Ring of Honor Wrestling and WWE: Wrestlers who worked for both promotions

#19 Ric Flair

The Nature Boy Ric Flair surely has a flair of trying out various options. After his WWE contract ended in 2009, Flair experimented in the independent scene. He signed with ROH to become their ambassador and on-air authority figure. Flair refrained from getting into the ring for ROH and was mostly involved in sanctioning matches and making changes if the need arose.

He didn’t stick around for long and was signed by the company for WWE rejects, TNA.

Interesting Fact: In 2009 during his time with ROH, the Two-time WWE Hall of Famer returned to the ring to face Hulk Hogan for the Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin tour in four matches. Note that these bouts weren’t promoted by ROH but were the brainchild of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff.

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#20 Mick Foley

The Hardcore legend’s story is the same as any other former WWE wrestler – leave WWE and have a short run in the indies. Despite signing with ROH and teasing many in-ring returns, Foley never stepped inside the ROH ring to wrestle and was always retained in non-wrestling capacities.

His first major feud in ROH was against fellow WWE legend Ricky Steamboat in a battle to determine which was the greater form of wrestling – traditional or hardcore. Both the legends handpicked their tailor-made teams filled with top ROH talents. Steamboat had the last laugh as his team ended up winning the match.

From there on Foley turned heel and initiated a rivalry with Samoa Joe, calling the Samoan Submission Machine ‘softcore’ and subsequently laying him out with a steel chair. Foley never got into the ring with Samoa Joe and always nominated an opponent to take the two-time NXT Champion down. However, Joe always came out on top and ended the feud on a high.

In his final ROH appearance, Foley stood in AJ Styles's corner in his match against Jimmy Rave. He put the promotion over in a big way in his post-match promo by stating how grateful he was for the great time he had with the enterprise.

Interesting Fact: In one of his appearances for ROH, a babyface Foley returned to confront the then heel ROH champion CM Punk – who was on his way to the WWE. Punk was quite critical about the company and even went on to claim he would take the title to the WWE in a bid to get some heat. Foley pitched himself as Vince McMahon's mouthpiece and convinced Punk to defend the title for the last time before he left ROH for WWE.

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#21 Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat

Before signing as a road agent with WWE, The Dragon’s post-retirement activities saw him make many appearances for ROH. He refereed the first ROH Pure Championship defence and countless others in the initial phase. Steamboat wasn’t a big fan of ROH hotshot CM Punk and often criticised the Cult of Personality for his arrogant attitude. The mini-feud ended with Punk changing his stance with an honest promise to Steamboat that he would strive to become the man the legend envisions him to be. This was an excellent way to put over Punk as a legit babyface.

His final appearances saw him in a feud with Mick Foley in a pure wrestling vs. hardcore wrestling claim for superiority battle. After many matches between the teams spearheaded by the legends, the feud ended with both making peace and settling the debate amicably. Note that despite the teasers of a match between the two, Steamboat and Foley didn't lace up their wrestling boots.

Interesting Fact: The confrontations between Cm Punk and Steamboat ended with the legend becoming the mentor of Punk.