tips on removing old exhaust?

I never cared for the previous owners exhaust on my 97 XJ. Parts were welded crooked, the mounts were all loose causing clunks, and it was hard to get the downpipe away from the oil pan and still seal well.

I thought the downpipe would separate somewhat easily from the cat with a few blows of a hammer, but it wouldn't move. I tried a chain cutter but found that where I needed to cut there was weld slugs, and if I moved the cutter forward I was trying to cut both pipes and the chain cutter couldn't cut that deep.

Finally I used a cut off wheel to carefully cut a straight down the cat side pipe without going deep enough to cut the downpipe. Then I used a pry bar to pry the cat pipe off the downpipe. Since this was the easiest way, I would like to know if this is standard practice? Or what the best method is?

I always use a sawzall.

x2 sawzall with a good pair of safety goggles.

X3 Sawzall. Buy one.

Sawzall for the win.

Cutoff wheels work, but if one side of the exhaust is allready free, as you cut thru, it'll want to pinch your cut off wheel, which can be very bad in tight spots with an angle grinder spinning at 5k+. A
Bound sawzall blade is significantly less dangerous. Still capable of injury, just not disfigurement like a bound cut off wheel.

I was trying to get the old cat off without damaging the downpipe. A sawzall would have cut through it. Maybe an exhaust shop would have cut through it and welded in what was needed to keep the length the same.