10 Early Wrestling Predictions For 2017
1. Dean Ambrose Will Prove Us All Wrong
Dean Ambrose, despite an inauspicious start, is - or has been booked to portray - a pretty dire babyface.
In February 2014, he looked certain to be the man to dissolve The Shield. He went missing, conspicuously, at that year's Elimination Chamber, foreshadowing his turn to the dark side. For whatever reason, the focus was switched to Seth Rollins. It seemed an odd choice - Rollins' spectacular offence cast him as a face-in-waiting, whereas Ambrose's rash-like viciousness was tailor-made for villainy - but they made it work. Rollins' irksome laugh alone was a heat-generator, and Ambrose deftly exhumed Terry Funk's winning, doesn't-know-when-he's-down shtick.
The landscape vacillated shortly thereafter. Ambrose quickly became an unfunny prop comic - and a loser, to boot. Wrestling logic dictates that babyfaces can't (or shouldn't) be stupid. Ambrose lost a feature match at TLC 2014 by misjudging the length of a cable.
He's done well to recover since, but his breakthrough year has been characterised by listlessness. Hardcore fans have turned on him almost en masse. A heel turn surely beckons - and if past form is any indication of future performance, he will soar upon being set free. A more vicious, less forced version of Ambrose will suit his promo style - his mic work on the Indies was frighteningly good - and his in-ring work, too, both of which are too cartoonish at present.
Chris Jericho was the Lazarus of 2016. 2017, if the stars align, will see Ambrose rise from the depths of his malaise.