10 Wrestlers Who Proved There's Life After WWE

Can Neville go to another level?

Cody Rhodes Vs Joseph Conners
Cody Rhodes vs Joseph Conners

Being the sole promotion to emerge from the Monday Night Wars in one piece, WWE is now the place to be for anyone looking to make real their dreams of becoming a big-time professional wrestler.

Yet, with increasingly intense competition for the company's precious few main event spots, some of those who work for them find themselves prematurely heading for the exit door. Case in point: Neville, who is reported to have walked out earlier this week before Raw.

Most of the time, this is considered to be a bad idea, since, by leaving the wrestling industry's number one promotion, you are by definition going to receive less exposure, less adulation and - not least of all - less financial reward.

But it's not the death sentence it once was. A great many departed WWE employees have shown over the last 25 years that there really is life after leaving Vince McMahon's empire (many of them, indeed, having found success they probably couldn't have achieved had they still been on his payroll).

And as Neville (possibly) embarks on the same uncertain journey, here are the best examples for him to follow.

10. Bobby Lashley

Cody Rhodes Vs Joseph Conners
ImpactWrestling

The man that once drew tentative comparisons to Brock Lesnar arguably left WWE a failure in 2008, having failed to become the main event star the company's hierarchy once envisaged when he made his much-hyped debut a few years earlier.

When TNA picked him up, it was initially seen as yet another instance of WWE Lite shining the limelight on an established star over its own burgeoning young talent - but it has proven in the time since to be a rather shrewd acquisition.

In fact, Lashley has become one of the company's only mainstream draws, due to his corresponding career in MMA, where he is undefeated in five heavyweight fights in Bellator (which, while not quite UFC, is still a pretty reputable promotion all the same).

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