More devastating Lesnar loss: Ambrose or Orton in 2016?

[The Rick Jericho]

In 2016, seems Brock wasn't really as giving until Goldberg came along at Survivor Series.

So when you compare these two feuds, which one was a more devastating loss at the time?

Ambrose lost in a one sided match to Lesnar but did become WWE champions months later.

Orton lost clean, then just became a Wyatt family member afterwards.

[Super Duper Dragunov]

100% Ambrose.

[Nosnorb]

Depends.

In terms of kayfabe, has to be Dean. Dude came into the 'mania match having a long record of being unable to get the job done, and in Jerryworld once again came up short and was easily dispatched by Beastie Boy. Afterwards with MitB, there was an element of all the stars aligning with the return of Rollins and WWE needing to write Reigns off TV, which meant that Ambrose had a chance to regain a massive amount of heat by winning the briefcase and getting the best revenge on Seth.

In real life, Orton got his brains smashed in by Lesnar and missed the following PPV. In kayfabe, Orton did become tag team champion then won the WWE Championship at 'mania. The match was shite, but he did win at 'mania.

[The Rick Jericho]

Is there any reason why Brock didn't give ANYTHING for these two guys? Was there backstage heat or was he just not a fan of Ambrose and Orton, therefore he wasn't "feeling it"?

[Nosnorb]

Apr 21, 2022 20:02:36 GMT -5 The Rick Jericho said:

Is there any reason why Brock didn't give ANYTHING for these two guys? Was there backstage heat or was he just not a fan of Ambrose and Orton, therefore he wasn't "feeling it"?

Beastie Boy had his UFC return in 2016, and shot down most of the stuff Ambrose proposed to make sure he wasn't injured as not to put a payday in jeopardy. Orton fell for the jedi mind tricks of Vince and agreed to have the match end by having Lesnar bust him open hardway and giving him a concussion.

[Starshine]

The Ambrose one was disappointing because the build promised it would be a whole lot more than what it turned out to be.

The Orton match... I don't know, was there really all that much interest in it to begin with? It just felt like he was the next guy on the Brock checklist to tick off.

[Ben Wyatt]

Ambrose. He should have had his "Austin at Mania 13" loss. It would have launched him.

[Rolent Tex]

Storyline wise: Ambrose

Me wise: Orton because I didn’t get my god damn F-5 countered into a RKO

[Mozenrath]

Neither guy were hugely damaged, but I voted Orton because he got physically harmed for virtually no reason.

[Deleted]

Absolutely no question that it's Ambrose. One of the top most heartbreaking matches this past decade in all of wrestling.

[Germansuplex]

Apr 21, 2022 20:40:16 GMT -5 Starshine said:

The Orton match... I don't know, was there really all that much interest in it to begin with? It just felt like he was the next guy on the Brock checklist to tick off.

I remember the build to this being very good. No one expected Orton to win, but he was sold as someone who could be dangerous to Brock.

[A Platypus Rave]

Ambrose.

The build to teh match and story of the match were Brock kept killing him and Dean not staying down... what we got instead was... the standard Brock match.

Yeah, Brock and Heyman turned down everything Dean pitched... but like... most of the stuff Dean pitched was stuff that Brock was going to do to Him...

Ambrose recovered from it mostly... but the takes a licking and keeps on ticking style they wanted to have didn't really have the foundation.

Orton... like nothing could really harm Orton.

[Ryushinku]

Whenever I see people criticising Brock either on forums or on social media, the Ambrose match (and the attempted plans beforehand by Dean) is almost always brought up at some point.

It's like threads criticising Cena, where The Nexus is the go-to for easy points. Or Triple H and Booker T.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Orton is the kind of talent that can lose and stay over. Even when legit getting his brain spilled on the canvas.

The Ambrose match was never, ever going to live up to the hype with or without Brock cooperation, especially once they had Funk show up in the build with a chainsaw he never used on anyone even in 98 at peak WWF edginess, never mind is anyone getting it in 2016

In the PG era WWE has very occasionally experimented with blood but almost never when you expect because they know their sponsors would flip. Blood is always a surprise in modern WWE. When they basically promised a blood bath, it definitely wasn't going to be

Could have been a less completely shit match, mind

[Raw is Doodie101]

Ambrose. He didn't even need to win. He just needed to get his ass kicked and keep getting up. I've never forgiven Lesnar for that man. Dean's momentum never recovered even when he became WWE champion later that year, it felt like a "we're sorry" run.

[Dub H]

SHouldnt even be a question.

The match was a Make or Break for Ambrose, Orton was just another match.

[chronocross]

Easily Ambrose.

Randy Orton is bulletproof, he bounced back from the loss and kept it moving and would always be in a top spot. As for Dean, that should have been a Wrestlemania moment for him but it was uneventful and did more harm than good.

[kingoftheindies]

Ambrose because it just fell flat. Even if you listen to Mox talk about the match the idea was never for him to win hell he pitched the match as "The Death if Dean Ambrose".

It was supposed to be a match that got both guys even more over but that didn't happen.

The Orton match was always just who didn't Brock fight yet

[Deleted]

Ambrose and it's not even close. It wasn't him losing that was the problem, it was how he lost. Dude went out with a whimper when it should've been a huge bang. It was such an easy match to book.

[GodzillaIsMyMonster]

Goddamn am I sick of this narrative that Ambrose was misused. The dude was a WWE World Champion. He won the Shield 3 way.

He f***ing PINNED CENA CLEAN!