History YMMV / DeanAmbrose

* AntiClimax: Some of his feuds in WWE ended in this. The build up is good, with Ambrose doing awesome promos and great segments with his opponents only to have a boring standard match. To name a few:
** His rivalry with Dolph Ziggler over the WWE Championship: Ambrose and Ziggler did ''incredible'' promos for weeks to the point that they overshadowed the main event. Come ''Wrestling/SummerSlam 2016'' and their match is no better than a usual match you'd see weekly on Raw/[=SmackDown=]. It went to the point that it was considered a factor in Ambrose dropping the WWE Championship to AJ Styles at the next PPV, ''Backlash''.
** His feud with Rollins, after Ambrose's heel turn. The build-up was, if nothing else, ''intense'' with Ambrose taunting Rollins and bringing up Roman's leukimia[[note]]although this was considered tasteless by some and Jon Goode himself ''abhored'' it, being the final straw that drove him to leave WWE[[/note]], fueling Rollins' thirst for revenge against him. With all this bad blood between them, you'd expect to see a great grudge match just like in the past. Come the match, and it was just a standard wrestling match- at ''TLC'', mind you.
* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Ambrose ended up being Wrestling/TripleH's challenger for the world title at ''WWE Roadblock'' for two reasons:
### The fans wanted Dean to be in the main event of ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' that year and finally win the title. The company, however, was dead set on finally giving Wrestling/RomanReigns his moment even though the fans on TV made it clear that they ''hated'' him.
### With Daniel Bryan's retirement and Reigns' injury, there was no other wrestler, let alone face, on the full-time roster that would make a convincing challenger for Hunter. For that matter, the reason Hunter was even champion at the time was because there was no other heel on the level that had a chance of getting booed against Reigns.[[note]]This is not hyperbole -- the injury bug had gone nuts ever since the latter half of 2015. Bryan and Sting were all but retired, Cena, Orton, and Rollins were all out thanks to long-term injuries, and Lesnar and Taker were both part-timers who barely showed up. With Reigns' injury, Ambrose and HHH were literally all that was left of the main event scene. They had no choice but to feud, not only for the special but also to get people to watch ''Raw'' in general.[[/note]]
*** While Dean didn't win, he still managed to get a pin on Hunter, making it clear to the fans that Dean could beat him. The only reason he wasn't made champion is because his foot was supposedly under the bottom rope. That being said, Dean got his win back on the European Tour as compensation.
** Dean's championship win at ''Wrestling/MoneyInTheBank 2016'' and subsequent reign were considered to be the company's way of saying sorry for both what went down regarding Ambrose's participation at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 32'' (the fans made it vocally clear that they wanted Ambrose in the main event that year, only to get Reigns instead; Ambrose was put in a match with Brock Lesnar as a sort of compensation, but even that match ended with Ambrose being unceremoniously squashed by Lesnar (who reportedly didn't give a shit about the match and refused to work with Dean to even try and make the best of it). The fact that the actual event was so widely reviled that both the fans and the company are pretending it never happened is just icing on the cake), and for passing him up for the other two members of the Shield -- not only did he win the title, he was also the #1 pick for ''[=SmackDown=]'' at the WWE Draft, effectively making him the face of that brand, and turned out to be the only member of his former stable drafted there. He was drafted before numerous top stars, including Wrestling/JohnCena and Wrestling/RandyOrton (both of whom ended up on SD as well). He also pinned both Rollins and Reigns clean to bring the title to his brand -- Rollins in a rematch at the Draft, Reigns at the Triple Threat at ''Battleground''. It helps that Ambrose is the only member of the Shield to not embarrass the company in some fashion.[[note]]Rollins cheated on his fiancée -- she retaliated by posting NSFW images of him and his lover on the Internet, which reflected badly on him; further complicating matters, later on his lover was fired for posting Neo Nazi imagery on her social media accounts; Reigns, meanwhile, was suspended for violating the Wellness Policy three months into his championship reign, after the company mega-pushed him to the top for two years in spite of the growing fan hostility.[[/note]]
* BadassDecay: After losing the WWE Championship in 2016 and moving to Raw the following year, Ambrose had lost all the momentum he had since the Shield broke up in 2014 and lost most of his matches. His Lunatic Fringe gimmick has also been tone down during this period. By the summer of 2017, he had been negated to the tag team division while Rollins and Reigns continue their singles run even after the Shield reunited. At most, his role is to serve as the punching bag to whoever the other two with are feuding at the time. It gets worse when Ambrose was absent for months in 2018 and when he returned, he continued to work in the tag team division and only held the Intercontinental Championship for a brief moment. After the 2019 Royal Rumble, it became clear that Ambrose's contract with the company will expire after ''[=WrestleMania=] 35'' and he will not be renewing it due to creative differences. Until then, Ambrose has been largely forgotten by the WWE and the only matches he won are in tag team matches alongside the Shield. Thankfully after his release, he returned to his violent Jon Moxley persona in other persona and he became AEW's top star, rival only by Kenny Omega.
* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Ever since he won the World Heavyweight Championship, he's slowly morphed into this, which can admittedly be quite common for a lot of guys who win the world title for the first time. You have his devoted fans who believe he's absolutely doing a good job and deserves the push he's getting. Then you have wrestling fans who never liked Ambrose to begin with and criticize him for being overrated and/or limited in the ring, in addition to being unworthy of being world champion. You also have fans who like Ambrose but claim that he's been so neutered by jobbing to Reigns and Lesnar, along with WWE not pulling the trigger on him during the height of his popularity in 2014, that he can never truly be a credible world champion. Some fans accuse him of becoming complacent on the top and putting less effort into the matches. And of course, there are fans who say they loved Ambrose back when he was still in The Shield or when he had his first solo run but have turned on him now and see him as being a terrible world champion. Basically, his world championship run has divided wrestling fans into at least a half dozen or so different camps where opinions on Dean Ambrose are scattered all over the place.
** Ambrose also didn't stand much of a chance when after ''[=SummerSlam=] 2016'' he went into a feud with Wrestling/AJStyles. At the PPV, Ambrose had a lackluster and disappointing match with Dolph Ziggler while AJ had a MOTY contender with John Cena (who he beat ''clean''). AJ was one of the hottest acts around after that, so when he feuded with Ambrose afterwards, most were on his side because they wanted to see him as champ over Ambrose. For some it was simply a case of AJ over Ambrose while still being a fan of Ambrose. It also didn't help that in another example of bizarre face-heel booking on WWE's part, Ambrose was the one using a jobber to repeatedly humiliate Styles with the help and support of management.
** The exact moment where fans became split down the middle for Ambrose seemed to be a podcast interview Ambrose had with Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. While Austin himself had his fair share of detractors who felt he crossed the line by repeatedly trying to get Dean to talk about his past, a good segment of fans also turned against Ambrose, claiming how Dean was being lazy, apathetic, unprofessional, and disrespectful to Austin. Also somewhat related to the Styles vs Ambrose feud where a lot of fans jumped from the Ambrose bandwagon to the Styles bandwagon, it didn't help matters that AJ Styles also had an interview with Austin, who asked him just as many hardball questions about his difficult childhood past as he did Ambrose but AJ appeared to handle himself a lot better and was more open to discussing his past. Basically, after the Stone Cold interview, fans either saw Ambrose as a sympathetic guy who overcame the odds and should be respected for not wanting to talk about his past or a lazy, worthless bum who has no idea how to conduct himself as world champion, with very little middle ground.
*** This gets even HarsherInHindsight when it was revealed in May 2019 in an interview that [[PoorCommunicationKills Austin didn't even know that Ambrose had asked him not to bring up his past/personal life]]. Apparently, the producer that Ambrose had talked to didn't communicate the request to Austin, and so when the topic was brought up, Austin was rightfully annoyed that his guest refused the topic and Ambrose was rightfully pissed that they hadn't respected his wishes.
* CharacterRerailment: Seems to be the general consensus since debuting at [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW Double or Nothing]]. His run in [[Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling NJPW]] especially.
* CrazyIsCool:
** The places where he hid so he could ambush Rollins: Under a table, in a goddamn car trunk, and in one of the presents at Hulk Hogan's birthday party!
** And he ''weaponised a hotdog cart''. And we don't just mean in the sense that he rammed it into someone, either.
** His [=TLC=] match against Bray Wyatt was this, full stop.
** His Asylum match against Wrestling/ChrisJericho at ''Extreme Rules 2016''. Most of the match had been rather plodding and felt like it was overstaying its welcome,[[labelnote:Explanation]]A backstage segment had been cut, giving the match 10 more minutes to run[[/labelnote]] with the premise of the weapons hanging above the ring (including [[CompanionCube a potted plant]]) running thing. But then Dean grabs an orange bucket. You'd think it was just a bucket, right? Nope, turns out something's inside it. It's a black bag...filled with THUMB TACKS. The last five minutes turn out to be intense, with multiple teases as to who's going in them. Jericho's [[FinishingMove Code Breaker]] gets countered by Dean slamming him onto the tack...of course Dean hits Dirty Deeds on Jericho, [[SenselessSacrifice landing partially on the tacks himself]]. Dean wins.
* DorkAge: His long-awaited heel turn in WWE started off in dramatic fashion, turning on Seth Rollins the night Roman Reigns left WWE due to his real-life leukemia diagnosis. It then devolved into a germaphobe Bane gimmick, killing off most of the fan interest in his rivalry with Rollins. The heel turn was so bad that Ambrose himself would later confirm fan speculation that it had been a major factor in him deciding to leave the company. After WWE took the unusual step in acknowledging Ambrose's then-impending departure after rumors of it were first reported, he was slowly retconed into resembling his old character.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** His feud with Wrestling/SethRollins served as the kickstarter for this trope. Not that he wasn't one in NXT and in the Shield, but he has become this '''BIG TIME''' ever since he started letting out more of his AxCrazy personality again towards (and after) the end of the Shield run. WWE wasn't shown to have any long-term plans for him, and despite his popularity with the fans, he always seemed the member of the Shield WWE had the least faith and interest in. Part of this may have been that he spent most of his career taking part in the kind of hardcore deathmatches that WWE ''really'' don't want to be associated with, but mostly it was because he was standing next to Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's new anointed one (Wrestling/RomanReigns), and Wrestling/TripleH's golden boy (Rollins). That being said, they knew Dean has a sizable following, so they always cut away to him in the live segments just to remind you he's there, and later got a short program with Wrestling/TripleH headed for a ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' Street Fight with '''Wrestling/BrockLesnar''' (Major established stars like Wrestling/JohnCena and Wrestling/RandyOrton being unavailable for that ''[=WrestleMania=]'' due to injury probably helps).
** There is a reason why Dean is considered the most popular member of Wrestling/TheShield. Wrestling/SethRollins is popular with hardcore fans but since he's a heel he's hated by casual fans. Wrestling/RomanReigns, with his controversial mega-push and the company's desperate attempts to make him Samoan Wrestling/JohnCena, is hated by hardcore fans and a significant amount of casual fans. Dean is the only one of the group to be well-liked by both sections of the base. In fact, when Wrestling/DanielBryan retired, Ambrose became the most popular face on the full-time roster. Many speculate this is why he was last to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion -- to make his win and subsequent pop as memorable as possible.
** It was only two months into his title reign before people started saying Ambrose already had the best and most interesting reign out of all three members of Wrestling/TheShield, and that was during his first feud after Rollins and Reigns, with ''Wrestling/DolphZiggler''. Ziggler had been a jobber to the stars for the last year and a half despite being one of the most decorated wrestlers in the company and a former two-time world champion. Despite all that making Ziggler an Ensemble Darkhorse of his own in the eyes of the fans, out of the six possible opponents Ambrose could have, he was easily one of the least credible, and many wondered how in the hell they were going to make Ziggler a viable and compelling contender for the title, especially after the company had just pushed [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Finn Bálor]] to the moon on ''Raw'' by having him pin Wrestling/RomanReigns '''''clean''''' to become one of the contenders for the newly created WWE Universal Championship against Wrestling/SethRollins. The following week on ''Wrestling/WWESmackDown'', it only took Ambrose and Ziggler one promo to make their match feel as big the dream match between Rollins and Bálor; by the end of the show, people were more invested in it than the marquee match between Wrestling/RandyOrton and Wrestling/BrockLesnar.
** Ambrose was so popular that in 2018, every time he teased a FaceHeelTurn the fans ''cheered'' for him. He was only able to successfully turn them against him by turning on the ''one night'' they would never be able to accept it: the night Wrestling/RomanReigns relinquished the Universal Championship and took a hiatus to battle his second round of leukemia.
* EstrogenBrigade: He's the closest WWE had to a "bad boy" that isn't a heel, so this was inevitable. It's been said Dean Ambrose has some of the most rabid fan girls in the company. Women ''love'' him.
* FanPreferredCouple:
** A lot of fans ''love'' to ship Dean Ambrose and Renee Young. This is not helped by the ShipTease between the two in on-screen interviews since he turned face with Wrestling/TheShield, nor the possible case of RomanceOnTheSet this seems to stem from. Renee later [[http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2015/3/4/8150809/renee-young-dating-dean-ambrose-wwe confirmed]] that they were dating in early 2015. Dean has made a few appearances on Series/TotalDivas, which gives us a look into their relationship, and they tied the knot in early 2017.
** When it comes to slash, Ambrollins (Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins) reigns supreme, though there's a good deal of Ambreigns (Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns) out there too (considering their real-life TrueCompanions relationship that also extends to the rest of the Anoa'i clan). Not to mention that Wrestling/TheNewDay seem to ship Ambreigns pretty hard.
* FoeYay: Speaking of Wyatt, Ambrose's feud with him had more of this than one would expect. During [=TLC=] 2014, after he elbow-dropped Wyatt through the SpanishAnnouncersTable, he actually [[http://31.media.tumblr.com/3f12708c5afedf2a31a4f2de6d467a2c/tumblr_nhkbsmLGbO1u31afvo1_400.gif kissed Bray's forehead]], before beating the crap out of him further.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Deano started his and Wrestling/RomanReigns promo after Wrestling/SethRollins' betrayal of Wrestling/TheShield saying that ''"we had a cancer inside of us, little did we know..."''. Cue 2018, and Roman is forced to relinquish the Universal Title due to an ongoing battle with leukemia.
** While it was already pretty damn harsh and considered appallingly tasteless even at the time, the promo Dean cut on Seth after turning heel where he said that even Roman will "have to answer to the guy upstairs" after he was forced to take time out to recover from leukemia was even more horrible than initially thought. Out of kayfabe, Dean had gotten so distracted with trying to get a truly ''stupid'' line replaced (something about needing to bring a pooper-scooper to LA) that he hadn't noticed the shot at Roman until it was too late and Vince was able to persuade him with his "Jedi mind tricks" to go through with it. As soon as Dean said the line he felt ''physically ill,'' and this was what put the final nail in his decision to quit WWE. Even worse, the next week Vince wanted him to take another shot at Roman, one even ''worse'' than the first one, which Dean just flat-out refused to do, the line supposedly being so bad that if he ''had'' delivered it then WWE would have lost sponsors and Vince would have been forced to sack Dean and/or whoever writer came up with it on the spot in order to save face.
** Relating to this, his whole Chronicle special made during his return to the ring in 2018 and lasting until the first few weeks of his heel turn as a whole can be considered this. Since according to him in a podcast with [[Wrestling/ChrisJericho Jericho]] several months later he was breaking down from the creative strain WWE was putting him through and the botched [[HeelTurn heel turn]] is what sealed the deal for him to jump ship to [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]]. This especially goes towards his speech near the middle of the special talking about how much he loves wrestling with his [[Wrestling/RomanReigns bro]][[Wrestling/SethRollins thers]] and stating how [[TearJerker they'll always be his brothers]] no matter what happens and talking about him feeling like the tour they're on as Wrestling/TheShield may be the last one. Everyone assumed Ambrose just had a bad feeling because Roman Reign's leukemia announcement happened not all that much longer but it [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation could have]] been Ambrose finally deciding he was really leaving the company. The special did read like his gradual [[StartofDarkness descent]] as a character with everything falling apart around him. With him becoming more angry and agitated near the end it's not that hard to consider his behavior wasn't just him acting. In fact he repeatedly states to the camera how much he just wants to wrestle and not have to worry about everything else outside of the ring which was another clear indication of how unhappy he was while wrestling in WWE. It goes to show how much different things could have turned out if [[Wrestling/VinceMcmahon Vince]] or any of the other top brass at WWE had been paying closer attention.
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
** While ''12 Rounds 3: Lockdown'' was considered your standard WWE BMovie fare (though many state it's better than what they usually put out), Ambrose was considered to be a highlight of the film with some definite talent for acting. This sentiment only increased when an episode of ''Swerved'' came out on the WWE Network and showed him acting as a crazy tourist at Universal's City Walk for a faux-prize promotion in order to prank fans. He managed to convince people so well that when he finally said "Swerved!" said fans had a delayed reaction.
*** Happened again after the release of ''Cagefighter: Worlds Collide'' where he played the villain. Many viewers singled him out as a major highlight enjoying his cocky, arrogant character who had a couple great one liners.
** His WWE Chronicle episode. A character study of Ambrose, from his return to the night of FaceHeelTurn, it is a fantastic piece that blurs the line between kayfabe and reality and really showcases Ambrose's acting chops. Many fans outright stated that Ambrose deserved an ''Emmy'' for his performance.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Back during Wrestling/TheShield days, everyone pegged Ambrose as a career heel. By 2016, he was one of the most popular faces on the roster, if not THE most popular, and eventually its top face. For added hilarity, everyone pegged his future ArchEnemy Wrestling/SethRollins as a career face. Rollins ended becoming the top heel in the company.
** Crossed with HeartwarmingInHindsight, the fact that his harsh background has left him as such a grounded and mature person yet so talented at portraying a realistically mentally damaged character that it's become his stock and trade in the wrestling business.
* HoYay:
** Quite a few fans picked up on some early on between him and Wrestling/SethRollins, dating [[FoeYay back to their FCW feud]]. While Wrestling/RomanReigns did often spear people as part of his BigBrotherInstinct towards his teammates, Seth was usually the first to leap in and defend Dean during matches. Dean and Seth also walked together to ringside during their entrances (despite Roman being positioned as Seth's tag team partner for awhile), pulled one another to safety after matches, and generally would hang all over one another. During one Ambrose match with [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]], during which Bryan busted Dean's face open right under his eye, Seth Rollins acted like a concerned boyfriend, even trying to come to Ambrose's defense, risking both a DQ and a beatdown from Bryan's tag-team partner Kane. That the borderline-psychotic Dean Ambrose seemed genuinely fond and protective of Rollins is surely significant, as well.
** During the Shield's face run, Seth and Dean began doing stereo suicide dives, and even resorted to crazy dives to save one another from Wrestling/RandyOrton [[Wrestling/{{Evolution}} and]] Wrestling/TripleH's assault as the four fought increasingly further away from the ring during the six-man tag match at ''Extreme Rules 2014''. It seemed they were developing into a first-rate tag team of their own while working alongside a burgeoning singles juggernaut in Roman. Perhaps this goes toward explaining Dean's absolutely visceral hatred towards Seth for his betrayal—he's a borderline [[WomanScorned Man Scorned]], and not in a mockable Wrestling/MattHardy-ish way. During a handicap match against Rollins and Kane, Dean finally got Seth by himself after incapacitating Kane, only to [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith grab a page from Obi-Wan]] and scream this in his face:
---> "I loved you, Seth! You were my brother!"
** This came back in the Destruction of the Shield DVD, when Rollins admitted that he and Ambrose are wrestling soulmates.
** There's a curiously intimate moment during their Lumberjack match where Ambrose [[http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/retroginger/36803792/128951/128951_600.gif caresses Rollins' back]] as Rollins is trying to pin him.
** Things between Ambrose and Rollins heated up even ''more'' during the summer of 2017 after both got into feuds with the Miztourage. After on-and-off teaming, bickering, and generally acting liking {{Tsundere}}s to each other, things culminated in the August 14, 2017 episode of RAW, which saw Dean and Seth acting like a pair of bitter, jilted, ex-lovers that ''both'' want to get back together but have burned each other so many times that they just don't know how to really forgive. The entire segment was ''dripping'' with [[BelligerentSexualTension Belligerent]] [[HomoeroticSubtext Homoerotic]] FoeRomanceSubtext, to the point even male wrestling fans were telling them to screw already, lampshading their support of said homoeroticism by mentioning how much they wanted to see two guys "[[DoubleEntendre fisting]]" each other. Eventually, the tension boiled over and the two got into a brawl, only to finally reunite and "fist" after getting attack by Sheamus and Cesaro. The following Sunday, they won the RAW Tag Team Championship, which only fuels the fire ''even more''. In fact, many wrestling fans commented that Ambrose and Rollins' reunion storyline was the second gayest storyline in 2017, after the reunion of the Golden☆Lovers Wrestling/KennyOmega and Wrestling/KotaIbushi, whose entire ''gimmick'' is based on the HomoeroticSubtext between them.
** Of course, Ambrose and Reigns have this with each other, even after the breakup of The Shield. This was especially prevalent during mid-late 2015 while combating the newly reunited Wyatt Family together, where Ambreigns seemed to be concocting some epic bromance together and Dean acting like jealous boyfriend when Wrestling/RandyOrton joined up with them briefly before Orton got injured again. For that matter, Rollins and Reigns were starting to develop some too during their brief feud before Rollins got injured, which may owe to Ambrolleigns having a surge of popularity. Hilariously lampshaded by Wrestling/TheNewDay on the 2-1-2016 episode of ''Raw''.
--->'''Big E:''' Ambrose!\\
'''Woods:''' Reigns!\\
'''Kingston:''' [[PortmanteauCoupleName Ambreigns!]]\\
'''Woods:''' Hey, that's what they call them on Tumblr and all those fanfiction sites!
** According to Dean, Roman tastes like cinnamon. [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud No, wait, he meant SMELLS!]]
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Aside from Renee, as well as Seth Rollins (see HoYay above for details), he's also been shipped with Wrestling/WilliamRegal and, of all people, Wrestling/BrayWyatt.
* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Many people had this reaction towards the idea of WWE seriously pushing Ambrose, even after he won the title. Many were convinced he was a transitional champion at best... until he [[CueTheFlyingPigs pinned Roman Reigns cleanly]] to retain the championship, to the delight of the fanbase.
* MemeticMutation:
** "Nope." [[labelnote:explanation]]The Shield's first promo on the November 26, 2012 episode of ''Raw'', with Dean Ambrose's face right after he gave this one-word answer to a question Wrestling/MichaelCole asked them in the interview.[[/labelnote]]
** His vest, apparently. [[http://deansvest.tumblr.com/ It even has a Tumblr blog dedicated to it]].
** Two words: Titty Master. [[labelnote:explanation]]In a match in 2013, it was discovered that Dean Ambrose had the words "Titty Master" written on his wrist tape ([[http://37.media.tumblr.com/1810e5960b542e4d4be53c723def420e/tumblr_mw3ba5fIJW1sj58l9o1_500.jpg Right Hand;]] [[http://i.imgur.com/vn49sjO.jpg Left Hand]]). The IWC ran with this, making "Titty Master" his unofficial nickname and making all sorts of Titty Master macros. [[WordOfSaintPaul Turns]] [[Wrestling/RomanReigns out]] it was a joke based on Dean frequently wrestling Wrestling/BigELangston, a big man with a big chest, during the ongoing European tour at that time, including the very match in which that picture was taken.[[/labelnote]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8yBdoohGeA Dean. Fucking. Ambrose.]]
** Dean stole Wrestling/{{Roman|Reigns}}'s [[Wrestling/TheUsos cousins]].[[labelnote:explanation]]After the 2016 WWE draft, the Shield Triple Threat match at ''Battleground'' wasn't just to determine who was the best of the former Hounds of Justice, but which brand would be host to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, with Rollins and Reigns both representing ''Raw'' and Ambrose representing ''[=SmackDown=]''. When Ambrose pinned Reigns to retain the championship, the ''[=SmackDown=]'' roster came out to celebrate, including the Usos—who hoisted Ambrose on their shoulders as a triumphant hero. While not ''entirely'' out of the blue since it's well-known that the Anoa'i clan are close with Ambrose through his friendship with Reigns both on and off the screen, given the emphasis on Reigns' family ties since his push first kicked into high gear and especially the Usos' zeal in helping Reigns in his title reign a couple months earlier against Wrestling/AJStyles, Wrestling/KarlAnderson, and [[Wrestling/DrewHankinson Luke Gallows]]? Many found the role that Reigns' cousins played in the celebration of the man who pinned him in the big championship match to be either hilarious or petty, depending on their sense of humor and/or perspective on Reigns following his Wellness suspension.[[/labelnote]]
*** Dean is an honorary Samoan.[[labelnote:explanation]]Again, because of Ambrose's close association with members of the Anoa'i family. It's often been joked that Ambrose is the only Samoan in the company besides Samoa Joe that isn't related to that family by blood. This has only intensified since the 9/20/16 episode of ''Talking Smack'', in which Ambrose pointed out that he runs with Samoans [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Jack Swagger]].[[/labelnote]]
** [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Arrive. Dirty Deeds. Leave.]][[labelnote:explanation]]On the 12/6/16 edition of ''[=SmackDown=]'', Dean Ambrose interrupted the opening segment to get into the ring, hit James Ellsworth (who had cost him a title match the previous Sunday at TLC) with a Dirty Deeds, then walk back out. The Stone Cold comparisons came immediately.[[/labelnote]]
** [[https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1205307226581278726?s=19 How long can Justin Roberts hold Jon Moxley's first name for?]]
* MisBlamed: After an infamous appearance on the ''Stone Cold Podcast'', in which the discussions turned quite awkward and Dean looked quite uncomfortable throughout it, the show wasn't renewed for the WWE Network again, leading some to believe that the disatorous interview caused the show to be cancelled. Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, however, said that this wasn't true and that it was planned to be the final episode anyways, though he did feel guilty afterwards for pushing Dean a bit too much.
* MoralEventHorizon: [[FaceHeelTurn Turning on]] Seth Rollins on the night Roman Reigns announced he was going on hiatus for leukemia recovery. It is so far, the only thing that has gained Dean legitimate heat from the fans.
* {{Narm}}: A lot of his moveset has been criticized for looking ridiculous (and no, not in the 'lunatic' way) and unintentionally hilarious. The biggest contender has to be Ambrose's punches which are notoriously weak-looking.
* RefugeInAudacity: His modus operandi, even down to his actual in-ring style, seems to boil down to "fuck it - it's worth a shot, right?" He basically runs on doing things that no other person would be nuts enough ([[BrassBalls or have the nuts enough]]) to attempt.
* RetroactiveRecognition:
** In the 2006 ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'', he held the torch as one of Wrestling/TheUndertaker's druids.
** He also appeared on ''Velocity'' shortly afterward as one-half of a tag team jobbing to MNM. One half of MNM became his own example of the trope, appearing in 2014 as one-half of Wrestling/SethRollins's security detail.
* RootingForTheEmpire: As part of Wrestling/TheShield before they turned face. He and Rollins each had followings from before hitting WWE; and upon their debut, their immediate course of action was to defend their ultra-popular fellow former indy star Wrestling/CMPunk from transparently pro-establishment babyfaces the likes of Wrestling/JohnCena and Wrestling/{{Ryback}}. They were practically asking for this to be the case.
* ShockingMoments: Mox making his surprise debut at AEW's first PPV, Double or Nothing.
* SignatureScene:
** The last match of FCW before transitioning into NXT, where Ambrose absolutely ''wrecks'' Wrestling/WilliamRegal's face with a knee trembler.
** ''Wrestling/MoneyInTheBank 2016'': Finally capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by cashing in on Wrestling/SethRollins, finally getting his revenge for Rollins' betrayal of the Shield.
** The August 14, 2017 episode of ''RAW'', which saw him and Rollins finally burying the hatchet and reuniting as a team.
** August 13, 2018: his return from injury, helping Rollins take down Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre and Wrestling/DolphZiggler.
** '''October 22, 2018''': In one of the most shocking endings to RAW in ''years'', Ambrose makes his long-awaited FaceHeelTurn against Rollins, the same night their other best friend Wrestling/RomanReigns was forced to relinquish the Universal Title and go on hiatus from wrestling to battle his recurrent leukemia.
** '''May 25, 2019''' was the night the "Deano leaving WWE is a work" rumours were finally put to rest with his cameo at Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling's ''Double or Nothing'' show, by destroying both Wrestling/KennyOmega and Wrestling/ChrisJericho.
** '''February 29th 2020''' at AEW Revolution: The Moxley Era begins with him capturing the All Elite Wrestling World Title against Wrestling/ChrisJericho.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: His ''[=WrestleMania=]'' Street Fight with Brock Lesnar. The issues are many: After weeks of ''awesome'' promos by Ambrose, he basically got squashed by Lesnar, not even in a way that could've at least made Ambrose look DefiantToTheEnd, while Lesnar seemed to just mock him the entire time. The commentary didn't put Ambrose over either, instead chuckling and counting how many times Dean went to "Suplex City." Ambrose didn't even get a chance to use any real weapons, which sort of defeated the entire purpose of the match. Furthermore, the revelation that The Rock's segment went about a half hour (where he basically dicked around with [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, a flamethrower, and]] Wrestling/TheWyattFamily) led to fans basically going apoplectic: why did we need to waste that much time with The Rock, which did no one any favors, instead of trying to build a new star?
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: He's responsible for ending it, actually. Ambrose winning the title ended a long chain of heel and/or majorly disliked champions. He's been proclaimed as the first true face champion since Daniel Bryan himself. However, WWE had beaten down their fans so much that they had become extremely pessimistic and cynical and were convinced Ambrose was going to be a transitional champion. It wasn't until Ambrose pinned both Rollins and Reigns clean to win the title did people realize they were gonna get a nice, long reign with a popular face, much to their delight.\\\
He previously played this straight, during his insultingly one-sided ''[=WrestleMania=] 32'' feud with Brock Lesnar. Despite Dean's epic promos throughout, Brock always came out on top during their weekly encounters... which was ultimately no different during their final match — despite Dean's favor and support from Legends like Mick Foley and even Terry Funk. The feud was constructed similar to Wrestling/TheUndertaker's summer-2002 mini-feud with Wrestling/JeffHardy: the big violent dastardly heel repeatedly beats the hell out of the smaller rising superstar plucky babyface but the face never stays down and even challenges the heel to fight him in his type of match with grand stage and/or stakes involved. The heel wins in the end, but the face still gains credibility by showing his resiliency and utter refusal to give up. Yet unlike Hardy, who came damn close to snatching the Undisputed Championship on several occasions, refused to stay down after both the match itself ''and'' a post-match beating from Taker, an act which shocked Big Evil himself into showing him respect and turning back into a face, Ambrose was ''never'' portrayed as standing a chance for more than two seconds in the big match, and he never received a gesture of respect from Lesnar. Fans were consequently left burned-out and frustrated (no surprise there) by this depressing and pointless feud. The only saving grace was Dean's aforementioned title reign soon afterward, which was widely speculated to be a much-needed AuthorsSavingThrow after this anyway.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: Like his former Shield brothers after ''Survivor Series 2015'' opened up a floodgate of resentment against the company for the terrible booking the entire roster seems to be going through. Dean's the most popular of the three, however he's been stuck in the upper midcard for most of his singles career. However, he doesn't get this as much as the other two because it's very clear the company doesn't actually hate him (in fact, Vince has stated in many interviews that he likes Ambrose, and Hunter has a soft spot for all his NXT talent, former and current), and he was considered on the cusp of being main event talent. It's more likely his push was being delayed because they want Wrestling/RomanReigns to get over as a face first, whereas Wrestling/SethRollins merely benefited from circumstances surrounding the controversy of Reigns' push and got his push as a result of that. Dean, being more over than Roman as a face and wildly popular in general, would've eclipsed Reigns if they were to give him a full-on main event push then, to the point that they would never be able to get Reigns over as THE top face of the company like they want to, as for all of Ambrose's talent and popularity, he simply lacked the look corporate wanted in their top face. While many were willing to be patient and wait for Dean's push, many point out that they'd tried to get Roman Reigns over for practically the entire year, yet have screwed up his booking so badly that it'd be impossible for him to get completely over as a face, and since Ambrose is the most over face on the roster behind [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] (and, should Bryan's in-ring career truly be over, the most over face in general), it would've been logical to just give Ambrose his main event push then as a face and just have Reigns get over as a heel and then turn him face later. This argument also postulated that they should feud, which is what everyone wanted anyway after Wrestling/SethRollins got injured, putting a kibosh on the potential Rolleigns feud. However, the ending to the aforementioned PPV had him squarely stuck in the midcard for the foreseeable future, which many were not happy about since his potential spot as Reigns' feud got taken by [[spoiler:Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}, who many believe ran his course as a main event star years ago, and whom no one wanted to be champion at all]].
** It's popped up again in the latter half of December 2017, after Dean injured his triceps at TLC in October, wrestled with it for two months, and then had to go in for emergency surgery. The injury was unforeseeable, but it's clear that WWE was heavily relying on him to carry both the Shield reunion and a chunk of the tag-team division with Wrestling/SethRollins. Now that Dean's on the shelf for an unknown amount of time, Creative seems to be throwing everything they can against the wall. Roman's feud with Wrestling/SamoaJoe looks to be entertaining and potentially great drama for the Royal Rumble, but Seth is stuck teaming with Jason Jordan - a guy who spent weeks building a heel turn and feud with his "father" Wrestling/KurtAngle, a guy who is talented but not seen as anywhere near the level of either Seth or Dean, and a guy who Seth never really liked before mid-December. Putting the Raw tag-team belts on Seth and Jordan seems to be exacerbating the ire of fans, who are irked that while [[TrueCompanions the Roman-Dean brotherhood]] seems as strong as ever, Dean and Seth had been on a losing streak against the Bar (most of which were pins of Dean), and after Dean gets hurt, Jordan just steps right in and wins the tag belts with no problems. It makes Jordan look stronger than he is, Seth look like [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor he's stepped back into his 2015ish weasel persona, caring only about gold]], and Dean the guy who was weighing the Shield down and can be easily replaced. They tried to salvage this by having Jordan come off as increasingly arrogant that he could replace Dean while drawing the ire of Roman and Seth to the point they can hardly stand him, but this went nowhere because Jordan got injured as well.
* WinBackTheCrowd: Since becoming WWE Champion, Ambrose steadily found himself sliding into BaseBreakingCharacter territory and towards the final stages of his WWE run, particularly during his final heel turn, damn near everybody was complaining about his on-screen character, from haters who never liked Ambrose to even fans who were sympathetic to him as both a person and a wrestler but still otherwise thought his Vince-written character was god-awful at that point. After a somewhat ignominious end to his WWE run where he was humiliated on-screen by ''Wrestling/BobbyLashley'', Ambrose left the company and reinvented himself as Jon Moxley in the international scene with AEW, NJPW, and various other independent promotions, winning back a lot of fans and causing them to see him in a new light, as both a wrestler and a story-teller, culminating in him earning his first 5 star match by Dave Meltzer in the Summer of 2019 only a few months after he left WWE, being awarded Wrestler of the Year in 2019 by Sports Illustrated, becoming Number 1 on Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers, and being named Wrestler of the Year also by PWI (the last two in 2020) as well.
* TheWoobie: Moxley, Ambrose, and the man himself Jonathan Good have one thing in common: They've been through utter hell.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: He's responsible for ending it, actually. Ambrose winning the title ended a long chain of heel and/or majorly disliked champions. He's been proclaimed as the first true face champion since Daniel Bryan himself. However, WWE had beaten down their fans so much that they had become extremely pessimistic and cynical and were convinced Ambrose was going to be a transitional champion. It wasn't until Ambrose pinned both Rollins and Reigns clean to win the title did people realize they were gonna get a nice, long reign with a popular face, much to their delight.
** He previously played this straight, during his insultingly one-sided ''[=WrestleMania=] 32'' feud with Brock Lesnar. Despite Dean's epic promos throughout, Brock always came out on top during their weekly encounters... which was ultimately no different during their final match — despite Dean's favor and support from Legends like Mick Foley and even Terry Funk. The feud was constructed similar to Wrestling/TheUndertaker's summer-2002 mini-feud with Wrestling/JeffHardy: the big violent dastardly heel repeatedly beats the hell out of the smaller rising superstar plucky babyface but the face never stays down and even challenges the heel to fight him in his type of match with grand stage and/or stakes involved. The heel wins in the end, but the face still gains credibility by showing his resiliency and utter refusal to give up. Yet unlike Hardy, who came damn close to snatching the Undisputed Championship on several occasions, refused to stay down after both the match itself ''and'' a post-match beating from Taker, an act which shocked Big Evil himself into showing him respect and turning back into a face, Ambrose was ''never'' portrayed as standing a chance for more than two seconds in the big match, and he never received a gesture of respect from Lesnar. Fans were consequently left burned-out and frustrated (no surprise there) by this depressing and pointless feud. The only saving grace was Dean's aforementioned title reign soon afterward, which was widely speculated to be a much-needed AuthorsSavingThrow after this anyway.

** His rivalry with Dolph Ziggler: Ambrose and Ziggler did ''incredible '' promos for weeks to the point that they overshadowed the main event. Come ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'' their match is no better than a usual match you'd see weekly on RAW/[=SmackDown=].

* AntiClimax: Some of his feuds ended in this. The build up is good, with Moxley/Ambrose doing awesome promos and great segments with his opponents only to have a boring standard match. To name a few:

* CrazyAwesome:

* BadassDecay: After losing the WWE Championship in 2016 and moving to Raw the following year, Ambrose had lost all the momentum he had since the Shield broke up in 2014 and lost most of his matches. By the summer of 2017, he had been negated to the tag team division while Rollins and Reigns continue their singles run even after the Shield reunited. It gets worse that Ambrose was absent for months in 2018 and when he returned, he continued to work in the tag team division and only held the Intercontinental Championship for a brief moment. After the 2019 Royal Rumble, it became clear that Ambrose's contract with the company will expire after ''[=WrestleMania=] 35'' and he will not be renewing it due to creative differences. Until then, Ambrose has been largely forgotten by the WWE and the only matches he won are in tag team matches alongside the Shield.

* WinBackTheCrowd: Since becoming WWE Champion, Ambrose steadily found himself sliding into BaseBreakingCharacter territory and towards the final stages of his WWE run, particularly during his final heel turn, damn near everybody was complaining about his on-screen character, from haters who never liked Ambrose to even fans who were sympathetic to him as both a person and a wrestler but still otherwise thought his Vince-written character was god-awful at that point. After a somewhat ignominious end to his WWE run where he was humiliated on-screen by ''Wrestling/BobbyLashley'', Ambrose left the company and reinvented himself as Jon Moxley in the international scene with AEW, NJPW, and various other independent promotions, winning back a lot of fans and causing them to see him in a new light, as both a wrestler and a story-telling, culminating in him earning his first 5 star match by Dave Meltzer in the Summer of 2019 only a few months after he left WWE, being awarded Wrestler of the Year in 2019 by Sports Illustrated, becoming Number 1 on Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers, and being named Wrestler of the Year also by PWI (the last two in 2020) as well.

* WinBackTheCrowd: Since becoming WWE Champion, Ambrose steadily found himself sliding into BaseBreakingCharacter territory and towards the final stages of his WWE run, particularly during his final heel turn, damn near everybody was complaining his on-screen character, from haters who never liked Ambrose to even fans who were sympathetic to him as both a person and a wrestler but still otherwise thought his Vince-written character was god-awful at that point. After a somewhat ignominious end to his WWE run where he was humiliated on-screen by ''Wrestling/BobbyLashley'', Ambrose left the company and reinvented himself as Jon Moxley in the international scene with AEW, NJPW, and various other independent promotions, winning back a lot of fans and causing them to see him in a new light, as both a wrestler and a story-telling, culminating in him earning his first 5 star match by Dave Meltzer in the Summer of 2019 only a few months after he left WWE, being awarded Wrestler of the Year in 2019 by Sports Illustrated, becoming Number 1 on Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers, and being named Wrestler of the Year also by PWI (the last two in 2020) as well.

* AntiClimax: Some of his feuds ended in this. The build up is good, with Moxley/Ambrose doing awesome promos and great segments with his opponents only to have a boring standard match.. to name a few..
** His rivalry with Dolph Ziggler, Ambrose and Ziggler did '' incredible '' promos for weeks to the point that they overshadowed the main event. Come Summer Slam their match is no better than a usual match you saw weekly on raw/smackdown.
** His feud with Rollins, after Ambrose's heel turn. The build ups are great with Ambrose taunting Rollins and bringing up Roman's leukimia fueling Rollins thirst for revenge againts him. With all these bad blood between them, you expect to see a great grudge match between them just like in the past. Come the match, and it was just a standard wrestling match, in TLC mind you.

** His feud with Rollins, after Ambrose's heel turn. The build ups are great with Ambrose taunting Rollins and bringing up Roman's leukimia fueling Rollins thirst for revenge againts him. Come the match, and it was just a standard wrestling match, in TLC mind you.

** He previously played this straight, during his insultingly one-sided ''[=WrestleMania=] 32'' feud with Brock Lesnar. Despite Dean's epic promos throughout, Brock always came out on top during their weekly encounters... which was ultimately no different during their final match — despite Dean's favor and support from Legends like Mick Foley and even Terry Funk. The feud was constructed similar to Wrestling/TheUndertaker's summer-2002 mini-feud with Wrestling/JeffHardy: the big violent dastardly heel repeatedly beats the hell out of the smaller rising superstar plucky babyface but the face never stays down and even challenges the heel to fight him in his type of match with grand stage and/or stakes involved. The heel wins in the end, but the face still gains credibility by showing his resiliency and utter refusal to give up. Yet unlike Hardy, who came damn close to snatching the Undisputed Championship on several occasions, refused to stay down both after the match ''and'' a post-match beating from The Undertaker, an act which shocked Big Evil himself into showing him respect and turning back into a face, Ambrose was ''never'' portrayed as standing a chance for more than two seconds in the big match, and he never received a gesture of respect from Lesnar. Fans were consequently left burned-out and frustrated (no surprise there) by this depressing and pointless feud. The only saving grace was Dean's aforementioned title reign soon afterward, which was widely speculated to be a much-needed AuthorsSavingThrow after this anyway.

** He previously played this straight, during his insultingly one-sided ''[=WrestleMania=] 32'' feud with Brock Lesnar. Despite Dean's epic promos throughout, Brock always came out on top during their weekly encounters... which was ultimately no different during their final match — despite Dean's favor and support from Legends like Mick Foley and even Terry Funk. Fans were consequently left burned-out and frustrated (no surprise there) by this depressing and pointless feud. Compare this to Wrestling/TheUndertaker's summer-2002 mini-feud with Wrestling/JeffHardy. The feud is constructed the same: the big violent dastardly heel repeatedly beats the hell out of the smaller rising superstar plucky babyface but the face never stays down and even challenges the heel to fight him in his type of match with grand stage and/or stakes involved. The heel wins in the end, but the face still gains credibility by showing his resiliency and utter refusal to give up. Yet two small but critical changes in the match separate an example of how Undertaker even in victory puts over whoever he wrestles from a cringeworthy demonstration that Brock's ultra-destroyer booking sets him further apart from the general roster than it does from Reigns and Cena: unlike Hardy, Ambrose was ''never'' portrayed as standing a chance for more than two seconds in the big match, and he never received a gesture of respect from Lesnar. The only saving grace was Dean's aforementioned title reign soon afterward, which was widely speculated to be a much-needed AuthorsSavingThrow after this anyway.