Dean Ambrose Set for Career-Defining Night at WWE Survivor Series 2015

At present, Dean Ambrose has not been announced for a match at Survivor Series 2015, but it still seems that The Lunatic Fringe is about to play a huge role in how the event plays out.

Ambrose has spent recent months wrestling alongside Roman Reigns, largely in tag matches against The Wyatt Family. With their enemies vanquished at Hell in a Cell, it seemed time for the two to go their separate ways. However, they have not.

On this week's edition of Monday Night Raw, Ambrose was the clear choice for Reigns' first pick as he selected his team for a five-on-five elimination match. Unsurprisingly, he was one of the three competitors yet to be eliminated when the bout came to a close.

Speculation has run rampant ever since Seth Rollins won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship that his reign was destined to end in a Triple Threat match between the former Shield members.

That still seems very likely—in fact, the feud seems to be taking shape right now.

Why didn't the main event of Raw end with Rollins taking out his frustrations on Reigns with a steel chair? It seems that the friendship between Reigns and Ambrose is just as important to the overarching feud as the conflict between The Juggernaut and The Architect.

With John Cena currently out of commission, WWE is giving its next generation of main event talent an opportunity to prove its worth. The focus on Reigns is as strong as ever—but we're seeing plenty of Ambrose as well.

The popularity of The Lunatic Fringe can't be denied, and it's particularly impressive considering that most would consider Ambrose to be even better as a villain. Reigns and Rollins have been top priorities over the past year, but it should be clear that the company isn't sleeping on Ambrose, either.

It seemed that Ambrose was set to engage in a feud with Randy Orton before The Viper succumbed to an injury. A win over The Legend Killer would have given Ambrose considerable momentum, and you have to wonder where that would have led.

Expect to see all three members of The Shield continue to be booked strongly as we approach Survivor Series.

The champion and the challenger are being given that treatment for obvious reasons—but Ambrose is being given similar presentation without such clear-cut intent.

Credit: WWE.com

Perhaps we're about to see Ambrose screw his best friend out of the championship at a decisive moment, setting up an electric feud to see two-thirds of The Shield through until at least the Royal Rumble.

On the other hand, perhaps we'll see Reigns fall short in his attempt at the title—only for a post-match scenario to set up Ambrose as the next challenger. The Big Dog might end up being the last member of the faction to claim the world title, despite all indications otherwise.

Dean Ambrose has as much potential to be the next white-hot fan favourite as any other competitor on the WWE roster. Survivor Series 2015 could well define his career.

We'll see whether The Lunatic Fringe is destined to reach the main event alongside Reigns and Rollins—or if his ceiling in WWE is simply to be the third member of The Shield.