Every WWE Breakout Star from 2008-2018: Where are they now?

In sports, it can sometimes be considered somewhat of a burden when an up-and-coming talent is named Young Player of the Year or Rising Star of the Future.

For example, in soccer/football, legendary players including Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero won the sport’s Golden Boy award early on in their careers, and they went on to live up to the hype by becoming two of the greatest goalscorers of their generation.

Other players who won the award, such as Anderson and Alexandre Pato, excelled in the early days of their careers but ultimately failed to fulfil the potential that they showed as youngsters.

So, what does this have to do with WWE? Well, the sports entertainment alternative to this award is the annual Breakout Star of the Year category, which has featured eight times in WWE’s Slammy Awards and NXT’s Year-End Awards since it was first introduced in 2008.

With the 2019 prizes set to be handed out over the next couple of months, let’s take a look at every winner of the award from 2008-2018 to find out whether those Superstars went on to achieve success in WWE after receiving praise for their early work with the company.

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#8 Vladimir Kozlov (2008)

In 2008, Vladimir Kozlov was named WWE’s Breakout Star of the Year ahead of Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne and Ted DiBiase Jr.

The Ukrainian debuted in April of that year and began to destroy opponents in quick fashion, much like how Braun Strowman and Nia Jax started their singles careers on the main roster.

Towards the end of 2008, Kozlov became involved in a WWE Championship storyline with Triple H and Edge. However, that turned out to be the highlight of his singles run in WWE, as he soon became part of a comedy tag team with Santino Marella.

Nowadays, Kozlov works as an actor and stuntman, and it was announced in September that 451 Media Group will develop a series based on an all-new mythical character – Rogan, God of Gods – which will be played by the former WWE Tag Team Champion.

It’s Monday don’t forget to be awesome ! New day ! New week ! New goal ! #rogan @ipzUSA @zitopartners @451official @wwe pic.twitter.com/uwMylzfs9S

— Vladimir Kozlov (@WWEKozlov) November 4, 2019

#7 Sheamus (2009)

Few WWE Superstars have achieved more success in their first year on the main roster than Sheamus.

In June 2009, the Irishman defeated a local talent on his ECW debut before getting involved in a rivalry with Goldust. Although he made a good impression early on, nobody expected the newcomer to win the WWE Championship within six months of his debut, but that is exactly what happened when “The Celtic Warrior” defeated John Cena at TLC in December 2009.

Drew McIntyre, Yoshi Tatsu and Abraham Washington were also nominated for 2009’s Breakout Star of the Year, but there was no way that anyone other than Sheamus would win the award.

Fast forward a decade and the former WWE Champion’s legacy as a future Hall of Famer is well and truly cemented. Not only did he go on to claim another three World Championships, but he also won the King of the Ring (2010), Royal Rumble (2012), Money In The Bank (2015) and United States Championship (x2), while he held the Tag Team titles on five occasions with Cesaro.

As of the time of writing, Sheamus has been off television for the last five months, and he wants to challenge for the one title that he has not won – the Intercontinental Championship – when he returns.

#6 The Shield (2013)

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose burst onto the WWE scene as the dominant Shield faction in late 2012, but it was not until 2013 that they truly established themselves as the company’s next main-event Superstars.

One of the highlights of their year came at Extreme Rules, where Ambrose won the United States Championship and Rollins & Reigns won the Tag Team titles, while they also picked up big victories over the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton.

Big E, Fandango and The Wyatt Family were also nominated for 2013's Breakout Star of the Year, but it is fair to say that The Shield were the standout choice to pick up that year’s prize.

We will discuss Ambrose’s whereabouts later in this article (hint, hint). As for Rollins and Reigns, both men have gone on to become multi-time World Champions over the last six years, with Reigns even headlining WrestleMania on four occasions.

When fans make their lists for the top WWE Superstars of the last decade, neither would look out of place in the top five.

#5 Dean Ambrose (2014)

One year after winning WWE’s Breakout Star of the Year as part of The Shield, Dean Ambrose claimed the award again following his work as a singles competitor in 2014.

“The Lunatic Fringe” separated from Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns midway through the year and quickly became one of the company’s most popular babyfaces in the months that followed, despite WWE originally planning to turn him heel.

He feuded with fellow up-and-comers Rollins and Bray Wyatt in the second half of 2014, earning another Breakout Star of the Year award ahead of Rusev, Paige, Rollins and Reigns.

Although Ambrose had plenty of success in WWE, notably in 2016 when he won the WWE Championship, he decided to leave the company when his contract expired at the end of April 2019.

Nowadays, the former Shield member (now known as Jon Moxley) is one of the biggest stars on the AEW roster, with his most recent match – an unsanctioned encounter against Kenny Omega at Full Gear – proving to be one of the most talked-about matches of the year.

#4 Neville (2015)

Neville ended 2014 by losing the NXT Championship against Sami Zayn in one of the greatest matches in the history of the black and gold brand.

The following year, the high-flyer moved to WWE’s main roster, where he made an instant impression in matches against the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Bad News Barrett and Seth Rollins.

One of his biggest 2015 highlights came when he teamed with Stephen Amell to defeat Barrett and Stardust in a tag team match at SummerSlam, while he also came within milliseconds of defeating Rollins for the WWE Championship on an episode of RAW.

WWE had plenty of big names in the Breakout Star of the Year category in 2015, including Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman, Tyler Breeze and Charlotte Flair, but Neville was chosen as the winner.

Like Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose), Neville joined AEW earlier in 2019. Now known as PAC, he suffered a loss against Adam Page at the recent Full Gear pay-per-view.

#3 The IIconics (2016)

Followers of WWE’s social media platforms may remember The IIconics’ Billie Kay and Peyton Royce pestering other members of the NXT roster to vote for them as the NXT Breakout Stars of the Year in 2016.

Well, the Aussie duo ended up getting their wish, as they won the award after receiving more Twitter votes than Andrade, Ember Moon, No Way Jose and SAnitY.

Kay and Royce spent another year on NXT before finally joining WWE’s main roster as members of the SmackDown brand in April 2018, and they instantly made their presence felt by helping Carmella win the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Charlotte Flair.

Other than their victories in their home country of Australia, The IIconics’ most notable accomplishment in WWE came at WrestleMania 35 when they won the Women’s Tag Team titles in a Fatal 4-Way match.

Now, three years on from their Breakout Star of the Year award, the former NXT Superstars have established themselves as key members of the women’s division.

#2 Aleister Black (2017)

Not only did Aleister Black beat Bobby Roode, Drew McIntyre, Andrade and Roderick Strong to the NXT Male Competitor of the Year award in 2017, but he was also named the brand’s Breakout Star of the Year ahead of Andrade, The Undisputed Era, Sonya Deville, Ruby Riott, Velveteen Dream and Lars Sullivan.

“The Dutch Destroyer” began the year as NXT’s newest high-profile signing and he ended it with a victory over Velveteen Dream at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, earning both men the Rivalry of the Year award.

After holding the NXT Championship in 2018, Black moved to the main roster in 2019 and soon made his WrestleMania debut by teaming with Ricochet in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team match for the SmackDown Tag Team titles.

Two years after his Breakout Star of the Year victory, it is fair to say that we have not seen the best of Black on the main roster yet in 2019. Granted, he has still appeared regularly throughout the year, but he has not featured in many meaningful storylines since leaving NXT.

#1 Ricochet (2018)

Ricochet was voted as the NXT Breakout Star of the Year in 2018 ahead of fellow rising WWE stars Bianca Belair, Lacey Evans, Rhea Ripley, Dakota Kai, Lars Sullivan, War Raiders and EC3.

“The One and Only” won the North American Championship from Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV in August 2018 and went on to hold the title for five months.

During that time, he produced one of the most replayed moments in NXT history in November 2018 when he executed a double moonsault from the top of the WarGames structure to take out almost everybody from the WarGames match.

Like Aleister Black, Ricochet left NXT to join WWE’s main roster just in time for WrestleMania 35, where he teamed with Black in a Fatal 4-Way SmackDown Tag Team Championship match.

Following a brief run with the United States Championship midway through 2019, Ricochet has defeated opponents including Cesaro, Shelton Benjamin and Drew McIntyre in recent weeks, while Randy Orton has teased that he could be a possible ally or enemy for the high-flyer in the future.

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