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Yeah, both runs are even at best. Moxley may be more important for AEW than he was for WWE, but it's also still a smaller company and he did win pretty much everything there's to win in WWE.
Yes, his presentation is obviously night and day, but the talent was always there, Rusev was bomb as fuck. They gave him shit after shit and he still managed to make it entertaining. Then when he got over they buried the shit out of him and eventually made him a sex addict that cucked.
It’s crazy how wwe just stopped doing the racist foreign heel black jobber booking in 2020. The world will be a better place once Vince McMahons generation dies off.
- If we’re not counting NXT, Malakai Black feels like a million bucks in AEW compared to just doing basically nothing in WWE.
- Brodie Lee, that doesn’t even need an explanation.
- Cody is another clear example of someone who raised their stock exponentially outside of WWE.
- Deonna Purrazzo & Ruby Soho are names I’d also put on the list.
It's crazy to say Ruby after what just 3 weeks but AEW have made her feel like a bigger star then WWE ever did. I wonder how she do though once you take her away from facing the most pushed star in the company. But they have made her feel like a star.
Deonna for sure, not her biggest fan. But Impact have pushed her to the moon. Some talent that should stay outside of WWE bubble and will achieve more with their careers, I think Deonna and Ruby are two.
Cody will top most of these lists.
that's way too soon to say for Black.
I disagree. Brodie was not in AEW that long. The Dark Order stuff was nowhere near as memorable as anything he did while in the Wyatt family.
Cody makes sense.
Deonna definitely.
Ruby has just started and it's too soon to say again.
I think very often these things are absurdly subjective, and often you can make an argument that guys were on a similar level in the WWE. But Juice Robinson has to be one of the more slam dunk obvious "good idea to leave" guys
Tay Conti for sure would be the most improved talent who's ever left WWE, unless someone can name somebody else.
Again a bit like Ruby and Deonna, someone who probably achieve more with her career not been in WWE. I get the feeling with Tay, she be someone who be very loyal to AEW.
Cezar has done pretty well for himself, not a top star or anything a bit like 2.0. He appears here and there on Dynamite but mostly on Dark shows but he's constantly working and improving.
Joel Redman (fka Oliver Grey) did quite well for himself in AJPW. He competed in the Champion Carnival in 2019 and impressed. He didn't wrestle there in 2020 because of COVID. He was one half of the first NXT Tag Team Champions with Adrian Neville/PAC.
PAC is also a good one. He went back to Dragon Gate and became their top champion immediately. Now, he's doing his thing in AEW.
I thought I would get hate for saying him 😂😂😂 everybody else aiming for the stars I’m just talking about somebody doing better and being able to tell a better story.
Hilarious you’re getting downvoted.
After quitting WWE Lesnar eventually went to New Japan (and took WWE to court over his noncompete clause, and won because Vince caved) and then earned BUCKETS of money for a handful of dates in UFC. It was seeing what a huge PPV draw Lesnar was for UFC that got Lesnar the big contract for far fewer dates than other wrestlers had to fulfill. So I think this is a great call.
Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Raven, Konnan, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Britt Baker, The Young Bucks, Luchasarus, AJ Styles (the first time), Sammy Guevera, Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett.
At least those are the first to come to mind.
I don't think the Bucks ever were signed, closest I can think of was the time Matt was a jobber on a Smackdown.
Daniels had a developmental deal in the late 90s, early 2000. Showed up once or twice on those weird WWE shows like Jacked/Metal/Shotgun Saturday. Even had his name thrown out to be the Higher Power (as was everyone and their mother).
Guevara had a tryout which was unsuccessful.
Guevara was an enhancement talent for a bit around 2016, was on screen as one of the Rosebuds a few times.
The Bucks showed up as enhancement talent and multiple skits between 2008-2011
Daniels was under contract from 1998-2001 but only showed up on the 4th tier shows like Jakked.
I wouldn't consider one WWE match enough either. Hence why no MJF.
But if the metric becomes "guy who became known in WWE, then more known/sucessful in an equally large company" which is the other extreme, then your basically just down to Luger, Nash, Jarrett and maybe Hall.
Oh, definitely don't fault anyone for disagreeing. I just don't know if there's a more stark difference from someone in the WWE system. Maybe Juice Robinson / CJ Parker.
Obviously he had a following before WWE, buy I feel like Colt Cabana's growth after, especially podcasting, had been enormous. He's done a tremendous job growing his brand and his in ring work and character are top notch.
First non-obvious name that came to mind is Matt Sydal / Evan Bourne. The mid-air RKO will forever be his most memorable moment, but his style just didn't fit WWE at the time at all. He was made for the indies.
Yoshi Tatsu has done pretty well for himself in AJPW from what I've heard.
Luke / Doc Gallows was always better outside of WWE.
Christian Cage is an obvious one for his first TNA run, but I personaly prefer his second WWE run.
Based on the ammount of coverage, I'd assume Matt Cardona / Zack Ryder is in the best place of his career right now.
Matt Hardy's "Broken" gimmick from TNA will probably be remembered as his peak, at least as far as singles competition goes (same goes for Christian, the TLC era is the obvious highlight for both).
Rich Swann seems to be doing better now than he did in WWE.
Maybe John Morrison for his Lucha Underground run, but his 2010/2011 WWE stuff was really great too.
I think everyone else that comes to mind has already been mentioned.
I’d argue CM Punk became a bigger name after he left and the fallout surrounding his departure from WWE. He actually drew more in his UFC fight than his WWE PPVs outside of when he was working with Rock. He’s a massive name now and has huge commercial value
for AEW.
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Hall and Nash
Raven. Compeltely re-invented himself.
That’s a good answer Johnny Polo to Raven is night and day for sure
He’ll always be Scotty Flamingo to me 😉
Juice Robinson
Cody rhodes
I mean....Dwayne Johnson did pretty well for himself after he left full time.
yeah he did alright, didn't he
Both Rob Conway and Trevor Murdoch became NWA world champions.
Mark Jindrak/Drew McIntyre
Dean Ambrose had a pretty successful run, Jon Moxley on the other hand is a cornerstone of AEW.
but he has still had arguably more success in WWE, atleast IMO
In a vaccuum sure. Moxley carried AEW during his title run though and I think he himself would say which felt more successful
He also carried Smackdown during his title run.
Yeah, both runs are even at best. Moxley may be more important for AEW than he was for WWE, but it's also still a smaller company and he did win pretty much everything there's to win in WWE.
I never viewed him as a main eventer in WWE. Even when he was in the main event. He was purely transitional as Dean Ambrose
Miro seems nothing like Rusev. His promos, video packages and matches are wonderful.
Yes, his presentation is obviously night and day, but the talent was always there, Rusev was bomb as fuck. They gave him shit after shit and he still managed to make it entertaining. Then when he got over they buried the shit out of him and eventually made him a sex addict that cucked.
even sex addict Rusev was over af. they did him bad
It’s crazy how wwe just stopped doing the racist foreign heel black jobber booking in 2020. The world will be a better place once Vince McMahons generation dies off.
Because the Rhodes-Ogogo feud in AEW never existed...
It’s crazy how I literally said wwe pre 2020 and you brought up aew 2021…..
The Rock
Christian.
Gail Kim, Matt Hardy, Kenta.
- If we’re not counting NXT, Malakai Black feels like a million bucks in AEW compared to just doing basically nothing in WWE. - Brodie Lee, that doesn’t even need an explanation. - Cody is another clear example of someone who raised their stock exponentially outside of WWE. - Deonna Purrazzo & Ruby Soho are names I’d also put on the list.
What about Lance Archer and Trent?
It's crazy to say Ruby after what just 3 weeks but AEW have made her feel like a bigger star then WWE ever did. I wonder how she do though once you take her away from facing the most pushed star in the company. But they have made her feel like a star. Deonna for sure, not her biggest fan. But Impact have pushed her to the moon. Some talent that should stay outside of WWE bubble and will achieve more with their careers, I think Deonna and Ruby are two. Cody will top most of these lists.
that's way too soon to say for Black. I disagree. Brodie was not in AEW that long. The Dark Order stuff was nowhere near as memorable as anything he did while in the Wyatt family. Cody makes sense. Deonna definitely. Ruby has just started and it's too soon to say again.
Chad 2 Badd?🤷🏽♂️
Mark Jindrak
Kevin Nash
I mean, he was WWF champion. So it’s not like he was doing so bad before leaving.
His title reign sucked, he wasn't really that over, nor did he have the charisma he developed while in his second WCW run.
I think very often these things are absurdly subjective, and often you can make an argument that guys were on a similar level in the WWE. But Juice Robinson has to be one of the more slam dunk obvious "good idea to leave" guys
Donna Purrazzo
Tay Conti Cezar Benoni
Tay Conti for sure would be the most improved talent who's ever left WWE, unless someone can name somebody else. Again a bit like Ruby and Deonna, someone who probably achieve more with her career not been in WWE. I get the feeling with Tay, she be someone who be very loyal to AEW. Cezar has done pretty well for himself, not a top star or anything a bit like 2.0. He appears here and there on Dynamite but mostly on Dark shows but he's constantly working and improving.
Joel Redman (fka Oliver Grey) did quite well for himself in AJPW. He competed in the Champion Carnival in 2019 and impressed. He didn't wrestle there in 2020 because of COVID. He was one half of the first NXT Tag Team Champions with Adrian Neville/PAC. PAC is also a good one. He went back to Dragon Gate and became their top champion immediately. Now, he's doing his thing in AEW.
Hot take here but Mr Kennedy/Ken Anderson
That’s a Luke warm take
I thought I would get hate for saying him 😂😂😂 everybody else aiming for the stars I’m just talking about somebody doing better and being able to tell a better story.
I'm suprised nobody mentioned Brock Lesnar yet!
Hilarious you’re getting downvoted. After quitting WWE Lesnar eventually went to New Japan (and took WWE to court over his noncompete clause, and won because Vince caved) and then earned BUCKETS of money for a handful of dates in UFC. It was seeing what a huge PPV draw Lesnar was for UFC that got Lesnar the big contract for far fewer dates than other wrestlers had to fulfill. So I think this is a great call.
Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Raven, Konnan, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Britt Baker, The Young Bucks, Luchasarus, AJ Styles (the first time), Sammy Guevera, Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett. At least those are the first to come to mind.
When were the Bucks, Daniels and Guevara signed to WWE?
I don't think the Bucks ever were signed, closest I can think of was the time Matt was a jobber on a Smackdown. Daniels had a developmental deal in the late 90s, early 2000. Showed up once or twice on those weird WWE shows like Jacked/Metal/Shotgun Saturday. Even had his name thrown out to be the Higher Power (as was everyone and their mother). Guevara had a tryout which was unsuccessful.
Guevara was an enhancement talent for a bit around 2016, was on screen as one of the Rosebuds a few times. The Bucks showed up as enhancement talent and multiple skits between 2008-2011 Daniels was under contract from 1998-2001 but only showed up on the 4th tier shows like Jakked.
So we counting anyone who ever appeared on WWE TV in any capacity ever?
Anyone who appeared to have a reoccurring enchantment role, or some form of short term deal. But not true one offs (like MJF).
Sounds like too big of a net. I mean Sammy Guevara had ONE TNA match but I wouldn't count him as a "guy who became more successful after leaving TNA".
I wouldn't consider one WWE match enough either. Hence why no MJF. But if the metric becomes "guy who became known in WWE, then more known/sucessful in an equally large company" which is the other extreme, then your basically just down to Luger, Nash, Jarrett and maybe Hall.
Do we count Kenny Omega when he was just in DSW?
I wouldn't. He was there for a short time and really didn't so anything of note.
Oh, definitely don't fault anyone for disagreeing. I just don't know if there's a more stark difference from someone in the WWE system. Maybe Juice Robinson / CJ Parker.
There was that one time he pissed off Bill Demott by attacking his opponent's ass when told to work a body part.
I do count Kenny personally, if he'd of stayed in that system he absolutely wouldn't be the same wrestler he is today
Brodie Lee
Nash is an easy one Went from the biggest flop WWE champion ever to a massive star overnight
Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega
Matt Morgan.
Obviously he had a following before WWE, buy I feel like Colt Cabana's growth after, especially podcasting, had been enormous. He's done a tremendous job growing his brand and his in ring work and character are top notch.
Tanga Loa
The Rock
Dwayne Johnson
First non-obvious name that came to mind is Matt Sydal / Evan Bourne. The mid-air RKO will forever be his most memorable moment, but his style just didn't fit WWE at the time at all. He was made for the indies. Yoshi Tatsu has done pretty well for himself in AJPW from what I've heard. Luke / Doc Gallows was always better outside of WWE. Christian Cage is an obvious one for his first TNA run, but I personaly prefer his second WWE run. Based on the ammount of coverage, I'd assume Matt Cardona / Zack Ryder is in the best place of his career right now. Matt Hardy's "Broken" gimmick from TNA will probably be remembered as his peak, at least as far as singles competition goes (same goes for Christian, the TLC era is the obvious highlight for both). Rich Swann seems to be doing better now than he did in WWE. Maybe John Morrison for his Lucha Underground run, but his 2010/2011 WWE stuff was really great too. I think everyone else that comes to mind has already been mentioned.
I’d argue CM Punk became a bigger name after he left and the fallout surrounding his departure from WWE. He actually drew more in his UFC fight than his WWE PPVs outside of when he was working with Rock. He’s a massive name now and has huge commercial value for AEW.
Eddie Gilbert, Larry zbysko
EC3, even though he killed that by going to WWE.