4 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (March 7)

3. Dean Ambrose Gets Squashed

It looks very much like we're getting Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 33. This will break format from the usual multi-man ladder match, but there's no real reason to complain at this point. Ambrose vs. Corbin has been built incredibly well from the start, and after frustrating Dean with last week's non-appearance, The Lone Wolf went one better this week.

After hilariously battering Curt Hawkins for the second consecutive week, Ambrose grabbed a microphone and ran Corbin down in the ring. Baron once again appeared on the Titantron, but Ambrose wasn't willing to stand there and take it this week: instead, he planted Hawkins with another Dirty Deeds, then headed backstage to find Corbin.

Unfortunately, Corbin found him first. The challenger laid Dean out with a lead pipe then recreated The Rock vs. Mankind at Halftime Heat in 1999 by placing Ambrose under a forklift, then attempting to crush him to death with the forks.

The announcers sold this by stating that Ambrose was having difficult breathing and was coughing-up blood later in the show, adding to the gravity of the situation. As goofy as the forklift spot sounds, everything about Corbin and Ambrose's interactions worked this week. Corbin's bully heel persona is perfect for him, even against an opponent as credible as Ambrose, and Dean is piling-on the sympathy ahead of their eventual match.