THE STORY OF DEAN AMBROSE AS A WWE SUPERSTAR IS A STRANGE ONE.
When The Shield was teasing to break up, everyone assumed that Seth would go on to be a fantastic babyface, Roman would… well no-one actually knew what was going to happen with the Big Dog but the one nailed on certainty was that Dean Ambrose was going to become a main event level heel. His slicked back hair, scumbag attitude and the fact that Seth was starting to rebel against the status quo made for almost the perfect heel turn.
But here we are, almost three years later, with Dean becoming in the latter stages of 2014/early 2015 as a white-hot babyface against Rollins but now he’s just kind of there.
A large criticism that is thrown at Dean, perhaps unfairly, is that he’s ‘cooky crazy’ instead of ‘badass crazy’. During his feud with Seth we saw legitimate fire and unpredictability that made Crazy Dean Ambrose awesome. We never knew what he was going to do and, in an almost Heath Ledger Joker-esque way, he didn’t even know what he was going to do.
However, not long after this he was squirting mustard and ketchup at Corporate Kane and Randy Orton from a hot dog cart. That’s not awesome. That’s not badass. That’s terrible. As I previously eluded to, this is perhaps a harsh criticism to throw at the man himself and as we all know, WWE are incredibly strict with scripting their stars (a fact Dean mentioned on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Podcast that mentioned him feel physically sick the first time he was handed a script).
So, to say Dean is failing in terms of character work must actually be thrown at those who are writing his lines. But know what is an almost sure-fire way to improve his character? Turn. Him. Heel.
On RAW currently- Dean and Seth are involved in a storyline where Dean is reluctant to accept Seth back into his small fold of allies. Whilst this is, actually, a great piece of storytelling on WWE’s part- why should Dean take Rollins’ back after everything he did to him – we can assume it will end with both men getting back on the same page and having a mini Shield reunion. But, what I feel would be much better, is that have Dean allow Seth to lull himself into a false sense of security then at SummerSlam Dean should attack him, turning heel in the process.
It would be perfect storytelling and it could kickstart a feud we’ve both seen before and never seen – a face Seth Rollins vs. a heel Dean Ambrose.
Overall, I think it would work wonders for Ambrose to turn heel. His promos would become far more engaging, his in ring work could become harsher which Dean is great at and I honestly feel it would make him much more interesting as a competitor and push him up the card where many feel he belongs.
