7 Major WWE SummerSlam matches that almost happened

#5 Mick Foley vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE SummerSlam 2012)

That time Dean Ambrose confronted Mick Foley at the WWE hotel during WrestleMania weekend before he had debuted on the main roster. pic.twitter.com/5UKVCOC2Ax

— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) April 22, 2019

Dean Ambrose made his WWE debut at Survivor Series 2012 alongside Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, as The Shield. However, it could have been different for him. The current AEW World Champion nearly began his WWE run with a dream match at SummerSlam instead.

During WrestleMania weekend in 2012, Ambrose had a heated confrontation with Mick Foley, saying that the "Hardcore Legend" needed to be held accountable for causing an entire generation of wrestlers to put their bodies through misery and take insane bumps. The then-FCW star continued to antagonize Foley through Twitter.

Remember that time Mick Foley and Dean Ambrose had a "little word" on Twitter? #WWE #Raw pic.twitter.com/vkGhBmuujq

— Rock Bottom Radio (@RockBottomRadio) March 15, 2016

This heat was intended to lead to a Hardcore Match between Foley and Ambrose at SummerSlam 2012, with the latter going over. However, the WWE Hall of Famer was medically disqualified to wrestle by his neurologist. And just like that, the SummerSlam match was canceled, as was Dean Ambrose's WWE call-up for the time being.

As bold as this angle sounds, the match between Foley and Ambrose being nixed was probably for the better. The Shield will forever be remembered as one of the greatest WWE factions of all time.