7 Wrestlers who have been World Champion in both WWE and TNA

For the most part of the last decade, TNA was the biggest competition that the WWE had. Their popularity grew to the point where they even attempted to move to Monday nights to compete directly with Raw. And although the company has suffered a mighty fall from grace since then, their success in the past decade cannot be questioned.

Perhaps their biggest achievement in wrestling has been producing some of the biggest stars in wrestling over the past decade. This Sunday at Hell in a Cell when Samoa Joe challenges AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, it will be a proud moment for longtime TNA fans who have seen both the wrestlers development from independent stars to world championship calibre talent.

If Joe does manage to win the WWE Championship on Sunday, he will become the 8th wrestler to hold the World Championship in both WWE and TNA. So, on that note, let's take a look at the 7 men who have achieved this feat before him.

*WWE's version of the ECW Championship has not been considered as a World Championship.

#7 Kurt Angle

Professional Wrestling's only Olympic Gold medalist made an incredibly fast transition from amateur wrestling to pro wrestling and became the WWE Even Triple H described Angle as "probably the fastest guy I've ever seen pick this business up".

He made his debut in the WWE in November 1998 after just months of training and became the WWE Champion in October 2000. Two years later, he would become just the fifth Grand Slam champion in WWE history. He had been only wrestling for a little over 4 years at that time.

So it came as a huge surprise when the WWE granted Angle a release from his contract on August 25, 2006, due to health issues. But Angle would then make a surprisingly quick return to wrestling by signing with TNA and then debuting for them on October 19, not even two months since his release from the WWE.

Here he would go on to become the most decorated world champion in the history of the company, winning the top championship of the company on 6 occasions. He also held every active championship in TNA at one point of time.

#6 Mick Foley

Mick Foley's runs as WWE and TNA World Heavyweight Champion are complete contrasts of each other. While he was one of the best wrestlers in the world during his WWE days, he had been retired for almost a decade when he decided to join TNA.

TNA cannot be blamed for not giving up the opportunity of having one of wrestling's biggest legends on their program. But by this point, he was just a mere shell of his Mankind/Cactus Jack days and had no business in the ring. But that did not stop TNA from trying to gain some attention by making him their World Champion.

But the plan fell flat and the company took the title off Foley just 63 days later. Thankfully, they did not actually go through with their absurd idea of having the World Championship defended just once a year like the Super Bowl.

#5 Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam has found great success wherever he has been. But still, it came as a huge surprise when the WWE actually decided to make him the WWE Champion at One Night Stand 2006. With the stigma of ECW still surrounding him, he just didn't look like the guy that the company would make their top guy.

Unfortunately, his reign came to an end just 22 days later after he was arrested for drug possession and RVD was suspended for 30 days by the WWE. Also, Rob Van Dam, would he came to be seen as someone to unreliable to be world champion and WWE decided to have him drop the title to Edge on the next episode of Raw. Van Dam would never win the WWE Championship again.

Van Dam would join TNA in 2010 and very soon he would go on to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from AJ Styles. At this time, TNA was at the height of its popularity and was looking for ways to elevate the company further. Van Dam was seen as the guy who would take the company to the next level.

Unfortunately, it ended up being the beginning of the end instead. Van Dam was no longer the wrestler he once was and his championship reign led to the horrible '10/10/10' angle. TNA never managed to recover from it and currently is based in Canada as 'Impact Wrestling' after narrowly surviving extinction.

#4 Alberto Del Rio/El Patron

At one point in time, Alberto Del Rio was seen as the next big thing in the WWE. He was a great performer, had mic skills and most importantly was seen as the successor to Rey Mysterio in the Mexican market.

The company also seemed completely behind him and in his short time in the WWE, his list of achievements is incredibly impressive. He won the Royal Rumble, the Money in the Bank and was a four-time World Champion.

And he achieved all that inside four years. He was shockingly fired by the company in 2014 after he reportedly slapped a WWE employee for making a racist joke. Although he would make a return to the company in 2015, it was not nearly as fruitful as his first run. But he still managed to win the United States Championship twice. He would leave the WWE a year later, unhappy with his position in the company.

He would then go on to join Impact Wrestling in 2017 as Alberto El Patron. He was pushed as the top guy from the very beginning and was a regular in the main event scene. First, he would win the GFW Global Championship from Magnus and would then defeat Lashley to win the Impact Wrestling Championship, holding both belts simultaneously.

But he would be stripped of the titles just a month later after getting involved in a domestic violence issue with then-girlfriend, Paige. Later he would be released from the company for no-showing an event in April 2018.

#3 Christian

Cpati — Captain Charisma was the world champion in both the companies.

Surprisingly, Christian won his first World Championship in TNA despite having spent almost 8 years in the WWE before moving to the company. Going by the name of Christian Cage, he was seen as a major coup by TNA and was one of the first big stars to jump ship from the WWE.

After getting frustrated for years in the WWE midcard, Christian finally managed to capture the first World Championship of his career by beating Jeff Jarrett at the Against All Odds pay-per-view event in 2006.

He would win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was being used by TNA as their primary title at the time, again in 2007 and would remain a top guy in the company for the rest of his run before returning to the WWE in 2009.

Despite winning the ECW Championship after his return, it seemed that a world championship would elude Christian again. But after Edge's surprise retirement in 2011, he would go on to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship vacated by his best friend at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. In the process, he finally achieved his lifelong dream of being a World Champion in the WWE.

#2 AJ Styles

Styles might arguably be the greatest wrestler of his generation. And when he won the WWE Championship at Backlash in 2016, it was the culmination of lifelong a journey for wrestling greatness. When Styles does end up hanging up his wrestling boots, he will surely go down as one of the all-time greats.

Styles was known as 'Mr. TNA' back when he was with the company and he was truly the heart and soul of the brand. TNA has surely not been the same since he left in 2013. During his time there, he won their World Championship on five occasions and in all honesty, the company misused most of the time. He was never the 'face of the company' that he should have been.

After leaving TNA, he would go on to wrestle for Ring of Honor and NJPW, before shocking the world and joining the WWE. His debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble is surely one of the greatest moments in the history of the event.

Styles' fans would have been justified in fearing that he would have much success in the company but they have been proved completely wrong by Styles. He has won the WWE Championship on two occasions and has currently held on to the title for over 300 days in his second reign.

#1 Jeff Hardy

In 2008, Jeff Hardy achieved a lifelong dream when he defeated Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat Match to win the WWE Championship. This was Hardy's first World Championship in wrestling after almost 15 years in the business. By this point of time, he was the most popular star in the company and it was no surprise that WWE decided to give him a Championship run.

Stunningly, he would leave the WWE the very next year in order to heal from years of injuries. But instead of returning to the WWE after his recovery, he decided to join TNA in 2010.

He would have a memorable run in TNA as well, winning the World Heavyweight Championship on three occasions. But his run as the champion would fall flat because of the company's decision to try and recreate the NWO angle by turning him heel.

But Hardy was not a natural heel and the company's booking of him as a champion also left a lot to be desired. The weird belt that he held while being champion was the final nail in the coffin of his World Title reign in TNA. But at least he can say that he was one of the handfuls of people who managed to hold World Championships in both WWE and TNA.

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