10 Biggest Breakout Stars Of WWE's Brand Extension

2. Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal was out of work when WWE re-established the brand extension. Fired by WWE in 2014, he was an afterthought in the industry, a former enhancement talent akin to a flash in the pan. He was forgotten and insignificant.

Out of sight, out of mind.

The roster split brought with it a necessity for more talent. Enter Mahal, who returned to Raw and his status as a glorified jobber. He appeared regularly, putting over guys such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor but never appeared to be the recipient of any upward mobility.

Then came WrestleMania 33, where he bumped around for New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski and was the final man eliminated from the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Few could have imagined at the time but management had effectively positioned him for a major post-Mania run.

Sent to SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shake-Up, he quickly became the No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship and spent weeks scoring wins over AJ Styles and Sami Zayn ahead of his showdown with Randy Orton over the top prize in sports entertainment.

At Backlash, he did the unthinkable by defeating Orton to win the title, completing the most unexpected and unlikely ascension in WWE history.

A win over The Viper in a Money in the Bank pay-per-view rematch announced to the world that The Modern Day Maharaja was here to stay.