5 Dean Ambrose booking decisions that should have happened differently

Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the writer and not Sportskeeda's

Dean Ambrose is one of the most popular superstars in the WWE, unfortunately, this star has diminished over the years through no fault of his own. Ambrose burst onto the scene in a riot vest, but lately, the way he has been booked has incensed riots among fans.

Despite being a three-time Intercontinental Champion, the longest reigning United States Champion in WWE history (not counting the title's run in WCW), and even a former WWE Champion, the youngest ever Grand Slam Champion has not been used to his full potential.

Ambrose has been used as comedic relief. He has been made to pull pranks and look like a complete joke. Humiliated and jobbed out, Ambrose will forever be known to some as the guy that carried ketchup and mustard in his holster. Here are the five booking decisions that should have happened differently for the Lunatic Fringe.

#5 Making him take a backseat to Reigns and Rollins

Dean Ambrose debuted on the main roster as part of The Shield. Three black-clad Hounds of Justice that will go down in history as one of the greatest factions of all time. When The Shield broke up, many felt that Ambrose had the most potential as a singles competitor, the IWC was very high on him but the WWE saw more in Reigns and Rollins. Rollins became the on-screen "chosen one", Reigns became the backstage "chosen one", and Ambrose became.....Reigns' sidekick.

After a riveting rivalry with Rollins, Ambrose was delegated to "Reigns BFF". They were still brothers, they never turned on each other, Ambrose never left Reigns' side. They fought together, traveled together, stuck together.

When Ambrose returned from a devastating injury in 2018 it was as Seth Rollins' enforcer. When the Shield reunited, Reigns won the Universal Championship, Rollins won the Intercontinental Championship, and Ambrose was left with merely battle scars as Dolph Ziggler pointed out in a promo on Raw. Ambrose has always sacrificed himself for his Shield brothers.

#4 Making him lose via an exploding TV monitor

Yes, he lost because a TV blew up in his face

AT TLC 2014 The "Lunatic Fringe" Dean Ambrose faced "The New Face of Fear" Bray Wyatt in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. It was a very physical, very violent, and very chaotic battle that ended not with a table spot, not a ladder shot, not a chair shot, but a TV shot. Wait. what? Yes, a TV shot. An exploding TV to be more accurate.

After such a great match that saw Ambrose utilize kendo sticks, leap off ladders, put Wyatt through tables, and beat his foe from pillar to post, Ambrose went looking under the ring. Out from under the ring, Ambrose retrieved a TV monitor that was playing the match live.

After staring at it like a caveman that just discovered fire, Ambrose brought it into the ring. Ambrose went to swing it at Wyatt but the extension cord snapped and it blew up in his face, allowing Wyatt to pin him for the victory.

First and foremost, why was there a monitor plugged in under the ring with a live feed of the show? Why did Ambrose have to stare at it like he is technologically challenged? Who benefited from Ambrose looking stupid and Wyatt looking weak?

#3 Making him lose to Triple H at Roadblock 2016

WrestleMania 32 could have been far better with Ambrose walking in as WWE Champion

In 2016 the stars were aligning for Roman Reigns to win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, in spite of what the fans really wanted. Reigns was forced to put his WWE Championship on the line in the Royal Rumble match. It was there that the worst kept secret of 2016 saw Triple H return to the ring as the 30th entrant in the Rumble. We all knew this was leading to Triple H vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.

The rumble came down to Ambrose and Triple H, and fans were comping at the bit for Ambrose winning the WWE Championship. Triple H won but would defend the title against Ambrose before Mania at Roadblock.

Fans were enamored with the possibility of Ambrose vs. Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania. The two Shield brothers that never turned their backs on each other feuding over the WWE Championship was something everyone in the WWE Universe wanted to see.

Despite the outpour of support Ambrose received, the WWE stuck with their decision to have Triple H walk into WrestleMania and drop the title to Reigns while Ambrose was sucked into a bitterly disappointing match with Brock Lesnar.

#2 His WWE Championship reign

Ambrose's reign felt like a real kick in the teeth to his fans

Where do I start? The IWC had been backing Ambrose for a long time, and fans were clamoring for this inmate to one day run the asylum, but it seemed as though WWE would never pull the trigger.

At Money in the Bank 2016, Roman Reigns defended his WWE Championship against Seth Rollins, but first Dean Ambrose won the Money in the Bank briefcase. After Rollins beat Reigns, Ambrose stormed down to the ring to cash-in the briefcase and beat the newly crowned champion for the title.

Fans were ecstatic as the dream of all three Shield members holding the WWE Championship on the same night became a reality. While Ambrose's coronation as champion was perfect, his reign was not.

Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown Live during the brand-split, and successfully defended his title in the Shield triple threat at Battleground. After bringing the most prestigious title in all of wrestling to SmackDown Live, Ambrose was shown in a comedic segment where he nearly left the championship in the back of a cab....the precursor of a lackluster reign.

Ambrose was made to look like a fool on Miz TV, was not made more serious and never abandoned the wacky lunatic persona he has been burdened with. A promising rivalry with Dolph Ziggler somehow failed to live up to expectations and before we knew it WWE was going all in on AJ Styles.

After earning a shot at the WWE Championship Styles low blowed Ambrose when the ref wasn't looking and put the champion away with the Styles Clash. While the matches between Ambrose and Styles were stellar, its a shame to see Ambrose lose the title to a low blow and fail to reclaim it due to betrayals.

#1 His current heel run

Seriously, he's wearing a gas mask

When Dean Ambrose returned from injury looking completely jacked, fans were anticipating a heel turn. A bigger, stronger, more unstable heel Ambrose was a tantalizing possibility that had fans chomping at the bit. Ambrose's heel turn was teased multiple times before WWE perfectly executed the Lunatic Fringe's turn to the dark side.

On a night that honored Roman Reigns and his battle with leukemia, Ambrose and Rollins won the tag team championships only for Ambrose to spike Rollins' head into the ground. A Dirty Deeds onto exposed concrete cemented Ambrose as one of the top heels on Raw.

After turning heel, Ambrose would refuse to give a straight answer as to why he turned his back on his brothers. Ambrose then claimed that the WWE Universe made him physically sick.

Ambrose got all kinds of vaccinations live on TV because of the repulsive fans. Ambrose began coming down to the ring in a gas mask, dressed up like a Dark Knight Bane cos-player. He has looked more cowardly than unstable, has been made more comical than serious, and WWE has somehow managed to ruin one of the most anticipated angles.

Matches with Seth Rollins have been disappointing and his Intercontinental Championship win was met with little fanfare. On top of it all, attempts from Michael Cole and Corey Graves to get answers out of Ambrose's wife Renee Young have been very unsettling. Never before has such a white-hot superstar had his momentum completely killed as Dean Ambrose did in 2018.