10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Champion Dean Ambrose

8. He Wasn't Meant To Debut With The Shield

Dean Ambrose WWE champion
WWE.com

Ambrose was earmarked to debut in a program with Mick Foley, the inciting incident for which took place over WrestleMania weekend in 2012. Interrupting a media interview Foley was conducting, Ambrose ranted about how the Hardcore Legend had ruined a generation of wrestlers, who felt they'd need to exceed the risks he'd taken to get themselves over. This would have resulted in Foley dusting off the kingmaker skills he'd used to launch the main event careers of Triple H, Edge and Randy Orton.

WWE has fused kayfabe and reality with mixed results in recent years - for one pipebomb, there are one thousand infuriatingly counter-productive Stephanie McMahon promos - but this idea had legs, with an organic and fatalistic Extreme Rules endgame in sight. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be; Foley was (understandably) completely broken down by this point, incapable of being medically cleared or even moving with a passable degree of mobility.

This was probably for the best. The Shield is the best thing to have happened to WWE in years, and we might have missed out on that for the sake of one thumbtack spot.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!