Seth Rollins discusses Dean Ambrose's ill-advised heel turn.
Fans will never be able to talk about The Shield without bringing up the Oct. 22 edition of Raw. The night opened with Roman Reigns announcing his leukemia had returned and that would be taking time away from WWE to take care of himself. Following the announcement, Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins shared an emotional moment on the stage. Later in the night, Rollins & Ambrose won the Raw Tag Team Titles. It should have been a happy moment to cap a sad night. Instead, Ambrose turned on Rollins in a stunning moment that felt a little off.
Speaking to Yahoo Sports, Rollins revealed that no one, not even Ambrose, wanted the turn to happen.
“The way that affected Ambrose, that wasn’t really his best look,” Rollins said. “No one wanted to see us fight each other, we had been through that, it didn’t feel good. I was upset, he was clearly upset and people didn’t want to see it, they wanted to see us be brothers and care about each other.”
Ambrose's turn was the beginning of the end for him creatively as he was doing bad comedy weeks after the turn and completely forgotten about by the time the Royal Rumble rolled around. Hours after the Jan. 28 episode of Raw went off-air, news broke that Ambrose had decided against renewing his WWE contract and would be leaving when it expires later this month.
Frustration over his creative direction was cited as a big reason for his departure.
WWE has since acknowledged Ambrose's decision both online and on television. Roman Reigns returned in February, announcing his leukemia was in remission and that he was back with the company. With Reigns back, Rollins on fire leading into WrestleMania, and Ambrose about to leave, WWE reformed The Shield for one last run.
“At the end of the day, I was happy to have that one last match with my Shield brothers by my side,” Rollins said. “It was one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had in a wrestling ring and it felt so good. Whenever we’re back on the same side, it’s so easy, it’s so much fun. Knowing that was the last one, I think we all felt it, were able to soak it in and enjoy that match. That propelled me and gave me all of the momentum I needed heading into WrestleMania.”
Earlier this week, Rollins opened up about Ambrose's upcoming departure. You can view his comments here.
Rollins is set to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Title this Sunday at WrestleMania 35.
