Before Jon Moxley was a three-time AEW World Champion touted as one of the top current stars in pro wrestling, he was WWE’s Dean Ambrose. Introduced as a member of The Shield, he was an erratic wildcard, a personality trait that continued once he became a singles wrestler. However, more often than not that aspect manifested as Ambrose being a wacky goofball rather than an ultraviolent fighter.RELATED: How Dean Ambrose & Jon Moxley Are The Same (& How They're Different) While WWE was where he got famous, Dean Ambrose experienced some bizarre moments during his eight-year run with the company. Let’s take a look at the 10 weirdest, which span across his time as a Shield member and singles star.
10 His United States Title Run
After The Shield debuted in late 2012, the trio began amassing midcard gold in WWE, including Dean Ambrose who put away Kofi Kingston to capture the United States Championship. While his run lasted nearly a year at 351 days, by the end of 2013 it seemed like WWE completely forgot he had a belt, as Ambrose rarely defended it. Finally, Ambrose dropped the title in a battle royal on an early May 2014 episode of Raw, where Sheamus emerged as the new US Champion.
9 The Feud With Mick Foley That Never Happened
Before The Shield made their infamous debut at Survivor Series 2012, WWE had different plans for Dean Ambrose’s main roster debut — one that played with kayfabe. After WrestleMania 28 in spring 2012, a video of Dean Ambrose accosting Mick Foley began to go around, with the young developmental star blaming Foley’s violent reputation for being a bad influence on Ambrose’s generation of wrestlers. The video was part of an intended feud between the two that would lead to Ambrose joining the main roster, but the storyline stalled once Foley couldn’t be medically cleared to wrestle.
8 Feud With Nia Jax
In 2019, Nia Jax did double duty in January, entering both the mens’ and women’s Royal Rumbles that year. While she wasn’t successful in either match, the following night she continued to get involved with the men's roster as she got into an altercation with Dean Ambrose, tossing Ambrose out of the ring during a promo segment.
RELATED: 10 Backstage Stories About Nia Jax We Can’t Believe
The moment was supposed to lead to a full-on feud, but for some reason plans changed and no match ever ensued.
7 Tension With The Shield In 2014
In early 2014, The Shield was clearly on its way to a face turn as Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns entered a rivalry with another heel faction, The Wyatt Family, leading to a classic six-man encounter at Elimination Chamber. The Wyatts ended up getting the win, but there was a strange moment in the match where Bray Wyatt and Ambrose fought into the crowd, only for Ambrose to disappear for the rest of the match. Ambrose was cagey about his whereabouts, suggesting a potential Shield breakup, but nothing ever came of this moment.
6 Dressing Like A Mountie
Initially portrayed as a mentally unstable “loose cannon” type, Dean Ambrose often ended up presented as a wacky Bugs Bunny type, often employing goofy costumes and prop-based comedy gags. On one episode of SmackDown being held in Canada, Ambrose elected to dress like former WWE heel The Mountie for a comedic backstage segment, causing SmackDown boss Daniel Bryan to break character and laugh. It was admittedly a funny bit, but a strange moment that made Ambrose look too silly.
5 Tension With The Shield In 2018
The 2014 Wyatts feud wasn’t the only time that Dean Ambrose seemed like he was going to be the guy who broke up The Shield. During the group’s 2018 reunion, Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns wrestled a six-man tag team match against Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, and Dolph Ziggler on an early October 2018 episode of Raw. The bout ended with Ambrose eating a Claymore from McIntyre for a pinfall loss, after which he walked off and away from his partners. Once again it seemed like Ambrose was going to turn on the boys, but once again it never materialized.
4 Losing To Seth Rollins Via Bray Wyatt Hologram
When The Shield did break-up, it was due to the treachery of Seth Rollins in 2014, kicking off an intense feud with Dean Ambrose while Roman Reigns moved on to do his own thing. One of the big bouts between Ambrose and Rollins was in the eponymous gimmick match at Hell in a Cell 2014, but Bray Wyatt interfering to transition Ambrose to a feud with Wyatt instead.
RELATED: WWE’s Dean Ambrose Vs Bray Wyatt Feud Was A Complete Disaster
The inference itself was the weird moment here, as a lantern placed in the ring created a ghostly hologram image of Wyatt. This distracted Ambrose enough for the real Wyatt to stage a physical attack to get Rollins an easy pinfall victory.
3 Feud With EC3
By 2019, a bored, frustrated Dean Ambrose was on his way out of the company, leading to a bizarre feud with main roster newcomer EC3. It all began with Ambrose interrupting Alexa Bliss’ talk show, Moment of Bliss, to harass and mock EC3. This led to a match in which EC3 scored a surprise victory over Ambrose, with the short feud yielding disastrous results. Ambrose was supposed to be the heel, but fans knew he was on his way out of the company and potentially being buried by WWE, so they cheered him anyway.
2 Terry Funk Gives Dean A Chainsaw
In 2016, Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar were building to their infamous disappointing match at WrestleMania 32. En route to that match, a segment aired on Raw where Ambrose encountered none other than hardcore wrestling legend Terry Funk in a bar. Singing the young star’s praises, Funk gifted Ambrose a chainsaw, shouting out the Funker’s old Attitude Era days as Chainsaw Charlie. If that weren’t enough, Ambrose immediately put the chainsaw to use, cutting up one of the tables in the bar.
1 Getting Inoculated
One of WWE’s more gutsy storytelling choices in recent years had Dean Ambrose shockingly turn heel on Seth Rollins on the same night that Roman Reigns announced he was going on hiatus to treat his leukemia. Unfortunately, a potentially compelling blood feud ended up being mitigated with Ambrose becoming an evil germaphobe. In addition to frequently wearing gas masks to avoid getting diseases from WWE fans, there was also a bizarre segment where Ambrose was inoculated by doctors.
