What if Dean Ambrose turns heel?
When The Shield first launched in late 2012, Dean Ambrose was the de facto leader, largely positioned as such because he was the best talker out of the trio, and the most decisively heelish for his maniacal persona. Indeed, it was a surprise when the faction started to turn face in 2014, and as rumors brewed that they were headed for a split, the general sense was that Ambrose would be the one to stab his brothers in the back because he was the most difficult to imagine as a stand-alone face.
Fast forward four years and Ambrose has been a face ever since. Early on, his Lunatic Fringe, unpredictable face character felt like a breath of fresh air and fans couldn’t get enough of him. WWE seemed to have cooled on him for a while, only for him to get a big push as WWE Champion, which included beating Rollins more than once and winning the Shield Triple Threat Match.
However, Ambrose quickly felt stale as champion, and in the aftermath came across as directionless until The Shield reunion angles.
So what if he turns heel?
A heel turn seems to have been the original plan, to flip orientations for Ambrose and Rollins in a revived program between the two. WWE made hints of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre trying to persuade Ambrose in that direction on Raw. While we shouldn’t necessarily expect it to happen in the next few weeks, in the longer term, this does seem like a storyline development WWE has to be considering.
#5 The anti-Stone Cold
Stone Cold Steve Austin became a favorite of fans based on his “don’t trust anyone” sensibilities. Sure, he targeted his aggression toward Vince McMahon and other heel figures, but he was first and foremost his own man and an easy to get behind rebel, specifically for teenagers and young adults.
Dean Ambrose may well embrace a similar ethos, as a wild loner who does what he wants and answers to no one. Indeed, it would be a pretty big letdown if we got a Seth Rollins retread in Ambrose collaborating with The Authority or similar powers that be. Instead, Ambrose may well be the chaotic heel no one can rein in—something like WWE’s answer to The Joker. Sure, he’d target his former Shield chums and other faces, but he may also make problems for The Authority, and become an unpredictable source of violence and destruction if WWE fully gets behind him.