Former WWE stars who won major titles in other companies × Create Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Link Approve Reject & ban Delete Log in Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Gaming Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout WWE AEW Dynamite Listicle A belt collector First-time World Champion - 5 former WWE stars who went on to win major titles in other companies The Virtuosa has won a lot of gold over the last few years. Like Like Excited Happy Anxious Angry Sad Comment Share Matthew Serocki ANALYST Follow Modified 11 Aug 2022 WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. The impact is so great that the stars that leave the company are often treated as big deals in different promotions. Christian, Jeff Hardy, and Kurt Angle all left WWE in the mid-2000s. Each star won the IMPACT World title (then known as the TNA World Heavyweight Championship). Angle was already one of the best wrestlers in the world, but Christian saw his stock rise in a different company. Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho departed WWE before the mass releases of 2021. Both joined AEW and won the AEW World Championship. They have maintained top star status in both promotions. All Elite Wrestling@AEWSoon, there will be only one.#AEWDynamite #QuakeByTheLake @CMPunk @JonMoxley1516282Soon, there will be only one.#AEWDynamite #QuakeByTheLake @CMPunk @JonMoxley https://t.co/tvayfYc2rr Some stars that have been released have won mid-card Championships, like Miro and Brodie Lee. Over the last few years, there have been a handful of former WWE stars who have won major titles in other promotions. Here are five such stars. (Note: A major title refers to the World Championship or Women's Championship in promotions like ROH, AEW, or IMPACT. A prior Sportskeeda piece highlighted former WWE stars like Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho who left and won the AEW Championship. This will focus on stars other than those two). #5 Rich Swann won the IMPACT World title Swann has been a key member of the IMPACT roster. Swann joined WWE when the Cruiserweight Classic took place back in 2016. The promotion created a title for stars under 205 pounds, and Swann was one of the performers to win the Cruiserweight Championship. He was released in 2018 but joined IMPACT Wrestling later that year. Swann captured the IMPACT World Title by defeating another released star, Eric Young. Young won the belt well before joining WWE. The former Cruiserweight Champion will always have a place in the IMPACT Championship lore. Swann lost his title to AEW's Kenny Omega, signaling the opening of the Forbidden Door in wrestling. #4 Mercedes Martinez is the current ROH Women s Champion Martinez has wrestled for AEW, IMPACT, and ROH. Martinez spent most of her time in NXT during her WWE tenure. She didn't win any gold in NXT but was a featured performer. She had an extremely brief tenure on the main roster as a member of RETRIBUTION. After leaving WWE, Martinez appeared for both IMPACT and AEW. While she didn't win any gold in AEW, Martinez is the current ROH Women's Champion. With ROH's future in doubt, she won the Interim ROH Women's Championship. Rok-C dropped her Championship to Deonna Purrazzo as she was about to sign with NXT. Martinez defeated Purrazzo in a unification match. #3 Former WWE superstar Cesaro won the ROH World Championship Claudio Castagnoli has a long history with ROH. The Swiss Superman is the latest former star from WWE to win a major title outside of the company. Cesaro was long used as a mid-card star and tag team specialist. He won the US title and many tag team Championships as Cesaro. His lone shot at a major title in the company came last year during Roman Reigns' run as the Universal Champion. Crowds didn't fully return to events after COVID, so they couldn't cheer him on from the arena. After leaving, he became a member of AEW's Blackpool Combat Club. He feuded with Jonathan Gresham over the ROH World Championship as both stars thought they were the 'Best Technical Wrestler' in the world. Castagnoli captured the title at ROH's last event, Death Before Dishonor. If there was a time when the "You Deserve It" chants were truly earned, it had to be that moment for the Swiss Superman. #2 Deonna Purrazzo won both the ROH and IMPACT Women s titles Deonna Purrazzo is usually in title programs. Like Martinez, Deonna Purrazzo spent most of her time with WWE on NXT. She had a few matches on the main roster but was sparingly used during the black-and-gold era of NXT. Once she left, her career truly skyrocketed. She won the Knockouts title on two occasions as well as the AAA Reina de Reinas title. Purrazzo also had a brief run as the ROH Women's Champion. Rok-C (now known as Roxanne Perez) was headed to WWE, so she dropped the belt to Purrazzo. Some wrestlers had a lot of experience but were not priorities in NXT or the main roster. The Virtuosa has certainly improved her stock as one of the best female wrestlers in the world. #1 CM Punk won the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing player/coach@CMPunkOne day I road my schwin bike to some dirt hills I used to jump and ride when I was a kid. When I got there, there were two kids on their bmx bikes. They told me to leave. I didn’t. We scrapped. Black eyes. Bloody lips. Next day and the whole summer we rode bikes TOGETHER. CMFTR10139809One day I road my schwin bike to some dirt hills I used to jump and ride when I was a kid. When I got there, there were two kids on their bmx bikes. They told me to leave. I didn’t. We scrapped. Black eyes. Bloody lips. Next day and the whole summer we rode bikes TOGETHER. CMFTR https://t.co/fJT2zxYl0z CM Punk returned to the industry last summer after seven years out of pro wrestling. He has been a featured part of AEW programming and has had prominent feuds with MJF, Team Taz, and Hangman Page. Part of Punk's appeal was his willingness to speak up both in and out of the ring. Sometimes, it was needed, while other times, it might have been seen as speaking out of turn. Despite being a polarizing figure, Punk defeated Hangman Page for the AEW Championship. He sustained an injury following his title win but was not stripped of the title. Punk returned on the latest episode of Dynamite to confront Interim AEW Champion Jon Moxley. A legend has pointed out the issue with the White Rabbit storyline here × Rate this story! Thank You! LIVE POLL Q. 0 votes so far Edited by Ashvinkumar Patil Like Like Excited Happy Anxious Angry Sad Share Comments Show More Comments GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ Be the first one to comment on this story Quick Links More from Sportskeeda Fetching more content... 1 Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Gaming Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout No Results Found Get the free App now Manage notifications Popular ‍ Sports (30+) CricketCricket HomeCricket NewsScheduleIND vs SAAUS vs WIENG vs PAKLegends LeagueECC T10County ChampionshipBukhatir LeagueNZ T20 Tri-SeriesWomen's Asia Cup 2022Japan Cricket LeagueWI-W vs NZ-WECT10T20 World Cup FootballFootball HomeNewslettersSK Experts ScheduleEPLNations LeagueLa LigaLigue 1Champions LeagueFIFA WCMLS Bundesliga Serie A WWEWWE HomeNewslettersRumor RoundupRAWSmackDownResultsRosterChampionsWWE Extreme Rules 2022PPV ScheduleAEW EsportsEsports HomeMinecraftOverwatch 2RobloxGenshin ImpactFortniteGTAStreamersFree FirePUBGValorantBGMIPop CultureAnimeGaming TechWiki Guides TennisTennis HomeTennis calendarChina OpenTennis Results TodayATP RankingsWTA RankingsRoger FedererRafael NadalNovak DjokovicSerena Williams MMAMMA HomeUFC NewsONE ChampionshipUFC Fight NightScheduleRankingsResultsUFC Fights TonightONE Championship ResultsONE Championship ScheduleONE Championship Rankings KabaddiKabaddi HomePKL 2022PKL SchedulePKL Points TableKabaddi Rules WikiWiki HomeMinecraft WikiNaruto WikiTikTok WikiYoutube WikiGTA WikiTerraria WikiOne Piece Wiki MoreSportsBasketballIndian FootballNFLMinecraftFormula 1NascarPop CultureCollege FootballHockeyGolfAthleticsBadmintonGymnasticsWrestlingSwimmingTennisShootingBoxingArcheryWinter SportsRobloxSkateboardingKho KhoLifestyle LINKS About Us Write For Us Policies Editorial Standards Journalism Awards Fact Check Affiliate Program Careers CSR Privacy Policy Contact Us Edition: English हिन्दी