Report: Dean Ambrose Leaving WWE After Wrestlemania

Dean Ambrose in the ring during the August 18th episode of Monday Night RAW, the night Ambrose returned from a torn triceps that cost him nine months of his career. Photo Credit: https://lastwordonprowrestling.com/2018/08/18/dean-ambrose-is-back-now-what/

One of WWE’s most iconic stables in history, The Shield, may never be seen again.

Dean Ambrose(real name Jonathan Good) has told WWE he will not re-sign with them when his contract ends shortly after Wrestlemania 35. The bombshell was dropped earlier today by cagesideseats.com. While WWE tried to keep Ambrose, the report states Ambrose turned down a lot of money from WWE to stay, citing that Ambrose has been frustrated in WWE for months now

Ambrose made his debut with his Shield brothers Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns at the 2012 Survivor Series, attacking Ryback and costing him the WWE Championship against CM Punk and John Cena. For two years, the Shield conquered every superstar they faced while also winning tons of gold, including Ambrose himself who held the United States Championship for 351 days from 2013–2014. After the Shield broke up in 2014, Ambrose would go on to feud with many WWE superstars, including his former brothers. For three years, Ambrose held multiple championships, including the Intercontinental title twice, and a run as the WWE champion as the kingpin of Smackdown Live in 2016.

Ambrose celebrating his first WWE Championship win at Money In the Bank 2016. Ambrose won the briefcase earlier in the night and cashed it in on his former partner Seth Rollins, who beat their other former partner Roman Reigns to win the championship moments prior. Photo Credit: https://thecomeback.com/wwe/wwe-money-bank-review-dean-ambrose-wins-wwe-championship.html

In the summer of 2017, Ambrose, now back on RAW, had reformed the Shield with Rollins and Ambrose, winning the RAW Tag Team Championships with Rollins at Summerslam. It was in December that year when Ambrose tore his triceps, forcing him to miss nine months of action. Ambrose would return to team alongside Rollins and Reigns in 2018, until Reigns announced he was fighting leukemia in real life. That same night, Rollins and Ambrose won the RAW Tag Team Championships for the second time, but Ambrose would deliver Dirty Deeds to Rollins, turning heel for the first time since 2013, and his first time as a heel as a singles competitor.

Ambrose turning on his former Shield partner Seth Rollins after they had just won the RAW Tag Team Championships from the Authors of Pain on the October 22nd episode of RAW. Photo Credit: https://gossipela.com/2018/10/16/5-indications-that-dean-ambrose-could-still-turn-heel/

Ironically, the heel turn everybody thought was going to push Ambrose to the moon was ultimately his downfall. When The Shield broke up, everybody thought Ambrose was going to turn into the next Mick Foley or Stone Cold Steve Austin. The general thinking was he was going to be this lunatic(hense the nickname Lunatic Fringe) that would take a lot of risks and pull off some extreme stunts. It just never worked out. His feud with Rollins was sub-par, and even though Ambrose won the Intercontinental Championship from Rollins at TLC, the match was seen as boring by fans and by Vince McMahon himself. Ambrose would lose the title less than a month later to Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match on RAW also involving Rollins, and Ambrose was barely a factor in the 2019 Royal Rumble match as he only lasted 13 minutes.

The fact that Ambrose is leaving WWE does feel a little bit weird. Who would have thought that Seth Freaking Rollins would be the last man standing of the Shield? Who knew! I wish Jonathan Good the best in his future.