Weekend Wristlock: 5 Things Dean Ambrose Can Do Upon His Return
Injuries are unfortunate, especially in an industry such as professional wrestling. The key to regaining momentum, however is to book their return well and not leave them without something meaningful to do.
Dean Ambrose has been out of action since December of last year due to a triceps injury. This was half a year ago, so many people are wondering what the "Lunatic Fringe" will do upon his return. Here, I will go over five possibile avenues the WWE may choose to travel with one of their top stars.
Note: This article was inspired by a talking point on the latest episode of The Enzuigiri podcast. Definitely give it a listen! We have results, news and much, much more!
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5. Tag Champs Reunite
An obvious decision would be to pair Ambrose back together with Seth Rollins. It makes sense, considering the current state of the Raw tag team division. As champions, the duo was exciting, had plenty of chemistry together, and always put on solid matches. While putting these two back together may not be the most creative option, it may be just what Raw needs right now.
4. WWE Gonna WWE
Unfortunately, there's always the possibility that WWE creative does what they like to do, and ruin another character. Ambrose could break off on another singles run... as a face... who uses ketchup and mustard as weapons. If this happens, it will be very difficult (albeit not impossible) for the former WWE champion to come back from that and be taken seriously once again.
His run as a goofy face character was average at the best of times, and cringe worthy at the worst. Hopefully this route is off the table, and the higher ups realize that they'e staring at a true main event caliber star.
3. An Unexpected Challenger
A face singles run is not completely out of the question. Despite Seth Rollins seemingly entering a feud with Elias over the Intercontinental title, the champ could realistically retain, and continue his weekly open challenges... only to be interrupted by a familiar face.
The duo always puts on top-notch matches together, and especially now with how much momentum Rolins has. They could wrestle for the title on multiple pay-per-view shows before Ambrose takes the title away for good (freeing up the Architect to go after the Universal championship).
Their matches could be based off of mutual respect, or...
2. Turnabout Is Fair Play
The most likely storyline is a role reversal of one of the biggest swerves in recent pro wrestling memory. In June of 2014, Seth Rollins dropped jaws across the world by betraying his Shield brothers Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose and opting to join The Authority. After months of Ambrose exacting his revenge, their rivalry had subsided.
A couple years later, The Shield reunited (after the Lunatic Fringe was understandably hesitant with Rollins) as a great tag team before Ambrose's aforementioned injury.
Who says Dean Ambrose isn't jealous of all the attention the current Intercontinental champion is getting? If they do go this route, much of the same things from the previous entry on this list could be said here, only the returning star would be a heel, and this would be a much more personal rivalry, which is always exciting.
1. Lacking That Fire
Admittedly, this one sounds more like a legitimate beef rather than an on-screen rivalry, but hear me out. By now, most wrestling fans are aware of the rumor that Dean Ambrose was working "lazy" in the ring, that he didn't care much for the business and just wanted to do his job then go home. Well, since returning on Raw during the Superstar Shakeup, that's exactly what Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre were calling out the rest of the locker room for.
I know it's a stretch to blur the line between kayfabe and reality to this extent, but it'd sure make for interesting television if Ambrose made his return (perhaps in the open challenge against Rollins), then Ziggler and McIntyre run out mid-match to attack the pair. The following week, they'd call out Ambrose for those issues I previously addressed, and a rivalry is formed. It could be Ambrose and one of the two, or Rollins could get involved to add a spark to the tag team division.
Either way, this is the out of the box thinking WWE needs in order to give the Lunatic Fringe the momentum he lost due to his unfortunate injury.
