Lonely At The Top
The brand split did little to nothing for Dean Ambrose. Sure, he brought the company’s top belt to the Smackdown Blue. Then he had a feud with Dolph Ziggler. Listen, I think Dolph Ziggler is one of the most talented wrestlers today, but...let me rephrase that...I Think Dolph Ziggler is THE most talented jobber in all of WWE.
He’s Shawn Michaels if Shawn Michaels had Zack Ryder’s friends. Nobody gave it their all in the build to their Summerslam match. Dean seemed unmotivated at best and Ziggler just slid his MO over from Baron Corbin, then after failing to win the big one jumped immediately into a losing feud with The Miz. It’s not entirely Dolph and Dean’s fault, They seemed to know how everyone else was thinking anyway: When does AJ get the belt?
AJ Styles is a world famous pro wrestling star. He came into WWE cocked and loaded, stumbled slightly on the mic end of things but recovered nicely, before turning everything he did up to 11. He #beatupJohnCena, made Cena sad enough to abandon one of his arm bands in the ring, then immediately set his sites on the WWE Heavyweight Championship.
Despite his match with Ambrose at Backlash being passable, if not forgettable, AJ was launched, and there wasn’t much room in our hearts for someone else. Especially when that someone else seems to barely care that he was given the responsibility to elevate his show.
On Dean, the championship looked like a literal and figurative anchor on his body. On AJ it solidifies him as the actual new guy in town. The guy who everybody knew and nobody thought would ever hold WWE gold, much less be IN WWE. The guy who has held every title that matters across the globe and now he’s got one up on John Freaking Cena.
