James Ellsworth Had One Of The Most Baffling Runs In WWE History

James Ellsworth did not have the natural look of a WWE Superstar. He was small, pale, skinny, and had what could only be described as an interesting face. All of these are marks against a WWE Superstar. So how on earth did James Ellsworth of all people have a bafflingly, (relatively) successful run in WWE?

RELATED: James Ellsworth Shares Hilarious Vince McMahon Story

James Ellsworth Debuted For WWE In 2016

In 2016, Braun Strowman made his debut on the main roster as a singles act and went about destroying a string of local jobbers week after week. The first man to step up and face Braun however was a nervous, fearful, little man who clearly had no shot against the monster.

Byron Saxon entered the ring and interviewed the poor man who was about to get maimed. James Ellsworth, with fear in his eyes, said proudly, “Any man with two hands has a fighting chance.” He didn’t have a chance of course. Ellsworth’s offense had zero effect on the Monster Among Men, and he was absolutely dominated.

Braun went through these jobbers every week but James Ellsworth was the one who stood out. His meek appearance and enthusiastic personality had given him a cult following online. He was the perfect jobber. An everyman standing across the ring from superhumans.

With such a great performance, fans were crying out for WWE to bring him back, even if it was just another squash match. Ellsworth was so entertaining he deserved another shot. WWE listened to their fans and brought back the quintessential jobber, as Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan brought in James Ellsworth to be AJ Styles’ tag partner. AJ was disgusted by having to team with such a person, though the story wouldn’t end after one night, Ellsworth would become a thorn in Styles’ side for months to come.

AJ Styles, the WWE Champion at the time, started mocking Ellsworth and challenged him to a match. Styles, who was clearly looking for less formidable opponents than John Cena and Dean Ambrose, got more than he asked for however as Dean Ambrose backed up the fan-favorite and helped Ellsworth beat the WWE Champion in one of the most thrilling upset victories in WWE history!

The following week, James Ellsworth was given a WWE Championship match. The match was surprisingly incredible, with one of the best near-fall sequences you will ever see as Ellsworth hit a Superkick on Styles (which David Otunga, in of his few contributions as a commentator, expertly dubbed: No Chin Music). Ellsworth almost got the win, with the whole crowd, Dean Ambrose, and even the commentators out of their seats at the possibility of James Ellsworth becoming WWE Champion!

Ellsworth was given a WWE contract in the subsequent storyline and then became a regular on Smackdown. He became the Smackdown mascot for their Survivor Series team and even helped to eliminate his first rival, Braun Strowman, from the match.

A Heel Turn Nobody Asked For

After that, in a bizarre choice, Ellsworth turned heel, costing Dean Ambrose the WWE Championship at TLC 2016. Ellsworth’s appeal with the fans died instantly, no longer was he an everyman, but now he was just another heel on the roster. Upon the heel turn, Ellsworth lost quick matches to both Ambrose and AJ Styles.

With his everyman, champion of the people, story over, Ellsworth started an onscreen partnership with Carmella. In spite of clearly hating him, Carmella kept Ellsworth by her side to help her win matches. This partnership lasted a surprisingly long time and in spite of being quite forgettable, the duo made WWE history.

RELATED: James Ellsworth Reveals Backstage Story On How He Got Paired With Carmella

In the historic first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank match, it wasn’t a woman who won the match, it was James Ellsworth. Ellsworth climbed the ladder and unhooked the briefcase to the surprise of everybody, he won the Money in the Bank Ladder match, before giving it to Carmella. Did WWE really have the first Women’s Money in the Bank winner be a man?

Yes, yes they did. It’s a clip they certainly won’t be reshowing in all their hype packages…

After Money in the Bank, Ellsworth became a misogynistic character, talking down to the women’s division, which lead to WWE’s first intergender match in decades, with Ellsworth taking on Becky Lynch in a match he would lose. Ellsworth was then beaten up by Carmella after the match and then his run on the main roster was over. He made a brief return over a year later to help Carmella retain her Smackdown Women’s Championship but would disappear after just a month, never to be seen again.

It was all so baffling. The everyman jobber character was a hit among fans, but once he was turned heel, fans quickly stopped caring. His partnership with Carmella never quite got over, in spite of the duo’s controversial victory in the historic first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match.