3 Top breakout superstars of 2018

2018 is coming to a close and it's been a decent year for the WWE with a ton of ups and downs. Like all years, 2018 was good to some stars and bad to others. Anyway, 2018 saw the rise of many talented individuals who have gone to the top of WWE through sheer hard work and determination.

There are always a couple of breakout stars each year in WWE. In 2015, we saw the ascent of Seth Rollins to the top of WWE's hierarchy as he ruled WWE as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. In 2016, we witnessed the incredible rise of AJ Styles, who had one of the best debut years, Kevin Owens and Alexa Bliss as all three dominated their respective divisions. In 2017, we saw Jinder Mahal rise from perennial jobber to WWE Champion. Braun Strowman also became a major player in the WWE in 2017 after his feud with Roman Reigns catapulted him to great heights.

As mentioned before, many superstars from Raw, SmackDown Live and NXT broke through the glass ceiling in 2018 to reach the pinnacle of their divisions. With that said, let's look at 3 stars who had a wonderful year in the WWE and emerged as breakout stars.

Note: This list doesn't include names like AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Charlotte etc. as these stars have been consistently dominating WWE for the past couple of years.

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#3. Tomasso Ciampa

What a great year he has had!

Tomasso Ciampa missed the majority of 2017 due to injury, but the current NXT champion made a stunning comeback in January to target his arch foe in Johnny Gargano. From there on, Ciampa became one of the most despicable heels in the WWE with his disgusting attacks and insults on NXT's heart and soul, Johnny Gargano.

Ciampa and Gargano went on to have numerous instant classics, in fact, their first encounter at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans was rated 5 stars by Dave Meltzer. After successfully dispatching Gargano, he challenged for Aleister Black's NXT Champion and surprisingly emerged victorious.

Ciampa then defended his title against the likes of Gargano and Velveteen Dream in great encounters. He remains at the top of NXT's hierarchy.

#2. Drew Mcintyre

This team has absolutely obliterated Raw's top stars

Drew Mcintyre was at one point known as 'The Chosen One', being handpicked by Vince McMahon in 2009. However, in spite of a few mid-card championship reigns, Mcintyre had a forgettable run with WWE which eventually saw him get released in June 2014.

Mcintyre then made a name for himself on the independent circuit and Impact Wrestling. He dominated TNA and was at the top of TNA for nearly two years. Through sheer determination, Mcintyre re-signed with WWE in 2017 and was offered a contract to compete on NXT. Mcintyre won the NXT Championship from Bobby Roode but eventually lost it to Andrade ''Cien'' Almas. After that, Mcintyre suffered injury and was gone from NXT.

Then on the Superstar Shake-Up in April, Mcintyre returned to the main roster alongside Dolph Ziggler on Raw. Mcintyre and Ziggler dominated Raw together, Mcintyre helped Ziggler win the Intercontinental title from Seth Rollins. Mcintyre also went onto win the Raw tag-team championships from the B-Team in September with Dolph Ziggler.

Mcintyre was a protected commodity throughout 2018 and suffered few losses and in fact, he wasn't pinned even once.

#1.Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch is the undeniable top star of 2018

Who else was going to top the list? Becky Lynch was overshadowed by the likes of Charlotte, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Carmella throughout 2017 and the first part of 2018, but it all changed at SummerSlam 2018 when Lynch snapped and viciously assaulted her then best friend, Charlotte.

Lynch then won the SmackDown women's title from Charlotte at Hell in a Cell and successfully defended it against the Queen on a couple of occasions, including the Last Woman Standing match at Evolution. Lynch's promo skills improved considerably and she made veterans like Edge look weak through her incredible promos. Many would consider her as the female version of Stone Cold or even Conor Mcgregor, who recently offered help to her. She even started to refer to herself as 'The Man' to which many fans happily obliged.

Lynch's popularity has been such that the fans preferred her over fan favourites like Charlotte and Ronda Rousey. Lynch is still the women's champion and is officially the breakout star of 2018.