10 Indie Wrestling Easter Eggs That Played Out In WWE

Did you spot these insider references on WWE television?

In their 15-year pro wrestling careers, CM Punk only wrestled nine of those years in World Wrestling Entertainment, while Daniel Bryan has wrestled only five. Similarly, NXT's Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville have eleven and nine years of experience prior to their WWE debuts, too. As independent wrestlers, these four grapplers (and many more) have executed maneuvers, participated in angles, and had significant box-office drawing feuds that have proven to "inspire" or be "borrowed" by WWE. Independent pro wrestling shows are seen by a population that is likely at most 1/10th, but oftentimes far less of the WWE Universe. Sometimes they can drew 1,000 fans, and possibly even tens of thousands of Youtube views, but that still pales in comparison to the millions (and millions) of fans (and internet viewers through the WWE Network). Those mainstream fans likely have no idea about something that happened at an independent wrestling show many years in the past. However, WWE is actually opening itself up MUCH more to independent wrestling, and in doing so, there are a number of amazing things that have been allowed to see in the WWE product, with likely more to follow. Here are ten times when ideas and concepts that started on the independents later were portrayed in front of the WWE Universe. Enjoy!
Contributor
Contributor

Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.