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WWE is the largest and most popular wrestling promotion in the world and the Superstars that compete in it are no less than celebrities. We often look at these WWE Superstars and wonder how amazing their lives are with all the fame and wealth that they earn. What we don't realize is the struggle they put up on the independent scene and other wrestling promotions before getting themselves a WWE contract.
Most of the Superstars that we see every week on RAW and SmackDown started their career in a smaller wrestling promotion and then through their talent caught the eyes of the WWE management.
In this article, let's take a look at 10 photos of Superstars before they joined WWE. Which one of them looks the most different now? Be sure to let us know your reactions and thoughts in the comments section below.
#10 Xavier Woods
Before signing a developmental contract with WWE in 2010, Austin Watson, better known as Xavier Woods of the New Day was shaping his career in TNA. Debuting under the ring name Consequences Creed in the promotion, he won the TNA World Tag Team Championship alongside Jay Lethal. Their tag team was dubbed as Lethal Consequences.
Creed was also a part of a faction named The Frontline which comprised of top TNA stars at that time like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Eric Young, the Motor City Machine Guns, and more. He was released from TNA in March 2010. After a short stint in NJPW, he joined WWE. As part of the New Day, alongside Kofi Kingston and Big E, Woods is an eight-time Tag Team Champion in WWE.
#9 Andrade
Andrade is undoubtedly one of those Superstars who have a huge potential to be a massive name in WWE. His pairing alongside Zelina Vega has been highly successfully in NXT, and now, on the main roster as well. But Andrade was a lot different before joining the company.
Competing in promotions like CMLL and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Andrade used to compete with a mask in traditional Luchador style under the ring name La Sombra. After signing with WWE in November 2015, the company decided to change his character and hence he started competing without the mask as Andrade "Cien" Almas.
#8 Asuka
Asuka has been one of the most impressive and entertaining Superstar in the women's division of WWE. While her current character is more on the comedy side, she was not as sweet and smiling always.
Competing under the ring name Kana in promotions like Pro Wrestling Wave, NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling, Smash, Reina Joshi Puroresu, and others, she won numerous championships. She started getting recognized as one of the best women's wrestlers in the world and WWE went on to sign her in 2015. She won the NXT Women's Championship and went on to have an unbeaten reign of 510 days after which she relinquished the title and joined the main roster.
#7 Elias
Music has always been a part of the character and gimmicks of Jeffrey Sciullo, well known as Elias. Before joining the company and telling everyone that WWE stands for Walk With Elias, the Drifter wrestled in various independent promotions.
Being known as Heavy Metal Jesus, he became the World Heavyweight Champion and the Super Indy Champion in International Wrestling Cartel. He later signed a developmental contract with WWE in 2014 and joined the main roster in 2017. Even though he is yet to win any major championship in the company, his popularity among fans makes us believe that we'll see him hold championship gold in WWE, hopefully soon.
#6 Aleister Black
The Dutch Destroyer, Aleister Black looks all set to get a huge push on RAW as he continues to have an undefeated singles-match streak in the company. Before signing with WWE in June 2016, he was a highly successful performer on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Competing under the ring name of Tommy End, he wrestled for various promotions like Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), and many more. In the four years with WWE, he has won the NXT Championship once and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament in 2019 with Ricochet.
#5 AJ Styles
Many once considered AJ Styles to be as important to TNA as John Cena has been to WWE. He was indeed one of the biggest Superstars of the promotion and could very well be considered the Face of TNA. He has also wrestled for major promotions like NJPW, Ring of Honor, and many other promotions on the independent circuit. Even before stepping foot inside a WWE ring, fans already considered him one of the best wrestlers in the world.
He is one of the few Superstars to directly join the main roster without going through NXT. So much was his popularity, that WWE even let him keep the same ring name of AJ Styles. His surprising debut in the Royal Rumble 2016 will always be one of the best moments in WWE history. Styles is a two-time WWE Champion and recently main-evented Night 1 of WrestleMania 36 alongside The Undertaker.
#4 Cesaro
Now, can you even recognize this guy in the picture above? Yes, he is our very own Swiss Superman, Cesaro. Being considered by many as one of the most underrated Superstars on the WWE roster, Cesaro has always impressed everyone with his wrestling skills and unbelievable strength.
Before joining WWE in 2011, he competed for various promotions like CZW, Pro Wrestling Noah, Ring of Honor, Chikara and others under the ring name Claudio Castagnoli, which is also his real name. In his 9-year long WWE career, Cesaro is a 6-time Tag Team Champion and a 1-time United States Champion. Let's hope we see him as the WWE Champion one day!
#3 Sasha Banks
One of the four WWE Horsewomen, Sasha Banks has played a massive role in the Women's Revolution in WWE due to which women wrestling is now being taken more seriously. She previously used to compete under the ring name Mercedes KV, which was inspired by her real name - Mercedes Justine Kaestner-Varnado.
She mainly competed in Chaotic Wrestling, where she was a one-time Women's Champion before getting signed by WWE in 2012. She won the NXT Championship in 2015 and later made her main roster debut in 2016 where she is a 4-time RAW Women's Champion and was also the inaugural Women's Tag Team Champion alongside Bayley. She has all the potential to end her career as one of the greatest women Superstars in WWE and only time will tell whether she can achieve that!
#2 Seth Rollins
While we might not realize it, Seth Rollins is a fifteen-year veteran in the world of pro-wrestling. He was a main-event Superstar in Ring of Honor, competing under the ring name Tyler Black, where he won the ROH World Championship at a very young age.
After signing a contract with WWE in 2010, his ring name was changed to Seth Rollins and the rest is history. Being considered one of the most accomplished WWE Superstar of this generation, Rollins became the inaugural NXT Champion in 2012 before debuting on the main roster as part of iconic faction The Shield in 2013. He has won almost every major title on the main roster and is already considered to be one of the faces of the company's flagship show - Monday Night RAW.
#1 Sami Zayn
While there has been a long-running joke amongst the Internet Wrestling Community, if you already didn't know it, Sami Zayn and El Generico are the same. Before joining WWE in 2013 and getting his ring name changed, Zayn used to wrestle with a mask (as shown in the picture above) under the ring name El Generico.
His friendship and rivalry against Kevin Owens dates back to their time on the independent circuit and in Ring of Honor where they were a tag team and even won the ROH World Tag Team Championships. During his time in WWE, Zayn was one of the biggest names on NXT, but his main roster wasn't as successful until recently when he won the Intercontinental Championship. He is one of those wrestlers who everyone wants to see one day hold the WWE Championship!
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