Just got back from my Mania trip yesterday and needed a little time to decompress before sharing my thoughts.
Back in 2011 I was dragged back into wrestling after CM Punk's famous pipebomb promo. At some point a dirtsheet mentioned that Punk made an appearance at a live FCW show against a developmental talent by the name of Dean Ambrose. I
watched the video and was immediately impressed by Ambrose. Who is this guy, and is he really that good to have a match with Punk like that? I went on YouTube to find more footage of him and
this was the first promo I saw. Not even close to his best but I was intrigued and ended up being obsessed with finding videos of his matches and promos. Scanned through different sites, skipping through FCW episodes, looking at all his HWA and DGUSA and CZW stuff. I couldn't get enough.
Fast forward a year later to Survivor Series 2012. I'd started to get tired of the product and running out of patience waiting for Ambrose to debut. I gave myself an ultimatum that Survivor Series is the last show I'd watch if things didn't improve. I wasn't impressed with the PPV and had been resigned to stopping my run of watching WWE. I had already been skipping Raws and SmackDowns and thought I wouldn't miss anything. Then at the very end of the PPV, Ambrose appeared with Rollins and Reigns and I marked the hell out. Can't stop now, the fun is just beginning.
I've enjoyed Ambrose's time in WWE, though the most fun by far has been the Shield's original run from the end of 2012 to mid-2014. I'm an '80s kid who remembered Undertaker's debut on Thanksgiving Day 1990. I watched a lot of wrestling since that time and the Shield's chemistry is unlike any I have ever seen since then. I didn't want Ambrose to be tied to a faction but it ended up being the best thing from an entertainment standpoint. I'm sad that it's over, but glad I got to watch all of it.
If Ambrose hadn't kept me around to WWE, I wouldn't have made the friends I made through this forum, I wouldn't have met some of them at this past WrestleMania, I wouldn't have been to ANY of the past four Manias, there's just so many fond memories I have thanks to that man. This wrestling stuff is entertainment, and is a form of escapism. It's gotten me through some rough patches in my life, and Ambrose is who I looked most forward to. I don't like the character he's become as much as when I first started following him, but I support the man in whatever he does because I owe a lot to him, and I'm sure he's meant the same to a lot of other fans like me as well. I'll miss seeing him on WWE television, and I feel privileged to have been there in person for his farewell speech at Raw this past week, in the same building he had his first main roster match. I also got to hear the full Special Op theme with NATO opening for the first and only time at a WWE event, and it was at the very end. The stars aligned for me, and I feel so blessed.
He'll never see this, but it'd be cool if he knew about the lives he's touched and whether he wrestles in AEW, ROH, NJPW, Impact, back in WWE later, or doesn't wrestle ever again, I hope for the best in whatever endeavor he takes on. I'm grateful to him and to all of you Ambrose fans we've shared the journey with. He's not retiring as far as I know, so we haven't seen the last of him. Now it's just a waiting/guessing game. He's truly "returned to society", but when he returns to the ring, whenever that is, wherever that is, I'll be watching and cheering him on.