Dean Ambrose proved he is better off without The Shield, defeating Seth Rollins and winning the Intercontinental Title at WWE TLC.
The match was not only notable due to Ambrose's title win, but for how the crowd reacted -- or didn't react -- to both competitors and the match. The bout began to a tepid reaction and the crowd never got behind the action. At one point a "this is boring" chant broke out. Ambrose and Rollins worked hard, but could never grab the attention of those inside the SAP Center.
Also notable were the commentary exchanges between Renee Young, Corey Graves and Michael Cole. For the first half of the match, Young, who is the real life wife of Dean Ambrose, was grilled on commentary by Graves, who wanted to know what was going on inside the mind of The Lunatic. The exchanges between the three distracted from the action in the ring and as the personal life of Young and Ambrose became the story over Ambrose vs. Rollins.
Ambrose eventually picked up the victory with the dirty deeds.
No love lost. #WWETLC #ICTitle @TheDeanAmbrose @WWERollins pic.twitter.com/ZT9AxrxCAH
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) December 17, 2018
The "go back to being brothers" option isn't viable anymore. #WWETLC @TheDeanAmbrose @WWERollins pic.twitter.com/6p7NvgC5pG
— WWE (@WWE) December 17, 2018
#AndNew #WWETLC #ICTitle @TheDeanAmbrose pic.twitter.com/EyF7KGub5r
— WWE (@WWE) December 17, 2018
The feud between Rollins and Ambrose began on the Oct. 22 edition of Raw when Ambrose turned his back on Rollins after the duo won the Raw Tag Team Titles. It was the same night Roman Reigns announced his leukemia had returned. Reigns' leukemia had been a plot point in the story leading up to Sunday's bout. This victory marks the third time Ambrose has won the Intercontinental Title.
Keep up with everything happening at WWE TLC with Fightful's full report. And listen to the post-show podcast with Sean Ross Sapp, Jeff Hawkins and Alex Pawlowski.
