Dean Ambrose Must Be WWE's Rebel with a Cause

Dean Ambrose needs better booking.  That single phrase has likely been uttered hundreds, if not thousands of times by The Lunatic Fringe's fans. Indeed, it can describe a locker room full of unused WWE Superstars on any given day, but Ambrose has been one of the top names it's been applied to.

Despite being on TV nearly every week, Ambrose's career has still come under scrutiny by not only his followers, but his critics alike. They wonder just exactly where he's headed. Ambrose cannot continue to tread water for much longer: He must be the company's rebel with a cause.

Wandering around aimlessly and wreaking havoc is fun, and Ambrose is very good at it.  He's very similar to Stone Cold Steve Austin in that regard: arrive, raise hell and leave could definitely be his mantra. He's also very comfortable in that role, as the loose cannon gimmick typically comes in from out of nowhere, very unexpectedly all the time.

Just knowing that Ambrose can pop up any time against any opponent can be fun for fans. In that way, he stays fresh and not bogged down in long feuds that basically take him nowhere. But that should not be happening to him in the first place.

Ambrose is a star, and he's the star WWE needs right now. In the way Hulk Hogan dominated WWF, Ambrose would likely have been jerking the curtain every night and perhaps would never have gotten any higher. Vince McMahon's company had Roddy Piper on the roster then, another one that was not needed.

But Ambrose fits the mold of what the company is doing today. He is not a bodybuilder, he's not a super heavyweight and not a colorful character toting a wild animal by his side. Ambrose looks like the common everyday working man, a man that could very well have stepped from the crowd and slid into the ring to handle business.

That kind of gimmick, that kind of character, is one that fans love watching, as evidenced by the career of Daniel Bryan. Like Bryan, Ambrose is very approachable and very down-to-earth. But he's very erratic and explosive at the same time. He lets his wild side get the best of him and listens to no one, but he's a loyal friend and consistently does the right thing.

Ambrose is a rebel and is entertaining, but he's got nowhere to be any time soon.

Therein lies the problem: Fans want to see him rise to the main event level. They've watched Seth Rollins ascend the ladder as WWE world heavyweight champion, and he's done a top-notch job of it. Roman Reigns worked the main event of WrestleMania 31 and is still very much alive in terms of his main event future.

But right now, Ambrose is just his sidekick and that's okay in the short term. In fact, he's serving double-duty in that spot.

Ambrose is helping his friend get over while also getting himself on TV. It's a nice deal, and one that has kept him in the spotlight over the past several weeks. The bond between the two men is one fans recognized all along, but WWE has really capitalized on it recently. That has led many to believe a turn is in the works.

Is that the path for Ambrose? Will a heel turn satisfy fans that want to see him be more focused while also giving him a better, more ambitious direction? The fact is something may be better than nothing when it comes to The Lunatic Fringe, because when Reigns is considered over to the point of no longer needing a 24/7 support system, Ambrose could be left in the dark.

Perhaps that would be his motivation for turning heel. And if so, it would be a plausible character change with believable motivations. The only problem is that Ambrose is one of the top babyfaces in the locker room right now.

Would WWE sacrifice that in order to get Reigns over as a face himself? Ambrose would definitely be the talk of the company, and considering his new movie is coming out soon, it could very well be a one-two punch to perhaps set him on a higher path than he's ever known.

But the question of whether or not he would be as effective is in serious doubt. He's very good at what he does right now. He just does not appear to have a destination in mind. As with any other Superstar in his shoes, it all comes down to the booking.

Ambrose is capable of more than what he's doing, and he proved it against Rollins. He is a top guy in the making, and if his current situation is merely just a warmup for what's to come, then fans will surely be okay with that scenario, as long as he ends up on top.

However, if there are no long-term plans for him, then fans must begin asking at some point if Ambrose will ever be anything other than an entertaining character that connects with the crowd, but can't win the big one. There's no shame whatsoever in being a regularly featured talent making a good living and having fun in WWE. But when it comes to Ambrose, that may never be enough for fans that want him to not only do more, but be more as well.

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