Dean Ambrose has been beating people up and acting strange for half a decade on WWE TV. During this time, he became one of the WWE Universe’s favorite superstars, and managed to obtain the WWE Championship, Intercontinental Championship and U.S. Championship.
However, as of late, the Lunatic Fringe character has found itself facing a lot of criticism. Having been a face since the Shield split back in 2014 — with one short-lived tweener stint in between — Ambrose has pretty much portrayed the exact same character for nearly three full years. And while he does do a great job, the role is stopping him from living up to his full potential. Thus, let’s take a look at some of the possible ways in which WWE could revitalize Dean Ambrose and get him back to where he needs to be.
Allow Him To Make That Long-Awaited Heel Turn
Dean Ambrose thrived as the sadistic but calculated mouthpiece for the Shield back when the faction was destroying people in 2013. While WWE decided to focus more on the unhinged aspect of his character after the split, they have done so in a strikingly cartoonish manner. As we can expect from someone like Dean, he does a remarkable job with the character — he’s one of the best talkers in the business and in the ring he has some off-the-wall offense. But when he should be tearing people apart, he instead comes across as goofy and cuddly. Again, let me stress that Ambrose thrives here. But since we have seen it so many times before — and we all know what he’s truly capable of — it’s time to turn him heel.
As a heel, we could either see a return to the cooler, relaxed arrogant member of the Shield or a brand new ruthless monster. Either way, they would allow us to see Ambrose really take his character to depths that we know he’s capable of reaching. By having Dean Ambrose stoop to new lows, WWE could have him reaching new heights.
Have Him Attack A Major Superstar
WWE fans just love Dean Ambrose, there’s no doubt about that. However, in order to truly make the heel turn work, he should attack one of the company’s top babyfaces. There are plenty of heels throughout the card who never truly make an impact because they didn’t start out right. Thus, if Ambrose were to catch us off-guard with his heel turn by taking part in a shock attack, it would provoke a reaction and allow him to begin his new chapter on a really high note.
On that note, if Ambrose were to shockingly turn on his “brother” Roman Reigns, it would likely receive an major reaction from the audience and solidify him as one of those heels we just can’t help but love. And as he proved in his Shield days, he’s more than capable of pulling that off.
Update His Repertoire
As much as I love Ambrose’s repertoire of crazy assaults, it could definitely do with an update. He’s a great performer, but now that he’s become a regular presence on TV, many of his matches are beginning to follow the same format and a major part of that is down to the fact that his move-set has become a little stale.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the Lunatic Lariat as much as the next guy, but it couldn’t hurt to add a few more harder hitting moves to his repertoire. If he does eventually become a vicious heel, his offense should be more brutal and hard-hitting. Furthermore, I know there were a lot of fans who loved the previous version of Dirty Deeds over the modified DDT version. So, I really couldn’t think of a better time for it to make a return.
Make Him More Extreme
Dean Ambrose’s character is nicknamed the “Lunatic Fringe” for a reason — he’s supposed to be unhinged. The current product may have forced the character to come off as cheesy sometimes instead of threatening, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there under the surface. And all it takes is one single moment to finally let it out — whether it’s the shocking attack we discussed or frustration over a title loss.
During his years of experience in other promotions, Ambrose proved just how extreme he can be, and while WWE have touched on it many times, they have never really went down that route. We all know Ambrose can be sadistic — we saw glimpses of it during his short-lived rivalry with Brock Lesnar — but the current Lunatic Fringe gimmick is preventing him from completing that transformation into the company’s next extreme star.
Whether its brutal assaults or an obsession with barbed wire bats, there is a well of extreme within Dean Ambrose waiting to be explored. Let’s just hope WWE eventually decides to let him have his unhinged way with the character.
How do you think WWE could revitalize Dean Ambrose?
