WWE's Jobber Renaissance on Raw and SmackDown Is Slowly Taking Over the New Era

Tuesday night on WWE SmackDown Live in Philadelphia, the unofficial birthplace of the underdog, one of the biggest reactions of the night went to all 174 pounds of James Ellsworth. 

Ellsworth is an enhancement talent who cowered his way into the hearts of millions after being destroyed by Braun Strowman on Raw back in July. Back by popular demand, WWE teased the possibility of the lovable yet goofy-looking tomato can competing in the main event of Tuesday's SmackDown.

It was not to be, however, as The Miz attacked the undersized journeyman, eliciting the type of strong heel reaction that has come to define the intercontinental champion—this time to an even stronger degree. By beating up a sitting duck who meant no harm to anybody, "The Assault on Ellsworth Street" made Miz a bigger heel than ever.

It was once believed there was no place for jobbers such as Ellsworth in a post-Attitude Era world. Fans had become so conditioned to pay-per-view main events on television that the use of any jobber almost seemed like a ripoff. But that segment alone proved otherwise.

Even Ellsworth's own reaction to being featured in front of millions of fans for the first time carried the tone of an everyman.

"When I realized I was going to get the chance to speak, I was probably the happiest guy in the WWE Universe," Ellsworth told Greg Adkins of WWE.com following his debut against Strowman. "It was probably the coolest thing that could have happened because I love to do it."

Jorel Nelson, Strowman's third victim, followed suit in the happy-to-be-here category during an interview with Ronnie Rowlands of Today's Powerbomb. This stood in stark contrast to the deserves-to-be-here mentality that is ubiquitous across the shark-infested waters of a WWE locker room. Nelson said:

"

Man, it is hands down the greatest moment of my life as of right now. It was such a surreal experience to be a part of. But it was also an eye-opening experience for me. I’m completely appreciative of the opportunity i was given but it has motivated me that much more. I have a new lift of goals now that I will work hard to accomplish and I’ll see where that takes me.

"

WWE is back in the jobber business. With two distinct shows come thinner rosters and more WWE Superstars the promotion needs to protect. To help get these stars over, WWE has employed an age-old wrestling tactic of feeding local talent to its rising, and sometimes established, stars. Nia Jax, Braun Strowman, Kane and even Bo Dallas have all enjoyed recent victories over defenseless nobodies.

The aforementioned WWE interview with Ellsworth was entitled "The man who battled Braun: What was he thinking?"

"What were they thinking?" has become a staple sentiment of squash matches, namely against the oversized Strowman and Jax.

"Why in the world would you get inside the ring with Braun Strowman?" asked Byron Saxton in his pre-match interview with Week 2 victim Evan Anderholm.

By juxtaposing monster heels against relatable athletes with no hope, it begins to create an aura of invincibility. It's an aura that not only helps the heel in question; it also adds value to the full-time WWE Superstars capable of having competitive matches against them.

Jobbers are a step above people off the street. They look, work and act like pro wrestlers but employ nuances to make their WWE counterparts look superior. Jobbers are professional wrestlers designed to showcase the elite group that is the WWE Superstar. That elite group, much like the WWE philosophy, often clashes with the jaded fans of today.

It's hardly a coincidence that WWE has fed enhancement talents to largely heel WWE Superstars. No generation of wrestling fans is more prone to ironically falling in love with underdogs than the hipster millennials of the New Era.

Ellsworth was supposed to be a one-off, but his unconventional look was impossible to ignore, especially in 2016. 

"I just figured I would go in the ring, do my job and fade away," he said, per Adkins. "Next thing I know, I get on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, and I see all these memes with my face on them. I think it’s because I’m a different looking guy."

Daniel Bryan. Zack Ryder. Damien Mizdow. Blue Pants. A major subtext of the past five years has been the rise of the underdog. The underdog-turned-Superstar trend in WWE has caused a trickle-down effect that makes potential feel-good stories out of even the most hopeless of individuals.

It's fair to wonder whether the 1-2-3 Kid was before his time. If he hits that Moonsault on Razor Ramon for an upset victory at the Barclays Center in 2016, would he be headlining WrestleMania 33 in April?

One of the biggest stars post-WWE draft has been the unpicked Heath Slater. Slater, a man who once spent over a month losing to past-their-prime legends in entertaining fashion, has slowly curated an organic babyface run that culminated in the tag team titles. 

And while the added sympathy toward the little guy has made it easier for WWE to revitalize jobber matches, the circus of irony that is social media has fostered an environment where enhancement talent can go viral by being more than just jobbers.

Johnny Knockout, another recent victim of Strowman's, uttered these infamous words prior to his recent match against the big man: "I like big, sweaty men."

If you searched "big, sweaty men" online, it's such a generic term that it could theoretically produce myriad results from Big Van Vader to Jason Whitlock. But eight of the top 10 Google results for "big, sweaty men" belong to Johnny Knockout. Translation? It took three words and less than three minutes for Knockout to blow up on social media.

"I didn't think social media was going to go nuts over it," Knockout told Lee Sanders of the RCWR Show (h/t Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc.) about his unscripted line. "And then I saw these posts with the hashtag ... Then I'm like wow this is the thing! I was like this is something I need to capitalize on, so I opened the Twitter, I opened back up my Facebook and I started from scratch. The reactions [have] been pretty good."

Jobbers are like Jack Daniel's or Snapchat: a lot of fun when used in moderation. The reason Ellsworth was so well received in Philadelphia is because it had been almost two months since he was last sighted. His funny face was a welcome surprise.

It's the type of deprivation that leads to the rebellious chants of "We want Ryder!" or "We want Slater!" when a high-profile angle or match just isn't delivering. What once was a genre of nameless throwaways has suddenly become a powerful tool that even WWE is struggling to control.

WWE couldn't have picked a better time to roll out the Washington Generals. This is their time. Their mission, however, is to give all that momentum to those with long-term potential.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.