10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Dean Ambrose

2. They Botched His WWE Title Reign

Dean Ambrose Champion
WWE.com

Ambrose cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase to beat Seth Rollins and become new WWE Champion on 19 June 2016. 84 days later, he was staring at the lights for fast-rising WWE success AJ Styles at Backlash on 11 September. Four words: so much for that.

The 'Lunatic Fringe' in the hot seat experiment didn't work, in part because there was no real personality to Dean's run with the belt. Compared to recent championship reigns like Daniel Bryan (who became a new character and changed the look of the title) and AJ Styles himself (who ruled SmackDown as champ), there's little to remember Ambrose by.

After defending against ex-Shield pals Rollins and Roman Reigns at Battleground, Ambrose beat Dolph Ziggler in a limp effort at SummerSlam and then dropped the strap to Styles. It was a total botch from a writing team who never seemed to get Dean's character or know how to book him now he was the top man.

In the end, his time as WWE Champion did nothing for Ambrose.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.