10 Biggest Breakout Stars Of WWE's Brand Extension
For these ten superstars, success was their only option.
The brand extension that split WWE's enormous roster in 2016 presented several opportunities for superstars, both male and female, to experience career growth and achieve success once thought unimaginable.
A journeyman indie guy took tremendous beatings but translated them into a contract and unforeseen exposure on SmackDown Live. A cheerleader-turned-professional wrestler emerged from mediocrity in NXT to become the centerpiece of not one, but two Women's divisions.
A big man once thought to be Vince McMahon's latest attempt to shove a talentless heavyweight down the throats of the WWE Universe exploded through the glass ceiling and emerged as credible opposition not only to the measuring stick Roman Reigns but, also, box office attraction and Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar.
Then there was the Superstar who leaped out of the unemployment line and back onto television screens, turning his latest chance at stardom into the most unexpected WWE Championship run of the last decade. Maybe ever.
All performers of different backgrounds, all with different stories. At a time when the company was in desperate need of stars to fill out rosters and provide suitable depth, they stepped up.
Opportunity was in abundance - and these 10 Superstars capitalized.
10. James Ellsworth
The chinless wonder that is James Ellsworth was, at one point, a main event player on SmackDown Live.
Yes, the same nameless jobber whose claim to fame was a few internet memes and a decimation at the hands of Braun Strowman was routinely mixing it up with AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose on Tuesday nights.
While absolutely absurd, that is the power of the brand extension.
A lack of depth on the SmackDown roster, and an opportunity for fresh faces to make an impact, led to a journeyman indy star becoming a staple of WWE's B-show.
When main event roles dried up, he settled into the midcard as Carmella's "home boy" manager. Still by her side as the anniversary of the WWE Draft draws near, he regularly interferes on her behalf and even retrieved the Money in the Bank briefcase for her, stirring controversy and igniting nuclear-level heat for The Princess of Staten Island.
His Twitter exchanges and on-screen confrontations with Becky Lynch are wildly entertaining and continue to generate interest in an inter-gender showdown between The Lass Kicker and the most harmless man on the SmackDown Live roster.