5 Superstars we thought were going to leave WWE but are now champions

WWE has had its fair share of Superstar departures with this year with the likes of Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger) and Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) joining AEW, Kenta (Hideo Itami) joining NJPW, TJP (still TJP) and Rhyno joining Impact and Pac (Neville) joining Dragon Gate.

Other Superstars may be on their way out as well, no one quite knows what's going on with Sasha Banks who has been absent for months now, the same goes for Luke Harper who publicly requested his release but hasn't left the company yet.

But believe it or not even more Superstars have been linked with leaving the company, however, it seems that on this occasion WWE has managed to convince them to stay, and has subsequently rewarded them for doing so!

So, here are five Superstars (singles competitors or tag-teams) we thought were going to leave WWE but are now champions.

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#5. Revival - Raw Tag-Team Champions

The Revival are widely regarded by several people within the wrestling industry as one of the best tag-teams, not just in WWE, but in professional wrestling as a whole. Despite this, they weren't being used a great deal on the main roster and their full promise wasn't been tapped into.

This led to news breaking that Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder had asked for their release after a backstage incident or at the very least, WWE were concerned that the tag-team wanted to leave. This did seem to be the case as Revival were using the slogan 'Free the Revival' at the time, and Wilder had even made a trademark request for the #FTR

It was then reported that WWE had asked Revival to give them more time to show them that things could improve in the booking of their neglected tag-team division as a whole, and that seems to be what the Revival decided to do - wait and see!

Shortly afterwards, they won the Raw Tag-Team Titles in February, lost them briefly in April, and then won them back in June, only to lose them again this week. They have held the titles for a combined 103 days.

Since then there hasn't been any update on whether or not Dawson and Wilder intend to leave. At the moment it certainly doesn't seem like it.

#4. Brock Lesnar - Universal Champion

Brock Lesnar is Universal Champion again

Everyone thought Brock Lesnar would be returning to MMA so he would be leaving WWE shortly after last year's WrestleMania, but he defeated Roman Reigns and held onto the Universal Title.

Then he stuck around for a year on-and-off and ended up facing Seth Rollins for the Universal Title at this year's WrestleMania and lost. Then everyone thought that was it for Lesnar in WWE for a while and that we wouldn't see 'The Beast Incarnate' again for a long time.

How wrong were we? Very wrong. Not only did Brock Lesnar return to WWE and win the Money in the Bank briefcase, but he cashed in his briefcase against Seth Rollins to become Universal Champion again.

Lesnar is now defending his title against SummerSlam. That is, of course, if Seth Rollins even makes it to SummerSlam after the beating he received from Lesnar on Monday Night Raw. But either way, it certainly seems like Lesnar is not leaving WWE and is here to stay as a permanent fixture.

#3. The OC W/. AJ Styles - United States and RAW Tag-Team Titles

The OC are now one of WWE's most dominant factions with all members as champions

Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and AJ Styles were once known as The Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling (with some other wrestlers) and many assumed that's what the WWE were going for when they brought in Styles and The Club to WWE.

Sadly, whilst Styles' career took off with him becoming WWE Champion, Gallows and Anderson seemed to slip further and further down the list of importance until we barely saw them at all.

However, despite his success in WWE, Styles' contract was coming to an end in April and many thought he'd move on having done all he could do in WWE, and many thought Gallows and Anderson would call it quits having allegedly decided not to renew their contracts as they might actually get used in another wrestling promotion.

But, Styles would go on to sign a new contract with WWE and it seems that Gallows and Anderson have also done the same as they have now been reunited onscreen and Styles currently holds the United States title, whereas The OC hold the Raw Tag-Team Titles.

#2. Shinsuke Nakamura - Intercontinental Title

Shinsuke Nakamura is now Intercontinental Champion

Shinsuke Nakamura was another Superstar whose contract expiry was fast approaching and who was subject to several rumors that he'd be going back to New Japan Pro Wrestling or even joining AEW.

This was also, like most of the other Superstars on this list, fuelled by the fact that he hadn't really been given the opportunity to hit the heights that he had managed before joining WWE, leading to people thinking that Nakamura was being wasted.

It got to the point when Nakamura himself was having to address rumors of his imminent WWE departure, as we reported late last year!

Moving to the US was a big decision for my family. It's a long time thing. There's a rumor that Shinsuke Nakamura's contract expires and he's set for New Japan. New Japan hasn't made any contact with me.

But now Nakamura is the Intercontinental Champion after beating Finn Balor on the Extreme Rules pre-show, which makes it seem like Nakamura has decided to stay with WWE after all!

#1. Mike and Maria Kanellis - 24/7 Champions

Maria Kanellis is 24/7 champ after winning it from her husband

Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet sent shock waves through the pro wrestling world when he reported the scoop that Mike and Maria Kanellis had requested their release from WWE after being unhappy with how they were being used.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned Mike and Maria Kanellis recently asked for WWE officials to release them from their contracts.

Sources tell us the Kanellis’ have been unhappy with the way they’ve been used in WWE for awhile and finally made the decision a few weeks ago to request their releases.

This is something that Maria Kanellis vocally denied on social media after it was reported. However, since then both Mike and Maria Kanellis have been regular features on 205 Live, as well as more recently getting a spot on Monday Night Raw every week.

And then this week both Mike and Maria Kanellis would win their first championship since returning to WWE, with both of them winning WWE's newest title belt the 24/7 championship.