10 Biggest Breakout Stars Of WWE's Brand Extension

In 2016, the idea of a monstrous heavyweight emerging from the dark abyss of the WWE midcard and bulldozing his way to the top of the card was not an appealing one. After all, muscle-bound big men could not work, they were not entertaining and they took spots away from more talented veterans of the independent scene.

Or so the internet professed.

Braun Strowman, the former big man of The Wyatt Family, set out to prove doubters wrong. He began his journey to sports-entertainment stardom by obliterating James Ellsworth in a disturbingly entertaining squash match. For weeks, he ran over jobbers before graduating to a midcard program with Sami Zayn, which culminated in The Monster Among Men running over The Underdog from the Underground with reckless abandon.

With every passing week, the reaction to Strowman grew louder, and his place on the Raw roster grew more significant. Interactions with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho suggested management saw him as a main event star. The strength of his booking, the manner in which his character was not held to the same tired booking tropes that had hurt WWE programming...all of it helped catapult him to the top of the card and into the hearts of the WWE faithful.

A feud with Roman Reigns was the icing on the cake; a stamp of approval from management. Wins over The Big Dog and rumors of a Universal Championship showdown with Brock Lesnar signified the arrival of Strowman and the greatest big man the company had produced since Batista.