Dean Ambrose's Climb Back into WWE Title Contention Should Be High-Profile Angle

Dangle the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in front of an obsessed, unrelenting Dean Ambrose, and watch with widened eyes as he struggles to make that prize his own.

That's a story WWE needs to tell to showcase The Lunatic Fringe now that he's poised to step out of the world title scene. It creates a space for him to continue his recent excellence; it makes for a compelling angle the writing team can stretch out for months. 

And should the company ever decide to crown Ambrose, his title victory would be made such a more powerful moment after this winding journey.

Have Ambrose slide down the list of contenders, and with his sights set on becoming champ, fight his way back up. It's Narrative 101: A character drives toward a goal but is met with staggering opposition. 

Credit: WWE.com

This is the best path for Ambrose after he came up short at both Payback and Money in the Bank against Seth Rollins. He looked great in each battle, WWE portraying him as a gutsy, game competitor, but his last loss was so decisive and climactic it appears to be the last one he will get for the moment.

That's doubly true now that Brock Lesnar is back. As The Authority informed fans on Monday's Raw, The Beast Incarnate is getting the next crack at Rollins' title.

With that development, Ambrose is in danger of being left out of the spotlight.

Following Battleground, one would imagine that a Rollins-Lesnar rematch at SummerSlam is a strong possibility. Soon after that, Roman Reigns is sure to be challenging either man. He's been on the cusp of becoming champ for the majority of the year, and WWE is likely to eventually go in that direction.

Throw in Sheamus, the newly crowned Mr. Money in the Bank, into the world title scene, and suddenly, there's no chair left for Ambrose.

He's been too good to just return him to midcard status with no direction. His battles with Rollins have been classics. His pursuit and theft of the world title has consistently been a highlight of Raw as of late.

To satisfy Ambrose's fanbase and to harness his skills, WWE should turn to the past for inspiration for what to do with him now.

Back in 1983, Harley Race dethroned Ric Flair as NWA world champ. The story then centered around the hungry challenger pursuing Race, looking to have that title in his hands once again. It played out for several months with Race putting a bounty on Flair and The Nature Boy taking down men like Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater.

The NWA dubbed the first Starrcade event "A Flair for the Gold," centering it on Flair's quest to become champion again. A Steel Cage match at the top of the card served as the climax for the tale.

This still ranks as one of Flair's most powerful wins thanks in large part to the inherent drama of him fighting to get to that position.

More recently, WWE played out a similar angle with Sami Zayn's "road to redemption."

The NXT star made up for a series of losses and proved himself worthy of a title chance by knocking off the men who defeated him in the past. Zayn toppled Tyler Breeze, Tyson Kidd and Titus O'Neil over the course of several weeks before finally winning the gold from Adrian Neville.

His tearful celebration was a moving moment. Everything that preceded it made the match better by comparison. 

Credit: WWE.com

And like it would with Ambrose, the story of ascending the rankings gave Zayn a compelling story to be a part of for a long time. He didn't have to depend on the writing team to come up with a a series of well-written feuds. Instead, one larger narrative arc made all of his bouts more meaningful.

That's how WWE should handle Ambrose at this point.

Make it clear that The Authority don't view The Lunatic Fringe as worthy of any future title shots. Have Ambrose then go on a series of battles that slowly convince Triple H and Stephanie McMahon to change their minds.

Along the way, he goes on a losing streak and is overcome with self-doubt. At some point, he recovers and scores big wins over the likes of Mark Henry, Rusev, Randy Orton and even Triple H himself. Every clash would have more meaning should they be sold as part of Ambrose's climb up the ladder.

This championship-centered story is one that WWE has already written the prologue for.

Ambrose told Kane (h/t PWTorch) on Monday's Raw, "I need that title. And I will never, ever stop until I get it. That's what I live for." That's the perfect mantra for him as he suffers defeats and celebrates triumphs en route to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.