Examining the Impact of a Dean Ambrose Win over Roman Reigns at WWE Fastlane

You get the impression that there's only one realistic outcome in the main event of WWE's Fastlane pay-per-view this Sunday: a victory for Roman Reigns.

Reigns will surely come through unscathed against Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar, with the latter likely distracted sufficiently enough by The Wyatt Family for Reigns to make it to the main event of WrestleMania 32.

There is another option for the company to take, though: a victory for Ambrose against all the odds.

There are numerous reasons why a win for Ambrose makes more sense than one for Reigns. First of all, there's the logical step to crown a true hero for the fans at WrestleMania, an option that the company likes to take whenever it can at WrestleMania.

It's the culmination of a year's worth of work, and after being denied the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on a number of occasions—most recently by Triple H at Royal Rumble—Ambrose would be the underdog hero the fans want to see win the championship at WrestleMania, not Reigns.

But what would the impact of such a victory for Ambrose be? Well, it would give WWE the opportunity to not only push forward with a new top babyface in the shape of Ambrose but also to do something fans are desperate for them to do: turn Roman Reigns heel.

Essentially, a surprise victory for Ambrose this Sunday would turn the WrestleMania landscape on its head. At the moment, it seems like we're headed towards a pretty predictable Reigns vs. Triple H match in the main event, with Reigns finally overcoming The Authority.

But the company is surely painfully aware that no matter what happens at WrestleMania, Reigns will still get booed out of the building. The guy is not ready to be a babyface, as harsh as that may seem—so why not have him turn heel when Ambrose beats him?

The two guys can fight fairly and cleanly throughout the main event at Fastlane—until the latter stages, when Reigns tries to pin Ambrose with a handful of jeans. That will infuriate the crowd and Ambrose, sparking a bitter and physical fight to close the match.

Lesnar would now be out of the proceedings after being assaulted by The Wyatt Family, and when Ambrose scores the win, Reigns can lose his composure, attack Ambrose to cement a heel turn and perhaps set something up between the two at WrestleMania.

The company would then have a main event at WrestleMania that fans genuinely care about, with an end result that would leave most fans satisfied. Ambrose is a perfect foil for The Authority—he's rebellious, he's entertaining and the fans absolutely love him.

With Reigns sent off to feud with someone else at WrestleMania, Ambrose vs. Triple H can be booked as creatively as the company dares. We saw during Seth Rollins vs. Ambrose that The Lunatic Fringe can be unpredictable and certainly enjoyable to watch, so why not let him torture The Authority mentally in the run-up to WrestleMania?

Of course, the match would end with Ambrose winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, something he's been so close to doing on numerous occasions.

From there, WWE can have a heel Reigns go up against Ambrose—could Reigns even align with The Authority to get what he wants?—or even resume Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose.

Ever since Ambrose dropped his Intercontinental Championship to Kevin Owens on Raw this past week, it seems like WWE may be giving serious thought to pushing him once again.

If it's executed well enough, WWE could have something very special on its hands.