The 8 Ball: Top 8 Reasons Dean Ambrose Must Main Event WrestleMania 32

Top 8 Reasons Dean Ambrose Must Main Event WrestleMania 32

For two months we have assumed Triple H and Roman Reigns are on an unavoidable collision course for WrestleMania 32. Yet the build for the wrestling industry’s biggest showcase now has reached the point where Dean Ambrose must be in the main event. The column will delve into the reasons why, but Ambrose is not optional anymore. The WWE gets an enormous fail if it doesn’t put Ambrose at the top of the marquee. In contrast, Roman Reigns does not have to be there. He can lose at Fastlane, get into a match with Undertaker (as some have speculated) and all will be fine. In fact, you’ve got a better card with Reigns perhaps retiring the Phenom. That won’t make Reigns popular, but nothing makes Reigns popular. Meanwhile the main event without Ambrose looks desolate.

For the purposes of this column, we will assume Reigns also will make it to the main event. Bray Wyatt interferes at Fastlane, takes Brock Lesnar out of the picture and we finish with something inconclusive enough that both Ambrose and Reigns go to main event at Mania. Or maybe Ambrose wins and then Reigns remembers he’s got a rematch clause. Doesn’t matter how they get there, it’s at least a three-way dance. Ambrose vs. Trips would work well too, but it’s hard to believe the WWE spent the past year putting all of its chips behind Reigns to pull him from the Mania main event now, even if it should. So the Magic 8-Ball will focus on Ambrose being in rather than Reigns dropping out of the picture.

For the record, I’m not a card-carrying member of the Lunatic Fringe. I like Ambrose and appreciate his talents, but I’ve never been one to insist the WWE should be all Ambrose all the time. However, this has become his moment. Why? Here we go:

8. Rooting Interest

The WWE has boxed itself into a corner. Well, really it booked itself into a corner. At Fastlane Ambrose, Reigns and Lesnar will clash to see who faces HHH at WrestleMania. Should be a fun match, only thing is Reigns is unquestionably the guy drawing catcalls from the arena when it goes down. He’s the heel in the building that night. It’s going to lock in audience resistance to a Reigns push at the exact wrong time. Trying to pivot him over to being the face at Mania is not going to fly. Simply put, Reigns vs. Triple H at WM32 could leave the crowd lining up behind Trips. The WWE needs a hero in that match. Ambrose is the man for the job. Doesn’t mean he has to win, but someone has to make people care about the outcome. That’s how wrestling works. You pick a favorite and then you roar. The nominal top of the card for WrestleMania lacks that crucial element if Ambrose gets farmed out to the midcard.

7. Wipeout

The WWE has been swarmed by injury bugs. Daniel Bryan just retired. John Cena, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Cesaro are all on the shelf. It has left the roster depleted, and years of failing to build up guys in the midcard is coming back to haunt the company. Ambrose has the benefit of his Shield run with Rollins and Reigns and a number of Sunday Special main events under his belt. He has worked big matches and he’s one of the E’s top young talents. Supposedly the WWE is brilliant at making stars. I think it’s been better at flogging the success of its stars when one breaks through, but that’s semantics. The point is the WWE finds itself at a critical juncture where someone needs to step up to the main event of WrestleMania and Ambrose is the next guy on the staircase.

6. Birth of a Salesman

Why should you watch WrestleMania? Roman Reigns sure as shit isn’t going to talk you into it. As well as HHH cuts a promo, he’s been the guy defending the top of the mountain multiple times before in his career. He’ll try to portray this time as different, more personal, but it’s mostly going to be variations on his greatest hits. Dean Ambrose with a mic in his hand, and hopefully with minimal scripting, would energize the entire build toward the event. Not only is he dynamite at getting the crowd to pop when he does Stone Cold things to authority, he also channels his Lunatic Fringe personality when he opens his mouth. People want to see what he does next, hear what he says next. That’s the sort of character that gets you pumped to see a wrestling card. If he’s a blast leading up to the match, you don’t dare miss the match itself. Dean Ambrose is going to pique interest in Mania if suddenly he’s got a shot at the title.

5. Chaos Injection

Ambrose’s chaos factor stretches well beyond his persona. First off, we really didn’t see this coming. Many Ambrose devotees have wished for it, but it never seemed a strong possibility until they made the Fastlane match. So he’s a wild card in the mix. A main event they didn’t expect to see will get fans excited. Complacency in the fanbase has become a major issue for the WWE. Raw and Smackdown have become two of the most predictable and least surprising shows on television. On top of that, Ambrose adds intrigue. He and Reigns sure have found themselves fighting a lot for supposed best friends. It’s one thing for them to collide in the final of a tournament, like at Survivor Series. It’s another for them to spend weeks trying to trust each other with the biggest prize in the business – a WrestleMania title match – looming in front of them. Ambrose also is a volatile element, capable of messing with the Authority in different ways than Reigns (e.g. mind games instead of overwhelming force). With Ambrose inserted into the main event, we really do get an anything-can-happen scenario. It gives the WWE the opportunity to do something truly creative.

4. Knocking on the Door

Not for nothing, Ambrose has been chasing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the past year. He even got screwed out of a title victory at Elimination Chamber. He and Rollins put on an excellent and brutal match at Money in the Bank, Ambrose lost to Reigns in the championship tournament final at Survivor Series, Ambrose made it to the final two in the Royal Rumble after fighting a ferocious match against Kevin Owens earlier in the night, and he’s back with another chance to grab the brass ring at Fastlane. If you’re a fan of the WWE, you’ve become invested in Ambrose chasing the big belt. That’s a story you’ve been told even if the WWE wasn’t actively aware it was telling it. Ambrose has become the guy we want to see get over the top. Again, that does not mean he has to win at WrestleMania, but having him in the title match makes it more interesting. It makes sense that he’d be there. A loss for Ambrose might get people even more fanatical for his cause, a win might count as a true feel-good moment. The WWE has built Ambrose up to this level. Time to recognize that and run with it.

3. Turn, Turn, Turn

A three-way dance at Mania creates two distinct turn opportunities. One is the worst idea on the planet, the other is brilliant. The terrible idea is the Ambrose turn. If you put him in the match to give the fans a nominal rooting interest, you don’t turn him at the end of the night. It counts as messing with people at a quantum level. That only pisses off the audience and suddenly you’ve got a WrestleMania rebellion on your hands. No one wants to know what 100,000 furious wrestling fans looks like. On top of everything else, it make Roman Reigns perhaps the most hated figure ever in pro wrestling if the WWE goes to those lengths to force fans to like him. The backfire on that would be nuclear. However, a Reigns turn on Ambrose channels the fans’ righteous wrath in the proper direction, giving the WWE a hero-villain dynamic that sells tickets all across the nation. Reigns is the corporate pick and he’s established as damn-near unbeatable. Turning him to the Dark Side is the story George Lucas botched with Darth Vader. It’s the story the WWE never dared to tell with John Cena, the one that would have made them all the money. Yet it’s right there to be done with Reigns and they need Ambrose to play the hero/fall guy to tell it. Mind you, they could also pull this off if Ambrose beats HHH 1v1 at Mania, Reigns ends the Undertaker earlier in the night and then Roman turns on his bromigo during the Raw after WrestleMania.

2. Man of the Moment

Regardless of what your politics are, America currently has a Presidential election taking shape which is being hijacked by insurgencies in both political parties. People all over the political spectrum have become distrustful of the establishment and they’re shopping for (at least seemingly) authentic candidates who won’t do business as usual. That’s become the national mood. Vince McMahon makes money when he capitalizes on such things. Plus, he happens to be buddies with one of the two main political insurgents, so you’ve got to figure he’s vividly aware of what’s happening on the campaign trail. This doesn’t mean the WWE has to get political, but it should recognize how it has become the wrestling establishment and that Reigns fails to get over because he’s the establishment’s hand-picked guy. America is rejecting that sort of thing. Ambrose comes across as a fun, cagey, cynical S.O.B. who gives no fucks. His character has a sort of post-apocalyptic edge – the world’s gone crazy, but I’m crazier. He’s kicking ass because it’s fun to do and he’s bored. He connects at a visceral level. He’s also the guy who’s been overlooked (in favor of Reigns), the guy who hasn’t been given a real chance. People yearn for that guy to win because they feel the same way about themselves. They want to feel like somebody who deserves a fair shake actually can get one.

1. Fan Favorite

Because Ambrose taps into our larger cultural frustration with authority, he’s become the most over guy on the roster. Back when Roman Reigns was feuding with the Wyatt Family, the E stuck him back together with Ambrose in a fairly ham-handed attempt to get the spillover cheers from Ambrose to land on Reigns. They recognize Ambrose has the kind of popularity they’d kill to get for Reigns. Yet the wrestling business thrives on giving the people what they want. When they keep telling you they want Dean Ambrose, a smart business ought to listen. On top of that, you get the Daniel Bryan 2014 effect of fans being thrilled and amazed the WWE actually listened. Suddenly there’s a payoff for you showing up and being vocal. You feel like YOU made this happen. That’s a satisfied customer, the kind who will come back for more. Trying to make Reigns as popular as Ambrose didn’t work. The WWE worked every angle on that without success. But you know who is as popular as Dean Ambrose? Dean Ambrose. Give the people what they want.