Getting Dean Ambrose Ready For Wrestlemania 32
Happy Monday TJR faithful! We’re about three weeks removed from Wrestlemania 31, and just a little under a year from Wrestlemania 32. I think its the perfect time to look ahead to next year’s Showcase of the Immortals. I’ve documented on here before how I felt about the build up for Wrestlemania 31, and while I did think the show itself didn’t reflect the poor storytelling leading up to the event, I can’t say that I loved Wrestlemania 31, especially with some distance from it now.
The only things that happened on that show that mattered for WWE storytelling as of right now were Cena beating Rusev for the U.S. Championship so that he can institute his open challenges on Raw, Rollins cashing in at the end, and Orton beating Rollins so that he can claim a title shot (and even that didn’t really matter because he had to win another match to get the title match). The stories going into Wrestlemania 31 were poorly planned, and as was my complaint, most of what happened at Wrestlemania 31 had no bearings on future narratives for the WWE.
Which is precisely why figuring out Wrestlemania 32 should be a top priority for them right now. If you know generally where you’re headed in a year’s time, it makes today’s booking clearer, because you have a destination, a climax that everything must build toward. Next year’s Wrestlemania main event should be Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. For the last 3 years, every Wrestlemania World Title Main Event has featured somebody who isn’t competing regularly year round. The Rock defending his Title against John Cena, Batista Challenging for the Title, and Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns.
Having those names are great, and they are fantastic selling points for a show, but the fact is that those names are icing on the cake. I’m not sure if anybody’s noticed, but right now, the cake is made up almost entirely of icing. There is no real substance. There is no foundation of workers that you can trust and have built to mean something to the audience. Which is the reason why the three former Shield members need to main event next year’s Wrestlemania. Let the fans know that these guys are the ones. That they are legends in the making. Those big names can still be used on the show, to help sell Wrestlemania, in their proper capacities.
Now if we know what should be the main event of Wrestlemania 32 from AT&T Stadium, the question becomes how do we get there. Well the first thing that is clear is that Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins all have to have good years. These guys need to be the focal points for much of 2015. Over the next 3 weeks I want to detail some key events I have in mind for each of the characters in what should be Wrestlemania’s next main event. Let’s start off with Dean Ambrose, for whom the rest of 2015 should be about rebuilding.
May 2015 – Following Extreme Rules and his likely clash with Luke Harper (a victorious one), Dean Ambrose will enter the arena on Raw with a duffle bag and litter the ring with weapons from underneath the apron. He will then grab a mic and talk about his life growing up. He’ll tell us about how tough it was for him in his neighbourhood and how that made him stronger. He’ll talk about all but killing himself in brutal matches trying to get noticed before signing with the WWE. He’ll talk about how all the hardships in his life were about getting here, but now when he looks himself in the mirror, all he can see is a guy that got soft. He used to take a beating and keep competing. There’s a saying in his old neighbourhood “Only three things in this world will survive a nuclear explosion: cockroaches, twinkies, and Dean Ambrose” and right now Dean needs to know if its still true.
He’ll then say he wants to make a bet and that anybody in the back can accept his wager. He wants somebody to come to the ring and hit him with their best shot. It can be a shot with one of the various weapons in the ring, or a maneuver of any kind. They get the one free shot, and if they can keep him down for a 10 count, all the money he’s got is theirs. He would lay the duffle bag full of money down and wait for somebody to take the gamble. Wade Barrett would answer the call and ask what Ambrose gets if he wins, to which Dean would respond “satisfaction”. Barrett would then wind up a Bull Hammer and nail a waiting Dean with the devastating strike. Dean would hit the mat in a heap and would be down for 7 or 8 seconds before stumbling to his feet, and winning the bet. He’d shake the cobwebs loose, grab a mic and tell Barrett “that was a good one… my turn!” as he pounces on Barrett and beats the living crap out of him, leaving the ring victorious and with his cash.
This would become Dean’s thing for a while. Every week on Raw or Smackdown, he’ll put up all his money, and guys would try to knock him out. One week it’ll be The Ascension, another week it will be Cesaro, so on and so forth. Each time Dean would take their best shot, get up and take them out. This gives Dean a chance to come out and cut a promo weekly (one of his biggest strengths), and show that he can take the best shot from anybody in the WWE, a true demonstration if his toughness. Plus watching him get hit, recover and kick somebody’s ass most weeks is a great visual for the fans and really establishes him as an outlaw anti-hero.
June 2015 – After a feud culminating in a PPV match with one of the takers of his “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” Challenge (likely Barrett), Dean would continue making the wager week after week, now with his intention to build up his tolerance of punishment for the upcoming Money In The Bank Ladder Match. He would challenge the other participants one by one to do their worst to him, so that he’ll be ready for the annual June PPV. Dean will go on to win the coveted MITB Briefcase.
August 2015 – After testing/building his endurance for a few months making these wagers, sometimes putting the MITB Briefcase on the line, he would set his sights on championship gold, challenging Bryan for his Intercontinental Championship. Dean would end up winning the Intercontinental Championship from Daniel Bryan at Summerslam.
September 2015 through December 2015 – Dean Ambrose would be the most assertive Intercontinental Champion the WWE has seen. He wouldn’t make open challenges like Cena, but instead come to thing ring, drop the title at the feet of a tough guy he wants to fight, and ask them if they’re man enough to try to take what’s his. He’d have proper feuds over the Intercontinental Championship as well in these five months with Big Show, Sheamus and Cesaro, as well as starting fights with numerous others in the guise of giving them a shot at the title, all culminating with him losing the title at the TLC PPV after about a 4 month reign.
The goal is to have him defend the title as much as possible in those five months, picking up as many victories as humanly possible. He spent most of 2014 losing, so the end of 2015 needs to see him pick up as many meaningful victories as possible.
————
There you have it folks, but as always, I want to know what you think! Was WM31 as inconsequential to the ongoing WWE Narrative as it seems? Do you think the WWE has a plan in place for next year’s Wrestlemania? What should WM32’s main event be? What do you think of my idea for Ambrose? How would you book Dean Ambrose for the rest of 2015?
Until next time folks, I’m Matty J. Douglas saying congratulations to Toronto’s Lou Williams on winning the 6th Man of the Year Award in the NBA. He earned it! Have a great week everybody!