3 Top breakout superstars of 2018

AJ Styles had another great year in the WWE as the top star of SmackDown Live

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.

#3. Tomasso Ciampa

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.