Buddy Murphy: 5 pivotal moments that show he was destined for WWE's main event scene

#3 A major upset

With a prone Bryan left laying behind, Murphy celebrates his huge win on SmackDown

The legacy of the attack on Reigns may have left some physical and emotional scars on Murphy – he was confronted backstage by The Big Dog and later beaten in a televised match – but it wasn’t all bad.

The aftermath of Murphy identifying Rowan as the assailant behind the attack on Reigns - and then spilling the beans to The Big Dog - saw Rowan, weighed down by what was revealed to be a very guilty conscience, and Bryan, who believed him to be innocent, seek out the former NXT tag team champion for retribution, and with violent intent to boot.

Fuming with this and the injustice of it all, Murphy challenged the former WWE Champion to a match on an episode of Smackdown Live in late August. Murphy would go on to take risks aplenty but eventually dispatched the lurking Rowan before going on to pin Bryan after delivering Murphy’s Law.

Without a doubt, Murphy had arrived on the radar of WWE's big hitters.