Dean Ambrose's Credibility Has Been Damaged by Poor Booking

Dean Ambrose has everything WWE could possibly want in a main-event star. He’s attractive, charismatic, extremely over with the fans and wrestles up a storm every time he gets in the ring. 

It is not hyperbole to say he is very much the Roddy Piper or Brian Pillman of his generation.

Simply put, there’s absolutely no reason he cannot be a solid, money-making main-event wrestler.

Sadly, people in WWE management don’t seem to have grasped this. Or if they have, they can’t translate it into good, sensible and coherent booking.

Credit: WWE.com

Make no mistake about it: Ambrose has been treated horrendously by WWE bookers over the past few months. It's been miserable to witness. 

He’s been scripted to give nonsensical promos, for one thing. It’s hard to make Ambrose—a man who could probably read a housewife's grocery list and still make it deeply compelling—dull, but somehow, WWE writers have managed it.

And let’s not even get started on WWE’s attempts to get Ambrose to do its particular style of “comedy.” Ambrose is a naturally funny guy—but even he can’t make this childish nonsense interesting. The writers don’t seem to know what exactly to do with his character.

The truly dismal skit where Ambrose argued and fought with a dummy of Rollins may have summed things up entirely.

His character arc remains a mystery. He’s lost his edge and charisma, the very qualities that made him must-see in the first place.

But, really, even this can’t compare to the laughably bad booking of the former Shield member over the past few months.

He’s lost one major match on television and pay-per-view after another. He’s been subjected to booking that even Vince Russo at his most nonsensical prime would have blushed at.

A hologram as a distraction? An exploding television monitor that cost him his match? They actually thought this stuff would be a great idea?

Credit: WWE.com

No wonder his credibility has plummeted in recent times. This is utterly absurd. 

Compare this with the first-class booking treatment Ambrose’s Shield teammates have received since the trio split in June of last year. Rollins has been booked as one of the top heels in the company. Roman Reigns, meanwhile, has been booked as a monster babyface, in the vein of Bill Goldberg or Hulk Hogan.

It is possible WWE thinks Ambrose is talented enough to survive whatever awful booking it throws at him. But, frankly, no one, no matter how good, could survive this woefully inept writing. It’s just not possible.

It’s not too late for Ambrose, of course. Someone as talented as him can never really be ruled out. WWE’s bookers could start booking him to look credible and win matches—they just have to realize what it is they have in him.

He can be a big-time star—but only if he has the booking to go with it.