Prior to "The Biggest Event of the Summer," Dean Ambrose is reportedly feeling the heat.
The reigning WWE Champion has a huge match ahead of him this Sunday as he defends his gold against Dolph Ziggler at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The bragging rights to be on top of "SmackDown Live" hang in the balance.
Ambrose recently made an awkward appearance earlier this month on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's podcast on the WWE Network. The former Shield member offered up odd responses and dodged several questions the "Texas Rattlesnake" hurled his way.
Now it seems he has some heat on him.
WWE officials are reportedly agitated at Ambrose, neither for his avoidance of questions nor his awkward answers, but for ripping the creative team and lambasting Brock Lesnar, according to The Wrestling Observer (via WrestlingInc).
The Observer reports that when Ambrose was critical of WWE creative, it was seen as him being critical of Vince McMahon and Triple H, who make the big and final decisions for the company.
Ambrose went through a lot of bad booking and was billed as the weakest of The Shield members following their split over two years ago, but the WWE finally gave him a run with the title when he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase on the same night he won it back on June 19.
Though he was finally given an opportunity, he was quite candid about the creative shortcomings in WWE, which reportedly gave him some heat. WWE officials also weren't happy with his public bashing of Lesnar, whom he called "lazy" on the podcast.
Ambrose went into detail about how "The Beast" wasn't interested in doing anything creative or different for their match at WrestleMania 32, which was expected to be a potential show-stealer, but fell flat.
The WWE obviously doesn't want anyone saying negative things about Lesnar as he is arguably the biggest draw they have. "The Beast" will headline SummerSlam against Randy Orton in a "RAW" vs. "SmackDown Live" inter-promotional match.
Analysis: If what the Observer reports is true, it will be interesting to see how Ambrose is booked this Sunday. If his post-Shield booking is any indication, the WWE has never really been high on him carrying the promotion from the outset, so his words could do more damage. Ziggler is another guy who the WWE has buried for years now and he's been outspoken in the past. The heat could cause the WWE to hot shot the title onto "The Showoff," but Ambrose's comments weren't exactly outlandish, so he may keep the title going forward. It seems either Orton or John Cena are going to end up with the belt anyway, so SummerSlam's result may not have a long-term impact going forward.
