James Ellsworth

Submission 36,231

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About

James Ellsworth is a professional wrestler who became popular among WWE fans following a Monday Night Raw "squash match" in which he was quickly and utterly beaten by wrestler Braun Strowman. He has since appeared several times on WWE television and appeared in segments with superstars including The Miz, AJ Styles, and Dean Ambrose.

Online Presence

Ellsworth's online presence is limited. As of October 17th, 2016, he has nearly 15,000 Facebook followers^[5] and over 20,000 Twitter followers.^[6]

Reputation

Before appearing on Monday Night Raw, Ellsworth had wrestled on independent circuits and promoted for Adrenaline Championship Wrestling in Maryland.^[1] He wrestled as the pretty half the team "Pretty Ugly" under the name Jimmy Dream with teammate Adam Ugly.

Monday Night Raw Debut

On July 25th, 2016, during the first Monday Night Raw following the WWE's brand split on July 19th, WWE scheduled a segment in which Braun Strowman was booked to destroy "local talent." The wrestler they picked was James Ellsworth. As Strowman walked forebodingly into the ring, commentator Byron Saxton interviewed Ellsworth. Ellsworth looked scared as he tried to say his catchphrase, "Any man with two hands has a fighting chance." He was defeated in about two minutes.

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Ellsworth's performance made an instant impression both within WWE and among the fanbase. The following day's reviews of Monday Night Raw gushed over Ellsworth, with Uproxx^[2] calling him "a chinless, child-sized Pidgeotto." Cageside Seats^[3] said, "This may have been the greatest segment in the history of television and I won't have anyone tell me differently."

Within the organization, Ellsworth made a fan of longtime WWE superstar Chris Jericho, who called Ellsworth to congratulate him on a terrific segment. Jericho also tweeted the following day that there was an open invite for "the legendary Ellsworth" to appear on his podcast.^[4] He would later say in a Reddit AMA^[7] that he was complimented by Vince McMahon.

Following an outpouring of support and humorous photoshops from fans, Ellsworth has appeared on Smackdown Live on September 13th, October 11th, and October 18th, 2016, working a program with WWE World Champion AJ Styles. On October 18th, he beat AJ Styles in a championship match via disqualification after interference with Dean Ambrose. Though the championship can not change on a disqualification, Ellsworth does currently hold the honor of having more "wins" over AJ Styles than John Cena.

Online Fandom

Since his debut, Ellsworth has drawn the appreciation of WWE fans in the form of photoshops and image macros. One popular post found him on the cover of WWE 2k17, the WWE video game that was being advertised at the time. The image was so popular that it was addressed on WWE talk show Talking Smack by Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan.

Ellsworth photoshops are particularly popular on Instagram, where they are shared under the hashtag #pushjamesellsworth.^[8]