10 Wrestlers Who Transformed Their Careers By Leaving WWE

In 2013, Samuel Johnston signed with NXT and adopted the ring name Solomon Crowe. He was given a hacker gimmick that involved him using an iPad to interfere with the lighting and other facilities reliant on electricity. A gimmick which Ali would inherit briefly before it was scrapped in favour of RETRIBUTION.

Crowe had a unique look with his wild troll hair (the ‘80s toy box staple, not the keyboard edgelord) and demon-goat beard. He had an undeniable charisma hampered by a lame gimmick. Pro-wrestling 101 dictates if you are going to plunge an arena into darkness, there better be a monster when the light returns. Johnston was released in 2015.

Though he competed in NJPW, Lucha Underground, and the indies, it was at Impact that the now Sami Callihan found his greatest success. Here his character was the violent backwoods leader of Ohio Verses Everything. Callihan was a vile persona known for his violent lust for blood, piledriving women, and pathological need to share his saliva. Callihan is a former Impact World Champion and is currently teaming with ex-WWE icon Ken Shamrock.