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Royal Rumble, WWE.com
Dean Ambrose has achieved a lot in his career. In 2017, “Royal Rumble Winner” should be added to his resume.
Winning WWE’s Royal Rumble Match is a career-changing moment. The winner isn’t just guaranteed to go to WrestleMania, but he also gets to fight for a world (or Universal) title on the biggest stage in all of professional wrestling. There can only be one winner of the Royal Rumble, and in 2017, that man should be Dean Ambrose.
Ambrose is the current Intercontinental Champion, but that should not take him out of consideration. They could make him a dual-champion, like Seth Rollins was with the WWE Championship and United States Championship in the summer of 2015. Of course, they could also take the title off him, and free up his title holding hand between now and The Show of Shows.
The most likely scenario for Ambrose to find himself challenging for a top championship at WrestleMania, is for Dean to drop his title early in the show at The Alamodome, probably to The Miz. We’ve seen it many times in the past with Money in the Bank cash-ins, the briefcase holder loses an announced match, then cashes in later and walks out champion. It’s not their best idea that they constantly recycle, but it could be tweaked to lead to Ambrose outlasting 29 other men.
So let’s get to it. Five reasons that WWE should follow through on that and let Dean Ambrose make them money in the main event of WrestleMania, starting with #5:
WWE.com
5. On a Show with John Cena, Dean Ambrose is the Top Face
AJ Styles is the top heel for SmackDown Live, and he is definitely what he says he is, “The Face That Runs The Place.” However, “face” in that context means that Styles is the #1 guy on the brand. Dean Ambrose, though, is SmackDown Live’s top babyface.
For over a decade, John Cena has been the biggest star in all of wrestling, but that era is starting to end. Cena is wrestling Styles for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, and it will be his first PPV appearance since October 9th. Cena’s time is up (pun fully intended).
In that time, Ambrose has run right alongside Styles in carrying the blue torch. With SmackDown’s ascent in ratings, including a momentary rise above Raw, Ambrose’s contributions should not go unnoticed.
WWE.com
4. Dean Ambrose was Most Important to The Shield’s Success
Let’s face it, we all know who is looked at as the best member of The Shield in the company’s eyes. Roman Reigns is The Guy. He’s dominated the WWE landscape since The Shield split in the early summer of 2014. Also, though, Seth Rollins is The Man, having one of the most memorable moments in WrestleMania history when he cashed in Money in the Bank in the middle of the main event.
Ambrose has had a nice career, but he’s short on defining moments, and that’s just not fair, considering the other two guys wouldn’t be where they are without him.
The Shield are, arguably, the greatest group in the history of professional wrestling. They all improved throughout their time together, and they all had a specific role that they played very well. However, at the beginning, Ambrose was undoubtedly the leader. He did most of the talking; he was the most comfortable of the group in the ring; and he set the tone for what Reigns and Rollins would model themselves after as characters, as they moved forward and grew as a unit.
WWE.com
3. Ambrose Wrestled Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32 in One of the Most Disappointing Matches Ever
Dean Ambrose was red-hot in the spring of 2016. He made it to the final two of last year’s Royal Rumble, before being eliminated by the winner, Triple H. He then went on to challenge Triple H for the WWE Championship at the WWE Network special event, Roadblock, less than a month before WrestleMania. The match was fantastic, and included a great dusty finish that fooled the Toronto crowd that exploded at the thought of Ambrose as champion.
Unfortunately, Ambrose was defeated that night, but he still had a date for WrestleMania: Brock Lesnar.
Normally, Lesnar would destroy Ambrose, but when the match was made No DQ, it seemed like they had all the tools to have a thrilling, believable match. Unfortunately, Lesnar did just destroy Ambrose.
The Lunatic Fringe’s creativity was stifled, in fact, he stated as much on The Stone Cold Podcast, and for that, he deserves a chance to right that wrong at The Showcase of The Immortals.
WWE.com
2. Dean Ambrose Gets One of the Biggest Pops on WWE TV Every Week
It’s not easy to get over. Guys have been handed better material in the past and failed. Dean Ambrose just has a way of making even the worst stuff get over when he should be dead in the water.
Ambrose is not the best wrestler. For somebody who made his name practically killing himself wrestling a hardcore style, Ambrose has really learned how to play it safe. He has a select number of “greatest hits” moves that he uses on a nightly basis, but otherwise, he saves his best stuff for his biggest matches.
That is the mark of a smart wrestler, but also an over wrestler. For as great as Daniel Bryan was, his curse was that he couldn’t slow himself down, and now his career is over. Ambrose is preventing that from happening to him, and he’s still one of the most over acts on the main roster.
It’s the key to a long-lasting career in the WWE, and it will keep him healthy and showcase his durability.
WWE.com
1. Dean Ambrose is WWE’s Iron Man
According to Cagematch.net, Ambrose wrestled more matches than anybody else on the WWE roster in 2015 and 2016. Cagematch.net’s statistics are not complete, as they do not include all house shows, but they are a very solid indicator.
Ambrose stays healthy and is in the ring every night. If he continues to hold up, the powers that be will have no choice but to start looking at him as the heir apparent to John Cena.
Just look at all the injuries suffered in the WWE over the past few years. Cena has missed significant time, the same goes for Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, and Cesaro. AJ Styles wasn’t in WWE, but he’s also had trouble with injuries. Big Show has missed significant time, and he isn’t getting any younger, neither is Kane.
The point is that a commodity like Ambrose doesn’t grow on trees, and WWE would be smart to make sure that they don’t waste him.
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