Undesirable to undeniable: Who will be the next formerly released WWE star to become World Champion?

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Back at WrestleMania XL, Cody Rhodes officially went from undesirable to undeniable when he defeated Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship and finished his story in the main event.

Cody’s story being finished was made even more special due to him leaving WWE back in 2016, before returning as a certified main eventer and becoming champion.

Cody and Drew McIntyre are the two most notable recent examples of wrestlers leaving the company and returning to win the world title, but there are more on the current roster who could follow in their footsteps.

Bronson Reed

WWE made the major shift from NXT Black & Gold to NXT 2.0 back in September 2021, which saw a lot of the Black & Gold roster either be called up or released from the company.

Among the latter was Bronson Reed, who was just coming off a run as North American Champion at the time.

Rebranding as JONAH and showcasing his abilities across multiple companies including TNA and NJPW, Reed re-signed with WWE in late 2022, returning to the company in December of that year following the regime change.

Now a member of the Vision, and with pinfall victories over the likes of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, Reed is perhaps the closest of any formerly released WWE star to a World Championship right now.

Matt Cardona

After his 2020 release, Matt Cardona was very vocal about how he planned to reinvent himself on the independent scene.

Becoming the ‘Indie God’, the former Zack Ryder officially returned to WWE in January of this year, with him often speaking about his sole goal being to finally become WWE Champion, citing Cody’s success as his motivation.

Currently out of action due to injury, Cardona wasn’t exactly among the top of the card prior to getting hurt, but his return could serve as a good way to reset him and get him back on track should WWE want him to finish his own story.

Baron Corbin

Despite competing in many main events under Vince McMahon, Baron Corbin left WWE in January 2025 having never been World Champion.

A year on the independents and in MLW as Bishop Dyer, the Nomad made his return to WWE television in July, and instantly became United States Champion upon his return.

With Corbin and Trick Williams’ feud now over, could we see Corbin finally make the move to the main event to capture his first world title?

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