AEW vs WWE: 6 AEW starts who you forgot were once signed to WWE's developmental system

2. AEW tag team, FTR, trained at the WWE Performance Center before their WWE debut

Since debuting at AEW, FTR members Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have fought really hard to dust off the WWE rust. But regardless of their many accolades in AEW, a lot of fans still see them as WWE guys.

Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood are longtime friends, and naturally became a team as they both began to wrestle. Harwood would first be hired by WWE in 2012 where he spent most of this time wrestling under the Scott Dawson name.

As Scott Dawson, Harwood would be in various tag team matches and solely wrestled on live shows. In 2014, both members of FTR would meet each other again at the WWE Performance Center.

The two would be paired quickly, and then-WWE producer, the late Dusty Rhodes, pitched the idea of the two as a team. Rhodes would become influential in the creation of the team and never doubted them right until his passing in 2015.

Wheeler and Harwood would change their names to 'Dash and Dawson' in late 2015, forming the team that would become The Revival.

1. Tay Conti trained at the WWE Performance Center and wrestled on NXT

Tay Conti is one of the biggest fan favorite female wrestlers in AEW. Conti has had two AEW Women's Championship title shots this year alone. Even though she didn't pick up a win against Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker at the time, she gained the respect of fans. Conti is still very "green" and learning the ropes while she perfects her craft.

Quite a few fans might have missed Conti's run with WWE, but in October 2016 she was signed and began her training in the WWE Performance Center. Conti hadn't wrestled professionally before her time with WWE. Many of the moves she now executes in the AEW ring could have been taught to her by the talented trainers in the Performance Center. Conti made her professional wrestling debut a few months after her training began.

Conti would eventually take part in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, where she lost to Lacey Evans during the first round. Conti made an appearance on NXT, assisting The Undisputed Era and preventing Nikki Cross from winning a match. Conti and Cross then began a feud which ended in a loss for Conti. She'd end up competing in the Wreslemania Women's Battle Royal and qualify for the 2018 Mae Young Classic as well.

Tay Conti would be released in April 2020, due to budget cuts. Conti noted that she was unhappy yet denied her release by WWE when she requested it. WWE could likely have held Conti back to prevent her from debuting in AEW immediately. Conti would eventually debut in All Elite Wrestling, and as of now has gained far more recognition than she ever had at WWE.

---

Who are some of your favorite wrestlers in All Elite Wrestling? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.