How did Ambrose end up third wheel of the shield?

[ChitownKnight]

Now Ambrose’s accomplishments are nothing to sleep on, but compared to Rollins and Reigns, he hasn’t been as successful. Both his partners have had multiple or long world title reigns, as well as main event wrestlemania (I def count Rollins as a WM main eventer since he walked out with the title). Keep in mind also that Ambrose was the unofficial leader of the shield when he was US champ, and Rollins/Reigns were tag champs. How did Ambrose fall off?

[Deleted]

Being used to propel Reigns and Rollins from mid 2014 to well today, mostly Reigns. The guy was called "Roman's little buddy" a lot. He was the man on SDL because he was away from them. Anytime he's near them he's used to help them out.

[Final Countdown Jones]

It's the simple fact that when the Shield broke up, Seth got to go off and be the top heel for a while, while Dean fell into a position behind Roman as a face, and with them set on Roman as the top face with no compromises, there's just no way he can be in their orbit and not be treated as the third wheel, because the writers aren't really good enough to make multiple people feel important at once. It's why once the brand split hit, Dean was suddenly in a much better position, able to get out from under their shadow for a while and make something of himself, and why he got so over in that time period. It's clear the company sees a lot in him (given they trusted him to headline Smackdown during the very crucial period of the initial brand split) and he's hardly "the Janetty" of the group, but the company is built right now around Roman and it's hard to come out of that shadow when he's only been a face and Roman has constantly been The More Important Face

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

He's the only one of the three to have a remotely good reign with the strap though.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Dec 29, 2017 6:25:58 GMT -5 Final Countdown Jones said:

It's the simple fact that when the Shield broke up, Seth got to go off and be the top heel for a while, while Dean fell into a position behind Roman as a face, and with them set on Roman as the top face with no compromises, there's just no way he can be in their orbit and not be treated as the third wheel, because the writers aren't really good enough to make multiple people feel important at once. It's why once the brand split hit, Dean was suddenly in a much better position, able to get out from under their shadow for a while and make something of himself, and why he got so over in that time period. It's clear the company sees a lot in him (given they trusted him to headline Smackdown during the very crucial period of the initial brand split) and he's hardly "the Janetty" of the group, but the company is built right now around Roman and it's hard to come out of that shadow when he's only been a face and Roman has constantly been The More Important Face

Pretty much. Seth was able to rise at the same time as Roman because his rise wasn't at odds with Roman's rise. Dean on the other hand, was always going to be second best to Reigns, unless there were situations in which Roman was out of the picture. Like when the brand split allowed him to be on a different show from Roman. Also, when Roman went down to his hernia injury in 2014, it briefly opened up a few main event PPV slots that year. Or when Roman failed his wellness test, it was Dean that benefited with a timely MITB contract.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Dec 29, 2017 6:37:15 GMT -5 Oh Cry Me a Screwball said:

Dec 29, 2017 6:25:58 GMT -5 Final Countdown Jones said:

It's the simple fact that when the Shield broke up, Seth got to go off and be the top heel for a while, while Dean fell into a position behind Roman as a face, and with them set on Roman as the top face with no compromises, there's just no way he can be in their orbit and not be treated as the third wheel, because the writers aren't really good enough to make multiple people feel important at once. It's why once the brand split hit, Dean was suddenly in a much better position, able to get out from under their shadow for a while and make something of himself, and why he got so over in that time period. It's clear the company sees a lot in him (given they trusted him to headline Smackdown during the very crucial period of the initial brand split) and he's hardly "the Janetty" of the group, but the company is built right now around Roman and it's hard to come out of that shadow when he's only been a face and Roman has constantly been The More Important Face

Pretty much. Seth was able to rise at the same time as Roman because his rise wasn't at odds with Roman's rise. Dean on the other hand, was always going to be second best to Reigns, unless there were situations in which Roman was out of the picture. Like when the brand split allowed him to be on a different show from Roman. Also, when Roman went down to his hernia injury in 2014, it briefly opened up a few main event PPV slots that year. Or when Roman failed his wellness test, it was Dean that benefited with a timely MITB contract.

It's likely that the fact Dean won the triple threat to take the title to Smackdown was a way of punishing Roman for the failed drug test, but the fact that Dean got that win still speaks volumes about how the company sees him and that the problem isn't even really in them not believing in him, but in their single-focused top face booking being the main reason he's not just as "impressive" in practice.

[Dub H]

Basically WWE didn't want Ambrose to outshine Reigns.

That is the simplified reason

[Allie Kitsune]

I think it might be as simple as that it comes down to something as superficial as looks.

Roman and Seth both have that long, dark hair; whereas Dean looks like a hobo.

[The Heartbreak TWERK]

Because Vince actively wants to sleep with Roman, and he wouldn't kick Seth out of bed. He's not attracted to Dean.

[Crappler El 0 M]

At least he'll always have Battleground 2016 where he won clean against the other two. He even pinned Reigns.

[Lt. Palumbo]

Because he was the most popular when they didn't want him to be.

So instead of the next Austin they made him Doink without the makeup

[EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese]

Ambrose is a perfect example of how the whole Reigns thing has skewed expectations for what a push should be like. Poor dude’s being looked at like he’s been a failure, when in fact he’s had a great run for the most part.

[jimwilliams]

He didn’t get to instantly play a heel. And I think they still wanted him to work with Roman until reins was more comfortable on his own.

[Susan "Poison" Candy]

Dec 29, 2017 10:07:06 GMT -5 The Heartbreak TWERK said:

Because Vince actively wants to sleep with Roman, and he wouldn't kick Seth out of bed. He's not attracted to Dean.

He's not attracted to him because Ambrose is a Titty Master and not a Big Sweaty Man Master

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Rollins is Triple H's golden boy. Reigns is Vince's chosen one. What's left for Dean Ambrose?

[JCBaggee]

He was booked that way. That's not even the smark answer, that's literally how it was booked. He was the mouthpiece of The Shield, but what happened when they broke up? Seth became the chosen one and won Money in the Bank, Roman just kinda shrugged it all off and went on a singles run, but Dean's single reason for existing was to chase Seth and make sure he never won the world title. Not even to win it for himself, just to make sure Seth never cashed in. It was an interesting angle, but Dean having to go film a movie and Roman's angle getting delayed because of his health crisis meant the payoff for Dean just kept getting pushed back. It's a shame he didn't at least try to run in on the Wrestlemania main event when Seth cashed in.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Also, full stop, we would not be having this discussion if Ambrose's Mania 32 match were not such a f***ing travesty. He had a great star making run on Smackdown but his star should have already been made.

[xxshoyuweeniexx]

Dec 29, 2017 15:38:38 GMT -5 Final Countdown Jones said:

Also, full stop, we would not be having this discussion if Ambrose's Mania 32 match were not such a f***ing travesty. He had a great star making run on Smackdown but his star should have already been made.

To be honest, all his singles WM outings have sucked. He got squashed by Brock because Brock was going to UFC, he was in a multiman ladder match for the IC title that he didn’t win, and being on this preshown with Baron Corbin. Compared to Roman main eventing 3 and soon to be 4 Manias, Seth cashing in, vs Orton, and vs Triple H, he kinda looks like a lame duck.

Their solution the next night though? Have him squash Bo Dallas, Corbin, and Breeze in quick squash matches while the announcers talk about how tough he his. Cause that’s surely gonna make people think he’s not a dork who either lost or never made it on the actual PPV.

[Dukect]

Because of the Stone Cold Podcast. That interview murked him

[DZ: WF Legacy]

He definitely comes across that way now. But hey, the feather in his cap is that he was the victor in the Shield WWE title triple threat match.