11 WWE Stars Who Made Appearances For Other Promotions

Back in the day, it was commonplace for guys to turn out for multiple pro wrestling promotions, drifting freely through the various territories and plying their trade wherever it was deemed necessary.

That would all change in the 1980s, when a certain Vince McMahon Jr. took matters into his own hands. After purchasing his father’s company, he decided to take the then-WWF national, essentially squeezing the life out of the old territorial system.

As a consequence, and to oversimplify the situation, the days of seeing the industry’s biggest stars appear for other promotions was seemingly behind us.

But over the years, even the miserly Vince McMahon has made certain allowances for talent to appear at non-WWE events. And often that talent has included some of the company’s biggest, best and longest-serving stars—the likes of whom you may never have guessed would have wrestled elsewhere.

Here, we look back at ten such instances of guys who strictly were on the company’s books, but for whatever reason were allowed to appear at outsider events—whether it be for indie promotions, affiliated companies, or simply to do a favour for a friend…

With more than 22 years on the company books, not to mention the fact that he’s currently an executive member of the board, Triple H is a bona fide WWE guy. So, it may come as a bit of a surprise to know that he hasn’t exactly been a one-company man since making his debut back in 1995.

In December of 1996, Triple H—then wrestling as plain old Hunter Hearst Helmsley—appeared in front of 800 people at a World Wrestling Association (WWA) show in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. There, he faced off against Savio Vega in Intercontinental title action, where he successfully defended the championship after the match ended in a double count-out.

As strange as it was to see a WWE belt defended on a non-WWE show, that non-WWE show was in fact being booked by Vega himself—who was still being employed by WWE at the time—while it also operated as a developmental territory for Vince McMahon and company.

Also on the show were Jake Roberts, Sid, and Dutch Mantell, all of whom, like Triple H and Vega, were still technically on WWE payroll at the time.