The Best Laid Plans: How Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins Flipped the Script

When Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns burst onto the scene at the 2012 Survivor Series, expectations were immediately high, and existed on multiple levels, depending on what type of fan you are. If you were simply being introduced to the three men that night, then you saw them bring to a screeching halt a match between Ryback, John Cena, and CM Punk. You saw them destroy Ryback, putting him through a table with a triple power bomb. Immediately, notice had been served: this group was something to which you should pay attention.

If you had seen them prior in NXT, you knew that the three were being groomed for something bigger. Dean Ambrose had a teased feud with Mick Foley that eventually went nowhere. Roman Reigns (formerly Roman Leakee) had the look and family connections, and Seth Rollins was the NXT Champion at the time of the debut. When you saw them arrive at Survivor Series, you knew this was a trio that the company, pardon the pun, believed in. This was a group to watch.

But if you’re a fan of indy wrestling, then you knew Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as Jon Moxley and Tyler Black, respectively, in another life. Moxley had gained some attention in HWA and CZW, and even had a stint in Ring of Honor. I myself wasn’t really in the know about him during these days, though I had seen his name a few times. Rollins as Tyler Black, however, even I knew about. He was heralded as the “next big thing” in Ring of Honor, capturing their World Championship from Austin Aries and holding it for nearly 7 months. Roman Reigns may not have had this level of fan behind him, but these fans were probably the most excited to see Ambrose and Rollins finally on the biggest stage of them all.

The bottom line was, notice had been served. Whether you knew their entire backstory, some of it, or none of it, there was no question that these three men were going to be an important part of the show for the time being. Sure, the usual questions about whether WWE would actually get behind them and, more importantly, stay behind them, were always there, but that’s because we’ve been trained to expect a hot act to go through a period of shaming, so WWE can see whether the act “really wants it” or not.

In time, it became clear that those fears were unnecessary, as the Shield (as they were collectively known) were kept strong from day one. If the lights went out during your match, you were in big trouble. If you found yourself stuck in the ring with them, you were in big trouble. Undertaker, John Cena, Sheamus, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Ryback, and Randy Orton were among the names who tried to fight them, only to succumb to the trio. When Extreme Rules 2013 went off the air, all three were wearing gold, as Ambrose captured the US title, while Reigns and Rollins won the Tag Team Championship.

Rollins and Reigns would hold the belts for nearly 5 months, while Ambrose would set a WWE record for length of US Title reign, falling short of holding the belt for a year by two weeks.

Backtracking a bit, it was around the turn of the year that the buzz started up that WWE would be breaking up The Shield. Rollins and Reigns had lost their belts a couple months prior, and Reigns himself had been given huge performances both at the 2013 Survivor Series, and then again in the 2014 Royal Rumble, where he set the new record for eliminations. It appeared that the individual parts had outgrown the group, and it was simply a matter of time before they were split up.

When The Shield entered into a mini feud with the Wyatt Family, it was assumed this would be the final hurrah. Ideas that a loss to the Wyatt Family would cause someone to snap and turn on the group were floated, with the popular line of thought being that Dean Ambrose, the crazy one, would be the one to lose it. He was the loner, he was the one who was billed as the “Lunatic Fringe,” the one who’d do whatever he needed to for the results he desired. Roman Reigns could basically do whatever he wanted, because he had that look that WWE loves so much, and it seemed pretty obvious he was being primed to be a huge singles star down the road. That left Rollins, with his pretty looks and exciting offense, to be figured as the guy who would most likely be the victim of the turn, which would allow him to springboard into the stratosphere as the hot new face in WWE.

I personally believed this would be the breakdown, that’s for sure. Ambrose was so good as a heel, Reigns would be a perfect tweener / bad ass heel, and Rollins could easily get the cheers from the girls and kids.

But then, something happened. Well, to be more precise, something didn’t happen. Following the feud with the Wyatt Family, the Shield were still together. They went into WrestleMania 30 with a match against Kane and the New Age Outlaws, which they won in astonishingly quick fashion. Again, heading into WrestleMania, many fans were certain that that would be the event where the split finally happened. There were even promos around this time where Ambrose seemed to be losing his cool, and in-fighting was seen amongst the members. More often than not, it was Ambrose and Reigns butting heads, while Rollins- the “Architect” of the group- did his best to keep it all together.

Only, after WrestleMania, there was still no split. Instead, The Shield were called out by Evolution. Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista were going to make The Shield pay for not heeding orders, and for the beating they put on Trip’s friends the Outlaws at WrestleMania. To that end, the two teams went at it at both Extreme Rules and Payback, putting together two incredibly fun six man tag matches that saw Evolution fall on both occasions. The Shield had truly proven to be an unstoppable force. It looked like they were here to stay, regardless of the constant rumors that the split was on its way.

And then June 2, 2014 happened. Just when it seemed like the fans had simply been mistaken, that there was no split on the horizon… just when it seemed like The Shield truly were here to stay, and that even if they all became singles stars, they’d still be able to count on one another… just when it seemed like there was no one left to try to bring them down to Earth…

We thought we knew what was coming. We thought we knew how it was going down. We thought we had it all figured out. Yet, for months, WWE kept us guessing. For nearly six months, we kept “calling” the split. For six months, we were completely wrong. Then, when they finally gave us some validation, when they finally gave us a moment to say “I told you!” to our buddies… even in that very moment, they did it in the exact opposite way that many (myself included) thought they’d do it.

It was Seth Rollins who was the betrayer. It was Seth Rollins, the calm, collected voice of reason, who violently smashed the chair into the back of Roman Reigns, the guy we figured was “friendliest” with Rollins. Immediately taking out the one we figured he was closest to, he then went after Dean Ambrose, pasting him with the chair repeatedly, before returning the violence to Reigns. Visions of Ambrose cutting loose into a maniac that assaulted his former friends were evaporated. The idea of Reigns being his own man at all times went up in smoke. Seeing Seth Rollins as the next babyface supreme were effectively murdered with those violent swings of the chair.

And from where I sit, our best laid plans just don’t compare to what we’ve gotten instead. Dean Ambrose has taken his lunatic charisma and become one of the hottest faces in WWE. He has used the breakup and subsequent feud with Rollins to display a character that has elicited comparisons to the “Loose Cannon” character that Brian Pillman perfected in the mid-late 1990s. Whether in a serious confrontation, or in WWE “comedy” skits, Ambrose has maintained his connection with the fans, who continue to cheer him when he shows up on their screens.

Roman Reigns is basically where we thought he’d be – primed for a run at the top. However, he’s done it as a straight face, first going after Randy Orton before turning his attention to the man that attacked him in Rollins. He was recently sidelined by injury and surgery, but I’d say it’s safe to assume that his spot is saved for him when he returns.

Seth Rollins has incredibly established himself as a top heel. Blending smart cowardice with brutal attacks and usually with Corporate Kane around, Rollins has shown he will not hesitate to go to extremes to take out perceived threats. When Dean Ambrose repeatedly shut down his attempts to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, Rollins smashed his head through cinder blocks to take him out. Opportunistic and brash, there’s absolutely a bit of Edge in Seth Rollins, which is something I hadn’t seen prior. He prefers to have an advantage, but he’ll still go into battle even if he can’t stack the odds. There’s something nice about the “sorta chickenshit” heel for me. I don’t mind if you want to be a jerk about how you go into battle, but every wrestler should, I feel, WANT to go into battle. The usual WWE chickenshit heel never shows this quality, which makes me wonder why they even became wrestlers in the first place. Rollins neatly balances on the line, angering you for not doing things the right way, and then turning it up by still being successful by doing things his way.

As fans, we like to say how WWE has “no idea what they’re doing.” Hell, just a couple weeks ago, I wrote a column talking about how you can basically bank on a dead zone of creativity from the end of SummerSlam until the Royal Rumble. We all think we have better ways to achieve what it appears WWE wants to achieve. And honestly, there are plenty of times where “our” ideas are absolutely better than what we’re handed on screen. However, in the interest of fairness, I think we have to admit that there’s a reason WWE has been around for as long as they have, with the success that they have. It’s not because they do everything perfectly. It’s not because every single decision they make is completely correct. However, they do know what they’re doing. They do have good ideas, and they do have the talent needed to get these ideas over to the audience.

Many of us thought Ambrose would be the next Jake Roberts, which was only emphasized when Roberts himself dropped Ambrose with a DDT on Raw earlier this year. We thought he’d be the next great maniac, capable of cutting eviscerating promos. We didn’t see that he could take that fire in his eye and light up the fans with a weird charisma.

Many of us thought Rollins was basically hand crafted to be the next pretty face of WWE. That his aerial moves would wow the crowd and win them over. That he’d be the one to exact revenge on Ambrose for betraying his brothers. We didn’t see that he could be quite the prick, a vicious, calculating machine who simply wants to be the absolute best. We didn’t see him equating the other two members to nothing more than excess weight, nor did we see his ability to cut a true heel promo.

For me, as much as I love calling things correctly, I almost love being proven wrong that much more. If the Shield split had gone as I had imagined, I think things would be just fine. But I don’t think Seth Rollins could be nearly as fun a face as Ambrose, and while I think Ambrose would be just fine as the heel thank you very much, I don’t think he could have crafted this entitled asshole character that Rollins is now surging with. Both have taken their chance in the sun and done absolutely everything with it. Both have guaranteed their place in the upper card for the foreseeable future, and both have surprised everyone with the means they used to achieve these goals.

Sure, Roman Reigns is what we thought he was, and he’ll probably return at the Rumble, win it, and head to WrestleMania for a title shot. That’s no big surprise. Dean Ambrose as the face that rallies the fans, and Seth Rollins as the Corporate heel? That was a big surprise.

And, I don’t know about you guys, but I like surprises.