5 Current WWE Superstars who started on the independent scene and 5 who didn't

#2 Didn't Start on the independent scene - Braun Strowman

The current Universal Champion came to WWE via the way of power-lifting and Strongman competitions. Instead of wrestling matches in smaller promotions, the Monster Among Men was lifting insane amounts of weight and performing feats of strength similar to what we have seen him do on TV.

Braun Strowman also has the distinction of bypassing NXT TV altogether in order to debut on the main roster. While he did appear as one of Adam Rose's Rosebuds on several occasions, he never had a televised match for NXT prior to joining the main roster.

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His infamous debut occurred in 2015 when he showed up on the ring apron as the newest member of the Wyatt Family to oppose The Shield. It took a while for Strowman to finally win a singles title, but his overwhelming popularity never waned once he branched out on his own.

It also might have taken some time for the Monster Among Men to learn the craft since he wasn't an independent star but he's certainly found his niche in the business. In 2020 alone, he's won both the Intercontinental and Universal Championships.

About the author

Matt Serocki is a sports journalist from outside of Boston, Massachusetts who has written about sports for a local newspaper, the MetroWest Daily News.

Matt has written about professional wrestling for the past year but has been writing lyrics, short stories and novels in his spare time. He writes around 30-50 articles per month.

During his time on writing for Sportskeeda, Matt has written about a variety of topics including the history of the business as well as about the current stars and product. He follows numerous promotions like the WWE, AEW, ROH, MLW, NJPW, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and WOW.

Studied Communications with a focus on writing at Framingham State University from 2000-2004.

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Edited by Raunak J