Dean Ambrose has been a colossal disappointment

[LBGetBack]

Coming off the Shield, there was a chance for Ambrose to become a Stone Cold type character. Creative failed, booking failed, and he never had fully taken the ball and run with it either. His "IDGAF" stuff has never fully connected, his ring work hasn't improved much if at all.

He's basically just a guy. He's not terrible. But he's not what many thought he would be, if you think back to how he was viewed 3-4 years ago. Personally, I think having him basically lose every solo feud early in his run did a lot of damage. Rollins and Bray owned him.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

Coming off the Shield, there was a chance for Ambrose to become a Stone Cold type character. Creative failed, booking failed, and he never had fully taken the ball and run with it either. His "IDGAF" stuff has never fully connected, his ring work hasn't improved much if at all.

He's basically just a guy. He's not terrible. But he's not what many thought he would be, if you think back to how he was viewed 3-4 years ago. Personally, I think having him basically lose every solo feud early in his run did a lot of damage. Rollins and Bray owned him.

I don't know what the hell you are going on about. He consistently gets a real solid reaction from the crowd. He's funny and badass most of the time and his "IDGAF" attitude is what makes him stand out – for further proof watch his entrance at The Royal Rumble with the prospect of facing Braun Strowman. No sweat. His in-ring game is more than solid, but he does have a rough style that in my view, stands out from most of the guys and with the right opponents does indeed help the match.

He's been holding his end of the bargain since the brand split. Good to great matches with the likes of John Cena, AJ Styles and The Miz. His shtick as the Mountie, his last night's opening "walks in, gets announced for EC, gets the fuck out. Stops and gets a fight with AJ Styles". That's a solid character.

He isn't going to be the next Steve Austin, sure, but neither would Steve Austin be the star that he is in a PG environment. If anything Ambrose isn't dependable on swear words and showing the finger – he legit never quits even if that ends up ending his career, mainly because he isn't all there in the head. He's the only real babyface on SmackDown that can help establish new dudes as well as go to the main event and steal the show.

He's in the sweet spot with the main event getting crowded. Before the end of the year, he'll be main eventing pay-per-views again. We haven't seen him as an heel yet and when he was allowed to be that, he pretty much built The Shield in the beginning. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena could main event any PPV from No Mercy to WrestleMania under the right circumstances and that speaks a lot about Ambrose.

 

[wrestler36]

I wouldn't say colossal failure. I wouldn't even say failure in general. It seemed like they cooled him down a few months after the shield breakup and that mini feud with Lesnar didn't do too much to help him. But he's still an IC champ as well as a former Smackdown champ. 50/50 booking didn't do him too many favors, but he still has a long career ahead of him, barring any injuries

 

[LBGetBack]

I wouldn't say colossal failure. I wouldn't even say failure in general. It seemed like they cooled him down a few months after the shield breakup and that mini feud with Lesnar didn't do too much to help him. But he's still an IC champ as well as a former Smackdown champ. 50/50 booking didn't do him too many favors, but he still has a long career ahead of him, barring any injuries

Yeah, but think about what general expectations were for him. He's well short of those.

Like I said, not all his fault. I don't think the character quite connects like it could, the feuds have generally fallen short of expectations, and the matches are just ok for the most part. He's not bad. You could argue that he's actually pretty good. But I don't think he's come close to living up to expectations. Like you said, they seemed to cool him on purpose initially which I think hurt him quite a bit. His reactions died down quite a bit when he just kept losing, which is how it usually goes.

 

[LBGetBack]

I don't know what the hell you are going on about. He consistently gets a real solid reaction from the crowd. He's funny and badass most of the time and his "IDGAF" attitude is what makes him stand out – for further proof watch his entrance at The Royal Rumble with the prospect of facing Braun Strowman. No sweat. His in-ring game is more than solid, but he does have a rough style that in my view, stands out from most of the guys and with the right opponents does indeed help the match.

He's been holding his end of the bargain since the brand split. Good to great matches with the likes of John Cena, AJ Styles and The Miz. His shtick as the Mountie, his last night's opening "walks in, gets announced for EC, gets the fuck out. Stops and gets a fight with AJ Styles". That's a solid character.

He isn't going to be the next Steve Austin, sure, but neither would Steve Austin be the star that he is in a PG environment. If anything Ambrose isn't dependable on swear words and showing the finger – he legit never quits even if that ends up ending his career, mainly because he isn't all there in the head. He's the only real babyface on SmackDown that can help establish new dudes as well as go to the main event and steal the show.

He's in the sweet spot with the main event getting crowded. Before the end of the year, he'll be main eventing pay-per-views again. We haven't seen him as an heel yet and when he was allowed to be that, he pretty much built The Shield in the beginning. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena could main event any PPV from No Mercy to WrestleMania under the right circumstances and that speaks a lot about Ambrose.

Yeah, man.....solid. I would agree with that. But most thought he would be much more. Something has been missing to this point. Like you said, he hasn't had a heel run on his own yet. Maybe that is where he will truly shine?

Thinking about it, all of the Shield were way more over as faces when they were together. Reigns has been heavily booed throughout his face run, Rollins face run so far has been pretty terrible, and Ambrose's has just been ok.

 

[wwetnafan2k15]

What did you expect? I don't think he's that good in the ring, his moveset is lame and he has weak punches like Shane. He's my least favorite out of the three in the shield, if I was booking the shows, he would be a jobber.

 

[LBGetBack]

What did you expect? I don't think he's that good in the ring, his moveset is lame and he has weak punches like Shane. He's my least favorite out of the three in the shield, if I was booking the shows, he would be a jobber.

I thought he could be one of those unique guys....like a Roddy Piper, a Mick Foley, etc. that just produces compelling and exciting segments and matches.

 

[OYDK]

No, Dean Ambrose hasn't been a colossal failure. People put so much pressure on these guys like, for instance, comparing Dean Ambrose to Stone Cold Steve Austin, and when these impossible expectations aren't met they act like said wrestler hasn't "lived up to the hype" or whatever. Dean Ambrose was never going to be Stone Cold. Nobody is ever going to be Stone Cold. Dean Ambrose is a solid wrestler who, despite his shitty booking most of the time, can still be inserted into a main event championship feud at the drop of a hat and have most fans not only accept it, but get behind him for it. The guy has been consistently and legitimately hot for 5 years. How many *full-time veterans can you say that about at this point? John Cena, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and... that's about it.

To be over at that level in this day and age and for that length of time means you're good. Really good. You have to be to keep the attention deficient fans of this era happy. I mean, the guy has been treated like a second class citizen since the Shield split and has still managed to become a 2 time IC champ, WWE champ, and get a Brock Lesnar match at Mania, all while staying extremely over with the fanbase.

People who complain about his wrestling don't get it. Here's a hot tidbit. Wrestling ability matters very little in the world of sport-entertainment. It's why Sami Zayn, despite being a great wrestler, is not very over with the crowd. Guys like AJ Styles and Kevin Owens might be fantastic wrestlers, but that's not why they're over despite what some may have you believe. Dean Ambrose objectively is one of the best commodities in the WWE right now. Is he John Cena? No. But nobody in this era is comparable to John Cena.

 

[sMark]

If you somehow judge him after his SD match with Styles last night, forget it. I agree, he needs better arsenal of moves and match "strategy". But his match wasn't any bad. It was ok. It's hard to understand right after 5 star Cena/Styles classic at Rumble, but you can't have this kind of matches every night.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's amazing how a colossal failure and being one of the most over wrestlers on the roster look so much alike.

Like OYDK said, I think some fans have expectations that are just flat out unreasonable. I mean, how often do we hear comments about someone "is going to be the next Brock Lesnar" or something along those lines? I'm happy that Ambrose is ultimately his own guy; I have no doubt that he could be exactly like Stone Cold Steve Austin if the opportunity was given, but Stone Cold Steve Austin, hell the Attitude Era in and of itself, was ultimately Vince McMahon in panic mode and doing whatever he could to beat WCW. Wrestling has traditionally been what we'd consider PG, something that pretty much all family members can watch, and that's how Vince wants to keep it.

Ambrose is a valuable guy. He's a solid overall wrestler who can be inserted into a mid-card, main event or tag team title picture and most fans readily and happily accept it because Ambrose has the goods to keep them entertained.

 

[LBGetBack]

No, Dean Ambrose hasn't been a colossal failure. People put so much pressure on these guys like, for instance, comparing Dean Ambrose to Stone Cold Steve Austin, and when these impossible expectations aren't met they act like said wrestler hasn't "lived up to the hype" or whatever. Dean Ambrose was never going to be Stone Cold. Nobody is ever going to be Stone Cold. Dean Ambrose is a solid wrestler who, despite his shitty booking most of the time, can still be inserted into a main event championship feud at the drop of a hat and have most fans not only accept it, but get behind him for it. The guy has been consistently and legitimately hot for 5 years. How many *full-time veterans can you say that about at this point? John Cena, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and... that's about it.

To be over at that level in this day and age and for that length of time means you're good. Really good. You have to be to keep the attention deficient fans of this era happy. I mean, the guy has been treated like a second class citizen since the Shield split and has still managed to become a 2 time IC champ, WWE champ, and get a Brock Lesnar match at Mania, all while staying extremely over with the fanbase.

People who complain about his wrestling don't get it. Here's a hot tidbit. Wrestling ability matters very little in the world of sport-entertainment. It's why Sami Zayn, despite being a great wrestler, is not very over with the crowd. Guys like AJ Styles and Kevin Owens might be fantastic wrestlers, but that's not why they're over despite what some may have you believe. Dean Ambrose objectively is one of the best commodities in the WWE right now. Is he John Cena? No. But nobody in this era is comparable to John Cena.

You said yourself...."shitty booking most of the time". How can we say it's gone great for someone with "shitty booking most of the time"? He's done ok. I thought it would be better.

And you're right, high expectations can be very difficult to meet and unfair. I like Ambrose.....and I want to enjoy his work more. I'm just calling it like I see it. Colossal failure may have been too strong, I admit. Underwhelming would've been a better word choice, now that I think about it more.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

He is where he should be. Dean is high midcard guy who excels in main event spots once in a while. Unlike his Shield brothers he is the only one that didnt excel almost one bit. Dean was always interesting character with good mic skills and OK ring work. Unfortunatly for him he just stayed that over all those years.

Did he failed? Guy was Champion few months ago and is US Champion now. He certainly didnt failed. You just expect him to be StoneCold. And he is neither seen by WWE as that or possesses tools to be that.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

As others have touched on, there's a big expectations vs reality factor to this opinion. Ambrose is one of the most over guys on the roster. He gets a consistent pop from the fickle male demographic, he moves merchandise, and is a former world champion despite his size.

The expectation is Ambrose would come in with his sadistic Jon Moxley persona and revolutionize WWE. Unfortunately WWE has their way of doing things, so characters like Moxley become safe marketable characters like Dean Ambrose.

Ambrose does his little rebound clothesline for the casuals, wears his shirts and hoodies to move merchandise, and doesn't curse or do much beyond childish antics to sell his supposed lunatic character. He really and truly is a WWE character.

The fact that a guy his size is a former world champion during the one world title period between brand extensions is something for him to be proud of. He may yet even adopt a sadistic heel character.

He's not John Cena, he won't be a perpetual babyface. We haven't seen singles heel Dean Ambrose (outside of FCW), so who knows what that looks like?

WWE doesn't want people who come in a revolutionize pro-wrestling. If that's what you want, you need to look outside WWE. The Coca-Cola of pro-wrestling (sorry, entertainment) won't risk creating an extreme character who's popularity transcends their business model. They want safe characters with easy to digest tag lines that get casuals buying shirts and subscribing to the Network with their families.

Now, the OP is correct about booking's failures. The Lesnar match at Mania 32 was hot garbage. His early singles booking getting run over by Bray Wyatt was a bit tiresome. I'm not sure what the need is giving him the IC title when Miz has been such fire lately.

Aside from bad booking during the Lesnar match, how has Ambrose failed? Because he's watered down to appeal to the kids? That's more a symptom of WWE booking than it is a failure on the part of Ambrose the wrestler. I doubt Ambrose remains a babyface for many more years. I wonder what the opinion of him will be when he leaves the side of the angels?

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

I don't see how he's been a colossal failure. He had the most successful year out of anybody in The Shield in 2016 (MAYBE the most successful year out of everyone in the company) and in the first month of 2017 he captured the Intercontinental Championship. He's been booked at the top of the card for over a year now. He consistently gets one of the biggest face pops in the entire company. Just because he didn't develop into the next Stone Cold doesn't mean he's failed.

The only thing I look at as an actual failure with Dean is his match with Brock at WrestleMania. They dropped the ball from a mile up on that one but who knows what really went on there. People say that Brock didn't want to put his body at so much risk ahead of his UFC fight and I tend to believe that because if they would've let Dean go all out, he would've gone all out.

And his Summerslam match with Ziggler... I don't really know what happened there.

His character can be a little goofy at times and his ring work isn't the best (for me he's the worst out of The Shield) but just because I don't like those two things about him I could never say that he's been a failure or even a disappointment.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

I don't see Dean Ambrose as a failure at all. He has consistently good to great mic skills. He carries his character with so much confidence and attitude. His matches are usually good. He's distinctive and unique and gets reactions. I think he was voted for the "most popular wrestler of the year" twice. He's won the US title, Intercontinental title and WWE title. He's currently the Intercontinental Champion. That may or may not be a step back for him, but he's still a Champion. Maybe people were expecting him to be an absolute wild card and some hardcore practitioner with shades of Jon Moxley mixed in and it never came to fruition because of creative's decisions or something along those lines. He's doing well with what he's playing with. He's his own show.

 

[Earth_2_Superman]

The problem is that YOU want him to be a certain type of character, so of course you're going to think he's a failure because he's not what YOU want him to be. Funny, but sad because if the "fans" were responsible for booking, the state of the industry would be in shambles with no chance for redemption. If you don't like what's going on with him, simply move on.

 

[LBGetBack]

He is where he should be. Dean is high midcard guy who excels in main event spots once in a while. Unlike his Shield brothers he is the only one that didnt excel almost one bit. Dean was always interesting character with good mic skills and OK ring work. Unfortunatly for him he just stayed that over all those years.

Did he failed? Guy was Champion few months ago and is US Champion now. He certainly didnt failed. You just expect him to be StoneCold. And he is neither seen by WWE as that or possesses tools to be that.

Stone Cold wasn't always Stone Cold either. He was Stunning Steve and the Ringmaster. Solid, but nobody was saying he was going to become one of the biggest wrestlers ever.

 

[LBGetBack]

You guys getting all defensive like I'm personally attacking Ambrose are taking it all wrong. The only things I would put on him is that he hasn't really improved in the ring. He's not bad but he's not great either and he hasn't really gotten better.

Those defending by pointing out his kayfabe accomplishments and pretty good pops....ok, he's been pretty successful. But.....can you point me to a great Dean Ambrose feud or match? I had high hopes for his feuds with Rollins, Wyatt, Jericho, and Lesnar. None of them ever fully hit the mark. That's kind of how his story has gone so far. It still could happen for him, but so far.....I'm just underwhelmed. Like I said in the OP though....creative and booking hasn't really come through for him either.

 

[wwetnafan2k15]

I thought he could be one of those unique guys....like a Roddy Piper, a Mick Foley, etc. that just produces compelling and exciting segments and matches.

Well, he couldn't lace their boots, so that's a stretch. Piper's Pit was a lot more entertaining than The Ambrose Asluym.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I agree in part, though I also wouldn't say "colossal failure".

I think it's more "disappointment", really. As part of the Shield, Ambrose used to be the focal figure, he was the mouthpiece, and the charismatic guy. Reigns was the silent enforcer, Rollins the flashy exciting guy. But neither really mattered as much on the mic for the Shield as Ambrose did. That, combined with his history in the Indies, made him the surefire main eventer in many people's eyes upon an eventual breakup of the Shield.

However, while he did connect admirably with the crowd, he was massively eclipsed by the breakouts of both Rollins and Reigns, although for different reasons. Rollins just got over naturally, and made the best out the push that the "Authority" angle gave him. I think he surprised almost everyone as THE breakout star of the group. Reigns' "success" was both furthered and stunted by the hyper-push he was given, and the force-feeding treatment fans received when it came to him. So while he is definitely the more important main event figure compared to Dean Ambrose, his status is still a bit in limbo as fans have not really taken to him yet one way or another.

But the fact of the matter remains that the one guy who most expected to be the breakout star of the group ultimately ended up being the least successful. He is a good hand, a solid upper-midcard guy, but - at least for me - didn't quite cut it in the main event. He is over, and that is fine... but he isn't where many expected he would be, especially in comparison to the other two Shield guys who many considered to be the "lesser" prospects for big success.

But yeah, sometimes that's how life goes.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I think a lot of the other posters already said this, but I want to reiterate: Dean Ambrose is one of the most over guys on the entire WWE roster. The fact that he is not the next SCSA or John Cena isn't a disappointment at all and I'm not entirely sure who was expecting him to be those guys. What he has proved consistently since the Shield breakup is that he can put together an entertaining feud and get the fans invested into his character.

Anyone who can do that at the main event and midcard levels is a success in my opinion.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

You guys getting all defensive like I'm personally attacking Ambrose are taking it all wrong. The only things I would put on him is that he hasn't really improved in the ring. He's not bad but he's not great either and he hasn't really gotten better.

Those defending by pointing out his kayfabe accomplishments and pretty good pops....ok, he's been pretty successful. But.....can you point me to a great Dean Ambrose feud or match? I had high hopes for his feuds with Rollins, Wyatt, Jericho, and Lesnar. None of them ever fully hit the mark. That's kind of how his story has gone so far. It still could happen for him, but so far.....I'm just underwhelmed. Like I said in the OP though....creative and booking hasn't really come through for him either.

His matches with AJ Styles were pretty good to great. Meltzer rated their tuesday's match with 4,25 and it was that good. His style is unique and some guys don't really work with him, also his story with Rollins was pretty specific for those matches. It was a brawl, a fight and not really a match ao they booked it that way. Not his fault. Watch his trilogy with him in FCW and do yourself a favor. It was a classic.

Those times he faced Roman were pretty great too and they will, eventually have a legendary feud. Yes, legendary. So much story between them and I still mark out with their feud against The Wyatts. Together taking a beating and selling the drama and try to reaxh each other. Movie shit right there.

His feud with Bray was just there. They fought pretty much every week to fill in space and it had no meaning and no pay off. The Lesnar one was totally Lesnar's fault. Ambrose got in trouble after the SCSA for telling Lesnar was lazy. It could have been a classic with Ambrose losing by KO as SCSA against Bret Hart. It sucks for him and for us to be honest.

In sum, I dont see any problem with his wrestling skills as much as I ser with the booking.

 

[ShinChan]

He's nowhere near a failure.

Infact, he's the most successful member of Shield if we consider everything. Not to forget that he's the best babyface out of the whole Shield. We all know what Roman Reigns gets as a babyface and also the botched Rollins face turn.

If you expect him to be Stone Cold, then that's a problem with your expectations. He's Dean Ambrose and is unique on his own. About improving, he has improved a lot in the ring. I don't know why you can't see it.

Also, he has remained surprisingly over since a long time much more than Reigns and Rollins. He still hasn't turned heel which I think that it would be surely his strength. A heel Ambrose will easily outshine a heel Reigns or a heel Rollins.

So in nutshell, no one of Shield is anywhere near being a colossal failure or disappointment.

 

[LBGetBack]

He's nowhere near a failure.

Infact, he's the most successful member of Shield if we consider everything. Not to forget that he's the best babyface out of the whole Shield. We all know what Roman Reigns gets as a babyface and also the botched Rollins face turn.

If you expect him to be Stone Cold, then that's a problem with your expectations. He's Dean Ambrose and is unique on his own. About improving, he has improved a lot in the ring. I don't know why you can't see it.

Also, he has remained surprisingly over since a long time much more than Reigns and Rollins. He still hasn't turned heel which I think that it would be surely his strength. A heel Ambrose will easily outshine a heel Reigns or a heel Rollins.

So in nutshell, no one of Shield is anywhere near being a colossal failure or disappointment.

Why do people keep using the word "failure" when I said "disappointment"? The two are very different things.

He has been pretty successful, obviously. He hasn't failed. But for the reasons I've said earlier, I think his solo run has been a disappointment. Mostly not his fault though.

I will check out that Styles match, I have not seen that one yet. I don't think one feud of his has fully hit the mark. Again, probably mostly not his fault, if at all.

 

[ShinChan]

Why do people keep using the word "failure" when I said "disappointment"? The two are very different things.

He has been pretty successful, obviously. He hasn't failed. But for the reasons I've said earlier, I think his solo run has been a disappointment. Mostly not his fault though.

I will check out that Styles match, I have not seen that one yet. I don't think one feud of his has fully hit the mark. Again, probably mostly not his fault, if at all.

Sorry, I botched the thread title.

About feuds, I think that his feud with Seth Rollins after Shield split and then after Seth Rollins won the title at Wrestlemania were quite entertaining. Of course, his booking hasn't done him any favours. While Rollins and Reigns have remained in main event scene, he has been to midcard.

Only times I've been disappointed with him were his matches with Brock Lesnar and Chris Jericho.