlighting why Dean Ambrose keeps conflicting himself from time-to-time:

Backstage in Japan:

“I love these guys. They’re my brothers… No matter what happens between us, we’re family, and that’s what makes it so powerful. But we’re just… I don’t know. But I’m just going to try and relax and enjoy this last trip around the world… because I got the feeling that this could very well be the last time.”

The above quote speaks in volumes. Dean talks about his love for The Shield and immediately goes into a state of doubting himself over two things: The first being that maybe his in-ring career is going to end sooner than what most people think, so he tries to enjoy the moment he is living in.

The second thing is that he highlights lingering doubts in the 'character' Dean Ambrose's mind about The Shield.

So we never know what Ambrose is hinting at exactly. Maybe it's a bit of both, but we never know for sure...

#4 Ambrose feels connected to his surroundings in a very old-school manner

Dean Ambrose certainly prefers the old-school way rather than connect using today's make-believe means

"You gotta live life"

Dean Ambrose uses the above quote to summarise his entire journey so far. Whether it be musing over his pondering against the backdrop of a beautiful desert, or when he talks about his love for mountain biking and generally feeling a sense of escapism in the desert, we all realise that Dean Ambrose is very old-school.

Adding to the fact that he generally dislikes social media or other modern forms of communication, we also see shots of him working out in old school blood and guts style.

Maybe Ambrose isn't so much different from his character after all, not the lunatic nature of things specifically, but just the general idea of finding calm and tranquility in nature, away from the noise, bustle and distractions of the modern world, is what makes this documentary so interesting to watch.

#3 Dean Ambrose hides his emotions pretty well

It is hard to figure out who the 'real' Dean Ambrose is

One of the most interesting things which add to the ambiguous nature of Dean Ambrose is the fact that he never truly lets his emotions out. Whenever he tries to do so, whether in character or even in real life, it is generally in the form of pure frustration or anger towards a certain aspect in his life.

For example, during one of those moments in the documentary where Ambrose ponders about life while walking across the desert, he gives his thoughts regarding the word 'emotions', and here is what he has to say about it:

"What is emotional? What is everybody with this emotional cr*p? Emotions? Everybody has emotions all day, every day. You wake up, you're happy, sad, grumpy, whatever. This is the roller coaster of life, all right?

Lets all feel sorry for ourselves 'cause we have emotions. Lets all feel sorry for ourselves. I've been taken advantage of. Grow up! Look, life is hard, life sucks. Life is not a good little storybook. Life isn't as friggin'..."

As you can read, Ambrose leaves his last sentence open-ended, as the documentary cuts to Roman Reigns' Leukemia announcement right away. Throughout the whole night, Ambrose rarely lets out any emotion despite feeling shocked.

Dean's inability to showcase his real emotions is complimented with a sonorous ear-piercing tone, shedding light towards his character being very close to tipping over the edge.

Truly, "WWE Chronicle: Dean Ambrose" provides a three-dimensional framework to his character in a way we have never seen done before on WWE TV each week, throughout a span of several years.

#2 Dean Ambrose views wrestling as an art form

Dean Ambrose has a creative approach to wrestling in general

In this WWE Network special, Ambrose reveals that he never truly felt afraid of putting his body through barbed wires, thumbtacks, glass, fire, or even staple guns to the tongue. The only time he ever truly felt in danger was when his body stopped cooperating after everything he had asked out of it over several years in the industry.

Despite that, Dean says that he would never try to go back in time and change the hardships and sacrifices he made in order to reach WWE.

This is because he loves and appreciates wrestling in general, and even views it in this particular manner:

“Wrestling is supposed to be just two guys in the ring, expressing themselves through highly aggressive physicality… In the wrestling ring is one place where that’s fully allowed and you can let yourself go and be as wild and as nasty as you want to be.”

This is one of the best unscripted moments that chronicle the reason behind why Ambrose pushes himself to the extreme without taking any days off. He loves wrestling.

#1 We are not supposed to know the 'exact' reason behind Ambrose's heel turn

WWE Chronicle: Dean Ambrose leaves us with more questions than answers

Many thought that this documentary would shed some light behind the exact reason why Dean Ambrose turned heel. The truth is, behind all the intense camerawork and Dean Ambrose's ability to blend kayfabe and reality perfectly, the primary purpose of this chronicle of events is to make the viewer think by posing more questions than leaving answers.

"Why, Dean, Why?"

Perhaps we are supposed to draw out our own interpretations of why he did what he did. Maybe all the frustrations that we see from the very first scene to the very last scene built up to Ambrose snapping at the end.

Dean's ability to act in unscripted situations is highlighted at its best here. Because of the character's unhinged, unstable and unpredictable personality, we don't really get to know the real reason behind his actions. But what we do realise is that Ambrose only hints towards the real reason without fully revealing it.

The last scene of the documentary shows Ambrose walking around in the desert after betraying Seth Rollins, away from everyone, and he leaves us with the following words:

"I told you when we started this thing...I said I'm not gonna read some script & try to play out some fantasy happy ending, that's not my life (pause) Most people nowadays, they wanna be something more than what they are, so they pretend to be something that they're not.

They try to project this image to the world, with what they put out there, and I don't relate to people like that & that's most people. And you're that disingenuous of a person that you can't even be honest with yourself, I apologize for nothing...absolutely nothing"

So if you haven't figured it out yet, WWE Chronicle serves as a platform for superstars to deliver unscripted promos, complimented with real-life situations. It tells a story through an impressive production style.

The chronicle of events appears more cinematic and visually pleasing than your weekly RAW & SmackDown Live shows, pushing itself to be termed as one of the most thought-provoking WWE Network shows of 2018.

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