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Dear WWE Creative, Dean Ambrose’s Turn Was Timed Perfectly

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Dean Ambrose's Turn Was Timed Perfectly

Dear WWE Creative,

It’s late Thursday night, and as I write this, I still have Monday Night RAW on the brain, more specifically, Roman Reigns. His opening promo that revealed he was relinquishing the Universal Championship due to leukemia still keeps replaying over and over in my mind: from the opening (loud) boos as he made his way to the ring; to him stating he was a liar for claiming he’d be a workhorse; to the crowd falling silent when he revealed his condition; to the incredible cheers of support from the once-negative live crowd; to him walking up the entrance ramp to find his Shield mates, visibly emotional, so that they could lock arms as brothers, potentially for one last time. I’m still in shock, and continue to pray for Joe Anoa’i and his family.

Still, this letter isn’t about Joe, Roman, or the Universal Championship.

It’s about the turn that may have seemed even more surprising than RAW’s opening segment, to some extent; a turn that has become very controversial within the WWE Universe, where fans have made no secret of it, hopping on social media train to voice their opinion.

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were set for a rematch against Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler for the RAW Tag Team Championships, and this was going to be all for Roman. No issues during the match whatsoever between the Shield brothers, and the Architect and Lunatic Fringe accomplish said mission, thanks to a little help from Braun Strowman, and successfully once again become RAW Tag Team Title holders. Except there would be no post-celebration with this one, because Ambrose would attack Rollins right after the match.

If you read Internet wrestling spoilers, then you knew that Ambrose was going to turn; if don’t, you still probably had an inkling; however, many fans question why it was done on such an emotional night. A night where Roman Reigns broke kayfabe and announced he was really just Joe, a man struggling with leukemia. Surely, on a night like this past Monday night, the show had to go on, but with such a sad beginning, couldn’t it have ended on a high note? For the sake of Roman Reigns?

I may be in the minority here, but I say no – and it’s no for a variety of reasons.

First and foremost, as wrestling fans we really need to separate storylines from real life. It was incredibly brave and courageous of Joe to face the live RAW crowd and tell the WWE Universe about his condition, there’s no doubt about that; however, no Roman Reigns on RAW means a huge void needs to be filled, and with multiple events on the horizon, when it comes to storylines, the WWE needs to strike while the iron is hot. Creative had mapped things out one way, and needed to proceed another way, and simply put: somethings couldn’t and can’t wait until the next Monday strolled around.

It’s not even a cold-hearted way of thinking about things. Roman Reigns the character probably gets it, as well as Joe Anoa’i the man. If this had been any other show on television, and a character did something against another character, despite something terrible happening to an actor within the cast in real-life, no one would raise an eyebrow.

Secondly, there was a tremendous amount of heat on Ambrose last Monday, and for good reason: he turned on Seth Rollins, not only after they won the championship, but after their Shield mate announced he had to give up his title thanks to cancer. Heat for a heel is a must, and while many think it’s a low blow for creative to create this type of heat for Ambrose based on Joe/Roman’s situation, if you want to build a solid heel, they need to do dastardly things. Let’s face it, the crowd loves Ambrose and had they waited, there was a good chance that he’d suffer the Becky Lynch factor: turning heel, but not getting booed. It needed to be this big to work, Ambrose needed to attack his Shield buddy when they were at their lowest, and missing their proverbial leader; perhaps the glue that kept these three together.

Last, but not least, this is a show, which aims to shock and entertain. While yes, the start of RAW was sad, it was also real and (for lack of a better word) raw; but the last match of Monday night was also shocking, had twists and turns, amazing storytelling, and drew some incredible emotions from fans. No one saw Dean turning heel after Joe/Roman’s announcement, which made it that much more shocking.

Was it wrong to do so right after Roman’s announcement? I don’t think so. Depending on how this continues to unfold, I may judge from there, but Dean didn’t attack Roman at the close of RAW, nor his reputation; he simply attacked Seth, which added an interesting plot twist in the Shield saga chapter.

Because at the end of the day, that is exactly what the WWE is: larger-than-life characters, struggling with relationship, adding in some incredible in-ring action, mixed in with over-the-top storytelling.

 

Signed,

 

Me.

By Dorathy Gass

Dorathy's been an avid fan of the WWE and sports entertainment since she was a small child. She attended... More about Dorathy Gass

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