WWE SummerSlam 2016: Stars Who Have Built Most Momentum on Road to Event

With a bumper show and a whole host of eagerly anticipated matches, the card for Sunday's WWE SummerSlam 2016 should have fans excited.

Two championship matches nobody could have imagined prior to the brand extension offer fans a defining look at the bright New Era, and there is plenty going on elsewhere to suggest this year's SummerSlam will be one of the best in some time.

Crucially, some of the company's biggest names have delivered on the road to SummerSlam, increasing the hype surrounding the pay-per-view.

Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt isn't even slated for a match at SummerSlam this year, but expect that either to be rectified on the go-home edition of Tuesday's SmackDown, or for Wyatt to truly make his presence felt in the WWE Championship match.

Wyatt's WWE career could have gone one of two ways since the draft broke up his family—it could have had a detrimental impact or have freed him up to shine even more.

Thankfully for Bray and his fans, it is the latter which has proved to be the case.

He should once again cause mayhem in the match between Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler too. With no clear heel in that contest, it makes sense for the demonic Wyatt to either force his way into the bout itself or play a key role in a controversial finish.

Wyatt is destined for the WWE Championship at some point over the next few months. His start to life on SmackDown and the road to SummerSlam has been hugely encouraging, as Bray is almost back to his very best. 

Finn Balor

It's no surprise that Finn Balor has achieved superstardom on Raw since his draft from NXT—but the way he has taken to life on the main roster as SummerSlam approaches is without doubt one of the biggest positives in WWE right now.

He's had the upper hand on Seth Rollins on a couple of occasions, most recently when he emerged as The Demon King to confront Rollins before once again showing that he's on a real roll.

Whether he wins the WWE Universal Championship remains to be seen—but no matter the result on Sunday, the form and momentum Balor has displayed in the last few weeks has been exceptional.

He's quickly established himself as one of the top stars on the main roster in no time, with his explosive pre-recorded promo last week one of the biggest and brightest moments on the road to SummerSlam.

It has been a stunning few weeks for Balor—and he's showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Rusev

The draft and subsequent brand extension was always going to ramp up the prestige of WWE's two midcard titles, but Rusev has certainly taken advantage of his extra exposure more than The Miz.

The Bulgarian Brute is on a serious roll at the moment, and although it may be a controversial thing to say, pairing him with Roman Reigns has undoubtedly helped.

Reigns remains a big name, although he has fallen out of favor in terms of the main event scene, and this United States Championship rivalry is one of Raw's hottest feuds.

Crucially, WWE seems to have the balance right with the input and involvement of Lana in his storylines, too. Two years ago, Lana began to overshadow some uninspiring booking of Rusev, but now things are working much better.

Having Rusev insist he wanted to fight for his wife's honor on Raw was another great move, as was the backstage brawl with Reigns shortly after.

The fact that he's now been in the main event of Raw two weeks running tells you everything you need to know about how serious WWE is with Rusev.

He's set to be a real breakout star once again at SummerSlam this year.