When we look back on WWE history, we may learn that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins are inseparable. In fact, when their careers are finished, they may have near identical resumes. Their arcs have made them WWE Champion as well as earning them reigns with the secondary belts like the Intercontinental and United States Championship. And as fate has it, they are both currently sharing the RAW Tag Team Championships.
However, sooner or later they will be back on their own, vying for the top title in WWE, the Universal Championship.
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With Seth an Dean standing on such even ground, we wanted to crack open their future and calculate who would be Universal Champion first. While we all know Roman Reigns will beat them to the Big Red Belt, we think that both the Lunatic and the Kingslayer will get an opportunity at Reigns sometime in 2018.
But who will get a turn with the Universal Championship first? Leave it for us here at Pop Culture to debate.
Why It Will Be Dean Ambrose
Ryan Droste:ย When looking at the landscape for WWE Universal Champions in the coming months, the lay of the land tells me that Dean Ambrose is likely to get his hands on the belt before Seth Rollins.
Why? Because I’m expecting Dean Ambrose to be the heel coming out of this Shield reunion.
Should we suppose Ambrose turns on Rollins, making himself a heel, it’s likely that he could end up in the title picture quickest judging by who would be holding the Universal title around that time. We can expect Brock Lesnar to hold the belt through WrestleManiaย 34, and the long term plan that WWEย is still going with involves Roman Reigns defeating him at WrestleManiaย for the belt.
With a full-on heel turn for Reigns still not likely in the near future, a (kind of) babyfaceย Reigns could find himself in a feud with a recently turned Dean Ambrose over RAW’s top prize. Former Shield partners fighting over the Universal title would be great.ย
A heel run for Dean Ambrose is just what the doctor ordered. His run as a babyface has failed to achieve the heights that Ambrose is capable of, and I see him getting a ton of momentum when he finally makes that heel turn. So much momentum that he could even capture the Universal title.ย
Why it Won’t Be Dean Ambrose
Jack Snodgrass: Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, The Miz, Braunย Strowman, and John Cena.ย
This is the list of WWEย Superstars that Dean Ambrose will have to leapfrog en route to landing an opportunity at the Universalย Championship. Even if he were to execute a monumental heel turn, this wouldย be a tall order.
It’s been rumored that after WrestleManiaย 34, Braunย Strowman and Brock Lesnarย will resume their program from earlier this summer. This would knock out the 2 huge names in the Game of Thrones for the Universal Championship. However, it’s still hard to imagine Ambrose getting an opportunity at Reigns and his newly earned Big Red Belt, let alone winning it.ย
While it’s fun to pictureย Dean Ambrose becoming aย transcendental heel, it’s kind of like assuming the backupย quarterback is a Hall of Famer. While Evil Dean is fun to think about, it’s by no means a guarantee. And withoutย a huge shift in character, Ambroseย will have trouble shedding his Intercontinentalย stigma.
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Why it Will Be Seth Rollins
Jack: Seth Rollins has one advantage over Dean Ambrose in all of this: he’s done it before.ย
In 2015, RAW startedย and ended with Seth Rollins. While his regime wasn’t spectacular, WWEย was buildingย entire shows aroundย him – a privilegeย Dean Ambrose’ lackluster runย as WWEย Championย was never extended.ย
The experience of WWEย handing the keys to Rollins for nearly a year cannot be understated. I mean, he beat John Cenaย a SummerSlamย to win 2 belts!
Yet, there are concessionsย to make. Rollins was a heel then, and now he finds himself in the naturalย role of babyface. For The Kinslayer to make it back toย WWE’s top, a series of unlikelyย circumstancesย will have to transpire.
First, Dean Ambrose cannot turn on the Shield. The Lunatic’s master heel turn may notย be the slam dunk it was a few weeks ago as this has been a rather dubiousย Sheidl Reunion. Consideringย that the trio’s homecoming likely willย not have a pay-per-view-match, can we reallyย call this a reunion? And if this is not a reunion, then can they actually break up?
If Dean doesn’tย turn on both Seth and Roman, then his dramaticย betrayal loses a lot of gasoline. And without the heel turn, Ambrose will be stuck in the Intercontinentalย Ranks for the rest of eternity.ย
Which mean Seth, an already provenย main eventer, will just have to wait for his number to be called.
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Why It Won’t Be Seth Rollins
Ryan: WWE struggled with making Seth Rollins a strong fan favoriteย ever since he returned from his devastating knee injuries and was shockingly turned heel. Upon his initial return, the crowd wanted to cheer him, giving him one of the biggest reactions any star has gotten since Daniel Bryan. Instead, the error was made to turn him heel, stopping all of his momentum. When they finally tried to turn him back babyface, it was a long struggle in getting the crowd to come back to his side.
However, this past summer they seemed to have finally got there. Rollins was over with the crowd as a solid babyfaceย main eventer. Then came the Shield reunion, which has been fantastic so far.
Most are expecting Ambrose to turn on Rollins in the end, breaking up the Shield. This will no doubt lead into a program between the two of them until one of them goes on to the Universal title picture.
That isn’t likely to be Seth Rollins if Roman Reigns is (as expected) holding the championship belt post WrestleManiaย 34. With the WWEย hell bent on getting Reigns over as the face of the company, they aren’t going to have him feuding with a popular babyfaceย like Rollins, so don’t bet on Rollins capturing the title belt in the near future.ย
