WWE’s Biggest Breakout Superstars of 2017

Andrade
Andrade

It could be said that WWE doesn’t quite grasp when the perfect time is to pull the trigger with some of their superstars, but for every missed bus is a superstar who broke through as one of the hottest products of their own accord. Now it’s over to you, faithful readers, to decide who should take the award for being WWE’s biggest breakout star of the year.

 

1. Pete Dunne

Pete Dunne NXT Champion

The Bruiserweight has just lived a career-making year. Starting off as part of the UK Championship Tournament cohort, Dunne attracted major attention after ‘making a name for himself’, standing out from the majority of the Brit superstars as being someone who could play the perfect heel and deliver a fantastic match in the meantime. Some believed the UK title was made for Dunne following his performances, but it wasn’t until NXT: Takeover Chicago for the title to fall into his hands.

After competing in a show-stealing MOTY candidate against Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne went on to become one of the most talked about prospects on the entire WWE roster. The UK title scene has been a rare feature on TV, but you can be assured that whenever Dunne shows up, he’ll be over with any crowd. Debuting on Raw this past November as part of the annual UK tour, Dunne has proved himself to be a huge asset to WWE in just under a year. I see nothing but huge things for Pete in the big leagues.

 

2. Elias

Elias Samson
Source: WWE.com

The man formerly known as Samson didn’t really have the most poetic call-ups, having lost to Kassius Ohno in a ‘loser leaves NXT’ match, it didn’t quite feel like Elias was going to naturally slide into a spot on Raw or Smackdown. Luckily, WWE writers managed to ‘get’ the character, and had him randomly pop up in the middle of an episode of Raw just to make his presence known. He didn’t really do much of anything, he was just sort of there.

Eventually, Elias was scheduled to compete in a match and instantly impressed. Having feuds with the likes of Finn Balor and Jason Jordan, it seems that he’s found his place as a mid-card heel, allowing Elias to truly shine and show off his impressive ability to generate nuclear heat from absolutely every crowd member. Elias may be relegated to the losing side of 8-man tags on house shows, but it’s hard to deny that he’s a huge success for WWE. Having a character which is universally hated for just showing up under a spotlight is a rare feat for most of the roster.

Do I see Elias winning much in the way of championships anytime soon? Probably not, but I’m very proud to see him fit in so well with the main roster and stand out as one of the most matured characters of 2017.

 

3. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas

Andrade-Cien-Almas
Source: WrestleNews

Almas’ debut on NXT was lukewarm at best. Nobody really knew how to take him, being told to accept him as a plucky latino babyface – a la Eddie Guerrero – but not seeing enough of him or his personality to really get behind him. As with most characters, writers soon resorted to turning him heel this past year. Since then, Almas has been able to flourish under his new aggressive in-ring style, delivering phenomenal matches against the likes of Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano and most recently, Drew McIntyre.

Almas’ biggest downfall was his mic-skills, which isn’t something to really hold against someone who is held back by a language barrier. Thankfully, WWE managed to find a saving grace with Zelina Vega, Andrade’s new manageress who has essentially become fem-Heyman. Speaking on behalf of Almas during promos has really added to Andrade’s character, presenting him in more of a credible aura than he had started off with. Not only that, but she has been a presence at ringside for him also, generating more heat for him on a weekly basis.

Here we are at the end of the year and Almas is currently holding onto the NXT Championship. Strange to see how much things can change over the course of a year, but I for one am happy for the former LIJ member, who will definitely carry on delivering top-quality matches at the top of the card in 2018.

 

4. The Fashion Police (Fandango & Tyler Breeze)

Fashion Files

A tag team which I’m sure most of us had written off as being too gimmicky was Breezango. The tandem of Breeze and Fandango became a regular haunt in squash matches, usually putting over whichever babyface tag team was on the rise. Somewhere down the line, The Fashion Police must have impressed someone backstage, as they found themselves with a shot against The Usos for the Smackdown Tag titles, in what was becoming a true underdog story.

Throughout this feud, Breeze and Dango turned their gimmick up to eleven and began The Fashion Files saga. An ongoing case against uggos and threats to fashion sense, the duo have spent each week deducing backstage and providing us fans with some of the most interesting and hilarious skits on a weekly basis. It goes to show that we have entered a new fad in wrestling, non-scripted segments and creative control is the way to get yourself over, just look at the likes of The New Day, whose silly antics have made them one of the most successful tag teams of this generation.

The Fashion Police remain one of the most popular acts on any card, purely because of these 5 minute parodies. It’s different, it’s unique and it’s over.

They’re also totally on this list for getting The Ascension over as well.

 

5. Aleister Black

Aleister Black
Source: TeamRock

It’s hard to not mention Velveteen Dream at this point, after having the breakout performance of the year against one Aleister Black at the last Takeover special, but it’s hard to deny that Black has had a breakout performance at more than just one this year. The Dutchman has destroyed the mid-card scene on NXT, creating this dangerous aura surrounding his mysterious character that is on the fringe of becoming one of the biggest things in NXT.

Black has put on incredible matches against the likes of Andrade Almas, Hideo Itami and of course, Velveteen Dream, even having some lesser known classics on NXT TV against names like Kassius Ohno. His grungey nature fits the NXT brand perfectly and he’s one of the names that should definitely be looked at to take NXT and wrestling overall into a new era.

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