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I have seen some knocking the timing of the Dean Ambrose turn via emails and social media since last night's Monday Night Raw went off the air. I think last night was the night to do it. The Roman situation sucks and it hurts in a raw way. It wasn't something WWE asked for but it was something that was going to cause a massive change in the company - after all, Roman is their chosen golden boy.
As sad as it is to say this, the show has to go on and last night, the company did everything they could to re-assemble their broken chess board and storylines after losing the nucleus of the company as he's goes to attend to his family and fight the return of leukemia. It's a horrible situation that everyone in the world wishes wasn't the case, but WWE has to move on, hopefully only for now, for life without Roman. After years of propping him up as the guy and literally having John Cena hand him the torch, they are back to the drawing board because sometimes, life isn't fair.
At the end of Monday Night Raw, Braun was unquestionably a babyface again and chances are the recent heel turn (like Daniel Bryan in the Wyatt Family) will be all but forgotten over the passage of time. Drew McIntyre rose a level to top heel. Elias turned, which makes sense since the crowd is entertained by and wants to get behind him anyway. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose did what they set out to accomplish, win the Raw Tag Team titles for Roman - then Dean turned.
The turn made sense, given the last few weeks (and probably would have happened eventually) but last night, no one saw it coming. No one expected it. It felt wrong and evil and vicious. That's what made it great. Heel turns aren't supposed to be something you enjoy. They are supposed to make you upset, as a viewer, for your hero, in this case Seth Rollins. It's been a LONG time since pro wrestling had one at this major a level. Emotionally, it hit people in the gut. That's what these things are supposed to do. Leave you wanting to see the hero get his vengeance.
It was a different situation in terms of what brought it about but this morning, the more I thought about it, it reminded me of the night Barry Windham turned on Lex Luger in April 1988, which remains my all time favorite heel turn. No one saw it coming and it left you empty and shocked if you loved Barry or Lex or even Dusty Rhodes, who was a big part of the aftermath as the Midnight Rider. I think the reaction to the Dean turn was very much the same, especially for fans who have never truly experienced that sort of diabolical heel turn. It wasn't teased. It wasn't presented as just another angle. It was an assault, not just on Seth, but on the very foundation of the same Shield that had stood emotionally shaken but united at the start of Raw.
Was it somewhat exploitive of the Roman situation? I'd agree with those who feel this way, but WWE also needed to do something to kickoff the new chapter they have been forced into. They didn't have to ability to wait a few weeks because that's not the way the world works. It doesn't slow down and neither do WWE storylines. WWE had a duty to move things forward, even if it emotionally kicked the audience in the gut. I'd have personally preferred that WWE skip the pre-taped Undertaker vignette showing graves and tombstones last night myself, but they had stories they needed to tell, whether anyone liked them or not. WWE had no choice but to figure a way out, they made their decisions and they executed them.
Last night, they set the chessboard for Dean vs. Seth in an extremely personal, raw story as well as Braun vs. Drew & Dolph Ziggler and Elias vs. Corbin as new storylines. They needed to reboot and hotshot and with PPVs and live events and Crown Jewel ahead, they needed to do it NOW. I don't begrudge them for that. It was a rough situation for that creative team and those performers to be in and they did the best they could with the heartbreaking circumstance they were handed. I think WWE did the best they could with what they were deal.
Obviously, everyone involved would much rather have a healthy Roman Reigns, just as you and I and everyone else would, but that's not
reality anyone is dealing with. It's very easy to paint WWE as the evil Empire but last night, the entire company learned when we did about Roman's health. I truly feel WWE did the best they could with a horrible situation just trying to move things along despite the obvious heartache everyone across the board working for the company felt and the obvious void they now, as a company, have to fill.
All of that is secondary to the important story here, Roman Reigns' fight to get healthy, but WWE had no choice but to make some hard decisions and they went through with them last night by turning Dean Ambrose....and it was the right call to make, in my opinion.
Just my 2 cents.
You can donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by clicking here.
MIke Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.
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