10 Photos you need to see of Superstars before they joined WWE

#6 Aleister Black

Aleister Black in wXw! (Source: YouTube)

The Dutch Destroyer, Aleister Black looks all set to get a huge push on RAW as he continues to have an undefeated singles-match streak in the company. Before signing with WWE in June 2016, he was a highly successful performer on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Competing under the ring name of Tommy End, he wrestled for various promotions like Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), and many more. In the four years with WWE, he has won the NXT Championship once and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament in 2019 with Ricochet.

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#5 AJ Styles

The Face of TNA! (Source: wrestling-edge.com)

Many once considered AJ Styles to be as important to TNA as John Cena has been to WWE. He was indeed one of the biggest Superstars of the promotion and could very well be considered the Face of TNA. He has also wrestled for major promotions like NJPW, Ring of Honor, and many other promotions on the independent circuit. Even before stepping foot inside a WWE ring, fans already considered him one of the best wrestlers in the world.

He is one of the few Superstars to directly join the main roster without going through NXT. So much was his popularity, that WWE even let him keep the same ring name of AJ Styles. His surprising debut in the Royal Rumble 2016 will always be one of the best moments in WWE history. Styles is a two-time WWE Champion and recently main-evented Night 1 of WrestleMania 36 alongside The Undertaker.