The best performer in WWE so far in 2016 has been the man known as the “Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose. Why is he the best? Because he’s different from everybody else. The WWE Universe likes different, they crave different and when they see Ambrose out there wrestling in a tank top along with jeans, they cheer for different. Not only do they cheer for Ambrose, but they cheer louder for him than anybody else in the company.

This Saturday night in Toronto at a WWE Network event called Roadblock, Ambrose will challenge WWE’s on screen Chief Operating Officer Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. While it’s not a pay-per-view event that is on WWE’s annual calendar, it’s a chance for WWE to put on a big match for their fans.

This is the match that should be headlining WrestleMania on April 3. Instead, Triple H is likely going to retain his WWE Title against Ambrose and then go on to, also likely, lose the title to Roman Reigns, who is the best friend of Ambrose that is like a brother…at least in the storyline.

Reigns getting the WWE Title at WrestleMania – for the third time in five months – is happening because he’s the Chosen One. Reigns is the guy that has the look as the prototypical top guy in WWE due to his muscular physique. It also helps that he comes from a famous Samoan wrestling family that includes a really famous actor named Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock. With John Cena set to turn 39 years old this year, WWE needs a new “face of the company” and that’s going to be Reigns.

The biggest difference between Reigns and Ambrose is the crowd reaction. While Reigns gets cheers from some of the fans (particularly the kids), he is booed by a lot of fans too. Ambrose isn’t really booed by anybody. He gets the loudest cheers because the fans love him for his ability to always fight back no matter the circumstances. His character is a lot easier to relate to.

Reigns has barely lost any matches in the last two years. Part of the reason that some fans online don’t like him is because of how strong he has looked since the company shoved him down our throats as their next franchise player.

Ambrose has lost many times, including against Reigns at Survivor Series last year, yet the fans keep cheering for him and hoping he can break through to the top. Ambrose isn’t much to look at in terms of being a larger than life performer. He’s a skinny guy that doesn’t throw a good looking punch, doesn’t have big muscles and doesn’t do a lot of things that a traditional wrestler does. Ambrose is the closest thing WWE has had to a beloved underdog babyface since Daniel Bryan won over the crowd in the summer of 2013 leading to a WWE Title win at WrestleMania 30 in 2014 in New Orleans. As most fans remember, Bryan wasn’t the chosen one either, so Ambrose has that in common with the retired superstar as well.

Ambrose is currently set to face off with Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred Street Fight at WrestleMania. The match was announced three weeks ago, yet the focus on Roadblock has caused their story to lose some steam. Most likely on next week’s Raw we’ll see more of a focus on the Ambrose/Lesnar. There’s a very good chance that Ambrose/Lesnar at WrestleMania will be the best match on that show and potentially one of the best matches of the year. Both guys are so good that expectations should be high.

Will Ambrose win that WrestleMania showdown with “The Beast Incarnate” Lesnar? Probably not. While it would do wonders for Ambrose to win a feud like that, WWE is more likely to give Lesnar the win in order to keep him as strong as possible. Lesnar doesn’t lose very often to begin with and Ambrose likely isn’t seen as a big enough star to beat him. Plus, WWE might want to have Lesnar challenge Reigns later in the year, possibly at a major show like SummerSlam in Brooklyn.

What Ambrose has done this year is solidify himself as a complete wrestler. He’s capable of having great matches with anybody, his promos are the best of any wrestler they have (Paul Heyman is the best overall) and his ability to take a beating is a big reason why he’s so beloved because the art of selling is one of the most important aspects in wrestling. The way he’s taken beatings from the likes of Brock Lesnar and Triple H, yet always finding a way to come back is what makes people want to cheer him.

It’s the same thing that made Daniel Bryan so likable. Before him, guys like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were known for taking beatings from bigger guys, yet always finding a way to come back to win. Think of Bret Hart’s WWE Title win against Diesel at Survivor Series 1995. He was destroyed all match, yet found a way to win with an inside cradle.

Ambrose may not be in the same class as those guys right now, but if WWE truly believed in him then he might be on that path one day.

This year’s WrestleMania story should be Ambrose winning his first ever WWE Title to end the show. Instead, it will be Roman Reigns winning his third WWE Title in the last five months. They made their choice with Reigns over the last two years, they’re going to stick to their guns and ride it out for as long as they can. Last year they changed the course by having heel Seth Rollins cash in to leave WrestleMania as WWE Champion. They’re not going to change plans again.

What WWE should do is turn Reigns heel because the crowd picked Ambrose over him. Listen to them. You can’t ignore the crowd boing Reigns forever.

It’s another example of WWE not listening to their fans the way they should. From a business standpoint, it probably won’t hurt them. The name WrestleMania sells itself with the largest crowd in the history of the company expected at AT&T Stadium in Texas, not to mention the biggest gate as well. Still, it’s hard to believe that Ambrose losing this much is good for him.

Post WrestleMania, they could go a number of ways with Ambrose. Even though he’s a beloved face right now, they could end up turning him heel because he’s got the ability on the microphone to really get the fans worked up. Plus, Reigns is going to need some heels to feud with because that’s an area where the company is lacking right now.

Ambrose needs to keep doing what he’s doing because he’s on the right path to really become a huge star that WWE needs right now. Perhaps one day somebody important in WWE that wears a suit will realize what kind of performer they have in him. He was really good when he was called up from developmental over three years ago and he’s even better now. For now, he just needs to keep putting on entertaining matches and taking those beatings as well as anybody. It’s going to endear him to the crowd even more.

 

The Five Count

Here are five thoughts on other things going on in the world of WWE.

1. Shane McMahon’s match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania might be the most anticipated matchup on the card. It’s a Hell in a Cell match where Shane will obtain control of Raw (and the company presumably) if he wins. It’s a storyline way to suggest that change is coming because WWE probably realizes how stale Triple H and wife Stephanie McMahon are as the heel Authority characters.

When it comes to picking a winner for the match, it’s difficult. The idea of Shane beating Undertaker at a WrestleMania seems crazy. However, it’s not like Undertaker needs the win. They need to change the way the stories are being told on television. Listen to the crowd reactions for Shane. They want to see more of him, so it can’t end at WrestleMania. There has to be some twist that gives Shane the win because that’s what the story is calling for right now.

Will Shane win? He should. It doesn’t mean that he will because it has to make sense and that’s not going to be easy.

2. The second biggest match at Roadblock this Saturday is Brock Lesnar taking on Bray Wyatt. You might recall that at the Royal Rumble, Wyatt sent his Wyatt Family after Lesnar even though Lesnar eliminated Luke Harper, Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman. Lesnar vs. Wyatt was planned for WrestleMania, but they changed the course and set up Lesnar vs. Ambrose instead.

Look for Lesnar to win at Roadblock while Wyatt continues to float in midcard purgatory. It’s a shame to see what has happened to Wyatt because there’s so much potential for him to be a breakout star, yet WWE management never really wants to pull the trigger on him.

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3. There’s a women’s triple threat match scheduled for the Divas Title at WrestleMania. It will see the heel Divas Champion Charlotte (accompanied by her father Ric Flair) against babyface challengers Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. It would be a shock if Charlotte retained the title after a seven-month reign, so look for Banks to emerge as the likely new champion.

What’s intriguing about the match is that it will be the highest profile Divas Title match in company history. The last time there was a really big Women’s Title match at a WrestleMania was Mickie James beating Trish Stratus in Chicago and that was ten years ago at WrestleMania 22. They need to give these women 12-15 minutes to have a classic match that we know they are capable of having. A decent match is fine, but they really need time to do something special in order for this “divas revolution” to really matter.

4. There are plans in place to turn the current Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) into faces. If you’ll recall, when the group formed in late 2014 they were over the top faces that spread the power of the positivity. It was such a cheesy gimmick that the fans rejected and they turned heel in early 2015. They went on to become the best team in WWE as well as arguably the best act in the entire company. Now they’re feuding with the League of Nations heel group, which is why they are turning face.

It feels like a mistake to turn them into faces because once they go that route they will be far less entertaining. It’s happened so many times in the past. Instead of being funny heels that annoy the crowd, they’ll suck up to the fans and do cheesy bits that won’t work. In a perfect world, they’d stay as a heel act for the next year. Not in today’s WWE. It’s a shame because New Day rocks as heels, but if they turn face, it could be a mistake that WWE regrets big time.

5. Sami Zayn made his WWE main roster debut, or return if you want to call it that. Last May he got called up to the main roster against John Cena, then he hurt his shoulder and missed most of the rest of 2015. He returned for the Royal Rumble, stayed in NXT after that and now he’s back on the main roster. Zayn is arguably the best in-ring performer in the entire company, so his presence on the main roster should be seen as a major positive.

The rumor is he’ll be a part of a multi-man match for the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania held by his on screen rival and best friend in real life, Kevin Owens. It would better if it was just a singles match between the two, but WWE likes to get others involved in WrestleMania, so look for guys like Neville, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz to be involved as well. That Owens vs. Zayn one on one feud will likely happen post WrestleMania.

That’s all for this week. Enjoy Roadblock on WWE Network this Saturday and WrestleMania on April 3 as well.

About John Canton

John has been writing about WWE online since the late 1990s. He joined The Comeback/Awful Announcing team in 2015. Follow John Canton on Twitter @johnreport or email him at mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any comments or questions. For more of his wrestling opinions, visit his website at TJRWrestling.net. Cheap pop!