In case you’ve missed the announcement, the WWE Universe received shocking news yesterday morning. Dean Ambrose will be leaving WWE once his contract expires following this year’s WrestleMania. WWE even went so far as to confirm the report on it’s own website later Tuesday. With that huge news barely a day old as I write this, it begs the question: Have we witnessed Dean Ambrose’s disappointing end?
Here’s why I ask that. For one, his Royal Rumble appearance was uneventful. Underwhelming even. Yes, he was in the match. There was nothing particularly memorable about it, considering what we thought his stature was during the match. The following night on RAW, Ambrose came out, cut a promo on Seth Rollins and Hunter and then lost cleanly to Rollins, definitively. At the time, and without knowledge of his status change, it felt like a very obvious conclusion to a program we all thought still had legs. He was then set to speak more post-match, but was attacked by Nia Jax and Tamina as they were set to start their own segment.
At the time, it was a bit of a weird set of events for Ambrose. When news broke early Tuesday of Dean declining a contract renewal and instead informing Vince McMahon that he will leave the company in April, everything came into sharper focus. Now we get why he wasn’t notable during the Rumble. His clean and definitive loss to Rollins makes much more sense. There were even rumblings that WWE feared Ambrose was about to cut a “pipe bomb” type promo following the match, which is why Jax and Tamina got involved and got him out of the ring.
Looking at it all, and knowing Ambrose is a short timer…we have to ask: will we ever see Dean Ambrose work a match again on WWE television? For the most part, I mean between now and the end of his current contract. We all know that, down the road, Ambrose may wish to return. WWE is full of Superstars who have left and come back.
Looking at the big picture, I can’t be sure that we will see him do much more for WWE. Now that the cat is out of the bag, fans will know that Dean Ambrose isn’t sticking around. While he may be a good worker and not want to harm his peers, will he be giving his all? There is virtually no chance Ambrose is involved in a meaningful match from here till April. He can’t be given a title shot, right? I mean, there’s no way WWE would consider putting a belt on him now, knowing he has an expiration date.
I also wonder, since All Elite will be looming and interested, would WWE chance Dean Ambrose being on live television and pulling a stunt that would be detrimental to WWE? While such a thing might be unthinkable, and All Elite seems to be smart, it IS live television (OK, there’s a delay, but it’s not enough to prevent everything making it to air).
Would McMahon be paranoid enough to fear Ambrose coming out to the ring, saying all the wrong things, and before RAW can cut to a commercial, we see The Lunatic Fringe, in a WWE ring, wearing an All Elite shirt? While WWE has been seen asking fans to remove those shirts, there was at least one in the crowd on Monday…but on a Superstar is a lot different than on a fan.
WWE has a big decision to make, and not much time to make it in. There are reports that Ambrose is still scheduled for live events this weekend and RAW on Monday, so for now, it seems like status quo. As WWE officials ponder things and plan future shows, however, that thinking may change.
This also says nothing of Renee Young- Dean Ambrose’s wife. Would WWE punish her for his departure? Would she opt to leave alongside him? Such a move is not without precedent in WWE. CM Punk walked out, and wife AJ Lee was not far behind.
The only way I could see this working out is if WWE decided to have Ambrose do a final job for someone new. Someone needing to squash someone big and notable as an introductory act to the main roster. This, of course, screams Lars Sullivan. However, to do a job, WWE has to trust that Ambrose will go along…and Ambrose actually has to agree to go along too.
The more I think about it, the more I believe we may have seen the last of Dean Ambrose in WWE for the near term. If that’s the case, it’s disappointing to think someone as talented as his Shield brothers was pushed the least-especially considering how much one (Reigns) was pushed in spite of fan resistance.
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