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411’s WWE Chronicle Report: Dean Ambrose

November 18, 2018 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
Dean Ambrose Raw 10.8.18

411’s WWE Chronicle Report: Dean Ambrose 

-Real quick: War Games was awesome as expected. With that out of the way, we move on to a new episode of WWE Chronicle. I believe there were 2 previous episodes focused on Nakamura, and Samoa Joe which I haven’t seen yet. This one intrigued me as it looks to cover Ambrose’s return from injury and touch on his shocking heel turn.

-We start August 12, 2018 and Ambrose is being interviewed and is annoyed with having the same question asked over and over again. He wants them to stop leading him into saying what they want him to say. He just wants to get back in the ring and get life back to normal. He says he isn’t trying to be an asshole, but he hates having the same questions asked over and over.

-The title screen lets us know this is chronicling Ambrose from Aug 9, 2018 to Nov 13, 2018. Dean is out in the desert looking at the sunset and then we cut to Aug 9th in Cincinatti, Ohio. He talks about his injury and how his tricep blew up on him at TLC and he thought it would get better, but it started to atrophy and he couldn’t do things like pushups anymore. He just wanted to get to Survivor Series because after that he had scheduled time off for his honeymoon and would be missing a show for the first time in 6 years. He made it to his honeymoon in Hawaii and while in the gym, he couldn’t do anything. He woke up the next morning and his arm was twice the size it normally was.

-Ambrose talks about coming back to Cincinnati. He likes to come back because it reminds him where he came from and reminds him why he is doing wrestling in the first place. He loves wrestling and it makes him happy. He is working out the arm with a WWE official keeping track of him. He knows nothing he does in the gym can replicate actual wrestling.

-We get footage of him training in the ring and he talks about loving the feeling of locking up and grinding his forearm in someone’s skull. He says it is easy to forget what wrestling is supposed to be, but it is 2 guys expressing aggression in a physical way. In wrestling you can let yourself go wild and be as nasty as you want to be.

-After the training he is back outside and looks exhausted. He talks about his first wrestling coach telling him not to pace himself as if he falls from going too hard, someone will pick him up to keep going. That is why he always goes 100% and gives everything he has. He needs that release and he knows it can be self destructive or beneficial.

-Next Dean is back in Nevada and in the middle of the desert on a mountain bike. From there we are in Vegas as Dean talks about his surgery and if he was scared. It was the first time his body didn’t cooperate with him. He talks about MRSA and how it came close to getting in his blood stream. He says it wasn’t fun to think about and it was eye opening when the doctor told him how close he came.

-Dean is now working out with a sledgehammer and tires and he says his arm still feels weak. He doesn’t know if it will ever be the same again, and says that’s fine. More training as he is lifting heavy weights and gets a phone call which seems to irritate him. He takes the call and tells whoever is on the other line that he will be there. He also seems annoyed that the person hasn’t called the last 8 months while he almost died. He finishes his workout while pissed off and says he now has to fly all the way back to the East Coast.

-Dean is playing with his dog and he had it in his head that he had another week before he had to come back, but things change quickly. He says that he feels all kinds of things after 8 months and he lives for moments in the ring. He has a lot of emotions and all he can say is that he will do on Monday what feels is the right thing to do.

-Back on a rooftop in Vegas and he says it is amazing his body held out as long as it did. He talks about his early days in wrestling with the hardcore, death matches and wrestling with tacks, barbed wire, and getting staples in his tongue.

-We are at RAW in Greensboro, and his return to the WWE. He says that as a wrestling historian he knows the history with Greensboro and this is a good place to return. He is being hid in a bus and he is content being left alone. Rollins meets up with him and they catch up for a few minutes. They show Ambrose getting ready as he watches RAW on the bus. I will say the time off did Ambrose well as does look in great shape. Also, everyone who is out for a period of time should come back with a different look even if it is just a hair cut. Before heading out Dean stops and shakes hands with Vince at Gorilla. Reigns is also back there and he is happy to see his friend as he says “the third work horse” is back. Hearing the crowd reaction from Ambrose’s point of view is pretty cool.

-Reigns gives Dean a hard time about just coming back and already being in the Main Event. Rollins is cutting a promo for a show in Japan and Ambrose messes with him. Then Ambrose cuts some promos to hype the Australia show. Dean and Renee share a few kisses and Dean says that things are back to business.

-Back to Vegas as Dean and Renee go through a place that holds old neon signs.

-SummerSlam next as Rollins and Ziggler face off with Ambrose and McIntyre at ringside. Dean says he has been angry and bitter for the past 8 months, so it was nice to be back and be happy for his friends. Now that SummerSlam is on the back burner he is back in the game. He says has a lot of built up frustration and this is doing a great job of planting the seeds for his heel turn even if it wasn’t the plan when filming. He wants to use any emotion he can as rocket fuel and keeps going back on how the last 8 months have been a lot. He flips out and starts throwing things as he says he is just ready to get in the ring.

-On RAW The Shield reunite once again and put Strowman through a table with the Triple Powerbomb. The Shield cut a group promo and after, Reigns jokes that they all used their Batman voices. Nice! Dean and Seth leave together and Seth jokes he needs an old person walker thing now.

-At another show, Reigns talks about how The Shield started as a faction and made a name for all 3 of them. That is different from other factions, where they were stars with names first and then joined together.

-RAW Aug 27: The Shield get destroyed by the new alliance of Braun, Drew, and Ziggler.

-Four days later we are in Osaka, Japan on a bus heading to the show. Dean loves wrestling in Japan and loves the culture, fans, and respect they show. He loves Reigns and Rollins as says no matter what happens they will always be his brothers. He wants to relax and enjoy this last trip around the world. He has a feeling this could be the last time.

-RAW: Sept 17: Dean feels great after tearing down the house last night at Hell in a Cell, and doing the same on RAW tonight. He is off to a photo shoot now as he has to promote a show in Australia.

-Another RAW as Dolph and Drew start playing mind games with Dean. They hit the point that The Shield needs him, but he doesn’t need The Shield. Ambrose is pissed off and says he didn’t work his ass off for 8 months just to be made a joke. It was a 3 hour show dedicated to Ambrose being a loser. He says he can’t walk out on his brothers because he has to look in the mirror, but he can’t let someone manipulate him into doing something he would only do on his own terms. This is fantastic! Ambrose says he is back on RAW and is on backup bodyguard duty. He stresses that The Shield is so important, but he also knows he isn’t getting any younger.

-Back to the desert, and he says he came back to put out everyone’s fires. Sometimes the world is what it is, and if something doesn’t want to hold, it won’t hold.

-RAW again and the producer asks him if he knows what he is going to do. Ambrose says no or maybe he does and he hasn’t come to terms with it yet. He is just going to go to Australia and put this thing to bed.

-Australia as The Shield is doing a Q&A with fans. Dean answers a question about meeting Seth and Roman the first time. For him and Seth they instantly gelled in the ring and started beating each other up in Florida for the next 2 years and he knew Roman’s brother and then remembers drinking a lot of beer when they met.

-The Shied go through their entrance and how things look in the massive stadium in Australia hours before the show. Dean says there is magic when The Shield is all together and firing on all cylinders. He talks about how great it is to work these big stadiums and it has been a long time since The Shield has been in a building this size together (Mania XXX I believe). He talks about performing in large stadiums and says it is different and weird. When they are all together, they raise each others game.

-We get highlights for the Super Showdown Special as Dean gets the winning pin on Ziggler.

-Back to the Vegas roof and Dean talks about being able to start things over when you wake up the next day. Looking back on his career he wouldn’t change anything. He is in a different place and has different ideas on what he wants to do. He says that sometimes you have to leave the past in the past and move on.

-RAW: Oct 8: Each time he is out with The Shield he wonders if this will be the last time or if it should be the last time. He can’t think about the future though as that is when you get your head kicked off. He will just put on his Shield gear and go to work. This is the show where Dean walked away from Rollins and Reigns. He is annoyed backstage as he says this isn’t even his fight, and he is doing other people’s dirty work.

-Dean talks about emotions in the desert. Everyone has emotions everyday and that is the roller coaster of life. He says he has been taken advantage of, and that life is hard and sucks.

-RAW: Oct 22: Here we go! Reigns is out and announces to the World that his leukemia as returned. He relinquishes the Universal Title and promises to be back once he beats cancer. Ambrose and Rollins join him on stage. We cut back to Dean preparing with Rollins for their tag match and the cutting their promo. The music score is pretty sweet here as it reaches a pitch like a guitar string about to snap.

-Ambrose talks to the camera and says he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He says Roman has been his best friend for 6 years. He tells a story of being with Roman as they drove by The Alamo and finally seeing it. He tells more stories about them being in New York and seeing the historic landmarks there and everywhere else in the world. People think they live a rock star life and tell them they didn’t earn things, but have no clue what they go through. The only way they get through it is by pulling each other along and they have literally pulled each other out of bed. Next week he has to ride in a car without Roman being there and that’s hard on him.

-Rollins and Ambrose warmup in a hallway and Rollins notes that this last month has been insane. They walk through the halls and through the fans before making their trademark entrance. Rollins pins Ziggler to win the tag titles and then Ambrose drops Rollins with Dirty Deeds. Just fantastic! I am one of those that feel this was the perfect time and I had no issue with it likes others apparently did.

-Ambrose walking through the concourse as fans scream why at him. He heads right out of the arena and sits on some stairs. The fans screaming why at him is fantastic. Dean says people have no idea what it’s like being him. He talks about sacrificing his body for these people and now they boo him for making a decision. They have no idea what it is like to carry a burden. He doesn’t get rewarded like others in the company, but instead he has to carry the burden of The Shield and the burden of the life he has lived. This is tremendous! Dean walks off to his car as the fans continue to boo and ask him why he did it.

-Back to the desert and Dean asks if people think this was his idea? He asks if people think it was fun for him to throw things away and beat up one of his best friends. He plays the conflicted role well.

-RAW where Rollins calls out Ambrose who just casually walks away. He walks back out of the building and shoves the cameraman out of his face.

-RAW where Rollins loses the tag titles to AOP. Ambrose shows up and drops Rollins again.

-Ambrose says they won the match that they dedicated to Reigns. I never thought of it that way. He says if he hears “why” one more time. He says nobody knows him, and he is the only ones that knows what it was like to be him in the ring on that night.

-Germany as Dean is spiraling as he talks about not liking Germany and he rants about Seth Rollins.

-Italy as he talks about how amazing it is that people think he owes them something. Fans in Italy call him an asshole and he calls them out for it. He says he doesn’t owe anyone an explanation.

-RAW where he burns his Shield gear. He yells at the camera man that he doesn’t owe anyone anything before it cuts away.

-Back to the desert and Dean says that before they started this thing he told them this wasn’t a fantasy and he wasn’t going to be reading a script. He says people pretend to be things they aren’t and project an image to the world. He can’t get with that, and he doesn’t relate to people like that. “I apologize for nothing…absolutely nothing.”

-We end on that line and close a fantastic piece of business. Kudos to whoever put this together as they did a great job of blurring the lines of reality and story. The way this was cut and the score only added to this as it made you see how Ambrose was mentally breaking leading up to the night where he turned. It also fills in some gaps and paints the story of why Ambrose turned. Just a great, character study here and well worth watching.