How The Dean Ambrose Contract Saga is Getting Interesting.
By now it is well known that Dean Ambrose has announced he will not return to WWE when his contract is up shortly after WrestleMania. With a growing list of rival promotions, many superstars reportedly unhappy with their situations are looking elsewhere for work.
The world of wrestling straddles the line between fiction and reality. Many observers believe this could be a work, while others think it has been a long time coming.
The man formerly known as John Moxley has been one of the most popular stars in WWE since appearing with his shield brothers; Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. The trio has experienced tremendous success during their time on the main roster, with each recognized as Grand Slam Champions. While Ambrose was the first to achieve this exclusive feat, Reigns four straight WrestleMania headlines and Rollins’ monumental moments show Dean lagging behind his fellow ‘Hounds of Justice.’
Lately, an interesting wrinkle has developed in this whole contract situation; Dean Ambrose has both been turned back face and is receiving a lot of television time. It seems unusual that WWE would continue to invest in and give television time to a superstar that has openly announced to be leaving the company.
Critics will point out that Dean is being buried, evidenced by the string of defeats and forgettable Royal Rumble appearance after his departure news hit mainstream. A closer lens shows all of Ambrose’s losses have valid reasons; his IC title run was getting stale; Seth won the Royal Rumble the night before; EC3 needed a convincing win in his debut after weeks of flexing backstage. Add in the win this week, and the saga gets even murkier.
WWE creative ruined Ambrose’s heel switch when Dean stopped personally attacking Rollins and started targeting the audience instead. It is entirely possible that the disrespect from management paired with these losses spark the snap that Ambrose needs to unveil his most creative self. This current storyline could be WWE’s way of backing their word of change and attempting to appease a disgruntled superstar in hopes of staying with the company (see Revival).
The last several weeks have shown significant improvement for Ambrose if given the opportunity. Between the hilarious questions to EC3 and the deep jabs at Triple H, his character has come to life. Before Nia and Tamina interrupted him a few weeks ago, he was in the ring in what looked like a potential pipebomb scenario.
In the end, Ambrose may get everything he wants and still leave WWE anyway. But it seems like there’s more going on than what meets the eye in this saga. The next several weeks are going to reveal a lot about this situation and Dean’s ultimate future with the company.