WWE confirmed on Tuesday that Dean Ambrose will leave the company when his contract expires, but officials did not go down without a fight in retaining one of their top superstars.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, WWE gave Ambrose a five-year contract offer "worth a little over seven figures per year," but 'The Lunatic' rejected it. And with that, he's set to leave the WWE sometime before or after WrestleMania 35.
Pro Wrestling Torch was first to report the news that Ambrose was leaving the promotion very soon. He reportedly informed Vince McMahon of the decision to not re-sign and had no more interests in negotiating.
The report from PW Torch outlined that the former WWE Champion has grown disgruntled over the "creative direction of his character," and that he "reached a breaking point." One unnamed colleague of Ambrose pointed out that he's grown tired of being a "hokey" character.
Seth Rollins defeated his former Shield counterpart on this week's episode of Monday Night Raw, which seemingly put an end to their feud. Assuming WWE keeps Ambrose around for the rest of his contract, that means he only has two months left before departing the promotion that built him into a successful superstar.
RELATED: WWE CONFIRMS DEAN AMBROSE LEAVING COMPANY IN APRIL
Though Ambrose has experienced massive success since debuting with The Shield some years ago, he's never received the main event push that Rollins and Roman Reigns have endured.
Ambrose had a lackluster run as WWE Champion on SmackDown Live back in mid 2016, and his recent heel turn/feud with Rollins hasn't been received well by the fans and wrestling pundits. Perhaps this disappointing run as a bad guy was the final straw for Ambrose.
What This Means
With Ambrose rejecting a lucrative extension from WWE, it's easy to believe he's confident in landing another gig from a rival promotion. Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling could come calling, but All Elite Wrestling might end up giving Ambrose the best offer. There are no indications that Ambrose wants to retire from wrestling, so for now, expect him to start looking at other promotions to work for.