Dean Ambrose has long been the bridesmaid but but never the bride. All that changed at Money In The Bank 2016 when he won the briefcase and cashed in on Seth Rollins later in the night to finally win the WWE Championship. Ambrose has long been a fan favourite but had been in the shadow of his Shield brothers Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Ambrose has been one of the biggest draws at WWE Live Events and it’s up to WWE to help Ambrose cement his place as a main event level star akin to Reigns and Rollins. Ambrose is the most organically popular superstar WWE has on their roster right now and after the Roman Reigns ddebacle, he’s a WWE Champion that the fans can get behind.
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With The Shield triple threat coming up at Battleground, here are 5 things we’ve learnt so far from Dean Ambrose’s reign as WWE Champion.
5: The Shield are one of the most successful factions in WWE history
If it wasn’t already established before Money In The Bank, The Shield are now definitely one of the most successful factions in the history of the WWE on the same level as The Freebirds and Evolution. Although The Shield had a short run, they were very successful with Reigns and Rollins tag-team champions and Ambrose as US Champion at one point.
Since they broke up all three members have now been WWE Champion atleast once and their triple threat at Battleground is one of the most hotly awaited matches of this decade.
4: He’s a fighting champion
Dean Ambrose has always been a fighter and he hasn’t backed down from a fight since he became WWE Champion. Dean’s ready to defend the championship against anyone at any time and it was his idea to defend his title against both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple threat at Battleground.
Ambrose is heading into Battleground with momentum and will look to retain his title and head into the brand split era with the title around his waist.
3: Gimmick guys are still title-worthy
Although a competent in-ring performer, Dean Ambrose’s brawling style isn’t the most electrifying. However, that’s only the beginning of Dean Ambrose. Ambrose is an old school gimmick wrestler whose character is as important in getting over as his wrestling, similar to Stone Cold Steve Austin to a degree. Dean is also dynamite on the mic which helps him to get his character over with fans, so they have an emotional investment in Ambrose.
In the era of the indie superworkers such as Zayn, Styles and Rollins, Ambrose’s title victory shows that there’s still a place at the top of WWE for gimmick guys if they really are that good.
2: He’s readier than Roman to hold the championship at the moment
Roman Reigns latest disastrous run with the World Heavyweight Championship came to an end at Money In The Bank. Although Roman has improved in the ring a lot over the last six months, his overall package just isn’t ready for the top yet. A champion in WWE has to cut a lot of promos and Roman is just too monotone and bland on the mic, unlike Dean Ambrose who spins tales on the mic.
Roman is also supposed to be a babyface champions, but a babyface champion who’s vehemently booed by a majority of the fans just isn’t working and WWE had a chance to reset that with Ambrose, who is an organically popular fan favourite.
Now with Roman’s Wellness Policy Violation the time just isn’t right to win the title back right now and Ambrose seems to be the man of the moment.
1: The People’s Champion
The moment that Dean Ambrose cashed in on Seth Rollins and lifted his newly won WWE Championship was even more special because of the crowd reaction on the night, who universally erupted when Ambrose finally won the title for the first time. The crowd see Dean as one of them, a blue collar lad who’s worked his way into WWE the hard way and has fought against all odds to finally be the top guy in WWE. Fans just do not connect to Roman Reigns in that way even tough WWE are constantly pushing him down fans’ throats.
Ambrose is the people’s champion, the champion that fans have wanted for a long time and the champion they deserve.
