Often, wrestlers only have one chance to make an impression. In order to achieve success, and be featured by a promotion, wrestlers have to make themselves seen and heard at every opportunity they get with the company, lest they get passed over for other performers.
Once they do make it, fans embrace them and enjoy their performances in the ring. However, a number of talents pass through WWE, and their time in the company results in little to no success.
While several emerge as stars, many do not, and leave themselves and others wondering what could have been.
What is interesting to note about a number of the stars in the company is that while the perception is that they earned their stripes in WWE, many had to first achieve success in other promotions to earn the reputation that they have today.
However, a number of talented stars didn't begin by achieving success competing all over the world, they competed inside the WWE before they became stars. These are men that have earned success and are featured by the promotion today, but little was thought of them the first time they came to WWE.
Here are five current WWE superstars they didn't capitalise on until years later.
#5 Bobby Roode
After his debut with WWE's NXT brand, no one could argue that Roode was everything that he said he was. He was glorious both in the ring and on the microphone.
He first came to TNA wrestling back in 2004 as part of an ensemble group of wrestlers that all seemed the same. Still, many could tell right away that there was something about him that was unlike others in the company and set him apart.
He was brash, confident, and articulate. And as it turned out, he was a future world champion. After years of being in TNA, Roode departed the company to be part of WWE's NXT brand.
Also read: 5 WWE Wrestlers who were jobbers before they became Superstars
But a little-known fact is that prior to his time in TNA, he did a previous stint in WWE. He competed under the name Roode, with one slight difference: it was spelt "Rude," like former WWE superstar 'Ravishing' Rick Rude.
He also had blond highlights, and in pictures from the time is almost unrecognisable in comparison to how he looks today.
At the time he was just used as an enhancement talent, putting over the stars of the time on secondary programs like Velocity, Jakked/Metal and Sunday Night Heat, a far cry from his standing with the company now.
#4 Eric Young
Eric Young's career path mirrors that of the glorious one. He debuted with TNA at the same time in 2004, also as part of the Team Canada faction, and first made a name for himself with that company, achieving a great deal.
While he was there he became a tag team and a world champion and showed constant progression in all areas.
He developed his craft in the ring and on the microphone. Anyone that has seen Young throughout his career is also aware that he is committed to any character that he is called upon to perform, and has always gravitated to championship success.
As the current leader of the faction SAnitY, Young is a menacing anarchist leader with a group of men and women following his path of destruction. But fans have probably forgotten that Young was previously employed by WWE.
Much like Roode, thirteen years ago, Young competed on Sunday Night Heat and Velocity and even teamed with Roode. While these programs have been gone for some time, proof of his time in the ring on those shows can still be found floating around online.
#3 Samoa Joe
He is the former two-time NXT champion and is known throughout the world as the Samoan Submission machine. For good reason, too, as he's been known to stretch his fair share of opponents.
Joe first earned a name for himself competing for Ring of Honor, having captivating matches against the likes of Bryan Danielson, CM Punk and Nigel McGuiness.
After departing ROH, he competed for TNA, and it was while he was there that he had matches against the likes of Kurt Angle, Sting and AJ Styles. It seemed as though Joe had achieved all that he needed to achieve. That was, everything other than competing for WWE.
In 2015, Joe arrived at the end of an NXT Takeover event, coming face-to-face with the then-champion Kevin Owens. The encounter was epic, even though all that took place was a stare down between the two and nothing more.
What fans may be unaware of is the fact that this wasn't the first time he had worked for WWE. Before Joe made a name for himself, a younger, more slender and blond Joe fought on Sunday Night Heat, one of their secondary TV programs.
At the time, neither Joe nor the WWE could have predicted that years later he would be booked to become the focus of one of their brands.
#2 Dean Ambrose
Today, Ambrose is the inmate that is running the asylum. He has captured the Intercontinental championship, the United States championship and the WWE championship.
Fans have seen Ambrose move up through the ranks, from his time in FCW feuding with Seth Rollins, to his call-up to the main roster as part of The Shield, to his singles run. Fans have also witnessed him becoming 'the lunatic fringe' and rekindling his feud with Seth Rollins, and ultimately becoming the WWE World champion.
There is no doubt he has had to work hard to get where he is today and has faced an uphill climb both personally and professionally in the process.
What fans are unaware of, however, is that part of his climb was a previous stint with the company five years before he actually joined the roster.
In 2006, an almost unrecognisable Ambrose debuted with long pink hair under the name Jon Moxley, and was nothing more than enhancement talent used on Velocity. Those days are long gone, and Ambrose has found a look and style that has proven to appeal to countless fans today.
What fans have come to appreciate is that Ambrose is more comfortable simply being himself.
#1 AJ Styles
He's the face that runs the place, or better yet, the champ that runs the camp. The phenomenal one AJ Styles doesn't just call himself those names, he lives up to them each and every week.
When he steps into the ring, fans can be assured of a top-notch match regardless of whom he is in the ring with.
Styles first rose to prominence during his run with TNA, and during that time faced some of the best wrestlers in the world. Whether it was Kurt Angle, Sting or Samoa Joe, Styles put on classic match after classic match with all of them.
After leaving TNA, Styles headed to Japan and also competed for Ring of Honor due to the partnership between that promotion and New Japan Pro Wrestling. While he was in Japan, Styles captured the IWGP Heavyweight championship. He also faced Jay Lethal for the Ring of Honor championship.
While WWE makes mention of the fact that he competed in WCW during the last days of that promotion, they neglect to mention that he also competed for WWE. Before joining TNA, a much younger Styles auditioned for WWE on the program “Metal”.
Who knew that the man who lost that audition match fourteen years earlier would return to become the WWE champion?
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