6 huge Superstars WWE lost to their competition
With the formation of AEW, and the growing presence of New Japan, it's clear that there is something of a contract war going on in wrestling.
As the biggest wrestling company in the world, WWE are no doubt hoping to sign the top talent in the world, if nothing else, to make sure they don't work for the competition. But despite having the biggest bank account, some huge WWE signings did much better elsewhere, a fact that the company surely regrets.
Here are six huge Superstars WWE lost to the competition.
#6 Evan Bourne
When Evan Bourne signed with WWE in late 2007, his impressive stints in OVW and FCW led to him being quickly called up to the main roster in June the next year.
Quickly impressing as an athletic face in ECW, Bourne got over with fans, partly because of his Shooting Star Press, which earned him a Slammy for best finishing manoeuvre.
Despite his incredible skills and popularity, Bourne joined the WWE at a time when the company didn’t have a cruiserweight division. Whilst his smack size and move-set made him a likeable underdog, it also made it very difficult to see him as any kind of title contender.
Having the Missouri native on 205 Live would be great, as the brand continues to try and find a face standard-bearer fans can get behind.
Bourne would’ve been an ideal veteran presence on the show, which still is trying to establish itself despite lacklustre fan reception. Whilst Bourne wrestled a few matches for NXT in 2013, the company didn’t see any future for him and released him in 2014.
Undeterred, Bourne continued to develop and is now thriving on the indies and for Impact Wrestling, where he is a former X-Division Champion.