While performing in WWE is considered by many to be the pinnacle of a wrestler's career, there are many other milestones that a wrestler can achieve. Aside from American promotions, one of the arguably largest wrestling scenes in the world is in Japan. Japanese promotions have produced some of the greatest matches ever seen by wrestling fans, and wrestlers who have spent time overseas are often held in high esteem.

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There are many former WWE wrestlers who spent time in Japan prior to joining large American promotions like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho, and it helped sharpen their skills. With the WWE Performance Center now producing stars for WWE from scratch, the opportunity for wrestlers to spend time in Japan is smaller, but there are certainly still some wrestlers who took the time to journey overseas.

10 Career In Japan - Brock Lesnar

While Brock Lesnar was certainly a WWE product in terms of professional wrestling, he did find himself going overseas. Following his WWE departure in 2004, he transitioned to New Japan Pro Wrestling and won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his debut match.

The rest of his career in Japan was tenuous due to lawsuits stemming from his time in WWE, but Lesnar remains as one of the few gajin wrestlers to hold the prestigious championship.

9 Never Went - CM Punk

For all his accolades during his professional wrestling career, CM Punk was never able to obtain a long residence in Japan. With a full career in Ring of Honor and other big-name United States indies, Punk's appearances in Japan were few and far between until he joined WWE for overseas tours.

RELATED: CM Punk: His 5 Best WWE Matches (& The 5 Best He Had Somewhere Else)

However, this did not stop Punk from borrowing the famed Go To Sleepmaneuver from Kenta Kobayashi.

8 Career In Japan - AJ Styles

Prior to becoming one of the top stars in WWE, AJ Styles had one of the most prominent careers on the independent circuit. Apart from being one of the top stars in Impact Wrestling, Styles also had a long career in New Japan prior to signing with WWE.

As the leader of The Bullet Club, Styles was on top of New Japan for three years and held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship twice.

7 Never Went - Bayley

Bayley is one of the most prominent success stories to come out of the WWE Performance Center after a semi-successful independent career. However, she is undoubtedly at the top of her game in WWE at the moment and is the first female Grand Slam winner in the company's history.

However, Bayley's time as Davina Rose on the independent circuit was spent state-side, and she did not venture overseas until joining WWE.

6 Career In Japan - Daniel Bryan

Bryan followed in the footsteps of some of his wrestling idols and went through several tours of Japan during his runs in Ring of Honor. As a member of the Junior-Heavyweight Division, he was a mainstay in New Japan for several tours but did not reach the level of success that he did in the United States.

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Like many wrestling journeymen, Bryan toured around the world before landing in WWE, which helped shape in him into one of the world's best technical wrestlers.

5 Never Went - Roman Reigns

Even prior to the advent of the WWE Performance Center, WWE has been known to pick out former football players to join their developmental territories, even if they did not have any wrestling experience.

Despite being a member of the Anoa'i Family, Reigns had never stepped into a ring before joining WWE developmental in 2010. However, that hasn't stopped him from joining the main event levels. While Reigns has wrestled in Japan as part of WWE, it is unlikely he will be heading to a Japanese promotion anytime soon.

4 Career In Japan - Viking Raiders

Viking Raiders

While the way they have been treated on WWE programming in 2020 does not indicate the level of tenure that the Viking Raiders have in the ring, these men have spent time around the world perfecting their craft.

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When they were known as War Machine, the Viking Raiders became two-time IWGP Tag Team Champions. The Raiders were one of the most feared American tag teams who took their skills to New Japan.

3 Never Went - The Big Show

As one of the most gargantuan athletes in sports entertainment history, The Big Show did not get the opportunity to spend time on the independent circuit prior to joining a large company.

Show was signed directly out of the gate by WCW and eventually moved to WWE, so his only stints in Japan have been while on tours with large companies. His storied career has sent him to Japan many times, but he has hardly had a career overseas.

2 Career In Japan - Ruby Riott

Her 2020 losing streak does not indicate it, but Ruby Riott was once one of the most prominent female wrestlers on the independent circuit.

As a wrestler who focused on inter-gender matches while working in the United States, Riott was also a part of the Japanese female promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom. That is not a promotion that just any wrestler is offered to work for.

1 Never Went - Sasha Banks

There is no denying that Sasha Banks is one of the best female wrestlers on the planet. Her charisma and in-ring ability are unmatched against some of her opponents in WWE, and the same goes for her time on the independent circuit.

However, Banks' career prior to WWE did not bring her to Japan at any point, and she spent her time in smaller promotions before joining the WWE Performance Center. In 2019, Sasha Banks trained with some TJP wrestlers in Japan, although she was and still is a WWE superstar.

NEXT: 10 WWE Wrestlers We Can’t Believe Never Had A World Title Match