WWE star Dean Ambrose recently spoke with Brian Fritz of SportingNews.com, and below are some highlights:
Going from a fan and student of the game to WrestleMania 31:
Obviously it’s really cool. It’s still like a little bit surreal and it’s weird that it’s so regular for me now. Like we were talking about Bret Hart. If I were to run into Bret Hart backstage at a show or if I run by Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and say ‘hey man, what’s up?’. They’re like — not that we’re buddies — but I have a friendly relationship with them. (laughs) They’re just regular people. Like if I walk by Hulk Hogan in the hallway it’s like ‘what’s up brother?’ ‘What’s up brother?’. All of that stuff is very surreal. WrestleMania is coming up and it’s my third one and I know the routine. The week is kind of a circus and you’ve got stuff to do. There’s a lot going on. Now I know the routine and I’m prepared for it. I’m very relaxed. I’ve always pictured myself on this stage so being here is very comfortable for me. Being in the main event on Raw is jarring probably at first but also, from the moment I got here, I was ready for this and was hungry enough and ready for it . Finally. Finally I can be in the main event on Raw. Let’s get down to it. It was never to me ‘oh my God I’m so nervous, it’s such a big opportunity I hope I don’t screw it up’. It was never anything like that to me. It was always like alright, FINALLY I’m going to get this freaking shot. Let’s get to work. I feel like I belong here.
If he’s gotten used to fans cheering him:
I’ve gotten used to it to a point. It’s very weird for me to get used to … Not so much the crowd cheering for you in a match because have cheered for me and I’ve spent my time as a fan favorite here and there. But I’ve always enjoyed more being hated and was always comfortable in that role. I’ve always found my best work feeding off negativity and loving in a — this sounds weird — living in a negative kind of mindset in space and using that as fuel. I feel that some of my best work has come from that. For me, kids and dudes are like ‘Yeah! You’re the man!’ And teenage girls or chicks are like ‘oh, Dean Ambrose’ and I’m like yeah, OK, that’s normal. But when kids are like ‘Dean Ambrose you’re my favorite’ and like the kid has the shirt and he’s dressed like me that like whoa, that’s trippy. Like little ten year old girls are like ‘oh my God, I love you Dean’ I’m like what? What? What happened to me? What’s going on? This is weird right? Anybody showing me super levels of attention or positivity…it’s takes a while to get used to.
The fan backlash against Roman Reigns:
To me on the whole, it’s funny. I was in the tin at the Royal Rumble when that was an issue, right in everybody’s face but at the same time is it really an issue because they’re making noise. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are going to fight at the MGM Grand finally. Which sound is the crowd going to be on? Who are the people going to be behind? Who cares? You’re not even thinking about it. You just want to see the product. Nobody’s considering who the fans are going to be behind in this match. Nobody cares. So to me, as long as their in to it and making noise, cheer for whoever you want. John Cena has been steadily booed in arenas for ten years. It doesn’t mean he’s any less popular. It just means sometimes people boo him because he’s that big of a star. The bigger of a star you are, the more backlash and hate you’re going to get. So, it’s not really that big of a deal to me.
To me, it’s all like people love to discuss and dissect and people have no idea … People really don’t know anything about, not that they don’t know anything about wrestling, but, like, people don’t really know what they’re talking about. Anybody can have a — especially in today’s day and age with Twitter and all that crap — everybody on Earth can … If you have a phone and an internet connection you can have a podcast and you can be like ‘oh, let’s discuss this controversy’. It makes it out to be more than it really is because I’m in the towns with him every single night and people cheer for him pretty much every single night. He’s a big freaking star who a lot of people love which means a lot of people are going to hate him too. To me, the whole ‘will the fan accept Roman Reigns?’. Well, they’re going to have to because he’s probably, if he wins the WWE Championship, well, then he’s going to be a big star and you’re going to tune in and watch him every single week and you can write whatever you want on your little blog or whatever. You’re going to watch him every single week on TV and you’re going to pay for the (WWE) Network and you’re going to buy pay-per-views and buy tickets and you’re going to essentially pay his bills. To me, the whole will the fans accept Roman Reigns thing is, I’m pretty bored with that. It’s like creating a story out of … That night at the Rumble it was a story. It was a pretty wild scene, unexpected or not, whatever. To me, it was like, I don’t (pause) I’m not a fan of wrestling because I care what the crowd is doing. I want to watch the match. I want to see these two guys go at it. I want to see how it plays out.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
