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5 Wrestlers who got sidelined in WWE but succeeded in other promotions

Cody Rhodes was once considered a big prospect in WWE
Cody Rhodes was once considered a big prospect in WWE

There's often a stigma against wrestlers who make it big outside of WWE. While the cream normally rises to the top, as was proven by AJ Styles and others in the past, there's a common misconception.

That misconception is about superstars who got sidelined in WWE at some point but are/were big stars in other promotions. What many fans don't realize is that WWE has long had the most stacked professional wrestling roster.

While AEW has undoubtedly signed and developed some big names, WWE still possesses the biggest share of the world's top wrestling talent - with men, and especially, with women.

Although there aren't any women on this list, we focus on five superstars who got sidelined in WWE but succeeded in other promotions:


#5. Shinsuke Nakamura - A multi-time world champion outside of WWE

It could be argued that in 2016, Shinsuke Nakamura was the biggest international superstar signing in WWE history. At the time, the wrestling world was changing drastically, and the highly-accomplished New Japan Pro Wrestling veteran decided to embark on a new adventure.

In the process, he concluded a nearly 14-year run with Japan's biggest promotion. Shinsuke Nakamura was a highly-touted rookie in the early 2000s, becoming the youngest IWGP heavyweight champion in history at the age of 23 - a record that still stands 18 years later.

Overall, Shinsuke Nakamura was a three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and a five-time IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The latter, in particular, was a title that Nakamura was credited for elevating.

While NJPW executives may have initially hoped that Shinsuke Nakamura would take them into a new era, Hiroshi Tanahashi filled that spot. After nearly a decade, Kazuchika Okada came along as well, making Nakamura the #3 superstar in NJPW.

Even then, he has headlined Wrestle Kingdom numerous times and has had some all-time classics. While Nakamura's wrestling style was considerably (and understandably) toned down once he came to WWE, he still got a great reaction between his debut in 2016 and main roster run from 2017-18. However, after losing against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34, he lost a considerable amount of momentum.

Many fans felt that he should have become the WWE Champion, but it seems like it was never meant to be. Shinsuke Nakamura spent a great deal between 2018 and 2021 being sidelined.

He did, however, add a few big accomplishments to his name since then - namely, two United States Championship reigns, two Intercontinental title reigns, and one SmackDown Tag Team title reign.

He won the Intercontinental Championship a little over a week before SummerSlam 2021.

Despite all this, Nakamura has spent a considerable amount of time in WWE being sidelined creatively.

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