Two weeks into the WWE brand extension, it's clear that some Superstars have benefited from the WWE Draft more than others.
With SummerSlam on the horizon on Aug. 21 live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, things are already heating up on Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon's "RAW" and Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon's "SmackDown Live."
Though it's a small sample size, several stars have stepped up and grabbed the spotlight that has been thrust upon them with the smaller rosters.
Here are five WWE Superstars who have benefited the most from the brand split. To view this article in slideshow form, CLICK START at the top right of this page.
5) AJ Styles
The extension admittedly didn't get off to a great start for "The Phenomenal One" as he absorbed the pin in the Six Pack Challenge match last week on "SmackDown Live." Still, Styles was losing himself amid his stable with The Club, so it's nice to have him out on his own again. Plus, anyone who gets to feud with John Cena will instantly benefit, even if the heel turn isn't clicking.
4) Dean Ambrose
Sure, the "Lunatic Fringe" was already the WWE Champion a month prior to the split. However, given the way the WWE has booked him the weakest out of The Shield members, it's hard to imagine the company would have kept the richest prize in the game on him had the brands not split into two separate entities. Ambrose is poised to take "SmackDown Live" and make it his own, but it seems without the brand extension, he'd likely be lost in the shuffle.
3) Sasha Banks
One week into the brand split, "The Boss" is the first new champion to be crowned for either brand. It was expected that Banks would go over Charlotte at SummerSlam, but the WWE shocked the world on the very first edition of "RAW" after the WWE Draft, thrusting the Women's Championship onto "The Boss." Banks received a well-deserved victory and will get a chance to push women's wrestling to the forefront alongside Charlotte at "The Biggest Event of the Summer."
2) Dolph Ziggler
"The Showoff" was lost in the crowd when the rosters were together, but now that they've split, the WWE seemingly has remembered he exists. Ziggler has gone from a feud with Baron Corbin to becoming the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. Though his victory and pin over Styles received mixed reactions, there's no doubt that Ziggler has plenty of momentum to kick off the split.
1) Finn Balor
It was expected that "The Demon" would slowly climb the ladder into the WWE main event scene upon arrival, but that hasn't been the case at all. Balor won a Fatal 4 Way match with top WWE stars then knocked off Roman Reigns last week to earn the right to battle Seth Rollins to crown the first ever WWE Universal Champion at SummerSlam. He then bested "The Architect" in a war of words this week on "RAW," giving himself the most momentum out of any star here in the New Era.
