Credit: WWE.com

WWE has to avoid pushing red-hot star Dean Ambrose into Bugs Bunny territory.

The company has to maintain his current balance of crazy and cartoonish, not lean more toward the latter. The last thing WWE wants is to turn one of its most compelling babyfaces into a joke.

During Ambrose's recent time in the spotlight, he's been presented as both a dangerous, unstable anti-hero and a goofball. It's the moments in which WWE has The Lunatic Fringe dip into the world of visual gags that should have his fans nervous going forward.

On Monday's Raw, Ambrose entertained the fans in Kansas City, Missouri, by abusing a Seth Rollins dummy in the ring.

Credit: WWE.com

Puns poured out of him as he attacked the doll with tongs, a saw and a drill. It was a scene meant to show Ambrose's nuttiness and seething hatred for Rollins. Ambrose made the odd moment work.

Still, there was a lot of cheap humor here, the kind of wordplay that is usually Jerry Lawler's contribution to the program.

This isn't the direction WWE should be pressing toward. Ambrose may dip into silliness, but too much of this has him slide toward comedic-character status.

Earlier this month, Ambrose inspired more chuckling when he commandeered a hot dog cart and played the condiment gunslinger as Randy Orton and Kane approached him.

Squirting ketchup and mustard into his foes' faces was fun but not exactly the work of a dark anti-hero. It was too much like John Cena covering Michael Cole in barbecue sauce and not enough like Steve Austin blowing up the DX Express.

Cena's act was childish; Austin's was an act of destructive rebellion.

It makes more sense to have Ambrose be more dangerous than funny. The Lunatic Fringe can be as defiant as Austin and as unpredictable as Roddy Piper. Achieving that going forward will require WWE to pass on sillier narrative options.

Credit: WWE.com

Having him fill a ring with steel chairs a la Daniel Bryan fits his character more than setting up a green spray as a booby trap.

Have him be the nut willing to leap from any height in order to hurt his enemy. Have him brawl with Rollins in the parking lot. Just never have him dump feces on anyone.

That's partly what has hurt Sheamus. He's been too much of a jokester as a face. Having him pass gas in Alberto Del Rio's car or star in 1-800-Fella spots are exactly the kind of things WWE needs to avoid with Ambrose.

In his pre-WWE career, Ambrose evoked comparisons to Heath Ledger's Joker. He was a snarling predator, a self-proclaimed "sick guy" and a wound-up maniac looking to punch someone. This is where Ambrose is at his best.

He's unique, compelling, edgy.

Those traits become less true the more pranks he pulls and the more he becomes associated with using food as weapons. WWE has two distinct paths it can take with its next potential megastar.

One road has him making flatulence jokes; the other has him being the ass-kicker he was born to be.