Main Event: Seth Rollins (C) versus Dean Ambrose What Happened: Ambrose fought tooth and nail to capture the WWE Championship from his former partner, but when "The Lunatic Fringe" came off the top rope, Rollins pulled the referee in the way. Ambrose ended up hitting Rollins with Dirty Deeds and a new official made the three count, leading to the announcement of Ambrose as WWE Champion. However, the first referee protested the decision, declaring that Rollins should have been disqualified for assaulting him. As such, the finish was changed to an Ambrose disqualification win, with Rollins retaining the title. Nevertheless, Ambrose declared himself the champion and stole the belt, leaving through the crowd. Why It Was Devastating To The Company: Halfway through the year, WWE's decision-makers had seen enough to know that they couldn't risk generating any more bad blood among their fans. That didn't stop them from pulling out one of the most frustrating, uncreative finishes in their arsenal when Dean Ambrose - who, unlike the company's chosen star, was actually getting good reactions - challenged for the WWE Championship. The crowd embraced Ambrose's false celebration, then began chanting "Bullsh*t!" when the truth was revealed. Even though Ambrose was portrayed as the victor with his theft of the title, undoubtedly many fans felt ripped off and angry after the show.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
