In the wrestling
world, its very rare when a match on Raw can make you forget about everything
that happened the
Well that is
exactly what Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins did. Their Falls Count Anywhere
match on this past week’s episode of Raw was a mix of incredible athleticism,
crazy spots and entertainment in its purest form. In all honesty, I didn’t
think we were even going to get this match as this could have easily been a
show-stealing PPV match, yet WWE gave it to us for FREE – no 9.99 plugs.
Both men went out
and delivered a 5* performance. The sit-out powerbomb onto a stack of
chairs/the suplex onto the table/Ambrose’s signature rebound clothesline (which
Seth always sells to perfection)/the use of cinder blocks - took this already
heated rivalry that has fans 100% invested in, to a whole new level. Their feud
has resonated with fans and it is evident that we hold a connection to the
characters and the story that they are telling – especially Dean Ambrose. Fans
are whole-heartedly rooting for Dean to win and ultimately receive his revenge after
Rollins turned on his former brother in arms this past June. WWE keeping this
from us and constantly having Rollins cowardly run away/win with a distraction
or interference has only caused for fans to hate Seth/root for Dean that much
more and keep the fans fully emotionally invested - we want to see the pay-off.
Take their Lumberjack match at SummerSlam as an example, they gave us a taste
of it, but left us all wanting more. The reactions these two get when they step
in to the ring together or have any kind of serious/comedic segment together reflects
it all – it is fresh, new but also extremely exciting and has so far, always
delivered – they can take anything given to them, and turn it into gold. The
same segment has never happened twice, refraining this rivalry from becoming
stale, and even if it did, both performers could easily keep us entertained the
second time round and imo, I don’t ever see this turning into a feud that fans
would simply get bored of or not care about. We are invested and that is what
the WWE wants but despite the booking, it is down to both men and their craft
that is keeping fans on the edge of their seats when it comes to them.
One thing that cannot
be denied, is their chemistry. Whether they work together as part of The Shield
in 6 man tags, in simple tag matches or as enemies, they interact perfectly.
Whenever they interact, there is pure magic – a natural connection and
understanding that cannot be taught. WWE recently on the Network provided the
fans with an incredible, deeply insightful documentary on The Shield and their journeys
to SummerSlam (I can’t recommend this enough). Within this documentary, Seth
Rollins stated on he and Dean’s relationship, “We’re great friends but much
better enemies” - a line that reflects this rivalry seamlessly. This can easily
be reiterated once you look back upon their FCW rivalry. If you have not seen
their 30 minute match, you are seriously missing out on some unbelievable pro-wrestling.
They both tell a story throughout yet deliver some of the best wrestling I have
seen in a long, long time. You can watch
it down below…by the end I guarantee you, you will be up out of your seat, in
awe after what you have just seen. If they can deliver a match of that standard
in FCW, can you imagine what we could potentially see in a simple pin-fall
match at a PPV? However, after having two stipulation matches, will WWE give us
another stip match or will it be a traditional in-ring match? One thing I’m hoping is
that this rivalry plays out for a long time, in this day and age where fans get
bored of feuds after 3 weeks, the fact that fans are still so invested in this
heated rivalry and will be for months/years to come says a lot about the both
as performers and the younger generation of talent as a whole. Dean has now
gone off to film a WWE movie titled “Lockdown” which tells you a lot about how
much they believe in him, his story-telling and how much money he can draw. I
do believe that this movie will be one of the best selling WWE movies simply
due to Ambrose being in it. I am very eager to see how he acts, no doubt he’ll
be awesome at it. WWE are now running a storyline of Dean being missing after
he refused medical help after Raw and ran off. I love this. This furthers his
character, keeps the storyline fresh and now leaves everyone wondering when exactly he will pop up, return
out of nowhere and attack Rollins, who will now have to constantly be watching
his back. I do want Ambrose to return at NOC with Seth attempting to cash in;
the crowd pop will be huge. In an ideal world, I’d love to see these two tear
the house down in a HIAC match, as well as a traditional match, but do WWE want
these guys stealing the show? Do they want two up and coming stars to
overshadow the world title picture? Only time will tell.
Within this feud,
the role of a heel and a babyface has been played incredibly well, which is something
pretty difficult to achieve in the wrestling world nowadays, take the
Wyatt/Jericho feud, as JR also tweeted, fans were not invested in this as there
was not one guy that fans genuinely wanted to see lose; unlike Ambrose/Rollins.
It is surprising to see how well of a babyface Dean is and how much fans have
taken to him. The use of cinder blocks on Raw elevated Seth as a heel and Dean even
more as a face. It’s an old school type story-telling feud about revenge and well,
who doesn’t love a good old revenge story?
I see Dean Ambrose making the WWE a LOT of money in the future. The man has a grasp on his character like no other in the WWE right now (alongside Wyatt), the way he can tell a story simply through his facial expressions without doing any kind of move is incredible and something very special. Give him a live mic and he captivates everyone. He oozes charisma and is a once in a lifetime talent and due to this, I do however see WWE not really knowing what exactly to do with him because he is so talented. He gets into the ring and lets it all out, his timing is second to none and it is due to no one but himself that he has majority of the fans loving him right now. Imo he is more popular than Roman Reigns at the moment.
Seth Rollins just knows wrestling.
The man is an amazing athlete and his skills in the ring speak for themselves.
The way in which he sells is amongst some of the best in the WWE right now. Put
him in the ring with anyone, and no doubt it will be a great must-see match.
You mix these two together and out comes an incredible feud. Yes, they have
natural chemistry that cannot be duplicated but both have also worked
incredibly hard to provide us with some top notch 5* entertainment.
The one question
that can still be asked however is – are these two men “main event ready”? From
my perspective, I don’t think so. Do I want them to main event one day? Hell
yeah. But in no way, shape or form would I want either guy to be shot up in to
the main event scene before they are 100% on their game and are ready. I’m
excited to see their journeys and their ascension as main event/top players in
the industry and I would not mind it, if this happens to be a slow build but
one that pays off in the end. The way that WWE are handling Roman Reigns right
now, it is clear where he will go and where his rise to the top will be but they
have to be careful not to push him too fast before he really is ready – I will
post my complete thoughts on Roman Reigns soon. Yet, what this Ambrose/Rollins
feud has done, is provided us with a glimpse of the future. At a time where the
WWE is moving into a new era, with the Network/new logo/NXT and the young crop
of guys coming up – it’s giving us insight into what we will see in the years
to come whilst WWE transitions into this new era. This feud is not just getting
me excited for what we can see from Ambrose and Rollins in the future but what
we can see from the rest of the younger guys. Guys such as Cesaro, Wyatt, Bryan, Harper, Reigns, Zayn, Steen, Devitt, Kenta,
who are some of the best wrestlers to come out over the past few years. It will
be an exciting time when these guys come up and are feuding with one another
and not just for the world title. It will not be anytime soon, indeed over the
next few years but it is this Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins feud that will
usher in this new era, has us excited about this new era and shows how
successful this new era has the potential of being.
As Dean Ambrose
once said, “Whether we're friends or we're enemies, were gonna
take over the business” – and I cannot wait for it.
- Zara
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