Opinion: Predicting Dean Ambrose’s heel turn

After a prolonged injury, Dean Ambrose returned to Raw in August. It took nine months for Ambrose’s triceps injury to heal, and he has returned looking better and stronger than before. His time off has also helped him work on his skill-set and moves which is noticeable in his recent matches.

After Seth Rollins lost his Intercontinental Championship to Dolph Ziggler, who was helped by Drew McIntyre in his efforts, Rollins needed someone by his side to even out the odds. While the obvious choice at the time was Roman Reigns, his own pursuit for the Universal Championship created many difficulties in the storyline.

Enter Dean Ambrose, who returned to help his friend Seth Rollins and eventually Rollins won the title from “The Showoff” Dolph Ziggler. Later in the month, Ambrose and Rollins joined forces with the new Universal Champion Roman Reigns to reform The Shield.

Now, it can be seen that though Dean Ambrose seems to be following his usual character traits, such as being a lunatic and grumpy all the time. However, he’s been unusually quiet since his return and that could possibly be deliberate. Maybe the WWE wants to show that he’s hiding something or has something at the back of his mind.

WWE has been trying to get a full-fledged Shield reunion since a while, but first Roman Reigns suffered an illness which affected their plans, and then Dean Ambrose was out for three-quarters of a year. It seems like now is the perfect time for the WWE to get an extended Shield run before something goes wrong.

The WWE wants to put Roman Reigns over and the only way they can do that is by putting The Shield over. They’ve even turned their biggest babyface Braun Strowman heel to help with the efforts. But it won’t be long before the Lunatic Fringe would want the gold around his waist too, just like his two friends in The Shield.

Ambrose is a Grand Slam Champion

There can be a few reasons that the WWE creatives can use to justify Ambrose’s heel turn when it happens. Ambrose has already been portrayed as an unstable character throughout his career, and it won’t take much for The Lunatic to cross the line.

Firstly, his silence could be used to explain that he has unfinished business with The Architect and wants him to pay for his initial turn on the group in 2014. Ambrose had already described Rollins as a "cancer" in The Shield, while Reigns claimed that Rollins "committed the most unforgivable sin". The sin could come back to haunt Rollins.

Secondly, Ambrose could also turn to go after Roman Reigns as he would pose to be Reign’s biggest threat. Since the crowd cheers for Ambrose more than Reigns, he could explain that Reigns is not the WWE Universe's Champion, and he should be the champion instead. Since the WWE plans to keep Roman Reigns as a babyface for as long as possible, Ambrose could be the first to turn on his brothers.

Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns have exchanged a few punches in the past

The right time to strike would be when The Shield is on an all-time high. It would be most impactful only when no one expects it, just like Dolph Ziggler teaming-up with Drew McIntyre and the two becoming the Raw Tag Team Champions.

Around Survivor Series or even TLC would give the group sufficient time to build on their current status and momentum, and for Dean Ambrose to grow hungry for a title run too. He could start showing signs of a turn before he goes fully into it.

Raw is hungry for top-level heels, and currently, only Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens fit the bill. The Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman is a heel under development. With a heel-turn for Dean Ambrose, Raw will get a fresh top-level superstar who could challenge anyone on the roster and come out on top.

Ambrose is a natural heel and can switch from face to heel without much change in his attitude or his character. By doing so, the WWE creatives could open up a number of possibilities for themselves and build several storylines which could go on for a considerable amount of time.

Do you predict a Dean Ambrose heel-turn is coming soon?