WWE Interview: Dean Ambrose Talks About the Shield Splitting Up And Locker Room Environment

For the last two years, the WWE faction known as The Shield has dominated the wrestling landscape. With their iconic hit-and-run tactics that have taken out many superstars including John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Ryback, Cesaro, and even the legendary Undertaker, it is no surprise their rise to the top was embraced by fans, even at the expense of wrestlers the fans may support as well. Now with WWE Money in the Bank 2014 just around the corner, WWE fans might want to know what’s going on in the minds of the three members of the group formerly known as The Shield.

Fortunately for all of us, Dean Ambrose — who is known as the “Lunatic Fringe” of The Shield — recently sat down for an interview with RVA Mag. Some of the best highlights of the interview were reported by multiple wrestling websites. For this article, we are sourcing both Wrestling News Depot and Camel Clutch Blog. To be honest, it was pretty cool reading up on Ambrose who seemed out of kayfabe for the interview.

When Dean Ambrose was asked about the big split in The Shield and if it was done well, this is what he had to say:

“You never know what’s going to happen on Monday Night RAW. You always got to to tune in because anything can happen and the same things goes for us when we show up each Monday night. You never know what’s lurking around the corner or what twist they’re going to throw your way. The cool thing is The Shield never started going on the downslide. We went out at our absolute apex with a clean sweep of Evolution, one of the most decorated and dominate stables of all time. The cool thing to take away is that we did go out on a high point whereas other groups don’t and I take a lot of pride in that.

“We’re all still three of the best performers in the company and are still always going to carry that mindset and that work ethic and be that symbol of excellence. That becomes part of your psyche and you want to go out there every night, bust your ass, put on the best show possible, and refuse to be out-done by anyone. You’re still going to see that from us. You won’t see us working together in the classic Shield way, but all three of us with all of our egos and aspirations and desire are still going to be on your TV making our way up top. It’s an exciting time for the fans.”

To be honest, I am happy this split happened because it gave its members a larger platform to work on. Two years in a three-man stable is a good amount of time to utilize wrestlers. However, with the three-man stables simply dying — which includes the split of Evolution, the termination of two members of 3MB, and The Wyatt Family, though technically still together, splitting into a single competitor and a tag team — it was only a matter of time until WWE would utilize the potential both Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns had as singles competitors.

When asked about the current locker room environment in the WWE, Dean Ambrose had this to say in his interview:

“We’ve just got a really good crew in the locker room. There are tons of guys I travel with or hangout with, but the whole locker room right now is just great. There’s not the division of top guys and bottom guys now that there used to be or has been in the past. I think The Shield helped that because we’re young guys who came in and said we’re going to take over this company by working hard and busting our ass.

“There’s been a lot of other people who came in after us and kind of took that similar mindset or copied it and it really helped things I think. It’s just a really good locker room now and one of the best I’ve ever been in. Lot of young hungry guys that all like hanging out with each other and love the business and want to see each other do well. I think it means great things are on the way for the company, for all of us, and for all of the fans.”

With WWE Money In The Bank 2014 happening in less than three hours from the publication of this article — in which Dean Ambrose will participate in the second MITB ladder match for the contract along with former The Shield partner, Seth Rollins – we will see if the “improvements” in the back and in story will truly give the WWE fans something to cheer about. Personally, I’ve been saying that the WWE needed to listen to their fans because they know what is best for business. At this upcoming pay-per-view, they might just be doing that.