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Dean Ambrose Declares his Loyalty to the Shield & Faces Braun Strowman
So, what’s the deal with Dean Ambrose and The Shield? After much speculation about whether The Lunatic Fringe would turn on The Hounds of Justice last week, the former WWE Champion opened Raw with an interview with Charly Caruso meant to address the lingering questions of The Lunatic’s loyalty. However, the former WWE Champion refused to allow himself to be pinned down: Even though he acknowledged the “truth” of what Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre said about him and cryptically (and maybe sarcastically) hinted that if he was going to turn on Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, he’d probably wait until everybody least expected it, Ambrose ultimately declared he’d rather be judged by his actions rather than the speculation of the WWE Universe.

He closed the interview by confirming The Shield would be a united front heading into WWE Super Show-Down on Saturday, but at least one Superstar wasn’t buying it. Acting General Manager Baron Corbin, still smarting from his loss last week, gave Ambrose a chance to show where he really stood by choosing one of three options for his match on Raw: A Universal Championship Match against Reigns, an Intercontinental Championship Match with Rollins, or a one-on-one match with Strowman. When Ambrose tried to turn it around and finagle a match with Corbin, The Lone Wolf made the decision for The Lunatic Fringe, placing him in an immediate match with Strowman instead.

Could Dean Ambrose beat Braun Strowman? He certainly came close when he planted The Monster Among Men with a surprise Dirty Deeds after a long, grueling bout that was going Strowman’s way until The Lunatic Fringe up and dropped his foe with the double-arm DDT that once won Ambrose the WWE Championship. But it wasn’t enough: Strowman kicked out of the pinfall, rolled out of the ring and (despite a frantic follow-up from Ambrose) quickly turned the proceedings from a match into a statement beating — one so severe Roman Reigns appeared to run interference, clocking Stroman with a Superman Punch that led to a disqualification win for The Monster Among Men. It also set up the evening’s next match: After Seth Rollins joined the fight and Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre arrived to even the odds, Baron Corbin re-emerged to restore order by immediately sanctioning Reigns vs. Ziggler, as well as Rollins vs. McIntyre for later in the evening.

As for Ambrose, he wasn’t crazy about the whole thing. In fact, when Rollins went to check on his brother in the trainer’s room, The Lunatic Fringe pointedly reminded The Kingslayer that he could have left Raw as Intercontinental Champion if he made a different choice.

Drew McIntyre def. Seth Rollins
Braun Strowman made it clear before Drew McIntyre battled Seth Rollins that he would not accept a weak link in his squad as WWE Super Show-Down approaches. His pointed stare at Dolph Ziggler did not go unnoticed, nor did McIntyre’s failure to defend his fellow Raw Tag Team Champion — which is probably why The Showoff made his presence known in the waning moments of McIntyre vs. Rollins, dashing into the ring to administer a pre-Stomp distraction that freed up McIntyre to blast Seth with the Claymore for the win.

All hell broke loose quickly after the match, however, as Roman Reigns, Strowman and finally Dean Ambrose — axe handle in hand — threw hands in a chaotic six-way brawl. Ziggler was a key figure in the fray as well, administering the Zig Zag to Reigns and assisting with the Claymore-Zig Zag combo on Ambrose. Strowman got the last word with a Running Powerslam to Reigns, and the “pack” ended their evening with a Shield-style fist bump of their own. If there is a weak link to be found, it’s hard to see.

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