Dean Ambrose Heel Turn Makes Him More Effective WWE Champ Following Cash-in

Dean Ambrose is the most popular man in Las Vegas.

Ambrose rode the momentum of a Seth Rollins WWE World Heavyweight Championship victory to create a whole new celebration, as The Lunatic Fringe captured his first WWE title. The cheers from Ambrose's win were not ironic or defiant. He is the people's champion. He's Daniel Bryan to Roman Reigns' John Cena. He's the everyman who finally reached the top of the mountain the way Mick Foley and Dusty Rhodes did before him.

Yet somehow, Ambrose is the least sympathetic figure of the three young stars, and he just might be better suited as a heel.

With each of the three Shield members holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the same night, it's easy to argue that Ambrose presents the least compelling case to be a world champion.

Rollins worked his tail off to return from a serious injury to recapture a title he never lost. Reigns battled through an (kayfabe) in-match injury of his own only to come up short in defending his title. Ambrose just straight-up stole that thing with a sneak attack.

This wasn't a hard-fought title win; it was a jack.

Despite being a heel, Rollins was heavily cheered during his title match against Reigns. This is WWE's own fault, as too many times he has been presented as a resilient warrior who was forced to give up his championship due to injury.

For Ambrose to take that away from him in one fell swoop makes Ambrose seem like more of a despicable character. Even if Rollins is getting a taste of his own medicine, he went on to successfully defend the title for more than half a year before getting hurt. Once Rollins dropped the title, it was Reigns' turn to battle adversity and become a WWE champion at WrestleMania 32.

Already a three-time world heavyweight champion, Reigns is a hybrid babyface who will be booed more for what he represents—a perceived front office choice to be a top star—than for who he is. WWE has no qualms allowing Reigns to embrace the mixed reactions he receives. At times during his match against Rollins, he was working heel by shoving the referee out of the way and engaging in offense that was overly aggressive.

Reigns as is draws the most impassioned reaction of any show, and WWE would be wise not to tinker with this formula.

That leaves Ambrose, who won the championship under nefarious circumstances. Being an unpredictable loose cannon is more intriguing as a heel than a babyface. Brian Pillman, Bob Backlund and Kane are all characters who thrived as mentally unstable heels. Ambrose can continue in that vein as a man who will do whatever it takes to become world heavyweight champion, comeback stories be damned.

It wasn't long before Bryan turned heel after the otherwise lovable underdog cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Heel Bryan gave us the "Yes!" chant. Need I say more?

If Ambrose is a heel, with both Rollins and Reigns as babyfaces, he can truly embrace his current role as an opportunist who won his first championship the same way Rollins did his when he was the top heel in the company.

Ambrose is a lovable babyface but is a good enough performer to be a surgical heel. Because in real life, it's kind of hard to love a Lunatic.

Alfred Konuwa is a featured columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.