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WWE is the largest and most popular wrestling company in the world. To them WWE and wrestling are no longer two separate entities, and while they may know about the existence of the Independent Scene only a hardcore fan base follows it.
The reality is that many of the wrestlers who appear in WWE have had a long career in the Independent Scene and are experienced and respected by those who have seen them perform. The likes of Finn Balor, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura come to mind in the current crop of stars, who had long and successful careers before they even set foot in the WWE ring.
However, sometimes it goes the opposite way, and stars who have not been shown in the best light outside WWE find fame in the way that WWE portrays them. In this list we will talk about those stars who may or may not have been successful outside WWE, but their fame heightened considerably and their WWE run made them look way better than they had done before.
#5 Triple H
Currently one of the chief administrators behind the scenes in WWE, Triple H was not always in such an advantageous position. The Game was trained to wrestle by Killer Kowalski and then made his television debut for WCW where he played the gimmick of a French Aristocrat. Since Hunter did not know any French he was asked to speak in a French accent. He was involved in a number of feuds but then became involved in a tag team with William Regal. He did not find success and nor was he popular in WCW and had to leave to pursue a singles career. He signed for the competition in WWF, and retained some of his former persona, only this time as a Connecticut Blueblood. This was his gimmick for the first two years in the company, but soon he met Shawn Michaels and things changed for him.
He changed his gimmick into something edgier and then formed D-Generation X with Michaels to become Triple H. Following this his career is that of a trailblazer as with time his talent and ability only grew.
Hunter is now a legendary wrestler, and it is difficult to think of him as anything else other than the Cerebral Assassin, Triple H.
#4 Mr. Kennedy
Another star who did not have a huge career before he came to WWE, Mr Anderson, also known during his time in WWE as Mr Kennedy, looked good for the first time when he came to WWE. His time in the wrestling business before that and after that shows that it was only his WWE run that stands out in his career.
He had a brief time with TNA before he came to WWE, and he could not remain there as TNA did not offer him a contract of real value. In WWE he was treated like a rising star as soon as he came out of their developmental territories. He won the United States Championship and was involved in huge feuds with other top WWE wrestlers. His match with Eddie Guerrero cemented his career earlier on. All this would come to an unfortunate end.
Mr Kennedy went on to win the Money in the Bank briefcase and looked set to be the WWE champion. Then he lost the briefcase to Edge and just like that his push was over. He was released the next year from WWE. There are rumours that this happened due to his substance abuse, and an injury, but many believe the real reason to be that he had backstage differences with Randy Orton. Orton is a wrestler who has considerable sway backstage and has stopped a number of wrestlers from being pushed, and he associated Kennedy with this when the wrestler failed to take an RKO in the correct manner.
Kennedy went on to wrestle for TNA where he found success, but it was nothing like what it looked like his career had in store during his time in WWE.
#3 Ryback
To be honest Ryback did not have much time in wrestling outside the time that he spent in WWE. Being the runner up in Tough Enough he was selected by WWE and spent a long time in their Developmental Territories.
During this entire time he looked like a muscled monster, but he had no hint at charisma. He was another one of those big men that Vince hired simply because he was big. He came into limelight for the first time as part of the Nexus when they invaded Raw. He was still only the ‘Big Guy’ who was a powerhouse and no more. The fact is that Ryback had a lot of talent, but it did not come to light until much later. When he was repackaged as Ryback, who demanded to be ‘fed’ superstars, his whole personality changed. He became a top star in WWE, and though he was never consistently booked by WWE, that was not his fault. He was paired with Paul Heyman at one point and this was the best part about his career in WWE, where he looked like a huge threat to anyone.
#2 Kane
Kane is not a wrestler that anyone would think could ever not be successful. With his 7 foot tall frame, and his agility and power inside the ring, Kane aka Glenn Jacobs is everything anyone could want in the early 1990’s as a wrestler.
Except, Kane did not really find success until much later. He competed in USWA and WCW is short matches and while his talent was evident he did not appear to be much of a threat. He appeared as the ‘Christmas Creature’ and as Unabomb.
When he first came to WWE things did not really change for Kane. He was given the gimmick of being Jerry Lawler’s private dentist Isaac Yankem. After Kevin Nash and Scott Hall left WWE to join the ranks of WCW, Kane would portray face Diesel. None of these gimmicks were very popular and Kane was not over.
Fast forward to 1997. Kane received the gimmick that made him famous as the Big Red Machine, and WWE slowly built to his debut as the Undertaker’s monstrous younger brother. He would make his debut by interfering in Undertaker’s Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels by tearing down the cell door with his bare hands. From that point there was no looking back as Kane became the monster WWE fans know and love as a Multiple time champion.
#1 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
To think that there was ever a possibility that ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin might not become a star is difficult to say the least. If there was a man who could be pointed at for helping WWE to win the Monday Night Wars against WCW it is him. Young and fresh, Steve Austin was the perfect Antihero in WWE, at a time that WCW was pushing their aging ‘big named’ stars. He was WWE’s answer and savior, and his feud with Mr McMahon is what defined that period of wrestling during the Attitude Era.
There was a time when it looked like Austin might not be anything more than a normal star. In WCW he was severely and reprehensibly under-utilized. Bischoff let Austin go, because he thought Austin did not have enough talent. Austin then went to ECW where he showed his ability on promos, but it was only when he came to WWE and had a feud with the Hart Foundation that it was realized how misused Stone Cold had been. He went on to become one of the most iconic wrestlers of all time, while Bischoff’s company faded into the background.
