10 REALLY Long WWE Title Reigns That Didn’t Work

8. Dean Ambrose - United States Champion (351 Days)

Dean Ambrose United States Champion US
WWE.com

It took Dean Ambrose losing the United States title to Sheamus to remind the audience that he'd even been carrying it around for nearly a year during the height of The Shield's original success.

The trio's post-WrestleMania XXX babyface turn had seen them wage war with Triple H's revived Evolution for two consecutive pay-per-view brawls, but Ambrose was robbed of his prize the night after 'The Hounds Of Justice' first took down the main event trio at May's Extreme Rules supershow.

Cheated out of it by his malevolent gaffer, the future 'Lunatic Fringe' was forced to put the belt up for grabs in a 20-man battle royal that he ended up losing to Sheamus. The gutsy display was presented as cynical gamesmanship by 'The Game' in robbing Ambrose of reaching a year, though most were astonished he'd had it that long.

The group's multi-person matches (as well as their involvement in the original Authority Vs Daniel Bryan arc) had rendered singles title matches more of an inconvenience - much like the metal trinket itself at airports across the United States. Ambrose was perhaps quietly pleased to be robbed of it.

In this post: 
Jinder Mahal
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.