10 Wrestlers Who Left WWE & Became World Class
4. The Killer Elite Squad
While WWE fails to correctly book big beefy boys like David Hart Smith and Vance Archer, New Japan excels at it, hence why the duo, known collectively as the Killer Elite Squad, became three-time IWGP Tag Team Champions there, as well as two-time GHC Tag Team Champions and two-time NWA World Tag Team Champions.
As part of Minoru Suzuki's Suzuki-gun stable, the pair became a top international team, often going over veteran New Japan talent such as Shinsuke Nakamura, Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima, and Tomohiro Ishii. It really is that simple to get a star over. They're both colossal human beings, too, making it even more mind-boggling as to why Vinnie Mac didn't put them over.
As Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer, respectively, KES changed the narrative of big beefy tag teams wrestling as big beefy brawlers. They didn't have to just wail on their opponents, so they didn't; they used some rather nifty tandem manoeuvres to become seven-time tag team champions. The Killer Bomb, for example, always went down a treat.
Even today, with Davey Jr. being a hoot on Game Changer Wrestling's Bloodsport events and Lance murdering folk in All Elite Wrestling, the duo are continuing to prove why WWE missed the boat on both of them. The former is reportedly on his way back to WWE full-time; what's the bet he'll suffer this fate again?