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Working in the WWE is the lifelong dream of every professional wrestler. While some wrestlers like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Roman Reigns were all trained in WWE's developmental territories, there are others who had to work for various other smaller promotions before entering the professional wrestling giant that WWE is.
These Superstars, known as 'Indie Darlings', made a name for themselves even before they were hired by WWE.
This trend, that started with the acquisition of CM Punk back in 2006, entered a completely different phase after the start of NXT.
Even though WWE is still considered 'The Land of Big Men', these wrestlers have also managed to make a significant impact in WWE, and have emerged as the biggest stars in the last few years.
Here are the 10 WWE Superstars that were wrestling legends even before they joined WWE full time.
#10 Seth Rollins
Let's start with the man who is easily one of the best in-ring performers in the WWE right now - WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins.
Before he was defeating heavyweights of wrestling in WWE and earning the title of 'Kingslayer', Rollins wrestled extensively on the Independent Circuit as Tyler Black.
However, just like he has earned praise in WWE for his in-ring work, the young Rollins was considered a sensation in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
His matches with the likes of Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Jimmy Jacobs were a specimen of the talent that he had even during his early years.
Way before he completed WWE's prestigious Grand Slam at 'Mania 34 and cashed in the Money in the Bank at 'Mania 31, Rollins was a one-time World Champion, one-time Tag Champion and winner of the 2009 Survival of the Fittest Tournament in ROH, in addition to winning Tag-Team Titles in PWG.
#9 Sami Zayn
Even though Sami Zayn is going through a highly rough patch as a heel on Monday Night Raw (Seriously, what was that Lashley's sister's segment?), there is certainly no denying that he is one of the smoothest workers in the ring.
One of the few natural babyfaces, Sami made a successful transition to the negative side last year.
However, Sami was not always, well, Sami. During his stint outside and before his arrival at WWE, Sami was El Generico, a luchador from Mexico.
His tenure in PWG and ROH, which included a phenomenal feud with his friend-turned-enemy Kevin Steen (now known as Kevin Owens), earned him critical acclaim from fans.
Even though he is yet to win a title in WWE, Sami held various Championships during his tenure in other promotions.
He is a two-time PWG World Champion, five-time Tag-Team Champion in PWG, in addition to winning both of their annual tournaments. In ROH, he won the ROH World Television Title and Tag-Team Title with, you guessed right, Kevin Steen.
#8 Finn Balor
New Japan Pro Wrestling has given so many world-class Superstars to the WWE in the past 4 years, and it was the arrival of Finn Balor that started this process back in 2014.
In the past 4 years, not only did Balor hold the NXT Championship for the longest time in history, he also became the inaugural Universal Champion at Summerslam 2016.
The reason for Balor's success as a Superstar in WWE can be attributed to his successful 8-year tenure in NJPW as Prince Devitt.
Not only did he have critically acclaimed matches against and along Kota Ibushi and Jushin Liger, he formed the most popular stable in the wrestling world right now - The Bullet Club.
Balor, or Devitt's work in NJPW earned him a number of accolades. He held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title three times for over 3 cumulative years and held that divisions Tag-Team title six times.
In addition to that, he was twice the winner of Best of Super Juniors Cup, winning it in 2011 and 2013.
#7 Bobby Roode
Ever since making his debut on the SmackDown after Summerslam 2017, Bobby Roode has had a hot and cold run on the main roster.
Despite having a successful stint in NXT, Bobby Roode's has been rather bland as a face on the main roster and, barring his US Title win, has been treated poorly on both rosters.
The same, however, cannot be said about his tenure before his arrival in the WWE. As a member of the TNA roster for almost 12 years, Roode, wrestling with his real full name, was part of the most successful Tag Team, Beer Money Inc, in TNA's history along with James Storm and was one of the biggest heel during his final years.
In TNA/Impact Wrestling, Roode was a two-time World Heavyweight Champion, with his first reign officially being the longest in the history of the promotion.
Apart from that, he held the Tag-Team Title eight times in the promotion and even won the King of the Mountain championship in 2015.
#6 Adam Cole
The popularity and respect that Adam Cole earned from the fans during his years before he joined WWE can be judged from the reaction that he got when he first arrived on NXT last year.
Even though he has been in WWE for just a solitary year, he has become one of the most popular Superstars on the entire roster, despite being a heel.
Once AJ Styles joined WWE in January 2016, Adam Cole was undoubtedly the biggest American Superstar who had not wrestled a match with WWE.
His matches with the likes of Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong, and Jay Briscoe solidified his place as the top dog in ROH, while he continued his reign as the World Champion in PWG.
Before he became the inaugural NXT North American Champion, Adam Cole had three reigns as ROH World Champion to his name, more than anyone in the history of the promotion.
During his tenure in PWG, Cole had the longest reign as PWG World Champion when he held the title for 538 days.
#5 Kevin Owens
In Just 4 years after his debut for the WWE at NXT Takeover: R Evolution, Kevin Owens has established himself as one of the biggest Superstars in the promotion.
Not only has Owens held 7 titles in WWE, including the Universal and Intercontinental Title, his run as the cocky and vile heel has seen him stay in the main event picture ever since his debut.
Like the cocky heel that he plays in WWE, Owens played the similar character when he wrestled for other promotions under his real name Kevin Steen.
It was during his tenure with ROH that his universally acclaimed feud with El Generico, or Sami Zayn, began, whereas his tenure with PWG can be termed as the golden time for the promotion.
For almost 14 years, Owens was a well-renowned face in all the promotions outside WWE. He held the ROH World Title and Tag-Team Title once each during his time with the organization.
For PWG, Steen was a record three-time PWG Champion and even held their Tag-Team Titles on three occasions.
#4 Samoa Joe
Apart from probably Braun Strowman, if there was one guy who had the biggest impact on WWE programming in 2017 then, it was Samoa Joe.
Just months after his much-awaited main roster debut following a long stint at NXT, Samoa Joe was winning matches against the biggest Superstars in the company and competing in the main events of pay per views.
His immense success in such a short time can be attributed to the fact that, not only is he a talented worker in the ring, he was highly respected by the fans who were aware of his work in the previous years.
Between 2002 and 2015, Joe was a constant member of the main event picture of both ROH and TNA, where he was undefeated for 19 long months.
Even though Joe has only held one Championship in WWE so far, he won way too many Championships in ROH and TNA.
Joe's only reign as ROH World Champion is officially the longest reign in the history of the title, while he also held the ROH Pure Title.
He achieved far more success in TNA, where he captured every active title and became company's third Grand Slam Champion.
#3 Shinsuke Nakamura
So far, it is actually unfair to call Shinsuke Nakamura's run on WWE main roster a successful one.
Underwhelming matches and disappointing feuds, coupled with awkward booking decisions, saw him flounder on the main roster just months after his debut, but he bounced back with a phenomenal heel turn that brought the Nakamura of old back again.
Speaking of old Nakamura, The King of Strong Style was a highly acclaimed Superstar in Japan before making a jump to WWE, which everyone knows.
It was the combined efforts of Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi that brought NJPW back on the wrestling map during the mid-2000s.
His matches with Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and Kazuchika Okada were some of the best in the history of the company.
While Nakamura is still fighting with AJ Styles to win his first main roster title in WWE, his 14-year tenure with NJPW saw him win the gold 14 times.
A record five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Shinsuke is regarded as the greatest Champion in the company's history and someone who provided legitimacy to the title.
Complementing these five reigns are his 3 reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and 1 reign as Tag Team Champion.
#2 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan was the hero of two of the biggest WWE stories of the past 4 years. While his ascent to the top of the Ladder after Punk's departure was nothing short of a fairy tale for both Bryan and his fans, his subsequent return to wrestling after staying away from the ring for almost 3 years was the culmination of a long due dream that fans had been craving to have since his retirement in 2016.
Long regarded as one of the most complete and popular Superstars in WWE history, it was not in WWE that Bryan actually made a name for himself.
Bryan was always associated with the independent circuit before he made his WWE debut in 2010.
In fact, Bryan, who wrestled under his real name Bryan Danielson, is regarded as the 'Founding Father' of ROH. It was his feud with Samoa Joe that put the company on the wrestling map.
Just like his Championship history in WWE, Bryan also had an illustrious title record before he came to WWE.
His only reign as ROH World Champion was one of the best reigns in the history of the organization, while he was the last person to win ROH Pure Title before it was unified with World Title.
He also had two-reigns with the PWG champion while working extensively on the independent circuit.
#1 AJ Styles
We began this list with the first of the two best in-ring performers in WWE right now, and we end it with the other one - The reigning WWE Champion AJ Styles.
Despite being in WWE for a little over 2 years, AJ Styles has swiftly climbed to the top of the ladder and established himself as one of the most protected and vital members of the WWE roster just because of his profess as the greatest professional wrestler.
Before January 2016, Styles was the biggest wrestler outside of WWE, the Indie equivalent to WWE's John Cena.
Even though he worked extensively for TNA between 2002 and 2014, where he was dubbed Mr. TNA, Styles was also well known for his work in independent promotions as well.
His 2-year tenure with NJPW in 2014-15 propelled him into the superstardom that he failed to achieve during his TNA run, and he has not looked back ever since.
Apart from two reigns with WWE's top prize, Styles won a number of titles during his 14-year career before WWE.
He won a total of 19 titles in TNA, which include 5 reigns as World Champion. He was also the company's first Grand Slam Champion, which he achieved 4 more times.
In NJPW, he was a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the leader of the Bullet Club. His other accolades include one reign as PWG World Champion and being the inaugural ROH Pure Champion.
Who do you think was the best wrestler before joining the WWE? Sound off in the comments section below!
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