When it comes to competition for the WWE, there are only a few options that are popular. Today, we have AEW, a promotion that rivals the popularity of the WWE. However, back in the day, Total Non-stop Action, known today as IMPACT Wrestling was at its zenith. It was a good competition despite being the second-largest promotion after the WWE. TNA produced plenty of stars who are now under the WWE banner. But how many of the WWE champions have held the TNA World Championship title?

These stars once worked for TNA before moving to the WWE and continuing their careers.

AJ Styles, Bobby Lashley, and more held the TNA World Championship

Total Non-stop Action was founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002. Despite getting lower ratings, the promotion tried its best to compete with the WWE. In 2017 March, the company was fully rebranded into Impact Wrestling. This revitalized the show for a new audience.

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Among the stars of Impact to move to WWE and vice versa, the most famous has been AJ Styles. He’s held the WWE World Heavyweight Champion four times. Styles was once the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, the very first TNA X Division Champion. This solidified him as one of the best wrestlers in the pro wrestling industry.

Among the WWE stars who moved to TNA were Christian and Bobby Lashley. Christian was a World Heavyweight Championship twice in the WWE before leaving for TNA. In Impact, he was the World Heavyweight Champion twice. Lashley was a bigger name in Impact thanks to his popularity in the WWE. During his time in the WWE, he won the World Championship twice and the Impact Championship once.

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Drew McIntyre won the WWE Championship twice, and while working for TNA/Impact Wrestling from 2015 to 2017, he won the Championship once. He also held the Impact Grand Championship title between 2016 and 2017.

The history of TNA vs. WWE

As mentioned earlier, TNA was the second biggest promotion to the WWE during its initial run. However, due to the popularity of other independent wrestling promotions, the ratings of TNA began to fall. Before AEW, TNA was the one sweeping up stars from the WWE.

Christian, Lashley, and McIntyre were among the ones who moved to TNA after their initial stint in the WWE. This is where they continued their success in pro wrestling. Styles was the only one to make it from TNA in WWE.

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