5 backyard wrestlers who became WWE Champions

Let's face it, backyard wrestling isn't everyone's cup of tea. Wikipedia refers to it as "an underground hobby and sport involving untrained practices of professional-style wrestling, typically in a low budget environment".

It is infamous for being home to extremely violent wrestling matches, that usually include lightbulbs, chairs, mechanical tools, or even fire on some occasions. Backyard wrestling was at its peak during 1996-2001, primarily because of top wrestling companies like WWE and ECW embracing high-risk stunts and violent matches.

In the late '80s and early '90s, backyard wrestling grew more violent than ever before, forcing WWE to air adverts that stressed the dangers of this style of wrestling. After ECW folded, several lower-tier promotions kept the legacy of backyard wrestling alive. The matches are usually filmed with camcorders and the action takes place in an open environment, namely parks, parking lots, fields, or sometimes, even warehouses.

Although large corporations like WWE don't associate themselves with backyard wrestling, it's interesting to note that several top WWE Superstars were once backyard wrestlers. Let's take a look at 5 WWE Champions who were once engaged in backyard wrestling.

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#5 Mick Foley

Mick Foley

One look at Foley was enough for one to notice that he wasn't your traditional wrestler. He didn't have a chiselled body and the typical look that a main eventer was expected to possess. Yet, he somehow managed to rise up the ranks in WCW, and then in WWE, finally becoming WWE Champion on an episode of Monday Night Raw.

Foley's backyard wrestling background was a major factor in him achieving stardom. He knew that he needed to offer something unique and different if he wanted to hang with the big guns. He had captured himself leaping from his home's rooftop in the early '80s, which was later used by WWE to add a crucial layer to the Mankind persona.

#4 Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose

Years before Dean Ambrose became WWE World Heavyweight Champion by cashing in his briefcase on Seth Rollins, he was shedding blood on a regular basis as a backyard wrestler in Combat Zone Wrestling. The promotion is notorious for putting on extremely violent and gory matches, some of which take place in backyards and parking lots.

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— Jon Moxley (@JonMoxley) May 1, 2019

Ambrose wrestled in CZW from 2009 to 2011 and was known for his incredibly disturbing death matches (hardcore wrestling bouts where DQs, countouts, and other rules don't apply). YouTube has an extensive collection of Ambrose's hardcore backyard wrestling matches for interested viewers to check out, but prepare yourself for a bunch of disturbing footage before you head over to check it out.

Ambrose later signed with WWE and became a part of The Shield, one of the greatest factions of all time. He went on to become a Grand Slam Champion.

#3 Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan

At WrestleMania 30, Daniel Bryan defeated three members of the legendary faction Evolution, and became the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The heartfelt victory was the culmination of the Yes Movement, which garnered tons of mainstream publicity for WWE. But before Bryan became a megastar in WWE, he was another backyard wrestler no one knew about.

Bryan details his backyard misadventures in his autobiography, chronicling his journey from being a backyard wrestler to WWE Champion. Bryan's friends had created their own promotion named "Backyard Championship Wrestling', and Bryan regularly 'wrestled' in the league.

The biggest development was when I found out that my friends had created their own wrestling league. Before the shows started, we'd clear everything out of our family room and lay out a mattress on the floor, thus transforming the room into the BCW Area.

#2 Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins

Today, Seth Rollins is possibly the most over Superstar on the WWE roster. Currently a beloved babyface, he was once a hated heel who had betrayed his brothers of The Shield, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. Rollins won his first WWE Title when he cashed in his MITB contract in the main event of WrestleMania 31.

In the above interview, Seth Rollins talks about his experiences in backyard wrestling in vivid detail.

Surprisingly, I very seldom got injured at backyard wrestling. I did some really dumb stuff when I was a kid. Nothing like too crazy, like barbed wire or light tube, or anything crazy like that. We used to go to the local hardware store and buy particle board and get steel chairs from, like... places and stuff like that, and we hijacked our neighbours' ladders and stuff.

#1 CM Punk

CM Punk

Dubbed by many as being one of the most controversial Superstars of the past decade or so, CM Punk went through a lot to achieve his goal of becoming WWE's top star. Years before he became a household name in the world of pro wrestling, CM Punk was wrestling violent matches in a promotion called Lunatic Wrestling Federation. Punk was active in the promotion during the mid to late '90s.

Punk's hit DVD -"Best In The World", featured the former WWE Superstar talking about his origins in LWF, where he used to wrestle in warehouses on a regular basis. Punk later learned that his brother Mike Brooks had embezzled a few thousand dollars from the company, resulting in him cutting ties with Mike for good.

Punk's notoriety only grew from that point on, as he went on to wrestle for Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, and later, WWE.