Dean Ambrose has become the central figure of WWE’s programming in the recent months. Even before his win at Money in the Bank, Ambrose has always been the guy who makes the main event worthy to hang around for. Though he regularly main events SmackDown in the form of a tag match or a singles match or even as a commentator, he has done much more on Raw too even at midcard.
With the Shield trio set to clash at Battleground, everyone is busy making their bids for their favorites to win the match. And being a Dean Ambrose fan, I thought this would be the perfect time to make a bid for an Ambrose win at Battleground. I have listed out few of the points that appeal much to the broader scope of the product than my personal opinions like “Ambrose is way cool.”
He has the most interesting character of the trio
Among the trio of Shield brethren, Rollins has made it his goal to garner much heat and Roman’s push as the top babyface is not sitting well with the majority of fans. Ambrose is the only guy who has the unanimous support of the fans. Moreover, even though he is a face right now, even his heel turn can’t alienate fans that much due to the fact that his character is well portrayed than both of his brothers.
We all love that one guy who is difficult to predict. That is the factor which made Steve Austin great. We didn't know whether Stone Cold is going to stun that someone who is talking in the ring with him and the same applies to Dean Ambrose. We all love that one guy who doesn't think right. That is the factor which made Brian Pillman appeal to us. We didn’t know what Pillman was going to say and the same applies to Dean Ambrose.
Both Reigns and Rollins have become encumbered by the stereotypical characteristics a face or heel must exhibit, but Dean is not encumbered by it and that makes him more interesting to follow than the other two. This has also created a huge fan following for Ambrose.
We all love the underdog
Anyone who is following WWE for sometime now can attest to the fact that Dean is always playing second fiddle to either Reigns or Rollins. He is always so close, yet not managing to actually make it. It has sort of made him the underdog among the trio.
We all love underdogs and if someone is in doubt about how popular Dean is with the WWE universe, they just need to listen to the ovation he got this past week on Raw. (I am leaving out Money in the Bank because people can label it as the surprise effect.)
Heading into the Triple Threat, both Reigns and Rollins have more chances at winning than Dean Ambrose. And if rumours are to be believed, Dean Ambrose’s title run would end at Battleground. By making the underdog triumph over the proverbial victors, WWE can create a huge surprise effect and thus spew more interest into the product heading into SummerSlam.
It adds interesting dynamics
Ambrose being the champion is something that will be new and exciting to watch. Most of his feuds with various midcarders are yet to culminate in a big way. This adds an interesting dynamic for the championship picture. Ambrose can actually relate to the up and coming midcarders who want to challenge him for the title. With Ambrose as the champion, Owens, Cesaro, Zayn and even Jericho could enter into the title picture effortlessly.
On the other hand, Rollins and Reigns can still be in the title picture because of their link to him. Thus this makes Ambrose the ideal guy to have as the champion. He can be the link between midcarders and the preferred main eventers. By having him as the champion, WWE can inject anyone in and out of title picture effortlessly and keep thigs interesting regardless of which brand he is drafted to.
On a relatively minor note, the Ambrose Asylum will have a whole new dynamic and importance if it is hosted by the champion. This instantly makes 15 to 20 minutes of WWE weekly programming interesting and must watch. Thus, WWE can keep the audience hooked with the product without much effort.
Saves huge fan backlash
The other big problem with taking away the championship from Ambrose this soon will be that it will receive huge fan backlash. Dean Ambrose is much like Daniel Bryan in a way. He is universally popular and he is also an indy darling. So making him a transitional champion is not going to sit well with the marks and smarks alike.
If Reigns takes the championship away from his brother, even the meagre pops he gets when he enters the arena will be gone. Coming fresh of suspension, Reigns will have it hard from the fans already. Adding this to his burden is not a smart move if WWE wants Reigns to be cheered. And WWE has shown no indication to turn Reigns heel whatsoever in the recent times.
Rollins, on the other hand, can easily garner that heat and go on a power trip. But, the flipside of this decision is something that WWE won't like. It will hurt the legitimacy of Ambrose. Ambrose has carefully built his legitimacy with various programs, but there is still a belief that Ambrose can never be a legitimate threat to main-eventers. His inconsistent booking in the past and WrestleMania match with Brock Lesnar has seen to it already.
Jericho has put much effort into making Ambrose a legitimate threat again. If ambrose loses this match too, he will again become relegated to the second tier of superstars like Dolph Ziggler and several others who are always there but never close enough. And the last time a fan favorite was relegated to such a situation (that would be Daniel Bryan) the WWE Universe replied with a severe fan backlash and that wouldn’t be ideal heading into SummerSlam.
It would be “Best for Business”
WWE has recently tried to push Roman Reigns as the next face of the company. Though the WWE Universe is revolting against it, they seemed to be determined to get on with that project. And to make matters worse, Reigns gets suspended for violating the Wellness Policy. This makes it harder for WWE to sell their merchandise too.
If WWE puts the title back on Reigns right off the bat, fans are surely going to hate him for it. Reigns can spend some much needed time on the midcard after his return and build his new tweener character such that it gets bulletproof over time and then return to the main event level. Fans would see that as Reigns doing his penance and this would also take away the spotlight from him and help him develop his tweener character much more to audience’s liking.
Meanwhile, Dean and Seth could continue their feud at the top of the card. They had an interesting rivalry the first time around with Rollins as a champion, the second saga can be written with Ambrose as the champion and honestly it wouldn’t bore anyone. And when Roman is ready to jump to the main event level, he can take the title away from anyone of them.
This way it is a win-win for both WWE and fans.
