The WWE has been around for many years and have booked some very colorful characters over the years. The roster is chock full of wrestlers with very interesting backstories and I am going to feature some of those here today. I consider myself a huge WWE fan so I focused on some obscure facts that diehard fans and those just new to watching could thoroughly enjoy. From history-making firsts, to what brought people to the WWE this article is full of shocking and interesting facts about some of your favorite WWE Superstars.

From who brought Braun Strowman to the WWE, to Cesaro's lottery win that led to his career in the company as well as Brock Lesnar's strangest WrestleMania record this list will have it all and then some. So get ready and let's dive into our list of the 20 Facts About The Current WWE Roster only smarks would know. You know the type - the people who are wise to everything in wrestling and can delve deep into a wrestler's past. As always make your opinions known in the comment section below and let us know which fact was the most surprising to you!

20 Mark Henry Discovered Braun Strowman At A Strongman Event

Prior to becoming “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman was a strongman competitor. During one of these competitions, he met “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry. After competing against Braun (Adam Scheer) at numerous shows Mark reported back to the WWE that they should sign Braun to a contract. Adam had a reputation for his elite skills in competition and his charisma during interviews making him a natural for the WWE. Mark Henry has taken more of a backstage role in the WWE in recent years working as a talent scout. He clearly saw “Big” things when competing against Strowman and Strowman has become one of the most popular stars on the current roster. Sometimes all it takes for a break is a proper introduction.

19 Samoa Joe Worked As A Mortgage Broker

Can you imagine going in to get a mortgage and running into someone like Samoa Joe? What happened if you got denied, did you suffer a muscle buster for your troubles? Samoa Joe struggled to break into the wrestling business so he did the responsible thing and got a 9-5 job as a mortgage broker. It was the reasonable thing to do but it is still shocking to think of Samoa Joe wearing a suit and sitting behind a desk all day.

Luckily for everyone, his wrestling career took off in ROH and TNA before he made his long deserved debut in the WWE. Now that he's hitting his 40s soon, it's good to know that he'll have another career to fall back on once he retires from wrestling.

18 Roman Reigns Makes Slammy History

On December 8th, 2014 Roman Reigns won the WWE Superstar of the year award at the age of 29, making him the youngest to ever win the award. Seth Rollins almost broke the record just the very next year but was a few weeks older than Roman was. Roman has been pushed as the next face of the company despite the fans' strong disapproval. Being the youngest to ever be the superstar of the year is definitely a nice feather in his cap. Roman Reigns will be the face of the WWE whether any of us like it or not. The WWE has stopped handing out Slammys in the past couple of years and we have to wonder if it's because of the backlash they got for some of their choices.

17 Becky Lynch The Stuntwoman

Becky Lynch had a long road to the WWE. She had actually quit wrestling for a while after not being able to gain much success for the amount of damage being a pro wrestler does to your body. It was during this time that she did some stuntwoman work for the TV show Vikings. She only worked on one episode but did appear on the show although it is hard to recognize her. She also worked as a flight attendant in her earlier days and didn't exactly have the conventional route to becoming a WWE Superstar.

I’m sure fans all over the world are happy that Becky decided to return to the sport she loved as she is one of the top woman wrestlers in the whole WWE.

16 Seth Rollins Makes Championship History

This is a record that may never be broken (Unless some big name indy talent joins WWE developmental) Seth Rollins is the only wrestler to hold the ROH, NXT, and WWE Title. There are some names out there that could achieve this (Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens are two names that come to mind) but for now Seth Rollins is alone in this record. The biggest hindrance to this would be NXT. Some top talent is starting to bypass NXT (AJ Styles) and big names like Kenny Omega would likely bypass NXT as well. Seth Rollins scratched and clawed his way to the top of the WWE and for the time being, he is all alone on top of the mountain as one of the greatest modern day era champions.

15  Asuka Owns A Hair Salon In Japan

Many women deserve credit for how far Women's wrestling has evolved in the WWE. In recent years on NXT and in the past six months on RAW and SmackDown, Asuka has emerged as one of the most visible faces in the Women's Evolution. She's still undefeated in the WWE and she won the first ever women's Royal Rumble. However, something people may not know about Asuka is she also owns a hair salon back in her native Japan. The salon is called Another Heaven and it deals mostly with alternative hairstyles which makes sense, given how Asuka experiments with bright colors for her own hairstyle. It's unlikely she has much time to tend for the business back in Yokohama now, but one would wonder if perhaps she'll open one up in the states.

14 Luke Harper The Librarian

Luke Harper may be portrayed as a barbarian currently in the WWE as a member of the Bludgeon Brothers but one of his prior jobs may just surprise you. While attempting to make it as a professional wrestler Luke Harper got a day job as a school librarian. Can you imagine going in to get a book and you see someone like Luke Harper at the front desk? Talk about intimidating.

Nowadays he beats people up with a massive hammer but it seems in his prior career he beat people with knowledge haha. Working for the hardcore style promotions he did it must have been hard to hide the wear and tear from his career.

13 Brock Lesnar’s Strange WrestleMania Record

Brock Lesnar has had a hell of a 2nd run in the WWE since his return. His strangest record however maybe during his first stint in the company. WrestleMania XIX was a hell of a show remembered for many solid matches. The main event of the show featured Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Title from Kurt Angle. The match is most remembered for Brock’s epic failure of a shooting star press that could have easily killed anyone else. The match is also infamous for one other fact. WrestleMania XIX was the first Mania to feature two men wrestling under their real names in the main event. It is shocking that it took 19 years for the WWE to not feature stage names in the main event match.

12 Cesaro Won The Lottery To Join WWE….Literally

To become a WWE superstar is hard enough at the best of times. There are thousands of wrestlers plying their trade in the USA who never get a shot at the big show. Can you imagine needing to win a lottery just to get a chance to try and make it as a wrestler? Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) was a citizen of Switzerland when he came over to the USA for some training to be a wrestler.

He was then forced to go home, as Switzerland holds an annual lottery for people that want to obtain green cards. Cesaro shockingly won on his first time entering the lottery and was able to move to the United States to further his wrestling dreams. Sometimes it's just meant to be.

11 Sheamus Was Bono’s Bodyguard

Prior to joining the WWE, Sheamus was a wrestler over in Europe. To supplement his income he also did security for some nightclubs in his native Ireland. It was through this that Sheamus became a bodyguard for the famous singer Bono of U2 fame. Bono would frequent the Lillie’s Bordello where Sheamus worked security for. Sheamus would be assigned to many celebs but Bono was a frequent patron of the club. Sheamus has done many interviews on the subject over the years stating “Bono would be in all the time," he says. "I'd be standing there, making sure nobody spiked his drink, or try to steal his pint. It was a handy way to make a bit of wedge." From bodyguard to World champion, Sheamus sure has come a long way.

10 Shane McMahon Voiced Kaientai

Who could forget Kaientai (at least older fans)? Taka Michinoku and Funaki were high flying wrestlers during the Attitude Era.They became known for their comically badly dubbed promos. It was obvious that someone was being dubbed over their promos (think of those awful Kung-Fu movies). What is less known is the voice of those promos belonged to Shane McMahon. Funaki and Taka would hold the microphone and then it was Shane’s voice that you would hear over the loudspeakers. It shows that Shane was willing to do any job that his dad needed him to do during the Attitude Era. From being a referee, trying his hand as an announcer and doing voice-over work, and being brutalized in the ring, Shane McMahon could really do it all.

9 AJ Styles' Championship Pedigree

Much like Seth Rollins, AJ Styles holds a very impressive championship record of his own. Over AJ’s extensive wrestling career he has held the NWA, TNA, IWGP, and WWE world championships. AJ Styles spent most of his career in TNA where he held every title available to him. After finally leaving that sinking ship Styles quickly became IWGP champion while leading the Bullet Club. Styles finally made his WWE debut at the Royal Rumble.

Styles finally got a spot he deserved on the WrestleMania card this year, after jobbing to Chris Jericho in his first Mania, then facing Shane McMahon in last year's opener. AJ Styles will retire as one of the greatest champions of his era.

8 Bayley is The Successful Wrestler Of Her Relationship

A lot has been said about Bayley's failures on the main roster of the WWE. After being one of the best in NXT, Bayley has struggled to make much of an impact on RAW. Some of it is her fault, some of it is her booking, regardless she has been a dud on RAW. At least she has made it to the show though which is more than can be said for her boyfriend Aaron Solow. Aaron failed to make the cut on WWE Tough Enough and was an unused alternate for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic. He has had multiple attempts to break through and has yet to grab the "Brass Ring" so at least Bayley has bragging rights at home.

7 Aiden English Married Into A Famous Wrestling Family

The official ring announcer/singer of Rusev Day had a long run in NXT. His run with Simon Gotch as the tag team The Vaudevillians may have crashed and burned but one good thing came out of his time in NXT, He met his future wife. Shaul Guerrero was a manager/wrestler in the final days of FCW/early days of NXT. She portrayed a character named Raquel Diaz. They have been together ever since developmental, getting engaged in 2014 and married in 2016. This makes him technically a member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family. It has been mentioned during episodes of SmackDown Live but the relationship isn’t as advertised as many of the others in WWE. Perhaps it'd be more advertised if English ever turned face.

6 Nikki Bella’s First Love Wasn’t Wrestling

Nikki Bella is known today for her time on reality TV, her longest ever reign as Divas champion, and her relationship with John Cena but all of this may not have happened if Nikki played the sport she first fell in love with. Nikki was an elite soccer player in college and was looking to pursue it as a career. She was in the process of going overseas to play soccer when her twin Brie was looking at joining the WWE Diva Search. Brie was able to convince Nikki to join her and use the fact they were twins to get noticed. They didn’t make it on the show but turned enough heads that they were signed to a developmental contract (by her future stepdad). I think it is safe to say that she doesn’t regret her decision.

5 Paging Dr. Woods?

When The New Day were formed each man had a different describing role. Big E was the "strongman", Kofi Kingston could "fly" and Xavier Woods was described as "smart". Who knew just how true that was. Xavier Woods is well known as the trombone playing, video game loving, mouthpiece for The New Day but did you know he is also going after a college degree? Xavier Woods is enrolled in college to get his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at Capella University. He does most of his classes online due to the rigorous travel schedule of the WWE but soon you will have to call him Dr. Woods. He's one person who doesn't have to worry about what he'll do after wrestling.

4 Wrestling Was An Escape For Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose portrays the lunatic fringe in the WWE, a performer with reckless abandon for his own well-being. As a child Dean Ambrose (Jonathon Good) grew up in a bad neighborhood in Cincinnati. He was forced to do certain things by the bigger kids in his neighborhood. That included some illegal activity. Violence was all around him and he embraced it in the form of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

He quickly fell in love with wrestling, dropping out of high school just one year after he started training at the Heartland Wrestling Association. A lot of the “lunatic” tendencies he portrays on WWE TV can be directly tied to his rough upbringing. His rise to the top is one of the more inspiring stories you'll see on the WWE roster.

3 Kevin Owens Learned English From WWE

Kevin Owens (Kevin Steen) grew up speaking French as he lived in Quebec. As he got older and wanted to learn how to speak English he focused on the WWE (WWF). He would spend hours watching Raw and would mimic what he heard. He has credited good Ole Jim Ross for helping him learn the language. You can’t even tell that English is a 2nd language for the former WWE Universal Champion. Kevin started his wrestling career at the age of 16 and his meticulous watching of wrestling to learn English definitely helped him get where he is in his career. When you hear Owens cut a promo now, he's so quick witted and always has a smart answer. You'd never think English is his second language.

2 Charlotte Flair Makes PWI History

Charlotte Flair has had a hugely successful pro wrestling career thus far. made more shocking by the fact she never wanted to be a wrestler, only taking up the sport to honor her brother Reid who tragically passed away. In 2014 Charlotte Flair made Pro Wrestling Illustrated history becoming just the 3rd Woman ever (at the time Nia Jax has since made it 4 last year) to be named PWI Rookie Of The Year (Madusa and Veda Scott being the others). This award must have had a special meaning to Charlotte as her famous father Ric Flair won the award himself in 1975. It just goes to show you how much Charlotte has done to keep the Flair name going in the wrestling business. And she still has plenty more to do.

1 Shinsuke Nakamura’s Interesting GM Relationship

Shinsuke Nakamura has lit the WWE on fire since finally signing his contract to join the promotion in 2016. After winning the 2018 Royal Rumble Shinsuke had the choice of staying on Smackdown or going to Raw. Shinsuke stayed on SmackDown and just had a huge match at WrestleMania 34 against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. I wonder if his strange history with the General managers had anything to do with it? While training to learn some MMA skills Shinsuke was roommates and close friends with Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan. Fast forward a few years and Shinsuke unified the IWGP Heavyweight Title in 2006 by defeating none other than current RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. Two shows, two GM's, and vastly different histories, you could say Shinsuke is one of the most connected guys on the roster.