10 Year Challenge: 5 current WWE stars who were unrecognizable a decade ago

Social Media has had some positive and negative effects on WWE over the past few years, but one of the biggest factors that it has helped WWE Superstars with is being able to promote themselves on a larger scale, reaching out to millions in the WWE Universe with a single click.

The latest trend doing the rounds in the online world sees several stars from the company showing off their photographs from a decade ago and making light of how much they have changed. Many stars like Randy Orton, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Batista were all contracted to WWE then as well, and have hardly changed at all.

On the other hand, a few stars have posted some interesting images wherein they look completely different from their current appearance, with some even looking like a different person altogether.

In this list, we take a look at five current Superstars whose appearance has changed drastically over the last decade. Personally, we think they look great!

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#5. Asuka

Asuka's hair is the biggest change over the past decade

Asuka started her wrestling career as Kana in Japan, having been part of the business a decade ago as well, but she looked very different from the wrestler that the WWE Universe has become fond of over the past few years.

The longest-reigning NXT Women's Champion started her career with her natural hair color, but over the years, hair color has become an integral part of her personality, allowing her to transform into the Empress of Tomorrow.

As seen from the images above, Asuka is almost unrecognizable from her younger days in Japan, but the former SmackDown Women's Champion has changed for the better and right now, it's hard to believe that she's 36 years old.

#4. Lars Sullivan

Lars Sullivan has changed quite a lot over the past decade

Lars Sullivan has been sidelined from WWE over the past few months due to an injury and his career has been riddled with issues ever since he was brought up to the main roster. Despite this, the man known as The Freak made quite the impression on the entire roster when he was on the NXT roster last year and has since been able to continue his work against many of the seasoned stars on SmackDown and Raw.

A decade ago, Sullivan looked very different to The Beast he has since become in WWE. He was then known as Dylan Miley and didn't jump on to the WWE bandwagon until the summer of 2013. Before his move to the company, Sullivan was a bodybuilder who was referred to WWE by Bobby Lashley who had also trained The Freak before he was offered a contract. He then made his debut on TV debut in 2017 and despite challenging for a number of titles during his time at NXT, is yet to strike gold.

#3. Buddy Murphy

Buddy Murphy looked very different a decade ago

Murphy has become one of the best-known stars on Monday Night Raw ever since the WWE Draft back in October. He's currently feuding with Aleister Black, which could culminate into a match between the two at the upcoming TLC pay-per-view.

Murphy has gone through some interesting changes over the past decade, which have left him somewhat unrecognizable from his earlier version. He already looks very different from the star that once won the NXT Tag Team Championships alongside Alexa Bliss and Wesley Blake just four years ago, so it doesn't come as much of a shock that he was completely different as Matt Silva, the star he was known as, a decade ago.

Murphy needed to shed some weight in order to make the cut at 205 Live and make his debut for the Cruiserweight brand, which saw him change his shape entirely. He is now the smallest he has been as a wrestler and even shared the comparison images posted above on his Instagram account to show how far he has come in his career since the past ten years.

#2. Nia Jax

Nia Jax has changed her appearance quite a lot over the past 10 years

Nia Jax hasn't been seen on WWE TV since the last WrestleMania, where she and Tamina Snuka were unsuccessful in winning the fatal four-way match for the Women's Tag Team Championships (which The IIconics won). Jax was forced to undergo double-knee surgery after it was revealed that she had ACL tears in both her legs and has since been in recovery mode, awaiting a chance to return to squared circle.

Ten years ago though, she was a plus-size model and seems to have bulked up in order to 'look the part' for WWE.

She is another wrestler who came in through the NXT set up and was later promoted to the main roster after learning the ropes in the developmental territory. In recent years, she is seen as a main cast member on Total Divas.

#1. Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre has perhaps changed the most

The one Superstar out of the lot that has made the most dramatic transformation over the past decade has to be Drew McIntyre. He was a part of WWE back then as well, employed as a jobber.

That was a time when McIntyre was put into a group with Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal so that they could all then be jobbers at the same time. He was relieved from the company alongside Mahal in 2014 but was called back after he made a name for himself on TNA and the Indie circuit.

As seen from the images above, McIntyre took the release as a knock-back and used it to get meaner and fitter. He is now much bigger than he was a decade ago and is seen as a main event player in the company.

The Scottish star is now seen by many as someone who could become a World Champion one day, something that many fans wouldn't have agreed with a decade ago.