WWE and TNA were once known as rivals. Many stars who started their career in WWE are currently in TNA and vice versa.

TNA has recently been rebranded into Impact Wrestling and after what has been a shocking few years for the Orlando based promotion, it could finally be on the right track. That being said, it is only recently that WWE has begun signing many top names that have been working for TNA for years.

The likes of A.J. Styles, Bobby Roode, Mickie James, Eric Young, Xavier Woods, R-Truth, and Austin Aries are all former TNA/Impact stars who have made their way over to WWE or NXT over the past few years.

More shockingly is the fact that WWE has allowed Roode, Young, Styles, and Aries to keep the names that made them famous whilst working for TNA.

Obviously, WWE still doesn't mention TNA on their shows and there is a lot they would prefer to hide about these former stars. Mostly where they have been for the past decade, but it seems there is a lot more to these stars than meets the eye and WWE would prefer the WWE Universe not to remember some of these facts.

15 15. WWE Had The Chance To Sign Samoa Joe Back In 2005

Samoa Joe is a former NXT Champion. He has recently made his debut on the Raw roster and is currently looking as though he could be on the card for WrestleMania this year, but this could have happened a long time ago if WWE had listened to Mick Foley.

Foley approached both CM Punk and Samoa Joe when they were working for Ring of Honor and wanted to bring them in as part of an angle with Vince McMahon, Ric Flair, and Foley so that it would lead to a showdown at WrestleMania. It was an idea that both Joe and Punk backed but it was one that Vince didn't like and one that sadly never made it to TV. Instead it took another 10 years before Joe was finally signed by WWE.

14 14. Mickie James Was Once 'Killed Off' In TNA

Mickie James is a former WWE Divas and Women's Champion, but she made the switch to TNA following her release from WWE and it seems that TNA had some crazy storyline ideas for the star.

Mickie and James Storm were part of a brief storyline where he lured her to Nashville to talk to executives about her music, when really it was just a ploy to make her join her evil cult group. Mickie refused and the pay off saw Storm knock Mickie off a train station platform and presumably down to her death. Shockingly, it was then reported that despite being knocked off a platform Mickie was only 'mildly upset' and had only suffered a few symptoms of a concussion. Maybe now the WWE Universe can see why she decided to return to WWE, it seems much safer.

13 13. Eric Young Was Once A Knockouts Tag Team Champion

Eric Young is currently the leader of Sanity and has been taking NXT apart piece by piece, since his arrival. He is a feared individual, which shows that WWE must have some huge plans for him in the future, which could all be ruined if the WWE Universe remembered that he once won a female championship during his lengthy run in TNA.

Back in 2012 Eric Young and ODB were an odd couple in TNA and a couple that went on to defeat Madison Rayne and Gail Kim to win the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship. Young is the only male Superstar to have ever won these championships and it also means that he has held every TNA-exclusive Championship, which is incredible given the way he was booked by TNA.

12 12. A.J. Styles Debut At The Royal Rumble

A.J. Styles made his long awaited WWE debut at the Royal Rumble back in 2016 when he entered the match at number three to a standing ovation. He was the biggest shock participant of the entire match, even though there had been rumours that he would turn up in WWE at some point, just not as soon as he actually did.

WWE managed to ruin A.J.'s big WWE moment, though, since the WWE Universe were not able to see his actual entrance. Instead, someone backstage made the decision to put the camera on Roman Reigns the entire time because apparently his reaction to A.J.'s entrance was more important than the entrance itself. It's something that the WWE Universe openly complained about and that they are probably not about to forget anytime soon.

11 11. Austin Aries Achieved Everything In TNA

A Double has become known as a commentator and now a member of the 205 Live locker room in WWE in recent weeks, but The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, really lived up to his nickname in TNA.

Much like A.J. Styles during his lengthy stint with the promotion, Austin Aries literally achieved everything that was there to be achieved in TNA and left knowing that TNA had made a mistake. He said that someone 'dropped the ball' when they allowed his contract to expire, which means that he could have resigned and may never have ended up in WWE if someone in TNA had made a decision regarding his future much sooner. Luckily, TNA's loss has become WWE's gain and Aries could become the new Cruiserweight Champion in less than a weeks time.

10 10. Xavier Woods' Recent Problems In His Personal Life

It has been a week to forget for Xavier Woods. If we're honest, it is definitely not one that he will want to remember in a few years time when he's looking back in his career. Xavier's wife is due to give birth to their first child in a matter of weeks, which means that Xavier should really be focused on other things right now.

One thing that is less known about Xavier is that he actually began his career in TNA as Consequences Creed. He had a great run for a few years before he made the switch to New Japan Pro Wrestling and WWE decided to sign him. Xavier has since become a huge name in WWE as one of the longest reigning Tag Team Champions in history with The New Day, so hopefully, he can put his recent personal problems behind him.

9 9. Did WWE Resign Goldberg To Stop TNA?

There were many rumours floating around back in 2015 and 2016 that Goldberg was about to sign a deal to appear for TNA. The company was going through some hard times and needed someone like Goldberg to be the face of their brand.

Shockingly, merely months later it is announced that Goldberg will be a character on WWE2K17 and the company manage to sign him back up to return and wrestle a few marquee matches. Goldberg had stated many times that if he was given the creative control and the freedom that he was used to then he would have worked for TNA at some point because he wanted to work with Sting again. It seems that WWE put a spanner in the works with this one, though, since they decided to resign him before TNA had a chance.

8 8. WWE Seemingly Scrapped R-Truth's Best Storyline In Years

For those in the WWE Universe who are wondering where R-Truth is right now, he's still part of a team with Goldust which makes very little sense and isn't even funny. Remember when R-Truth invades the Rumble match with a ladder? Remember when he tried to cut a promo on Superstars ahead of a match he wasn't even part of?

R-Truth had perhaps one of the best storylines that WWE have come up in a very long time and somehow they made the decision to scrap that and put him in a team with Goldust that hasn't got a cats chance in hell of winning the Tag Team titles? We remember when R-Truth was one of the best parts of WWE programming, we remember WWE and we want it back!

7 7. Samoa Joe Is The Reason Tyson Kidd Is Out Of Action

While Samoa Joe isn't completely to blame for the fact that his muscle buster to Tyson Kidd has caused him such a severe neck injury that he may never wrestle again. Kidd faced Joe in a dark match before Monday Night Raw back in 2015 and he has since had surgery and been stuck on the sidelines.

Joe has performed his Muscle Buster to hundreds of stars over the years and Tyson is the only one who has been severely injured by it. Many of the WWE Universe still blame Samoa Joe for Kidd's injuries and since Joe managed to injure Seth Rollins on his first night on Raw. It seems that Joe could be building the wrong kind of reputation for himself in the eyes of the WWE Universe.

6 6. A.J. Styles Legitimately Saved James Ellsworth's Life

A.J. Styles has been doing the Styles Clash for many years. It is considered a dangerous move and one that Triple H had to fight the rest of WWE's board of directors on so that A.J. could still use it in WWE.

That argument was almost deemed pointless last year when A.J. was forced to save James Ellsworth from a broken neck during their match. When A.J. faced Ellsworth on an episode of SmackDown, it was stated that he wasn't supposed to be able to wrestle, but when A.J. put him in the Styles Clash and he decided to lean forward instead of back, it meant that A.J. had to let go of his legs and hit the canvas instead. If A.J. did deliver the Styles Clash correctly then he could have broken his neck. Maybe James wasn't ready to be at that level?

5 5. Vince McMahon Thought Joe Was Just 'A Fat Samoan'

Samoa Joe was on WWE's radar for more than a decade before the company decided to offer him a contract, why? Because WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was not high on Samoa Joe at all and considered him to just be another fat Samoan.

Obviously, Vince has his own idea of the way wrestlers should look and because Joe didn't look that way, he wasn't ever going to be given the nod by McMahon. Maybe this is why Triple H brought him into NXT and Triple H is the one who is currently connected to him on Raw. It seems as though The Game has once again been the only one in the company willing to gamble and unsurprisingly his gamble has paid off. Hopefully, Vince apologized? Alright, he probably didn't.

4 4. Austin Aries Has Already Faced Many Of WWE's Roster, Including CM Punk

Austin Aries may have been brushed aside and placed on 205 Live since WWE have now become very aware that the show isn't getting the attention that the company thought it would. Aries and Neville are lifting the profile somewhat, which is a good sign.

Aries is a much better wrestler than WWE will ever give him credit for. During his run in Ring of Honor he put on some four-star matches against many of WWE's current roster and has even wrestled CM Punk before. But WWE definitely won't be telling you that. Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, and Samoa Joe are some of the names that Aries has been put alongside in the past, which means that hopefully, WWE will realize the potential that he has and make him a much bigger part of their main roster.

3 3. WWE Basically Fat Shamed Mickie James Out Of WWE

Wrestling is definitely considered to be an image-based industry, especially for the female Superstars. Women have to look a certain way and it turns out that at one point Mickie James didn't fit that look. Officials actually told Mickie James to lose weight or she would lose her job at one point.

Mickie obviously refused. That would definitely be a case for unfair dismissal, so WWE instead put it into a storyline where Layla and Michelle McCool poked fun at Mickie, calling her 'Piggy James.' It was one of the last storylines that Mickie was part of and one of the worst that WWE have ever come up with, especially with many of the WWE Universe at an age where this could influence their thinking and could have led to many mental problems.

2 2. Paul Heyman Was Once In Discussions To Run TNA

Paul Heyman is one of the best talkers that WWE have ever had. There is a reason that he doesn't actually have to wrestle in the company to be one of the most powerful Superstars. But is seems that TNA was hoping to bring his incredible mind over to their promotion back in 2010.

Paul Heyman recently talked about the negotiations he had with TNA and Spike TV when he was asked to take over the company and stated that he had certain clauses in his contract and things that he wanted. Which were some of the things that it seems TNA couldn't agree on. Could you imagine how much different TNA would have been over the past seven years if Paul Heyman was put in charge all those years ago?

1 1. James Storm Went Back To TNA To Join Bobby Roode And He Decided To Join WWE

It is more of a funny story than anything else, but James Storm made the switch to WWE back in 2016 and was part of NXT for a while before he decided against signing with the company full-time. He did this so that he could return to TNA and recreate Beer Money Inc. with Bobby Roode.

Problem is, Bobby Roode then decided to follow his former Tag Team partner to WWE instead and is now the current NXT Champion. Roode and Storm never had the chance to recreate the team on TNA TV and so Storm returned to TNA alone and has since begun working Independent Promotions as well, without Roode. Perhaps WWE will offer The Cowboy another contract in the future? Either way, it seems he probably made the wrong decision this time, and he knows it.