What Happened To EVERY Wrestler On WWE Breaking Ground

Velveteen Dreams and career nightmares - the highs and lows of the Performance Center projects.

Velveteen Dream
WWE

As Breaking Ground cameras rolled between the Performance Center and Full Sail University during the Autumn of 2015, it really was all to play for. Things were far from perfect, but the notion was hiding in plain sight.

Earlier that year, Tough Enough had been yet another putrid-but-profitable proof of concept for the "reality show doesn't equal talent development" principle, whilst WWE's main roster had been rather slapdash in its pillaging of the supremely talented NXT women's division. WrestleMania had dropped Daniel Bryan into the midcard before injuries benched him entirely and CM Punk definitely definitely wasn't coming back.

But it didn't matter anymore - NXT had filled the hole. 2014's Arrival was the first live Network broadcast, and served as a jumping on point for many fans that had heard but not seen Triple H's vanity/passion project coming to life in Orlando. The product was magnificent and getting better, so much so that by 2015 it was able to sell out Barclays Center and comfortably outperform SummerSlam the next night.

What a time to be on the rise in WWE. What a time to be Breaking Ground...

(These are all those not currently working on the main roster when the programmed aired - hence the lack of by-then main roster regular Sasha Banks and a few special guest drop-ins along the way. The various faces were spotted upon careful rewatch by WhatCulture's chief NXT correspondent Adam Nicholas. Did we miss any? As usual, let us know in the comments below)

61. Baron Corbin

Velveteen Dream
WWE

Corbin was a fascinating and insular character on Breaking Ground and held on to the latter of those traits during his bumpy main roster ride. He's finally over as the company's King Of The Ring, and has at least found the middle ground between being loathed as a money-drawing heel rather than a total bore.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett