The 411 Top 10: The Top 10 Dean Ambrose PPV Matches

WWE Survivor Series takes place this Sunday and will feature the culmination of the WWE World Championship Tournament. At this point, Dean Ambrose is in a very good spot. He’s already moved past the first two rounds and even better than that, Roman Reigns is the heavy favorite to win. Considering their history, Ambrose is the perfect adversary to book opposite of him in the finals.

Survivor Series, as much as it has to be on the mind of Ambrose at this moment, is a pay-per-view in the future. For this article, Ambrose’s efforts on the bigger stages of the past will be analyzed and ranked. Only his singles matches are considered, ranging from his United States Championship days all the way up until his crazy arena-wide brawls today.

Ambrose is a very unique wrestler in that he usually has chemistry with everyone, thanks to there always being a contrast of styles that somehow works. Whether it’s a quick and mobile guy like Kofi Kingston or a more character-driven wrestler like Bray Wyatt, Dean will produce some can’t-miss moments. Having beaten Dolph Ziggler in the quarterfinals, he is en route to produce many more this Sunday in his match(es).

One former Shield member, Roman Reigns, is nowhere on this list, because he and Dean have never faced off in a PPV singles match. That showdown is looming on the horizon, but until then let’s all relive the 10 greatest pay-per-view singles matches we’ve seen from Dean Ambrose thus far.

10. Vs. Kane – Payback 2013

Clocking in at only about 9 1/2 minutes, this match never really kicked into another gear. There were some good moments, like when Dean tried to do Undertaker’s Old School onto Kane, but Kane battled out of it. It was still a cool tease, though – credit to them for that.

Kane cleared off the Spanish announce table for something devious, but we will never know what he had in mind as Dean performed a DDT on the outside and snuck back into the ring as the ref was already up to an eight count. Kane never made it back in and Ambrose retained his title via count out.

Given more time, this probably would’ve been a more memorable affair. As is, it was a decent match for the middle of a PPV and another successful title defense for the Lunatic Fringe.

9. Vs. Dolph Ziggler – Night Of Champions 2013

Dolph Ziggler challenged Dean Ambrose for his United States Championship after scuffling with both The Shield and The Authority over previous weeks. The announcers mentioned during the bout how Ziggler had been outspoken on social media recently, which may or may not have part of a storyline.

This was a perfectly fine bout that saw Ambrose controlling most of the action, however it never really engaged the crowd. A few spots here and there got a pop, including a top rope X-Factor by Ziggler, but it was oddly quiet for the most part.

The problem with why this match didn’t connect as well as it should have was probably due to its placement on the card. It was the seventh out of nine matches and started around an hour and fifty minutes into the show, typically the bathroom break slot of any pay-per-view. It would be nice to see them go again on a PPV under better circumstances in the future because the work itself was fine, they just weren’t thrown a bone by whoever laid out the show.

8. Vs. Luke Harper – Extreme Rules 2015

The first part of this contest had a lot of fun spots in it, such as when Luke Harper suplexed Dean Ambrose onto a chair and caused it to collapse in on itself. They battled to the back and kept a good pace going until they abruptly loaded into an SUV and drove off, not to be seen again for quite a while.

The second part of this match, when it finally resumed, was just as fun as when they left off. They reemerged from their SUV during a New Day celebration backstage, battling their way back into the ring before flooding it with steel chairs. Dean finally got the win when he threw Luke off the top ropes, Ric Flair style, onto the pile of chairs. He then hit his Dirty Deeds for the 1-2-3.

As much fun as the two parts of this match were, the very strange 50 minute or so gap in between kept this from being ranked higher. Since it was a Chicago Street Fight, it would’ve been amusing to get sporadic images of them battling around the city. Instead, we got just a really long pause – did they really go at it hammer and tong for close to an hour before returning to the arena?

7. Vs. Kofi Kingston – Extreme Rules 2013

When this match for Kofi Kingston’s United States Championship got going, Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise while Ambrose was on the apron, knocking him outside the ring. JBL scolded the champ as he was dragging Dean back into the ring because he thought it was a mistake not to get the countout victory. JBL was right.

Dean was able to get a handle on the ropes to avoid a pinfall and battled back to defeat Kofi for his belt using the original version of the Dirty Deeds. Reigns and Rollins came out to celebrate after the match and hoisted the new United States Champion up on their shoulders. They would also get their first taste in WWE gold later on that same show.

Comparing this bout to the previous entry – the 2015 match against Luke Harper which was also took place on an Extreme Rules card – this match lacked some of the former’s excitement due to the absence of weaponry and inventive spots. This one is rated slightly higher, however, because it didn’t include a near hour-long pause in the middle of the action.

6. Vs. Bray Wyatt – Survivor Series 2014

When Dean Ambrose was wrapping up his first singles rivalry against Seth Rollins at Hell In A Cell 2014, Bray Wyatt interfered via a hologram for an incredibly odd ending. That and a few weeks of strange promos about Dean’s prison dad lead to this encounter at the 2014 Survivor Series.

The bulk of the action in this one was hard-hitting and engaging. The match was great, but it got a bit overshadowed by the post-match aggression from Ambrose. After getting himself DQ’d because he used a chair, Dean brought a table into the ring and put Bray through it using a flying elbow. He then spent the remainder of their time finding another table and about a dozen chairs and throwing them into the ring onto Bray.

The big pop finally came when Dean pulled out a massive ladder from underneath the ring. The crowd was clearly into it and chanted “This Is Awesome” while he set it up. He actually didn’t do anything with the ladder other than climb it to celebrate his DQ loss as his music played. Something of an anti-climax, then. The post-match shenanigans would set up to their next PPV encounter.

Really, if given a few more minutes and a proper ending, this probably would’ve ranked much higher on this list because the chemistry and crowd engagement was there. They were given a chance to rectify some of the ills of this match at TLC (more of which in due course).

5. Vs. Seth Rollins – SummerSlam 2014

The Shield breakup was in full effect and Dean Ambrose harbored a bitter hatred for the man that betrayed him. He and Seth Rollins fought fiercely, clashing on this night with the seemingly blasé stipulation of a Lumberjack Match. In spite of the so-so stip, this match delivered in a big way.

The highlight of the match came when Ambrose dove from the corner post all the way to the outside onto a sea of people, who were carrying Rollins above their heads. Absolutely everybody was taken out in the process.

The ending came after a wild brawl inside the ring as Dean forcefully rid the last of the lumberjacks to the outside, but he didn’t notice Seth behind him with his Money in the Bank briefcase. Rollins nailed him in the head with it and then pinned him for the win.

Maybe it was just because the idea of the Lumberjack stipulation kept expectations low for this one going into it, but this clash over-delivered. JBL at one point called this the “wildest, most chaotic Lumberjack Match in history”, and I have to agree with him. The next time WWE wants to do a Lumberjack match, they should borrow elements from this one because it was the best I have ever seen.

4. Vs. Seth Rollins – Elimination Chamber 2015

A lot had changed for both Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins since their feud in 2014.

Seth moved on from Money in the Bank briefcase holder to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Dean didn’t have as much luck and has actually regressed a little, sliding down the card. Because of the disparity of their positions in the company, Ambrose just felt like a placeholder opponent at this point for a minor pay-per-view/Network Special match against his bitter rival.

This bout was good, but lacked the fire of some of their previous matches. The reason this one is ranked so high is due to the incredibly shocking ending, when Dean was able to connect with his Dirty Deeds and then pinned Rollins to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Even though in hindsight we all know that this was actually a Dusty Finish, it fooled a lot of people – myself included. There was a brief moment when it felt like WWE had bit the bullet and decided to give that other guy that used to be in The Shield a chance at the big one. Alas, it was too good to be true.

Ambrose did win the match, but only by disqualification. Roman Reigns came out and Dean made off with the belt anyways to cap off a surprisingly memorable ending to what originally felt like a throwaway match.

3. Vs. Bray Wyatt – TLC 2014

Dean climbed a ladder to close out their Survivor Series encounter, so naturally Bray began to speak of Jacob’s Ladder in his promos leading up to this one. The contrast with that Biblical story of a pathway to Heaven came when Bray said that there is a special place in Hell for people like himself and Dean. Charming.

There were plenty of creative uses of weapons throughout this contest, but it was three elbow drops off of ladders by Ambrose that stood out the most. Each ladder was larger than the previous, so that when he finally jumped off the biggest one through the announce table there was a real crescendo to the action.

There was one big negative to this match and that was the ending. This was the one where a TV monitor exploded in Dean’s face, setting up Wyatt for the Sister Abigail and the victory. The TV monitor spot was an obvious way to get Ambrose to lose without it being clean.

Wyatt needed the win because he was being built up for his upcoming WrestleMania match against The Undertaker, and Ambrose was really hot at this point, so a win over him definitely helped. WWE didn’t want to hamper Dean’s overness, so made the finish look like a fluke. Before the finish, the action was chaotic and engrossing.

2. Vs. Seth Rollins – Money In The Bank 2015

Dean Ambrose had beaten WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins at the previous pay-per-view, Elimination Chamber. The problem was that his victory was via disqualification. After stealing the title as if it was his own, these two faced off again at this event with the belt suspended high above the ring in a Ladder Match.

It took a little bit of time to get to the spotty parts of this match, because they first worked to establish the story of Ambrose’s leg being injured. When the match finally kicked into the next gear it hit really hit the heights that are be expected from an encounter between the two former Shield members.

The most memorable moment came after Seth hit two running powerbombs onto Dean onto the outside barricades. In an attempt to put him away for good, Rollins performed a final powerbomb onto a ladder that was covered with several unforgiving steel chairs.

Even with the punishment that Ambrose endured, he still had one final rally left in him and when they both climbed the ladder together, they both fell with the title in their grasp. The impact on the mat below caused Dean to let go while Seth held on for the win. Rollins escaped as champion by the skin of his teeth.

The only real criticism of this bout is the length of the match. Clocking in at a whopping 35:40, it felt like about 15 minutes or so could’ve been cut near the start and nobody would’ve missed it. But, unlike many of the other matches near the top of this list, the finish was as decisive as it was creative.

1. Vs. Seth Rollins – Hell In A Cell 2014

Mick Foley, in his Christmas attire and rather magnificent beard, spoke with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins prior to this Hell In A Cell match to inform them that the scars that they earn in the structure will not only haunt them forever, but they will never heal. You just knew this one was going to be out-and-out crazy.

There were two chapters to this match. The first was before the match, involving a brawl on the top of the Cell and an amazing tandem fall off the side through the announce tables. The second was after the bell rang, which involved the use of plenty of hardware.

Not to knock the previous matches on this list that also employed the use of weaponry, but the context of the inherent brutality of this match made their use feel more appropriate. These two hated each other and it was felt every time they tried to clatter one another with something made out of steel.

The only setback – and I feel like this is common whenever Bray Wyatt gets involved in Dean Ambrose matches – is the ending. The arena lights went dark and a creepy voice was heard. When the lights came back on, Dean was seen trembling in front of a hologram. Bray Wyatt then attacked him, allowing Rollins to capitalize on the assault and get the win.

Foley warned them about the scars that would be earned in this match and it really felt like they put on a performance worthy of the hype. They made this fight feel like a war in a way that Hell in a Cell matches don’t normally do in an era of wrestling where blood is not permitted.

Even with the less than satisfactory ending I’d still say this was not only a good bout, but the greatest PPV match/performance we’ve seen from Dean Ambrose.

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