WWE News: James Ellsworth reveals how he received a match against Braun Strowman

What's the story?

James Ellsworth recently returned to WWE to help Carmella retain her Women's Championship at Money in the Bank, but the star was also recently able to open up about how he was first recruited by WWE.

In case you didn't know...

When Braun Strowman was first breaking away from The Wyatt Family's shadow, he was given a number of squash matches on Raw, which was where James Ellsworth made his official WWE debut.

Ellsworth was defeated by The Monster Among Men before he was then signed to the SmackDown brand and became part of the feud between Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles back in 2016.

Ellsworth was released from WWE last year after he had fallen down the ranks and began wrestling in the Women's Division, but the company obviously values his comedy skills since he was recently able to make a return.

The heart of the matter

Ellsworth recently spoke to Title Match Wrestling where he was able to reveal all about his path to WWE and his first match against Braun Strowman. (transcript via Ringsidenews)

“The day of, Arn Anderson says ‘I wanna see everybody throw a punch and whoever throws the best punch gets the match with Braun,’ and he picked me first to throw a punch. I threw it, and he said ‘Oh, I don’t need to see anybody else. Let’s get in the ring,’ and I’m like ‘Holy sh*t!’ I didn’t know who I was getting in the ring with, and he was like ‘You’re wrestling Braun,’ and I knew Braun from the Wyatt Family. I’m like, ‘This is the biggest guy in the company, size-wise, like woah! This is cool.’

Ellsworth was able to make his mark in his first match against Strowman, but as well as being part of a match, the star was asked to cut a 15-second promo which allowed him to stand out.

"He introduced me to Braun, and Braun was very nice. He’s just a big ‘ole country boy. Fun-loving country boy, y’know? He’s very cool. We put together a little match, and next thing I know, Jimmy Jacobs, who I love says ‘Hey man, we’re gonna give you a 15-second promo,’ and this is all happening so quickly, by the way. Like, you’re just standing there around the ring. Next thing you know, you’re wrestling on RAW, you’re getting a promo and you’re wrestling Braun and that all happened within a four-minute stretch of me knowing.”

What's next?

It was announced this week on SmackDown Live that Ellsworth would face Asuka next Tuesday night, the duo have been part of a series of confrontations in recent weeks.

Do you think Ellsworth has a future in WWE? Have your say in the comments.