Saturday 6 September 2014

Dean Ambrose's Absence Will Negatively Impact the WWE Product

While this opportunity will surely be a good one for him, it may not be so good for Vince McMahon's company in the short term.  It could very well be that Ambrose's absence will negatively impact the WWEproduct.
Losing one star may not seem like a very big deal to a company with as much talent as WWE has, but Ambrose will definitely be missed.  The main reasons for this have to do with his character and also the current state of WWE.
Ambrose's character is just fun.  He's unpredictable, chaotic and seemingly capable of anything at anytime. The crowd never knows what he will do next, and that makes fans anticipate his appearances even more. In many ways, Ambrose has replaced Daniel Bryan as the company's primary anti-authority figure, and the WWE faithful certainly seems to be getting in his corner as it did with Bryan.
Bryan's gimmick as the underdog suited him very well, and that could translate to Ambrose now.  Ambrose is not the biggest guy in the fight, but that will not stop him from swinging.  Unlike Bryan, however, Ambrose has the potential to be more dangerous due to his perceived lack of mental stability.
WWE does refer to him as The Lunatic Fringe, after all.
Ambrose is fun to watch and easily liked by any fan who pays to see him perform.  He can get it done in the ring and is always capable of having a great match with anyone.  Ambrose is the real deal in more ways than one.
And that was good for WWE, mostly because its current state is arguably not one that is all that enjoyable to watch.  
The reason for that is its lack of real star power right now.  CM Punk is gone, the aforementioned Bryan is still on the shelf recovering from injury, and John Cena's time at the top is considered by many to be dwindling down.
Simply put, WWE needs more main event stars.  Ambrose is a star on the rise and seemed to be heading in the right direction.  The timing appeared to have been perfect.
Now, however, Ambrose is out of the picture.  While he is of course not injured and is still an active performer, he could lose quite a bit of ground while he's out.  No WWE Superstar wants to miss any significant amount of time, and now Ambrose is doing just that.
Perhaps the biggest issue with this is that not being on TV could directly lead to not being relevant. 
Pro wrestling fans can be a very fickle bunch, and that is definitely true for WWE fans as well.  A great number of those fans are not interested in the long-term growth of WWE Superstars; they want right here and right now.
Who is hot at the moment?  Who can entertain them?  Who can give them their money's worth?  Those are the questions internally asked by those fans, and the answer to all three of them was Ambrose.  That is the level to which the former Shield member had risen, and he was in good company once he got there.
Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Wade Barrett—all of these Superstars are still growing and possibly headed for big things in the future.  But they're all main event contenders right now, which makes them must-see TV today, not just tomorrow.
That is what many fans care about, as the overall attitude is one of "What have you done for me lately?"
Ambrose fell into this category, and the fact that his star was burning bright bode well for his career in WWE.  Considering the run he had with The Shield, his current spot was one that was well deserved and one that he was making the absolute best of.
But now he's gone, and in the short term, this could be a problem for the company. WWE needs Ambrose.  It needs his charisma, his wild-eyed delivery, his unpredictable and humorous nature; it needs him there.  And more importantly, it needs him to not only shine but to flourish.
Ambrose is one of those guys who are consistently pointed to as being a future leader in the company and likely one of its top guys.  Fans were just beginning to see the initial stages of that evolution, and now it has come to a stop.
What does this do to WWE while Ambrose is out?  
The biggest difference between WWE before and after Ambrose is that the feud with Rollins is now put on hold.  Ambrose had not even gained revenge for Rollins' betrayal of him, and now their rivalry is being stopped so the movie can be shot.
Any momentum they had will arguably now disappear.  And with it goes one of the company's top rivalries. Rollins may continue to feud with Reigns for now, but what happens then?
The WWE product is built upon the company's hottest stars.  The hotter they are, the more people want to see them, and that translates to better ratings and higher live attendance.  The company must maintain the high-profile matches and rivalries as much as possible in order to be successful.  
But with one of its hottest stars leaving to film a movie, a big hole has been left on the card.
Fans want to see the best program possible, and now a quality performer is off the grid.  This has to be considered a major negative for WWE, and perhaps no one even realizes the enormity of it all right now.  But the more time goes by without Ambrose, the more his value to the company will surely be realized.

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Dean Ambrose's Absence Will Negatively Impact the WWE Product
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