WWE News: Daniel Bryan reacts to Steve Austin's challenge to Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose has been dubbed as the “Lunatic Fringe” for his unstable and unpredictable style of wrestling and eccentric promos on the microphone. The current WWE Champion appeared on the Steve Austin podcast this past Monday after Raw. The podcast was as unique and eccentric as one could expect. Ambrose looked calm and collected, laid back in fact, and this put-off Stone Cold on more than one occasion.
The interesting thing to note about the podcast was the end of the interview when Austin challenged Ambrose not to rest on his laurels and to raise the bar, push the envelope and be edgier. Ambrose was quick to react and said that he was offended by the comment.
Austin then voiced his opinion saying that he felt like Ambrose was a little comfortable with where he was, and felt that he should push the envelope more. Ambrose said that he felt like he was put on blast, but he liked it.
The next night after SmackDown, Daniel Bryan and Ambrose’s girlfriend, Renee Young discussed Austin's comments on Talking Smack. Bryan was noted saying to Renee that Ambrose was very laid back because of how much he's done before WWE. Bryan noted that Ambrose had been through wars before signing with WWE, and did "some of the craziest stuff" back then.
The “Crazy Stuff” Bryan was referring to was Ambrose’s work on the independent circuit in hardcore matches under the ring name “Jon Moxley”. Ambrose was an insane performer in the Indies and has often been likened to ECW legend Terry Funk.
Being an Indie sweetheart himself, Bryan understands the hardships independent wrestlers face. He said, “Dean Ambrose doesn’t need Steve Austin to motivate him to be better. He’s motivated himself for a very, very long time. Just because he sits across the desk from you and he’s laid back, doesn’t mean that out there, you should take him lightly.”
Ambrose won the WWE championship from former S.H.I.E.L.D. member Seth Rollins when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract just hours after winning the ladder match. He thus ruined the party for Rollins who had himself just won the championship from Roman Reigns on a night that saw all the S.H.I.E.L.D. members hold the gold at least once.
He then went on to successfully defend the championship in a triple threat match against S.H.I.E.L.D. stablemates, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns at Battleground. Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown in the WWE Draft and has since become the face of the blue brand. He will go on to defend his title against Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam.