By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

Dean Ambrose, who debuted at “Survivor Series” as part of the Shield with Roman Reigns and Tyler Black, is someone to keep an eye on. He has several strengths as a performer. It was immediately apparent to me when watching him on the indy scene that he was going to get the call from WWE.

Ambrose, known as Jon Moxley on the Indy scene, did his most notable work in EVOLVE and DGUSA. It was apparent from his first set of promos posted on YouTube that he was a good talker and, beyond being a good talker, he was someone that could plug into his character and be that person he was trying to portray and do it more convincingly than most independent wresters I’ve seen during the last ten years.

Ambrose reminded me of Heath Leger’s take on The Joker. He presents himself with an edge and is very engaging in the way he talks. You knew just by watching him in his feuds with Homicide and Jimmy Jacobs in DGUSA and EVOLVE that his character "wasn’t all there" and had a dark side. Fans new to Ambrose’s work have only seen a brief glimpse of his promo ability during a pre-taped segment with Michael Cole on Raw, but if you pay attention to his mannerisms while he’s on screen following the destruction caused by the Shield, you can see his character is enjoying inflicting pain on others.

As engaging as Ambrose was on the mic on the independent scene, he wasn’t a guy known for having great technical or high-flying matches. It was his personality and not his in-ring work that drew people in when he feuded with Homicide and Jimmy Jacobs in some extremely personal feuds. Ambrose’s best in-ring matches took place during his feud with Jacobs where they had several really good brawling style matches, which seem to be Ambrose’s strength.

His weaknesses in terms of how far he can go in WWE are his size and whether or not he can adapt to the WWE in-ring style. Ambrose’s isn’t a big guy with huge muscles that is going to grab the attention of WWE management. Given that his strengths as a performer have been the brawling style matches he showcased while he feuded with Homicide and Jacobs, Ambrose is someone who is going to have to prove to WWE management he can adapt to the style of match WWE showcases on television and PPV.

I predict a lot of success for Ambrose. His charisma as a heel and his ability to talk are going to take him far in this business. I don’t see him having much trouble adapting to what WWE wants him to do in the ring given how he’s been introduced as a member of the Shield. The Six Man TLC match that is scheduled to headline WWE’s next PPV is the perfect environment for Ambrose to perform in, but there’s no reason to think he can’t wrestle effective WWE style matches down the line.

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