10 Things You Forgot About The Dean Ambrose Vs Seth Rollins WWE Rivalry

WWE booked Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to have a long-term feud once The Shield broke up. Both wrestlers became major stars thanks primarily to being able to work closely together. Rollins started off as the heel in The Authority with Ambrose as the fan favorite rebel looking to make life miserable for his former friend.

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Their roles would change in the last version of their feud before Ambrose left to start his run as Jon Moxley in AEW. WWE benefited from having such a personal rivalry featuring many twists and turns, along with reunions and breakups. The following things about the Ambrose vs Rollins feud often get overlooked or forgotten through the years.

10 Had Major Moments On Three Straight MITB PPVs

The Money in the Bank PPV became a calling card for Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to add new chapters of their feuds. Rollins received his first major singles win in the MITB ladder match in 2014 when Corporate Kane cost Ambrose to help him win.

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The eventual WWE Championship win for Rollins saw him defending it against Ambrose at MITB 2015 in an exciting ladder match. A third straight MITB event in 2016 saw the biggest moment coming when Ambrose won the MITB ladder match and cashed in on Rollins that night to become the WWE Champion.

9 Roman Reigns Was Removed From Feud At The Start

WWE instantly having a singles feud between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose after The Shield broke up felt a little weird without Roman Reigns. Rollins attacked them both to end the group in heartbreaking fashion and become Triple H’s protégé in The Authority.

Roman instead moved into a different program trying to gain a title shot and feuding with another Authority member Randy Orton. WWE wanted to tell the story of Rollins vs Ambrose before having Reigns feud with Seth afterwards.

8 WWE Wrote Ambrose Off Following Brutal Spot To Film Movie

WWE had Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose feuding throughout the late spring, entire summer and early fall of 2014. The rivalry extended due to Ambrose having to leave television for a short hiatus to film a movie for WWE Studios.

Rollins scoring a win by hitting the curb stomp on Ambrose through cinder blocks was the brutal spot to write him off. Ambrose eventually returned to continue the feud since Rollins boasted about ending his career for weeks.

7 Ambrose Stole WWE Championship Belt To Restart Feud

The feud between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins restarted after some time apart in the spring of 2015. Rollins winning the WWE Championship led to some of his former enemies stepping up to challenge him and make life difficult for him.

Ambrose stole the WWE Championship belt after Rollins retained via DQ to extend the storyline. Rollins was forced to agree to a ladder match with the title hanging above the ring to get it back. The win for Seth cemented his title reign with his first classic match as champ.

6 WWE Wanted A Chapter With Rollins As Face

The independent wrestling careers saw Seth Rollins thriving as a face and Dean Ambrose as a heel. Fans assumed those would be their roles in WWE if The Shield ever split up, but WWE went the other directions to align Rollins with Triple H.

Rollins later played the sympathetic face against Ambrose and came out better for it, even though WWE booked Dean poorly. Ambrose turning on Rollins added a new dynamic to make fans rally more behind Rollins before he challenged Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship.

5 Ambrose Technically Won Final Feud

WWE having Dean Ambrose turn heel to end his tag team with Seth Rollins set off a huge storyline between the two. Roman Reigns leaving WWE due to his battle with leukemia added to the emotions of the night when Ambrose ruined the love shared between The Shield that night.

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Ambrose technically won the feud between the two, even though Rollins benefited more from it. The Intercontinental Championship changed hands with Ambrose winning the belt from Rollins. Ambrose struggling led to him dropping the belt to Lashley and eventually turning face before his contract expired.

4 Still Sold Rivalry During Tag Team Reunion Story

WWE respected the tension story told in the breakup between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose by not just easily reuniting them. Rollins turning face saw them still kept apart despite having the same character alignment in WWE.

The reunion featured Rollins spending weeks trying to prove to Ambrose that he was a changed man. Ambrose eventually accepted his forgiveness and reunited with him to defeat Cesaro and Sheamus and become the Raw Tag Team Champions.

3 WWE Used Ice Bucket Challenge For Their Feud

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge became a viral trend for charity in the summer of 2014. WWE decided to use it in a segment between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in entertaining fashion. Rollins was cutting a typical cynical backstage promo running down Ambrose.

The hilarious interruption featured Ambrose dumping a bucket of ice cold water on Rollins and saying “it’s for charity” in endearing fashion. Ambrose attacked the doused Rollins for a backstage brawl to continue the feud.

2 Heath Slater Scored Upset Victory Over Rollins Thanks To Ambrose

Heath Slater of all people benefited from having a small impact on the Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins feud. WWE placed Rollins in a beat the clock challenge where the wrestlers involved faced off with less successful opponents.

Everyone expected Rollins to get the better of Slater since the time was the bigger thing in question. Ambrose stole Rollins’ Money in the Bank briefcase and vandalized it during the match as a distraction. Slater took advantage and rolled up Rollins to deliver a major upset victory.

1 Fan Response Gave Them Main Event Spot Over John Cena/Randy Orton

WWE Hell in a Cell 2014 featured the two major feuds of Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins and John Cena vs Randy Orton inside of the cage structure. It seemed obvious that Orton and Cena would get the main event spot as the bigger names with the world title on the line.

Fans had Rollins and Ambrose trending on social media for days before the event. WWE eventually decided to make it known that the young stars would close the show. Rollins and Ambrose took it as a huge honor to get the main event spot over a match between legends for the top prize.