Whatever Happened To Anarchy?
Let’s start with the forced nickname: The Lunatic Fringe. Are politics the first thing you think of when you hear that term? No? What, you didn’t grow up in the early 1900s? That’s fine, it’s evolved to also mean someone with extremist views, eccentricity beyond what political party you support into just everyday regular stuff. My opinions on Jurassic Park III could be considered “lunatic fringe.”
But the name is meant to conjure up thoughts of a wild man who will do anything to win. An unpredictable wrestler who uses the mic like a pistol whipping our hearts and brains. And in The Shield, he played that up to great effect.
Then Seth Rollins became the infinitely more interesting character when he turned on his brothers and joined The Authority. But it was Ambrose’s face in that moment that we all connected to. We were as shocked and heartbroken as he was, and we felt even closer to Dean.
Then he started hiding in car trunks and novelty-sized Christmas presents as a form of “wacky” guerrilla warfare. He rode the Q train all the way to Coney Island to get a hotdog cart, then fashioned the condiments into weapons. He was being consistently outsmarted by holograms and exploding TVs that were plugged into...I guess some sort of anti-exploding surge protector, and when you unplug them they immediately detonate.
And don’t even get me started on that rope rebound lariat. It was fun exactly twice. Now he literally just throws himself into the ropes when nobody is doing anything else. One of his signature moves is stepping on the second rope so he can turn around at a slightly elevated angle. He punches like he’s trying to respectfully get your attention. He stole Mick Foley’s OTHER finishing move.
