10 Wrestlers Who Saved Their Career By Going To The Indies

The controversial career of Austin Aries took another turn recently, when 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived' came to the mutual agreement of his release from WWE barely a year after arriving in NXT and mere months after making his debut on the main roster to enter a powerful series of matches with Cruiserweight Champion Neville.

Current Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling star Marty Scurll noted during a recent interview on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that there'd 'never been a better time to be an independent wrestler', and the comment bears up to scrutiny.

The scene is thriving, with a host of companies all over the world benefitting from the vast array of dynamic talent currently outside WWE's enormous system. Though the Full Sail version of NXT became something of a super-indie in style and execution, it only increased the thirst among fans for viewing independent talent rather than quenching it as many feared it would.

Giving up the assurance of secure income has always been a risk, but there are times where a move away from the biggest arenas and brightest lights has completely reinvented a performer, increasing their value for a return. Aries himself will hope that, like some of the industry's most famous names, betting on himself was the safest risk he could possibly take.

AJ Styles made waves on the United States independent scene during a scorched earth period for professional wrestling between the deaths of ECW and WCW in 2001 and the emergence of TNA in 2002, but his unexpected return to the rat race in late 2013 would kickstart the unlikely journey to WWE's summit.

A TNA loyalist through some particularly rocky patches for the organisation, Styles had become a contemporary equivalent to Sting as the established veteran for the long-considered Number Two promotion. It left many to assume WWE was nothing more than a missed opportunity, but his global tour-de-force for host of promotions following his exit earned him a huge spot in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Attacking Kazuchika Okada in a shocking reappearance for the company, he won the IWGP Heavyweight Title in his redebut for the promotion, and continued to work for other independent groups, often as the international leader of Bullet Club.

Already as phenomenal as his long-standing nickname promised, Styles upped his performance rate beyond levels many thought possible, becoming an all-rounder WWE simply couldn't ignore.

His surprise appearance in the 2016 Royal Rumble with his own name, gimmick and entrance music was revolutionary for a rapidly-changing WWE, but the manner in which he slotted into the top of the card was almost as shocking. He ended his maiden year with the group as arguably the best wrestler in the world, confirming his decision to depart Orlando after 12 years as the shrewdest he'd ever made.