Dean Ambrose is quickly becoming the 2013 WWE Breakout Star of the Year. The Shield member will wrestle his biggest match yet at MITB in Philadelphia but he is certainly no stranger to Philly. The WWE star recently took time to talk his Philly roots including his time in CZW.
[adinserter block=”1″]Many are picking Ambrose as the next guy to break out in the WWE and become a major singles star. I have personally given him the best odds of winning the 2013 Money in the Bank match although I see more money (no pun intended) in a WWE title program with John Cena. The rewards are hard earned as this isn’t exactly what anyone would call an overnight sensation who has seen Ambrose prior to the WWE.
Ambrose did some Philadelphia media to promote the big Sunday pay per view and what made this interview unique is that Ambrose actually has some pretty deep wrestling roots in Philadelphia. Ambrose as Jon Moxley was a former Combat Zone Wrestling world champion and even lived in the city for a short time. Moxley enjoyed his time in CZW but is a much different wrestler today than he was back at that time.
“I was in a lot of really crazy matches and a lot of stuff that you’ll never ever see on WWE television,” Ambrose said. “I put my body through a lot of abuse for very little money for a long time.”
I was an announcer in CZW for seven years but left a little before Moxley started wrestling for the company. I do remember seeing some videos at the time and thinking that Moxley was exactly what CZW needed in a world champion. He was much different than previous choices and I liked him a lot. I always thought his promos were much better than anyone on the independents. I can’t say I ever envisioned him becoming a huge WWE star but I could certainly see something there. One of my few regrets about leaving CZW was leaving before I got to call his matches.
Ambrose had to learn going from the smaller buildings to wrestling in front of the larger crowds that the WWE offers. It sounds like an easy transition but it can be one of the most difficult things an independent wrestler can learn. Ambrose said there was a long adjustment.
“There was a lot of adjustments and a lot to learn like learning how to work for cameras as oppose to just working for an audience,” he said. “I’ve wrestled in front big crowds for big shows before and I’ve wrestled on television and pay-per-view before, but until you get to Monday Night Raw where there’s 30 cameras, it’s a whole different ball game. Then I had no idea what I was doing.”
That is an interesting statement and may explain a lot of why The Shield transitioned easily from FCW to the WWE. There was a lot of criticism before Amrbose and Seth Rollins were brought up with some blaming the WWE for keeping them in FCW too long. While I can understand the argument because everyone knew how talented they were, going from small independent crowds to the big lights of a WWE audience is a transition that nobody really considered. Who knows how successful these guys would have been if they were rushed up fast?
[adinserter block=”2″]“I feel like I’m 10 times better of a wrestler than I was when I first got here,” Ambrose said. “You have so many good brains to pick here in the dressing room with Hall-of-Fame guys. I can pick Arn Anderson’s brain or William Regal’s brain or Jamie Noble.”
Check out the interview over at Philly.com where Amrbose has some interesting things to say about attitude, being intimidated coming into the WWE, and living in Philadelphia. It is a great read, especially if you live in Philadelphia and followed him in CZW.
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