7 WWE Champions you didn't know wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin

Before he entered the WWF, Austin competed in New Japan in an agreement with WCW.

As a former WWF Champion and leader of the Attitude Era, it's hard to imagine Steve Austin competing for any other promotion.

But long before the Rattlesnake became Stone Cold, Austin would compete in WCW, which included a brief international tour with New Japan in September 1992.

As part of the relationship between the two companies, Austin took on Masahiro Chono for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with the bout taking place at New Japan’s Battle Hold Arena.

During the match, the Rattlesnake would reverse a tombstone and land in a piledriver position that caused Chono to land directly on his head.

In a spooky coincidence, this would be the very same injury that Austin himself would suffer at the hands of Owen Hart during their match at Summerslam 1997.