43 Days

It's been 43 days since Dean Ambrose became the WWE World Champion. Even saying that aloud sounds unbelievable but for a good reason. No one believed that Ambrose would ever get to be in the top guy spot where his fellow brethren, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, stayed at. He was viewed as a great utility guy; to help build interest and hype for a match and to take the loss in the end to put his opponent over. WWE held The Shield in high regards and was proud of its 3 Superstars, and yet the treatment they gave to Rollins and Reigns was never extended to Ambrose. WWE has a saying in the Performance Center that perfectly summed up what happened with Ambrose in the last year: "You're not here to fill a spot. You're here to take a spot." And that's exactly what he did.

Ever since MITB, Ambrose was viewed as a transitional champion. Skeptics couldn't buy him as a long-term champion like Rollins and Reigns, let alone a main eventer. In the final week leading up to Battlground, he had 3 successful title defenses and proved to be the best of The Shield. That is arguably a way more satisfying payoff for him and for his fans compared to his cash-in, and it built him up as a legitimate main eventer. And on Smack Down, where he was Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan's #1 pick, he was treated as a big deal alongside John Cena, AJ Styles, and Randy Orton. Even a transitional champ doesn't get this kind of treatment.

In less than 3 weeks from now, he and Dolph Ziggler are one of the headlining matches for Summerslam, which includes Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor for the WWE Universal Championship, and the brand-vs-brand match with Randy Orton vs Brock Lesnar. It's remarkable considering that just last year, Ambrose and Reigns were in a filler feud with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. Now he's finally earned WWE's trust in making him both the face of the company and a true babyface champ who doesn't get booed by the fans.

I actually don't mind whether Ambrose drops the title at Summerslam or at the Smack Down exclusive PPV, Backlash. As a fan, it was truly a wonderful payoff to see Ambrose become a champion and end his story with The Shield. I can't wait to see where else he goes from here.