Many might say that the most meteoric rise in wrestling this year belongs to AJ Styles. Those people are idiots. The greatest Cinderella story of 2016 is owned and trademarked by the one and only James Ellsworth. Making his WWE debut on a July edition of Raw, Ellsworth became the first man to fight Braun Strowman in what has become a series of one sided squashes for the former Wyatt family member. As of this week, however, he’s also the next man to get a WWE World title shot.
You read that right. Ellsworth, the 31 year old local wrestler from Baltimore, will face AJ Styles for the WWE World championship next week on Smackdown Live. This comes after Styles named Ellsworth as his opponent for the most recent episode of the show, only for Daniel Bryan to add the tiny stipulation of Dean Ambrose as special guest referee. Some referee shenanigans and two Dirty Deeds later, Ellsworth had a pin over the WWE World Champion.
Title Shot
As a reward, WWE have granted Ellsworth a shot at their most prestigious belt. The 14 year ring veteran now joins the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, Billy Graham, Buddy Rogers and Shawn Michaels as one of the elite few to ever compete for wrestling’s top prize. After taking a Styles Clash like a boss on Smackdown the guy probably deserves it too.
wwe.com
Since his first WWE appearance Ellsworth has become something of a memetic internet sensation. Showing up again in September, he very nearly partnered Styles in a tag team match, only to be attacked by Miz. By now, Ellsworth seems to have been fully embraced by the wrestling fan community, who will likely soon be pushing for him to be handed a permanent WWE contract. Far-fetched perhaps, but with Rhyno’s political career likely to take him away from the ring soon, Heath Slater could do worse in his search for a new tag team partner.
What do you guys think? Are you more excited for the return of Bill Goldberg, or the unstoppable James Ellsworth? Remember – any man with two hands has a fighting chance.
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