Former WWE Stars Who Won the TNA World Title

[CM Steel]

Over the year with how TNA wrestling brings in new talent in to their promotion is mainly by picking up a released or free agent star from the WWE. Back from when TNA wrestling first got going in 2002, their world champions have been stars from the WWE. Like Ken Shamrock, Ron "The Truth" Killings (R-Truth), Christian, and many others. Stars who you wouldn't or couldn't win a world championship in the WWE.

And that same formula is still going on with the whole TNA/Impact Wrestling system! 8-10 years later former WWE stars who have signed with TNA like Ken Kennedy have done the one thing that he couldn't do in the WWE...win the big one! Other former WWE stars like Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam already knows what it's like to hold world gold in the WWE. But in TNA/Impact Wrestling they win the TNA world championship more often.

So can any former WWE star signed to TNA in the future win their first world title in Impact Wrestling?

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Ken Shamrock, Ron "The Truth" Killings (R-Truth), Christian etc all deserved to win World titles and TNA showed WWE what is World title caliber talent by giving them titles.

CM Punk, Daniel Bryan came from ROH and they became World Champions in WWE, whats your point ?

 

[IrishSpring]

Ken Shamrock, Ron "The Truth" Killings (R-Truth), Christian etc all deserved to win World titles and TNA showed WWE what is World title caliber talent by giving them titles.

CM Punk, Daniel Bryan came from ROH and they became World Champions in WWE, whats your point ?

Ohhhh TNA sure showed them damn your right haha.


I heard Funaki is comming out of retirement I am sure he can win the big one in TNA.

 

[thebarber]

simply put, TNA have had only Sting who is a headliner who has never wrestled in WWE. The guys you mention are mid cards in WWE but because of their exposure, they are automatic main neventers in a b garde company like TNA. I not sure what the point of this topic is, but any guy WWE releases who is a mid carder will more often than not go to TNA and have a run with the World Title, no brainer.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

First of all, talent is talent, regardless of where it comes from. Fans of WCW certainly didn't bitch when "WCW guys" didn't get the nod over bigger stars that happened to jump ship from WWE (especially when it was at it's peak), and shouldn't have. I have no idea where this ridiculous notion of "WWE rejects" came from, but it is the single biggest pet peeve of mine on this fuckin' forum.

Additionally, fact is that ratings showed that whenever a "TNA guy" was at the head of the charge, ratings did not reflect positively. It's why TNA has relied so heavily in the past on "WWE rejects" to sell the product. When guys like Angle and Sting were champ, ratings were always at their highest. The ONLY guy who came close was Styles, but that was in 2009 before the Hogan era — a completely different time in the company.

The reason for that, IMO, is because the "TNA guys" simply didn't have the accolades the WWE ones did. It's why TNA is toughing this out to push Roode, Storm and Aries through the roof.

 

[jtolliver23]

simply put, TNA have had only Sting who is a headliner who has never wrestled in WWE. The guys you mention are mid cards in WWE but because of their exposure, they are automatic main neventers in a b garde company like TNA. I not sure what the point of this topic is, but any guy WWE releases who is a mid carder will more often than not go to TNA and have a run with the World Title, no brainer.

Now, personally I prefer TNA over WWE, I think their brand is more entertaining, but to say that any mid carder that comes from WWE will automatically get a world title in TNA is false.There have been WWE guys who have gone to TNA and have not won the World Title. Such as: Matt Morgan, The Pope, Orlando Jordan. All guys who originally were released from WWE and came to TNA only to never win the big one.
As far as those who have won it, look at the talent base that TNA had at the time. When R-Truth and Ken Shamrock won it there wasn't much talent at the time. The only other major talent that TNA had at the time was Jeff Jarrett(debatable) and AJ Styles who was a major part of the X Division. Christian, many people believe has been underused and appreciated in WWE. But even so, he has won the big one there since leaving TNA. Jeff Hardy was a main eventer and champion before coming to TNA, so why not give him a shot? And Kurt Angle...even though he may be bat shit crazy off camera, he is still one of, if not the best wrestler in the world.

 

[Lowdown]

I know you posed a question with this thread, and IDR made good points. Again I don't know all about the ratings system, yet I do know not everyone would be pleased with what you're asking of. I see enough "WWE reject" bashing on here whereas folks want to see "homegrown talent pushed". Truth is talent doesn't need to have the championship to be pushed. James Storm is one of the best examples of this. Although he had the belt for a few days, he's arguably the biggest face they have right now. Bully Ray is another example. He could have a run with the gold, but his mouth is his gold. Now could a current WWE star cme over and be the next TNA champ? Sure, no big deal to me. The real question is who, because I haven't watched in so long that I really don't know any of their stars that could bring a fan base like Cena, Orton, or maybe Punk.

 

[dman1373]

All i know is that when christian came to tna, he brought a ton of momentum, they went from having .4's to 1.0's. And it seems since hes left they have been at 1.0.

 

[RavensEdge]

I agree that TNA puts their big title on a lot of ex-WWE guys but of course they don't put it on all of them. And that's fine, my problem is that they rarely give their "homegrown" talent a run. When TNA had the NWA Championship the only non ex-WWE guys that held the belt were AJ, Abyss, and Sting... of course Sting was huge in WCW though. When it became the TNA World Heavyweight Championship Samoa Joe, James Storm and Bobby Roode were added to that list.
TNA is getting ready to celebrate 10 years as a company and only 5 guys who rose through the ranks in TNA have worn the strap.

 

[itssoeasy123]

As much as I understand putting the belt on the former WWE guys, even if means it pushes down the current superstars, it seems like every former WWE superstar get's a chance at the gold.

That gave the belt to Rhyno, I mean how can anyone support that move? They gave the belt to Ken Anderson and it was a major flop. It makes sense to give the belt to guys like Kurt Angle and Christian, not non-draws like RVD and Rhyno just because they have some name value.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

What about the former WWE guys who've never won it?

You have younger guys like Pope and Matt Morgan who flirted with the title, and even main evented PPV's in matches for it, but never won.

You have a guy a lot of people thought to be a shoe-in for it, Matt Hardy who never seriously competed for it.

Then you have guys like Booker T and Kevin Nash who it's downright surprising they never held the TNA title.

Not every WWE castaway touches the title, a lot of them do, but it's by no means a guarantee

 

[dahvoo]

Just wanted to drop the names of wrestlers who won the NWA title (while in TNA) and the TNA title. This doesn't include multiple title wins:

NWA/TNA:
Ken Shamrock
Ron Killings
Jeff Jarrett
AJ Styles
Raven
Rhino
Christian
Abyss

TNA:
Kurt Angle
Sting
Samoa Joe
Mick Foley
Rob Van Dam
Jeff Hardy
Mr. Anderson
James Storm
Bobby Roode

11 out of 17 are former WWE superstars. It's not a guarantee, but more often than not the champion wasn't a homegrown wrestler. Considering James Storm and Booby Roode are recent champions, before them it was 11 out of 15, which is pretty high.

Only 3 homegrown stars (AJ Styles, Abyss, Samoa Joe) and Sting who was a former WCW star weren't from WWE until Storm and Roode.

 

[asiatic7]

I think TNA putting the title on all these former WWE guys just exposes them as a second rate company (also, letting Ric Flair and Hogan flaunt their WWE HOF rings on their show). Jeff Hardy, Ken Anderson and RVD winning the world title was a slap in the face to the Matt Morgans, AJ Styles, James Storms of the company. Those guys have so much potential, and it's being put on the backburner for ex WWE guys.
Kurt Angle winning the Title made sense given his credentials. He's sort of the exception. I was scared they would put the title on "Cold Blooded" Matt Hardy. In my opinion, TNA was better off without all the WWE guys coming over...The last two years of Watching TNA has been very similar to watching WCW in the late 90's. TNA has only one entity to thank for all the wonderful, former WWE talent floating around these days.......The Wellness Policy!

 

[whoopin' ass]

they give it to people who wwe wouldn't push properly. both Kennedy and Christian should have been wwe champs but Vince just never pulled the trigger. as for guys like Rhino and Raven, sometimes you just don't have the talent you need and you give it to someone who is there. but going from wwe to tna isn't a guarantee that you will get the title.

 

[MWRedskins]

eh, i always say it depends on the WWE Wrestler they put the title on. Christian at the time, was a hot signing and worth building up and putting the title on. Clearly Angle should be a champion sometime and Same with Jeff Hardy. now sure there are guys that shouldnt hold the title, for me, it was RVD who i thought isnt wrestling motivated, but these guys are big draws still. TNA though seems to be moving from that and hopefully they stay the course and put the title on Storm next who i think more than deserves it.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I can perfectly understand why TNA put the World Title on ex-WWE guys, especially in their early days. When they first started out, there was not that many well known guys on the roster, or guys with name value.

Ken Shamrock was the first NWA World Champion TNA ever had, and he was still a big name at the time, I have no problem with Shamrock getting the belt. Ron Killings had had a small run with WWE as K-Kwik, but he was made into a star at TNA.

Raven and Rhino were still big names when they held the title, and Raven especially was very over with the TNA crowd at the time, he had been on a quest for the title for several years, so his reign was well deserved.

When guys like Kurt Angle, Christian, Jeff Hardy and RVD join the company, again it makes sense to put them in the main event. They have a fanbase who want to see them and the casual fan is more likely to watch TNA if they recognise the wrestler on TV- I can see why they pushed these guys also.

However, now TNA has been around for 10 years they need to stop relying on ex-WWE talent as much, and it seems that they have realised this. Bobby Roode and James Storm are being pushed to the moon right now, Crimson looks set to become a star, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles can go back to the main event whenever they need to, so TNA have some of their own stars now who are credible champions.

Throughout wrestling history, stars have jumped from company to company and gone into the main event and won the belt. Should WCW not have put the strap on Nash because WWE made him? Should Goldberg not have won the WWE World Title because he came from WCW? It makes sense to give these guys the belt if they are the right ones to hold it, but TNA needs to ensure that they have their own home-grown talents to carry the ball if they want to be taken seriously as an alternative to WWE and not a home for cast-offs.

It's a balancing act. They need the established stars from elsewhere but mixed in with their own home-grown stars synonymous with TNA. They haven't done enough of this over years, but that looks to be changing.

 

[shattered dreams]

Remember how "second rate" WWF looked when they put the title on Austin and Foley? How about when WCW ran that horrible nWo angle? Don't they know that the average person wants to see matches between cruiserweights they have never heard of?

Talent is talent. The name of the game is to make money. TNA hasn't been around enough or had enough exposure to build a ton of their own draws. The idea that WWE has a monopoly on the use of everything in the history of wrestling up until a few years ago is asinine.

 

[Weems2k]

Funny how everyone bitches about all these former "E" guys having the belt, yet TNA's longest reigning champs are Styles, and Rhoode. Both TNA Originals.

 

[sfury2005]

Many of WWE's biggest stars came from other promotions.

Steve Austin, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Ray Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Mick Foley,Kevin Nash,Booker T,Taker and many others.

Throw in the fact HBK and Hulk Hogan were from AWA first and many others came to them from ECW.

The point is when talent is out there other promotions are going to pick them up and use them. Get over it already.