Dean Ambrose has had arguably the least spectacular run of the three members of the Shield since Seth Rollins broke the hearts of every WWE fan. Yes, he’s become a world champion and two-time Intercontinental champ since the group split, but he hasn’t quite reached the heights or notoriety of Rollins or Roman Reigns. Plus, the guy wrestles in jeans and a tank top.
I understand that his jeans-and-tank uniform isn’t all that different from the cargo pants, combat boots and tactical vests that defined the Shield (and that Reigns was granted custody of in the divorce), but it’s still undeniably a choice. Back when he was on the independent scene, and for most of his time in FCW, Ambrose just wrestled in trunks, shirtless, like your standard, garden-variety pro wrestler.
Ambrose’s decision to wrestle in jeans is something that’s drawn scoffs from the more sartorially discerning wrestling fans from time to time. But it turns out that Ambrose has a specific reason for his wrestling attire, and when he and his significant other, Renee Young, sat down with Vegas Seven, he talked a bit about it.
Ambrose: I said, “What I’m going to do is dress as plain as humanly possible.” I’m not going to wear anything fancy, I’m not going to have fancy music, I’m not going to have fancy pyro—I’m literally just going to be a dude walking into the ring. I’m going to look like I just got off work from a construction site and I am now punching you in the face. That was my goal—be as simple as humanly possible. I pretty much stick to Hanes or Fruit of the Loom. You can wear large, you know, but you like to make it a little snug sometimes, shape the contours. It’s best to leave a little bit to the imagination, then at a certain point in the evening, in the match when the intensity is high, you get to rip off the shirt.
Young: He is a secret stripper.
Ambrose: You get a big pop for that. And then you can throw the shirt to somebody. It gives you another prop to work with. You can get your shirt ripped off or halfway ripped off, and then you look like you’ve been beaten up a lot more than you really have.
Young: You’re just a piece of meat.
He IS a piece of meat! He and Young talked about how they’ve had their share of stalkers and even death threats, because Ambrose admits he attracts a … certain type of fan. But they’ve taken it all in stride as best they can … and Renee Young is a huge fan of the fan art and slashfic that inevitably clogs the internet when a former member of The Shield is concerned.
Young: You know what I saw the other day—it must’ve been on my Instagram or on Twitter or something, but somebody tagged me in it—it was a shirt that was a picture, obviously a fan-drawn cartoon thing of just you and Roman [Reigns, a fellow WWE Superstar] in … a deep embrace. I wanted to buy it. [Laughs] It was a thing on Etsy, a real thing that I could’ve bought. It was hysterical.
Well, I’ll talk to y’all later. I’m gonna go and uh … certainly not Google Reigns and Ambrose deep kissing!
