Fans of sports such as soccer, baseball and football often look down upon the pro-wrestling industry. However, what they fail to notice is that sports and sports entertainment has tons in common.
Pro wrestling, however, works mildly differently; it respects contracts, as pro-wrestling promotions and the wrestlers let the contracts run out before pondering a switch. In soccer, for instance, a club can sign a player who's contractually expected to play for a club by paying his club a compensation fee, also known as transfer fee.
A big promotion like WWE is constantly on the lookout for new talents but, even if they had been scouting somebody for a very long time, they wait until their current contract ends before discussing a move with them. Hardly has the industry witnessed a pro-wrestling promotion buy out a talent's contract, and the landscape doesn't seem to be changing any time soon.
Numerous wrestlers still deem the holy grail despite what the Bullet Club members may force fans to believe. However, they sometimes end up regretting signing for WWE after being misused by the company. Austin Aries is a fine example; they chose to leave the company after they realized they deserved so much more than what the company gave them.
The following article looks at wrestlers whom we think are misused by the company and we divide them into two categories: those who'd fit in at Impact Wrestling and those who look cut out to be New Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers. Sometimes it's hard to walk away from such a big brand like WWE, but Cody Rhodes did it and just look how successful he's been since then. Sometimes WWE can be quick to realize a mistake and reach out to stars they may have overlooked before.
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20 Impact Wrestling: Hideo Itami
Talents from across the Pacific have historically been misused by WWE. The McMahons now seem to view Japan's stars differently, however, as we've seen Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Akira Tozawa all winning major titles and honours in the recent times.
One wrestler who's lost in the shuffle, though, is Hideo Itami.
The former Pro Wrestling Noah talisman arrived at WWE to much fanfare in mid-2014. The fans were keen on witnessing his hard-hitting style, which had been a rarity in WWE then.
However, his WWE run has been injury-ridden despite WWE looking keen on pushing him.
Impact Wrestling now is a little short on talent from Japan, so signing someone who's not only from there but also a wrestling superstar must appeal to Don Callis and co.
19 NJPW: Gran Metalik
You shouldn't be surprised to see Gran Metalik on this list.
Despite being treated as a big deal in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament — Triple H booked him to be in the finals to crown the inaugural NXT Tag Team Champion — his stock began plummeting shortly after his main-roster debut. From being a big-name wrestler in the tournament, he became a jobber alongside Kalisto as one-third of Lucha House Party.
We have seen numerous former 205 Live names go on to achieve big things outside the company. Neville is now a big name on the indie scene. Enzo Amore has had a decent start to his rap career. Austin Aries has become a collector of belts. Perhaps, it's the luchador's turn to walk away from the company.
18 Impact Wrestling: Karl Anderson
Teaming up with Giant Bernard, Hirooki Goto and Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson had won IWGP Tag Team Championship four times on top of winning the G1 Tag League once and World Tag League twice. He'd even reached the finals of G1 Climax in 2012, secured wins against seven-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura and had multiple title matches for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
In WWE, though, he has only had a peripheral role. Perhaps, he must jump ship to become an Impact Wrestling employee, so he can be a big deal again while also staying close to his family.
17 NJPW: The Revival
"We're tag-team royalty," proclaimed Dash Wilder on 28 May, after a food fight involving the Raw tag teams. They're the WWE's Tag Team of the Year and Match of the Year awards winners in 2016, but a series of injuries have seen them fail to reach the heights many expected them to.
It's unknown if WWE will hand them a push again despite Raw's depleted tag-team division.
However, if they find themselves on the periphery for a long time, they can always look to sign for the second-biggest wrestling promotion: NJPW. Gedo would take them in a heartbeat given their ability to put on high-quality matches.
16 Impact Wrestling: The Ascension
We're witnessing a pattern here. Most of the wrestlers whom we think are better off in other wrestling promotions seem to have had a cracker of a run in NXT. The Ascension was treated as a big deal in the developmental brand. They held the NXT Tag Team Championship for a record 344 days; no tag team has come close to equalling or beating their record. On the main roster, however, they have never been afforded a chance to prove themselves, as the main-roster writers insert them into feuds they lose.
Impact Wrestling, on the other hand, can help them revive their careers. Here's hoping that The Ascension kill it at the Impact Zone in the event that they do end up there.
15 NJPW: Chad Gable
The former tag team partner of Jason Jordan seems to have everything a wrestler needs to be taken seriously: charisma, confidence, talent and everything else but size.
The furthest he can reach in a WWE environment is the mid-card titles, though.
The Intercontinental and United States Championship title scenes are on a whole different level as of late but, all things considered, he could be the next Kurt Angle. However, his being under the WWE umbrella reduces his chances of making it, as they already have loads of main eventers on the roster.
A move to NJPW will help him prove the world that he's elite tier, as NJPW seems to give undercard wrestlers the chance to shine, unlike WWE, who expect them to phone it in.
14 Impact Wrestling: Curt Hawkins
It's not like he's a bad wrestler. He can actually go in the ring, unlike the recently-departed James Ellsworth. He's surely capable of bigger and better things, and it looks like WWE won't offer him the opportunity to do that.
Enter Impact Wrestling. The Toronto-based promotion seems to be excellent at handling comedy characters. Not so long ago did we see the company pull off the Broken Brilliance storyline. They've continued to do superb work despite the departure of Matt Hardy and Jeremy Borash, with comedy bits featuring Grado, Abyss, Scott Steiner and Austin Aries solid examples. It's likely that he, a former TNA Tag Team Champion, will do awesomely at the Impact Zone. If only he could make WWE amounts of money at Impact Wrestling.
13 NJPW: Dolph Ziggler
When they teamed him up with Drew McIntyre, it was believed that he'd challenge for the titles again, but recent reliable reports claim that WWE are only looking to push the Scotsman when they eventually separate. That means The Showoff will have to start all over again. It's not like he'd hate working for WWE, though, given his base pay.
However, if he lets WWE walk all over him, his stocks will plummet until he becomes useless to them. A trip to Japan will help him rebuild his brand, as NJPW drools over what he's excellent at: work-rate, athleticism and in-ring ability. He absolutely needs to go the Cody Rhodes route to ensure longevity in the business.
12 Impact Wrestling: Bayley
Impact Wrestling did the Women's Revolution years before it was cool. They had wrestlers such as Angelina Love, Madison Rayne, Awesome Kong, Hamada, Victoria, ODB, Mickie James and Gail Kim all proving the U.S. wrestling fan base that they could be just as good as their male counterparts.
They've managed to keep up the quality of their Knockouts Division, with Allie, Rosemary, Taya Valkyrie and Su Yung all producing high-quality segments and matches week after week.
They can, indeed, be a solid alternative to women wrestlers who are underused or underpaid at WWE. Bayley, for instance, has been poorly booked, and is only paid a paltry $200,000 by the McMahons. Perhaps, she must move to Impact Wrestling.
11 NJPW: Apollo Crews
Apollo Crews is a confusing anomaly. He always looked too good to be still in the developmental, but he has shown since his main roster debut that he isn't ready to be on Raw or SmackDown Live yet. However, there's nothing WWE could now do, as he's already proven to be a flop of sorts. His talent, however, will definitely see him become recognized once he seeks a fresh start, potentially in the form of a move to NJPW.
In NJPW, he'll definitely have high-quality matches for the NJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship. Perhaps, that will help him rebuild his career and brand.
10 Impact Wrestling: Fandango
Fandango seems to boast everything that WWE needs in their main-event stars: looks, size, mic skills and in-ring ability. However, they've managed to transform a potential star into a comedy jobber. Fandango, a life-long wrestling fan, however, doesn't seem to be taking how he's booked very seriously.
However, he, the winner of season four of NXT, must explore the world out of WWE, where his wrestling persona will be treated with as much respect as it deserves. Impact Wrestling would be more than willing to sign him given his wrestling education and experience, and it's about time he came out of his comfort zone.
9 NJPW: Bo Dallas
Bo Dallas is one of the handful of WWE originals today. With WWE now pushing Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose, who'd made a name for themselves much before signing a WWE contract, it's surprising that Vince McMahon never really bothered to hand him, a three time Florida Heavyweight Champion and one-time NXT Champion, a semblance of a push.
At a company like NJPW, however, he will be treated like he deserves to be.
It's not like he'll be the first second- or third-generation wrestler to make a name for themselves in Japan, as he'll only be following in the footsteps of Davey Boy Smith, Tama Tonga, David Finlay and Cody Rhodes.
8 Impact Wrestling: Aiden English
Aiden English had one of those gimmicks whose success on NXT was never going to translate to the main roster. His teaming up with Rusev was initially seen as one of those odd WWE pairings, but they, Rusev Day, has made it all work.
Now that Rusev Day is no more, though, he'll probably become the Marty Jannetty of Rusev Day so, perhaps, he should look at boosting his brand value outside of WWE, in a promotion like which would give him the liberty to try and get over with the crowd as a singles wrestler. Impact Wrestling seems the right fit.
7 NJPW: The Singh Brothers
The Singh Brothers have time and again claimed that they're delighted to be working for the company they grew up watching. They've always sounded thankful whenever they've talked about Triple H or WWE. However, from what we've seen of them on 205 Live, Cruiserweight Classic and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, they can actually go in the ring.
Given Jinder Mahal's recent demotion, one expects them to be future-endeavoured soon.
Impact Wrestling would take them in a heartbeat, but they'd be just another couple of Indian wrestlers there. NJPW, on the other hand, haven't had Punjabi wrestlers performing for them since The Great Khali in the early 2000s, so they likely won't mind adding The Singh Brothers to their tag-team roster.
6 Impact Wrestling: Zack Ryder
Zack Ryder has been in WWE since forever, so it must surprise a lot of people to know that he only recently turned 33. To put things into perspective, he's spent 36% of his life as a WWE performer.
Despite his winning the United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship, it doesn't look like he'll ever be treated as a big deal in WWE.
We've seen many former WWE talents go on to not just revive their careers but also have the WWE wanting to sign them again, with Bobby Lashley and EC3 recent examples. Given his age and talent, he can do worse than signing for Impact Wrestling in the next few months.
5 NJPW: Harper
After the first dissolution of The Wyatt Family, it looked like Harper'd go on to be an upper mid-carder at the very least. However, despite a decent Intercontinental Championship feud, he now find himself tagging with Rowan to wrestle as The Bludgeon Brothers. Although he's now on his second SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship run, he must know that he can do much better things than continue to be a tag-team wrestlers.
NJPW can definitely do with a 6ft 5in 275-pound wrestler who can not just move but also tell engaging stories in the ring. Perhaps, he can come back to WWE as a bigger deal a few years down the line.
4 Impact Wrestling: Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt might be considered damaged goods to some fans. He has all the talent in the world and one of the more unique characters on the WWE roster, but his gimmick feels played out in WWE. What's worse is that he's seemingly come up short on every single one of his major feuds. How many fans can still take the Wyatt character seriously when he's lost in so many big matches?
A move to Impact would provide the potential for Wyatt to become the biggest star in a promotion and offer him fresh matchups.
Impact has a lot more characters on their roster that could clash/mesh better with a guy like Wyatt.
3 NJPW: Cesaro
Cesaro has long been considered by fans to be a lot better than WWE gives him credit for. From the moment Vince McMahon said a few years ago that he doesn't feel Cesaro connects with the audience that well, fans have been in an uproar. While Cesaro surprisingly made a good tag team with Sheamus, that feels played out, especially with their newfound alliance with The Big Show. Cesaro deserves to be a singles star and with New Japan offering a stacked roster of talent, Cesaro would have no shortage of quality opponents out there. Just think of Cesaro facing the likes of Kenny Omega or Kazuchika Okada.
2 Impact Wrestling: Sasha Banks
A move away from WWE seems unlikely for Sasha Banks, but fans have to admit it is baffling to see her constantly viewed as an afterthought by creative. She's arguably the best in-ring performer on the women's roster and when she's given free rein over her 'boss' gimmick, she can cut some of the better promos as well.
Perhaps a heel turn is what's really needed for Sasha Banks, but there's no doubt she's being misused in WWE at the moment.
There's always the possibility she receives a career revival much like Becky Lynch did this year, but fans can't help but wonder if she'd be better off in Impact, where she could always remain at the forefront of the Knockouts Division.
1 NJPW: Daniel Bryan
Fans were understandably excited when Daniel Bryan was cleared to return to action earlier this year. The hope was that Bryan would pick up right where he left off and return to the main event scene immediately. Well, Bryan spent much of his first few months toiling away in the mid-card, including a lackluster feud with Big Cass. Bryan has now returned to the WWE Championship picture, but WWE has seemingly failed to capitalize on the buzz of his comeback. At this point in Bryan's career, one has to wonder if he could really have his best possible matches in WWE, or if finishing his career in Japan would be a better bet.