Roman Reigns and the 6 Best Dean Ambrose Feuds WWE Fans Were Robbed Of

Following a seven-year stint on WWE's main roster, the company has announced that Dean Ambrose is set to depart once his contract expires in April.

Ambrose has enjoyed great success in WWE and is a former world champion, as well as a two-time United States champion, three-time intercontinental champion, two-time Raw tag team champion and Mr. Money in the Bank. He will also be remembered as a member of The Shield, one of the greatest stables in modern WWE history.

In recent months, though, there has been nothing extraordinary about Ambrose. His long-awaited heel turn in October was badly botched, and the rivalry he had with Seth Rollins thereafter fell well below fan expectations.

If WWE's overly scripted promos and his character's lack of creative direction are his biggest gripes with the company, it's hard to blame him for wanting to leave. It's possible he wants to take his talents elsewhere, or perhaps he's just looking for a bit of a break from wrestling.

Either way, Ambrose's departure will be a major blow to WWE, as he has been quite the workhorse for the company since his arrival on the scene in 2012. Only last year, he spent time on the sidelines with an injury, so his absence would be felt if he leaves after WrestleMania 35.

There's no telling what he will be involved in en route to The Show of Shows, but it likely won't be anything of note considering his status. For as many memorable moments and matches as he has given the WWE Universe over the past six years, there are still several never-done-before rivalries we won't be able to see ahead of his exit.

These are the six best Ambrose feuds fans may have been robbed of.

It's almost unbelievable that for as many times Ambrose and Seth Rollins have faced off over the years, he and Roman Reigns have only had one singles match against each other on the main roster.

Unfortunately, their sole one-on-one encounter was a massive disappointment. It occurred in the main event of Survivor Series 2015, during which they collided for the then-vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and both men were babyface.

They were short on time, as the matchup was merely a backdrop for what would happen afterward, with Sheamus cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Reigns. Worse yet, they were never given the opportunity to redeem themselves with a rematch, let alone engage in a feud with one another.

Ambrose would have been the perfect person to pair Reigns with upon the latter's return to the ring. After all, The Lunatic Fringe betrayed Seth Rollins the same night Reigns announced his leukemia had returned, so fans would have looked forward to seeing The Big Dog's reaction.

The Lunatic could have been built up as the top heel on Raw in Reigns' absence, and by the time he was ready to fight again, it could have been a high-profile program over the Universal Championship.

Alas, Ambrose vs. Reigns was never meant to be as a full-blown feud.

Ambrose has mixed it up with almost every former NXT star at one point or another, but he and Finn Balor have somehow eluded each other throughout their respective runs on the main roster.

The Irishman returned to Raw following a long layoff one night removed from WrestleMania 33, while Ambrose was moved back to the flagship in the 2017 Superstar Shake-up the following week. Despite that, it was rare that they crossed paths outside of the occasional multi-man match.

In fact, the only interaction they have had in the ring as opponents occurred on the Jan. 7 edition of Raw, when they were on opposite sides of a six-man tag team bout. It served as a small preview of what fans could expect if they were to clash for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 35, but Ambrose dropped the belt before the feud could come to fruition.

WWE might have missed out on pulling the trigger on this feud when it would have made most sense. Now, there's nothing for them to fight over, though it would be a solid addition to the undercard at WrestleMania 35 if the company decided to go in that direction.

There would have been something exciting about the idea of these two anomalies doing battle and showing the world what makes them such tremendous talents.

Samoa Joe made an enemy out of The Shield in late 2017 and aimed to dismantle the stable member by member. When he and Ambrose went one-on-one for the first time on an episode of Raw that December, Joe emerged victorious following Jason Jordan's interference.

That wasn't all, though, as Joe proceeded to add insult to injury by ambushing Ambrose backstage the following week. The angle was done to explain the legitimate injury The Lunatic Fringe had already suffered and to write him off WWE TV until he was cleared to compete again.

Sadly, Joe was drafted to SmackDown Live in April before Ambrose could return from injury, so their rivalry was never resumed. If The Lunatic decides to stick around once his contract expires post-WrestleMania, it would be great to see them finally settle their score.

The promos alone would have been fantastic considering how both guys possess the gift of gab. Just imagine The Samoan Submission Machine annihilating Ambrose on the mic the same way he did the SmackDown Live locker room on Tuesday night.

Additionally, Joe and Ambrose could have had some hard-hitting, physical wars against each other.

Their sole singles match together was solid but happened when The Lunatic was injured and still going through the motions, so a motivated and intense Ambrose versus a destructive and dominant Joe would be something special.

Ambrose and Randy Orton have had a handful of matches against each other since 2013, both in singles and tag team action, yet they were never involved in a full-fledged feud together despite their similarities inside and outside of the ring.

Orton crossed paths with The Shield often throughout 2013, not to mention Ambrose was targeted by The Authority for the better part of the following year as well. All of their matches together ranged from good to great, but the timing was never right for them to feud for an extended period of time.

At SummerSlam 2014, Ambrose faced off with Seth Rollins while Orton took on Roman Reigns. Seeing as how The Lunatic Fringe was a white-hot fan favorite at the time, that would have been the perfect pay-per-view to have them wage war, especially as Ambrose cooled off significantly in the months that followed.

The Viper typically does his best work when he has an exciting opponent to go up against. Granted, Ambrose isn't the flashiest in the ring, but his unmatched charisma, connection to the crowd and above-average abilities on the mic more than make up for that, thus making these two a great fit for one another.

Both guys are hated heels and are separated by the Brand Split, but their chemistry is strong enough that fans likely wouldn't have minded seeing them going at it regardless. Babyface Ambrose would have been a fun foil for heel Orton, but no matter their roles, it would have been a riveting rivalry.

Although they have never engaged in a one-on-one feud, Daniel Bryan and Ambrose are no strangers to one another.

Their bad blood dates back as far as late 2013, when The Shield made life miserable for The Beard, and Ambrose and Bryan collided in singles action on more than one occasion around that time.

They also briefly interacted in the buildup to WrestleMania 31, when both men were vying for the Intercontinental Championship. The Yes! Man suffered an injury soon after and retired from the ring the following year, leaving fans to wonder what an Ambrose vs. Bryan feud would have looked like.

Bryan was cleared to compete again in March 2018, but the Brand Split has keep them apart since then. Interestingly enough, they turned heel around the same time late last year, but the WWE champion has been far more compelling in the role thanks to being given better material to work with.

At the end of the day, Bryan is a natural babyface and can be cheered against almost anyone he steps into the ring with. That's what would have made a feud between him and a heel Ambrose so interesting.

The Lunatic Fringe could score huge heat for beating down Bryan, getting personal with him and ensuring he never experienced success as long as he was around.

The simple story of Bryan giving Ambrose his comeuppance and exacting revenge for all the pain and punishment the latter could have caused him would have been too good to pass up.

Regrettably, WWE never got around to booking this feud as a result of Bryan's inactivity for most of Ambrose's singles run.

Between becoming WWE champion and being SmackDown Live's first overall draft pick, it can be argued 2016 was Ambrose's peak year in WWE.

He was positioned as the face of the blue brand straight from the get-go, even over John Cena. It wasn't until he dropped the title to AJ Styles in September 2016 that he began to fall down the card a bit and become frustrated with Cena's return to apparently steal his spotlight.

One of the best promos Ambrose ever cut in WWE came on the Sept. 20, 2016, edition of Talking Smack, when he held nothing back in criticizing Cena, even calling him a "lazy part-timer." He beat the 16-time world champion clean as a whistle earlier that evening on SmackDown, so that would have been an ideal time for them to feud.

Both men were unsuccessful in their pursuit of the WWE title at the No Mercy pay-per-view that October, but there was unfinished business between them that could have been revisited on a future show. WWE chose not to follow up on their animosity and instead stayed the course with Ambrose as a babyface, which was a massive mistake.

It came a little later than expected, but Ambrose finally turned heel in October 2018. If he hadn't already made up his mind that he was leaving the company, he and Cena could have had a must-see match at WrestleMania 35.

Fresh feuds are few and far between these days for Cena. Ambrose was the one Superstar who could have been a remarkable rival for him but will seemingly never get the chance to be.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.