There's no question that Ambrose will need to lose at some point, but having him face defeat against RVD would've been the wrong move. Van Dam is the type of Superstar Ambrose can defeat to take the next step in his career, discovering even more validity. With that being said, this simply wasn't the proper stage. By protecting both Ambrose and Van Dam, the WWE sets up the potential for a stipulation match. Van Dam can then either defeat Ambrose in a less damaging manner or the voice of The Shield can pick up a career-altering victory. Even if Ambrose is to lose the United States Championship, and it may well come against RVD, there's a better time to do so than at SummerSlam. This isn't to detract from the pay-per-view's power, but Ambrose's match against Van Dam wasn't on the SummerSlam pay-per-view. It was on the pre-show. If Ambrose would've suffered defeat on the pre-show, he would've been robbed of a great deal of momentum. Not only would Ambrose have lost his title, but he would've done so without competing on a main show. That's parallel to a champion losing their belt on Main Event or Superstars. Fortunately, the WWE recognized the danger in that approach, thus preserving Ambrose's star power. In turn, the company kept Ambrose as one of the biggest second-tier Superstars in WWE and has granted him the opportunity to continue working toward the main event. A move that was necessary to protect its rising star.