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

4. He's Hardcore...

Dean Ambrose WWE champion
WWE.com

Ambrose has been no slouch in the violence department during his WWE tenure, racking up an incredible number and type of gimmick matches in three and a half years. He's fallen off the Cell, jumped off ladders, and even joined the dubious company of The Great Khali in being 'awarded' his own gimmick match with the Ambrose Asylum. And, while that was something of a conceptual failure, it's clear that WWE entrusts Ambrose completely with what JBL irritatingly refers to as 'the toys'.

That probably has something to do with the fearsome reputation he forged in the likes of Combat Zone Wrestling, one of the grislier promotions borne from the hardcore revolution popularised by Atsushi Onita and Paul Heyman in the 90's. Completely unafraid of barbed wire, light tubes, glass, forks and screws, your garden variety multi-man ladder match must seem like a breeze to Ambrose. Dean was routinely rendered a bloody mess in his pre-WWE days, a sight you're not likely to see in WWE in 2016.

Though Ambrose would go on to demonstrate that there was more to his act, in his work with DGUSA especially, it's those sadistic CZW clips which make up the bulk of his YouTube legacy.

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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 current Undisputed WWE 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!