A bout with little story and less hype still has a chance to be a loud statement from both men. Told well, their tale could leave both Harper and Ambrose poised for bigger things.
The focus should be on painting Harper as a dangerous beast and Ambrose as a gutsy, nutty brawler in the vein of Mick Foley.
The Chicago Street Fight is the ideal vehicle to do that. It throws weapons and broken furniture into a fray involving two men who thrive on mayhem.
WWE can make this a fun-but-forgettable bit of brutality or a way to propel both men. To do the latter, the first step is to have Harper vs. Ambrose open the show.
It will set the tone for the rest of the night, as it promises to be among the most violent contests on a night WWE bills as its most extreme. Letting it go on first allows it to have an audience that isn't yet drained.
Then the chaos can begin.
An Early Mistake
WWE has shied away from it recently, but the company often portrayed Ambrose as a man who suffered pain that would fell most men but kept on fighting. A taped shoulder or a bad wheel didn't stop him from flinging himself around the ring.
That's a character trait that needs to be revisited here.
Not long after this slugfest begins, have Ambrose leap from the top rope outside the ring, looking to land an elbow drop on Harper. The big man evades him, though, and throws him into the announce table.
Ambrose is hurt. He clutches his ribs, grimacing. The medical staff looks him over, but he shoves them aside. He has a war to wage.
Surviving the Monster's Wrath
It's then Harper's turn to show off his destructive power. He hurls Ambrose into the guardrail, beats him with a steel chair and dishes out his usual injurious offense.
Harper hasn't had enough chances to look like a monster of late.
He's been too busy losing quick matches to guys like Ryback. WWE should make sure to use this Street Fight as a means to create a number of lasting, violent images featuring the bearded brute.
Have him dominate. Have him focus on Ambrose's ribs with a succession of weapons he finds under the ring.
Ambrose struggles to fight back. His ribs hurt every time he throws a punch or takes one of Harper's shots with a Kendo stick. A low blow gives The Lunatic Fringe a brief respite as he tries to recover from the beating he experiences.
A Victory Well-Earned
After kicking out several times and struggling to stand after Harper's haymakers, Ambrose mounts a comeback.
He starts to embrace the pain, smiles and goes on the attack. Much like Shawn Michaels against Edge in 2005, Ambrose gets revved up, looking rabid.
Ambrose whips Harper with his belt. He hits a superplex onto a trash can. With one hand still on his injured ribs and a wicked grin across his mouth, he then starts to toss chairs into the ring.
Harper has one last flurry left in him as the two men trade big right hands. They each wobble. They each need the ropes to pull themselves up.
Ambrose then hits two Dirty Deeds in a row onto the chairs on the mat. That's enough to keep Harper down. That's how The Lunatic Fringe can get his first pay-per-view win since leaving The Shield.
Roman Reigns has to come down and help Ambrose to the back.
Harper makes his way to his feet once both men are gone. He grabs one of the chairs and heads into the locker room, not yet ready to stop swinging. Later on, we see him bump into Neville backstage. Harper is in pursuit of Ambrose but starts to argue with Neville and ends up smacking him to the ground with the chair.
The big man now has a new feud ahead of him. Ambrose, on the other hand, has battled his way into the Intercontinental Championship picture.