On Wednesdays and Fridays nights, when X’s cover of Wild Thing blares out of AEW arena speakers and Jim Ross paraphrases Major League’s “Ricky, throw the heater” it’s time for Jon Moxley to excite a crowd like only the purveyor of violence can. While Chris Jericho was announced as AEW’s first flagship top star, Mox’s surprise arrival immediately made him one of the top stars and stalwarts for AEW.The guy just has that aloof, no-nonsense attitude that immediately makes him one of the coolest guys in the world. The fact that he’s also one of the best brawlers in the world certainly helps as well. A few years prior, WWE had half of that lightning in a bottle, ready to capitalize on everything Dean Ambrose was capable of, but instead of just going with it - they stuck with their plans for guys like Roman and Seth instead.
The End Was The Beginning
The night after The Shield successfully defeated all three members of Evolution in a no holds barred elimination match at Payback, Seth Rollins ruined the celebration by turning on his brothers. But between Roman Reigns going down with an injury and being more interested in winning the WWE title instead of getting revenge for getting decked with a steel chair, Dean Ambrose was the man more concerned with making Seth Rollins’ life a living hell. It also helped raise The Lunatic Fringe’s stake with the fans who cheered him on his bloodlust against his former brother. With an anti-establishment attitude ala Stone Cold, a wild-eyed hardcore style like Terry Funk, and an unstable mind like Brian Pillman, those combustible elements helped to make Dean Ambrose a fast-rising singles star. Similar to Triple H taking the fall for the Curtain Call and Austin benefiting, Ambrose benefited from Roman’s injury and championship pursuit. But the WWE didn’t pull the trigger in favor of pushing Rollins to the top as a heel and keeping Roman’s babyface stature in a holding pattern waiting for the moment to strike. Listen to the crowd's reactions - they already made their choice wanting to cheer for The Lunatic Fringe.
Another Shield Member, Another Heist
About a year and a half after Seth Rollins pulled off “the heist of the century,” Dean Ambrose was able to do the same. Having returned from his career-threatening injury, Seth Rollins immediately targeted Roman, who was now the champion. Rollins would then successfully challenge for the title against Roman at the Money In The Bank PPV in 2016. Minutes after, Dean Ambrose, who won the briefcase earlier in the evening cashed in and left the event as the new WWE Champion to a dirge of cheers from the WWE Universe. The WWE Universe had rejected Roman Reigns and the brass forcing him down our throats in favor of the smaller in stature but wild and crazy Dean Ambrose, who the crowds so clearly wanted to be riotous for the guy instead of the chosen ones like Cena, Rollins, and of course Reigns.
Ambrose even won the only main roster triple threat match between The Shield at Battleground and took the WWE title to Smackdown with him for the draft. But that just meant that the high-profile spotlight was still on other superstars that were on the perceived A-Show (Rollins, Reigns, KO, Balor) and not Ambrose whose first Blue Brand title defense was against Dolph Ziggler. Perception is sometimes reality and it was clear that no one in WWE brass seemed to care that Ambrose was the one getting the thunderous, Attitude Era-like ovations.
Staying The Course
Why there was no rocket shipped strapped Dean Ambrose wasn’t any fault of his own is beyond the fans’ comprehension. Actually, it’s not at all - it’s because of the short-sightedness of WWE (re: Vince McMahon). Whereas years ago, the company was able to pivot thanks to the fans' desires to see guys like Austin, RVD, Bret Hart, Daniel Bryan, and Mick Foley on top and turn those stories into inspirational stories, in today’s WWE, it’s very hard to steer the ship in a different direction and when the plan is to make someone else the top star, then it’s really difficult for a guy even as popular as Dean Ambrose was to swoop in and get the machine behind him to unprecedented levels.
At the end of the day, when Mox debuted at All Out, he not only legitimatized the new promotion that was starting out, but he almost immediately showed how wrong the WWE was in not giving him a real chance to run the with ball. He has a folk hero like following and has more at less been on top his entire AEW run.