Is Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar secretly the Wrestlemania main event?

Image credit: WWE.com.

Wrestlemania is still a week away, but WWE's narrative took a weird twist on Monday's Raw. Dean Ambrose, standing in for his injured friend Roman Reigns, challenged Triple H to a WWE World Heavyweight title match. The storyline weaved through the episode of Raw, leading to a main event match between Ambrose and Alberto Del Rio. Triple H and the League of Nations attacked Ambrose, but in the aftermath Hunter gave Dean his title match. 

This match is now set to main event the former March to Wrestlemania event, now called WWE Roadblock. (Can I just say how refreshing it is that WWE finally took the whole Road to Wrestlemania thing they've used for years and started to make car themed special event titles.) And with Reigns being off television for at least a couple weeks, one wonders if WWE might pull the uneven star out of the Wrestlemania main event. 

A title win by Dean Ambrose at Roadblock could easily set up his No Holds Barred match at Wrestlemania to be a huge main event, arguably a much more substantial one for fans as well. Lesnar is a proven WWE commodity, while Ambrose is the man that WWE fans want to get behind right now. Ambrose validating his ascendancy with a win over the nearly unstoppable Brock Lesnar at the biggest show of the year certainly could bring in viewers for a WWE desperately short on star power. 

Or this could all be wishful thinking. Roadblock could just be a short bump in the WWE schedule with little actual storyline setup for the thirty-second Wrestlemania. It seems we will have to wait until March 12th to find out. 

The Top 10 Wrestlers of WWE, February 2016

Another pay-per-view and the big Raw after it have both fallen into the past and that means it is time to take a look at the Top 10 Wrestlers in WWE for the month. It has been an interesting month filled with weird pushes and negative reactions, culminating in a Fastlane card with solid in ring action but poor storytelling. Coming from that, here is this writer's choices for the best ranked wrestlers in the company. As a reminder, the rankings are followed by a two number code. The first number is their listing in the last Top 10 while the second number is the number of lists they've been on.

Kevin Owens continues to be a key player in WWE's midcard.
Image credit: WWE.com.

Shane's return is a win, but where's the focus on new talent?

Shane O'Mac is back! Image credit: WWE.com. 

Let's get this out of the way first: Shane McMahon making his long awaited comeback to WWE was a huge win for the company last night. Shane puts on great matches whenever he's on WWE television, where he could even make electrocuted testicles something entertaining. (Yes, really.) As Undertaker's Wrestlemania opponent, he's certainly a strange pick but he's got the potential to take the company in a much needed, new direction after the biggest show of the year.

The problem is that his return is simply not enough in the current holding pattern of the WWE roster. With numerous stars on the shelf, it seems like the perfect time to start bringing out fresh new characters, but WWE seems completely unwilling to even use half the stars they have on the main roster in a significant way. Cesaro is healthy but hasn't returned to television yet. Neville seems doomed to six man matches. The Wyatt Family have suddenly lost all direction as the Wyatt-Lesnar feud dissipates into dust.

Meanwhile, Jericho and Styles are suddenly a tag team for no reason, the New Day are feuding with everyone's least favorite stable, the League of Nations, and I'm still not sure if WWE even knows what it's doing right now with Kevin Owens or Kalisto, the company's secondary champions. Dolph Ziggler, Neville and Tyler Breeze have become little more than afterthoughts. Meanwhile stars like Enzo and Cass, Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin are in a holding pattern until they're called up from NXT.

Amore and Cassady are ready for the big show. 

It seems like a strange time for WWE not to spread the focus on the wealth of talent they have and build stronger stories that will propel interest in the rest of the card, especially when they are pushing as tough a sell in the main event as Roman Reigns versus Triple H (a.k.a. the battle of who we want to see less.)

Hopefully, a Cesaro-Kevin Owens feud is in the making in the coming weeks. Perhaps WWE will expand past the already announced No Holds Barred and Hell in a Cell match to give fans a much needed Tag Team TLC match as well. The New Day, The Dudleys, Sheamus and Del Rio and maybe even the team of Chris Jericho and AJ Styles could do amazing things on that stage. But it is truly time to let the wrestlers of the company shine as more than great technicians, but to use this period leading up to the biggest show of the year to build new stars.

And I don't mean Roman Reigns.

The Top 10 Wrestlers of WWE, January 2016 edition

Another pay-per-view is in the rear view and that can only mean one thing: it is time to look at the top wrestlers of the last month in WWE.

Image credit: WWE.com.

1. The League of Nations: Previously listed individually, the unit of Sheamus, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio are actually coming together nicely as a team. They probably should start picking up wins though if they are going to be treated as anything other than jobbers though. (7/3)
2. The Wyatt Family: They dominated Brock Lesnar on Raw and at the Royal Rumble. Bray Wyatt and his proteges even have stood up to the face of The Authority. It is an intriguing time for the cult-like stable, one that should lead them to higher places on this list before year's end.  (2/4)
3. Kevin Owens: He lost to Dean Ambrose and was booted from the Rumble by Sami Zayn, but Owens looked like a million bucks at the paye-per-view nonetheless, even eliminating newcomer AJ Styles. Hopefully Owens/Styles will be on WWE television very soon as it could potentially blow the roof off the house. (8/4)
4. Sasha Banks: She made a (Banks) statement at Royal Rumble and hopefully set up a three or four way Divas match at Wrestlemania in the process. One can expect a compelling title match between her and Charlotte at Fastlane, but whether or not WWE is ready for the title to change hands yet remains to be seen. (10/2)
5. Charlotte: Her heel turn and alliance with dear old dad has lit a fire under her that hasn't been seen since her days as NXT Women's Champion. She has put on great performances against Becky Lynch that hopefully will set up something great in the next two months with feuds against Becky, Sasha, Paige or maybe even... Bayley! (6/3)
6. The New Day: While Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods may not have had as strong a January as they have previous months, interactions with the Rock and another win over the Usos have kept them in the spotlight. (3/4)
7. AJ Styles: Just the mention of his name gets a bigger pop than anyone else on the roster. Styles in WWE is huge news and he's already made an impact with a great Royal Rumble performance and a solid win over Chris Jericho, one of several first time ever matches coming from Styles on the roster. (U/1)
8. Roman Reigns: WWE booked him to get booed at Royal Rumble, but were at least smart enough not to bring the match down to just him and Triple H. He is currently walking a fine line right now. He's got the talent to get over, but WWE's willingness to push him down everyone's throats may end up costing them any chance to get him over as a babyface. (1/4)
9. Dean Ambrose: After an amazing performance in the Last Man Standing match to kick off Royal Rumble, he put on a stellar show in the final match as well. Ambrose has everything but the company's backing to get over as a major star the world over. He seems destined to be stuck in the Shawn Michaels role from '91 to '95, where it seemed like he can never quite get to the title. (4/2)
10. Triple H: I had doubts I would ever put his name on this list, but now he's debuting as number one and the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. While I am not sure having him win was really what was best for business going into Wrestlemania, he put on a strong showing in the Rumble and seems poised to once again waste ten to twenty minutes at the front of Raw for months to come. (U/1)

Expect to see this a lot in the coming weeks. Image credit: WWE.com.

The Royal Rumble in review

WWE knew from the get go that this year was built around the main event even more than previous years. With nearly an hour and fifteen minutes devoted to the Royal Rumble itself, the other matches were treated more like lead up than anything else. Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose put on a compelling Last Man Standing match while Kalisto shocked Alberto Del Rio yet again to become a two time United States champion. The New Day pulled out a win over the Usos while Ric Flair's interference yet again allowed Charlotte to beat Becky Lynch. In fact, the only really interesting thing to happen on the undercard was the return of Sasha Banks to absolutely brutalize Charlotte post-match.

This was a beautiful thing to see after the Divas match.
Image credit: WWE.com.

But the story of the night was really all about the Rumble. With Roman Reigns in at number one and defending his WWE World Heavyweight title in the process, he had everything to lose against 29 other men. But after eliminating the #2 entrant Rusev, Reigns got his first big surprise of the night in the form of a man rumored to make his WWE debut for weeks now: AJ Styles.

Image credit: WWE.com. 

Styles wasn't the only surprise of the night however. While he was eliminated a bit earlier than one might expect, by none other than Kevin Owens (who awesomely mocked Styles' pose after the throw out), Owens had his own run ins after already taking a beating in the Last Man Standing match that kicked off the show. First Dean Ambrose followed immediately after his entry, then Sami Zayn made his return to the WWE roster to eliminate his rival from a shot at the WWE title.

The League of Nations attacked Roman Reigns mid-match in perhaps the dumbest mugging in the history of professional wrestling. They brutalized him three on one and put him through a table, but they didn't roll him back in the ring to be eliminated. Instead they let him walk to the back where he could rest up and recoup for the end of the event.

The combined Wyatt Family were not as foolish though. After Braun Strowman single handedly eliminated both Big Show and Kane, he ran head long into a Beast Incarnate. Brock Lesnar eliminated Strowman, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper before Bray Wyatt could even reach the ring, but he couldn't stop them from returning for a four on one beatdown. Even Lesnar couldn't take down the entire unit, who eliminated him en masse. Conveniently, his elimination also allowed both him and Reigns to never share the ring for even a second, sparing a future main event match.

To no one's surprise, the final surprise entrant was #30: Triple H. He followed #29 Sheamus, a man that was jumped by Roman Reigns on his return to the match. After Triple H entered, Dolph Ziggler was quickly thrown from the ring. With Sheamus still out, he tried to form an alliance with Wyatt, but the cult leader turned on the face of The Authority. Wyatt and Jericho wouldn't last much longer, but after Reigns dumps a returning Sheamus, Triple H grabs him from behind to dump him from the ring and eliminate Reigns' chance to retain his title.

It was down to two men: Dean Ambrose and Triple H. And if anyone has ever watched WWE, only one option for victory remained. Triple H eliminated Ambrose to become a fourteen time WWE World Heavyweight champion.

Image credit: WWE.com. 

While the end wasn't a surprise, the Rumble did accomplish a few things: it gave us a reason to root for Reigns come Wrestlemania as he challenges Triple H. It creates a compelling story to give us reason to watch Wyatt versus Lesnar. The situation between Owens and Zayn also sets up a potential match. Overall, this wasn't the best Royal Rumble ever, but it was far far from the worst. Fans didn't go away with the hatred and disappointment they were left with in 2014 and 2015, plus they were given reason to be intrigued by the road to Wrestlemania.