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When WWE decides to push a Superstar to the main event scene, they usually start slow. The Superstar gets regular wins and builds up momentum, getting over with the WWE fans in the process. This may take months or years, depending on different cases.
Long-term booking plans are extremely rewarding if carried out smoothly and WWE has had bucketloads of stars who have been built up over a period of time en route to their first WWE World Championship.
However, that is not the case for everyone. There have been several examples of a WWE Superstar getting a sudden push towards the world title. It may have arisen due to shock value, a last-minute change, or the intention of building a new megastar.
While WWE usually takes their time with prospective main-eventers, they have strapped the proverbial rocket on some Superstars all the way to the WWE or Universal Championship from out of nowhere.
Here are five WWE Superstars who got world title pushes out of the blue.
#5 JBL
Right after WrestleMania 20, SmackDown's main event scene was pretty bare. Eddie Guerrero was the WWE Champion, but the two top heels of the brand were gone. Kurt Angle had some neck problems, while Brock Lesnar quit the company. WWE had to fast-track a heel challenger for Guerrero's title, especially since Triple H's move to the Blue brand was immediately reversed.
Enter Bradshaw, the popular Texan brawler, and member of the APA (Acolytes Protection Agency), alongside Farooq.
After his partner got fired, Bradshaw transformed into John "Bradshaw" Layfield. He instantly entered the main-event picture and had a couple of tremendous WWE Title bouts with the Latino Heat. JBL won the belt at the Great American Bash, around 3 months after donning the suit and the cowboy hat.
It was a stunning ascension for the former Acolyte, who would go on to hold the WWE Championship for 280 days. JBL's rise to the top was so quick and sudden, showing WWE's incredible ability to adapt to certain situations.
#4 Braun Strowman
Before the coronavirus pandemic destroyed a lot of WWE's plans for WrestleMania 36, there was no telling if Braun Strowman would even be a part of the main card. He had just lost the Intercontinental Championship in a Handicap Match to Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber, with his momentum as low as ever.
However, he found an opening. Roman Reigns was set to win the Universal Championship from Goldberg at the 'Show of Shows', but after the Big Dog pulled out of the tapings for personal safety reasons, WWE was left scrambling for a new Superstar to win the Universal Chmapionship at the last minute.
The Monster Among Men ended up in Reigns' position, defeating Goldberg to win the Universal Championship. It was an anticlimactic way for Strowman to win his first world title after years of losing such matches despite being really over with the fans. However, WWE had no choice in this scenario.
Braun Strowman's inclusion in this match was never explained in a storyline, making it feel even more sudden than it probably was. Nevertheless, he is making the most of this opportunity as the Universal Champion, still standing strong with the big blue belt.
#3 Finn Balor
During the spring of 2016, Finn Balor kept on teasing the WWE Universe about his call-up from NXT to the main roster. Ever since he lost the NXT Championship to Samoa Joe, there was no telling just when the Irishman would show up on RAW. He eventually debuted as part of the WWE Draft in July 2016.
Balor was the number 5 pick, indicating that WWE had huge plans for him right from the get-go. While it seemed like the founder of the Bullet Club would gradually move up the ranks on RAW, he got the rocket strapped on him immediately. And this rocket was going straight to the moon.
On his first night on the Red brand, Finn Balor competed twice and won both matches. First, he defeated Kevin Owens, Rusev, and Cesaro in a Fatal 4-way match, before shocking everybody by pinning Roman Reigns clean as a whistle in the main event. As a result, Balor was headed to SummerSlam to face Seth Rollins and be crowned the inaugural Universal Champion.
The Demon reigned supreme at SummerSlam, capping off possibly the greatest first month any debuting WWE Superstar has ever had. Unfortunately, Balor's reign was cruelly cut short due to a shoulder injury suffered during the title match and he hasn't reached those unbelievable heights on the main roster again.
#2 Jinder Mahal
This might be the most outrageous push on this list, simply because of the low position Jinder Mahal occupied in WWE directly prior to his shocking rise up the card. At WrestleMania 33, he was getting tackled by Rob Gronkowski during the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. A few weeks later, Mahal was next in line to challenge for the WWE Championship.
Similar to JBL's push, there was no in-between period. But at least Bradshaw was a substantial character on the show. The Modern-Day Maharaja did not even show a sign of momentum when he became the number one contender, even if he was putting in the work away from our screens.
And then at Backlash, he stunned everybody by defeating Randy Orton for the WWE Title. Jinder Mahal went from losing almost every match on RAW to being the WWE Champion on SmackDown in a month, with some help from the Singh Brothers.
The change in Mahal's position in WWE was sudden and massive, something that nobody would have predicted when he was drafted over to SmackDown. Jinder Mahal did a decent job as the villainous Champion, but the nature of his push caught everybody by surprise.
#1 Sheamus
In a moment that was as shocking as, if not more than Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship from Randy Orton, Sheamus defeated John Cena in late-2009 to win the WWE Title. Mind you, this was Cena in his prime as the face of the company, coming off strong showings against Randy Orton in an hour-long Iron Man Match, as well as Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat.
Sheamus had only debuted in WWE in June of that year, pulverizing his way through ECW before moving to RAW. Less than two months after debuting on the Red brand, the Celtic Warrior put John Cena through a table to win the WWE Championship at the TLC pay-per-view.
It took Sheamus only 166 days to become WWE Champion, with his ascension to the main-event scene coming astonishingly quick after his RAW debut. Also, seeing the 'Leader of the Cenation' sell like he did that night put Sheamus over with WWE Univers.
However, despite winning the WWE Championship out of the blue, Sheamus rarely got to win clean. He never got a decisive victory over either Cena or Randy Orton during his first two world title reigns in 2009 and 2010, with an Extreme Rules victory over Triple H being the Celtic Warrior's only big clean win since beating Cena at TLC.
