What if it was Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose at Wrestlemania 32?

[The Rick Jericho]

I liked that Rumble finish and mini feud at WWE Roadblock. Could this have saved the show from two matches that stunk up the joint?

Meanwhile, Brock and Roman have a one on one grudge match rematch.

And of course Dean wins the title at Wrestlemania and a new star is made.

Would you have liked this idea better than what actually happened?

[Chiral]

Definitely better, and having the Brock/Roman rematch would spare us years of them building to that again.

[Deleted]

It would've been way better as a story with Ambrose's background and probably as a match as well.

[Deleted]

It definitely would have made Wrestlemania 32 a better show. Ambrose v HHH was a great match, maybe Ambrose's best non-gimmick match and Brock v Roman II in a grudge match would have worked. It hadn't been run into the ground yet and the great match they had the previous year was still fresh in people's minds, plus Roman being out of the main event/title match might have quelled the resentment towards him a little.

I think it was the Raw after the Ambrose/HHH match when they had a Ziggler/HHH match that was also surprisingly good, plus they had a Wyatt/HHH staredown at the Rumble which got a huge reaction. They had so many more interesting options. Hell, if Rollins didn't get injured and he faced HHH as planned that match would've probably been a lot better than it was a year later too. By April 2017 that had lost all momentum.

Another thing they could have done to improve Wrestlemania 32 was finally do the Cena/Undertaker match there. Cena was apparently cleared to compete but Vince chose to just use him in the Rock segment. Undertaker went an interminable 30 minutes with Shane so he'd have been able to pull off 15-20 even with a rusty Cena and Shane could have done something with maybe the Wyatts, Jericho, Styles or someone else instead.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

It's a card that probably looks slightly worse on paper (mostly because Ambrose vs. Lesnar certainly looked appealing before it happened), but ends up being so much better in execution.

The real question is, how does the next few months before the Draft and second brand split turn out, knowing that the Roman and Usos vs. The Club for the WWE title rivalry doesn't quite pan out?

[Deleted]

As great as Moxley is, maybe they were right not to push him to the moon. I mean, he left.

Granted his booking was poor. Maybe they knew he was the type who would up and leave someday. That would explain why Roman and Rollins got the big pushes.

[fw91]

Better, but mania 32 would still be subpar.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Mar 9, 2021 8:16:41 GMT -5 @negan said:

As great as Moxley is, maybe they were right not to push him to the moon. I mean, he left.

Granted his booking was poor. Maybe they knew he was the type who would up and leave someday. That would explain why Roman and Rollins got the big pushes.

Nah, everything from Moxley's podcast implies Vince was committed to that booking, and if they really thought Moxley wasn't the guy, he wouldn't have gone other both the others and gone on to headline Smackdown right at the brand split. Roman and Rollins were the guys penciled in by Vince and Trips, respectively, to be huge stars. Moxley was always going to be a big deal, but the way Vince booked him, not in terms of card placement but in character, drove him away. Bray Wyatt got years of hsit booking but was a Vince favorite too. This is just what happens in WWE.

[Ben Wyatt]

Yes. A thousand times yes. We would have avoided Brock wagging his finger at anything that may have gotten Ambrose over while also avoiding the Reigns/HHH snoozefest

[Mid-Carder]

Mar 9, 2021 8:42:50 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Yes. A thousand times yes. We would have avoided Brock wagging his finger at anything that may have gotten Ambrose over while also avoiding the Reigns/HHH snoozefest

This is a little unfair. It's the only real example of Brock being a dick to work with, and the general consensus is Brock will do whatever he's asked. We don't know what Ambrose was suggesting, or what Brock and Heyman were instructed by WWE regarding violence etc. I doubt it's as straightforward as "Ambrose suggests stuff, Brock rejects it to be a dick" but is most likely somewhere in the middle. 

[A Platypus Rave]

Well Dean vs. HHH at Roadblock was way better than HHH vs. Roman was...

I doubt Roman vs. Brock at 32 would be much... Brock was setting up for his ufc comback fight...

[bob]

much better show overall

but it still would've been way too long for one night

[Deleted]

It would have been more enjoyable for all involved. To this day I'm still upset at that Ambrose/Lesnar match. Thank God for AEW where he can truly be utilized at his current level.

[Deleted]

Mar 9, 2021 23:17:19 GMT -5 @kn said:

It would have been more enjoyable for all involved. To this day I'm still upset at that Ambrose/Lesnar match. Thank God for AEW where he can truly be utilized at his current level.

Yeah, Lord knows we've discussed this match enough, but it was one of the easiest matches to ever book and we got... that. It's still probably my least favorite match of all time because of how much I loved Ambrose and how high my expectations were for it.

[A Platypus Rave]

Mar 9, 2021 23:19:40 GMT -5 @dax said:

Mar 9, 2021 23:17:19 GMT -5 @kn said:

It would have been more enjoyable for all involved. To this day I'm still upset at that Ambrose/Lesnar match. Thank God for AEW where he can truly be utilized at his current level.

Yeah, Lord knows we've discussed this match enough, but it was one of the easiest matches to ever book and we got... that. It's still probably my least favorite match of all time because of how much I loved Ambrose and how high my expectations were for it.

the build was great... and the match was obviously designed to match the build... since the announcers acted like it happened that way... and it didn't.


It was a pretty standard Brock Lesnar match... and they treated it like Dean got murdered and kept getting up... but that ... like didn't happen... it was clearly what the idea of the match was..and Dean/Mox had stated he pitched all sorts of shit for Brock to do to sell that story but kept getting Nixed.

It's one of the reasons I called Wrestlemania 32 the non-canon edition... there are a bunch of random matches that they acted like they went completely different than what actually happened.

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't HHH/Reigns go well past midnight on the east coast?

There's no excuse for a show that basically starts in the middle of the day to go that f***ing long. Ambrose vs HHH would've been better but it wouldn't save that show.

[Mozenrath]

Mar 10, 2021 4:04:12 GMT -5 TWERKIN' MAGGLE said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't HHH/Reigns go well past midnight on the east coast?

There's no excuse for a show that basically starts in the middle of the day to go that f***ing long. Ambrose vs HHH would've been better but it wouldn't save that show.

Yeah, it started fairly late and went on at least 10 minutes too long. It was going to be an issue regardless.

[Deleted]

You know a match sucked when the best part of it is a Stephanie promo.

[dgenerationmc]

Mar 9, 2021 9:51:42 GMT -5 Mid-Carder said:

Mar 9, 2021 8:42:50 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Yes. A thousand times yes. We would have avoided Brock wagging his finger at anything that may have gotten Ambrose over while also avoiding the Reigns/HHH snoozefest

This is a little unfair. It's the only real example of Brock being a dick to work with, and the general consensus is Brock will do whatever he's asked. We don't know what Ambrose was suggesting, or what Brock and Heyman were instructed by WWE regarding violence etc. I doubt it's as straightforward as "Ambrose suggests stuff, Brock rejects it to be a dick" but is most likely somewhere in the middle. 

Greetings from the future!

According to Mox's 2019 interview with Wade Keller, he pitched a complete squash match where he took all the dangerous bumps and would flip Brock off while getting choked unconscious. So, we could've gotten a match where Ambrsoe gets his Austin at WM 13/Mankind at KOTR 98 moment of going over huge in defeat while Brock avoids putting his health and upcoming UFC fight in danger. Aaaaaaaaaand, Brock said no after it being a complete shitshow just to plan out the match we got, period.

Here's a link to the transcription: 411mania.com/wrestling/dean-ambrose-recalls-brock-lesnar-wrestlemania/


So, there's that.

[Mozenrath]

Jun 12, 2022 4:13:39 GMT -5 dgenerationmc said:

Mar 9, 2021 9:51:42 GMT -5 Mid-Carder said:

This is a little unfair. It's the only real example of Brock being a dick to work with, and the general consensus is Brock will do whatever he's asked. We don't know what Ambrose was suggesting, or what Brock and Heyman were instructed by WWE regarding violence etc. I doubt it's as straightforward as "Ambrose suggests stuff, Brock rejects it to be a dick" but is most likely somewhere in the middle. 

Greetings from the future!

According to Mox's 2019 interview with Wade Keller, he pitched a complete squash match where he took all the dangerous bumps and would flip Brock off while getting choked unconscious. So, we could've gotten a match where Ambrsoe gets his Austin at WM 13/Mankind at KOTR 98 moment of going over huge in defeat while Brock avoids putting his health and upcoming UFC fight in danger. Aaaaaaaaaand, Brock said no after it being a complete shitshow just to plan out the match we got, period.

Here's a link to the transcription: 411mania.com/wrestling/dean-ambrose-recalls-brock-lesnar-wrestlemania/


So, there's that.

Yeah, basically. Like, Brock was probably preoccupied moreso being a dick for the sake of being one, but he definitely wasn't taking the match seriously enough in the build and it hurt it tremendously.

After these criticisms, Heyman in true Heyman fashion basically said, "Yeah, well, your Austin podcast appearance was bad." If Heyman had much of a defense for what happened, he probably wouldn't have gone for what was little more than a non-sequitor, though I imagine his point was even great wrestlers have off days. That is the charitable reading, anyway.