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Five WWE superstar debuts that fans should relive

By Marquis Arnold

Jul 18, 2021; Fort Worth, TX, USA; AJ Styles (black pants) and Omos (black attire) battle The Viking Raiders (gray trunks) for the Raw men's tag team titles during Money in the Bank at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 18, 2021; Fort Worth, TX, USA; AJ Styles (black pants) and Omos (black attire) battle The Viking Raiders (gray trunks) for the Raw men's tag team titles during Money in the Bank at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Debuts are a big part of professional wrestling and these are five big ones that fans should relive frequently. 

In the world of professional wrestling, wrestler debuts are one of the most important factors determining whether a wrestler will succeed. In the WWE, You can either come from developmental or another company where fans already know who you are. A wrestler’s rookie year is essential because that’s when you figure out what the audience likes and dislikes about you and build from that. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen many talented wrestlers released by the WWE, but now that Triple H is in charge of creativity, we’ve been seeing wrestlers make their return. In this article, I will discuss the five WWE debuts that wrestling fans should go back and watch.

5. AJ Styles

AJ Styles is one of the greatest wrestlers of this generation, and for the longest wrestling, fans wondered if he would ever leave Impact wrestling and join the WWE. After years of speculation, the wrestling world was shocked when the Phenomenal One finally appeared on WWE programming, debuting at the 2016 Royal Rumble.

Styles wouldn’t win the Rumble, but he would use that momentum to help launch him into the main event scene in the WWE. By spring AJ would enter into a feud with John Cena, where styles would win two of the matches out of the three that the two superstars would have. AJ Styles would win the WWE championship from Dean Ambrose the same year as his debut and become Smackdown’s face. AJ Styles had one of the most incredible WWE rookie years in history.

4. Chris Jericho

Sometimes WWE hype up incoming characters only for them to be wrestlers that fans lose interest in, but that wasn’t the case for Chris Jericho when he would debut in 1999 with a 1999 millennium clock that would count down over the weeks leading up to Jericho’s debut. Chris Jericho would debut by interrupting The Rock promo and would then go line for line with The Rock in his prime.

Chris Jericho would soon become Intercontinental champion, be featured in the upper-mid-card, and have feuds with some of the best wrestlers of that era, such as Kurt Angle. Chris Jericho’s jump from WCW to WWE proved to be a success because he was one of the most liked wrestlers in the world at that time it didn’t matter if he was a heel or a face.

3. Paige

Paige’s rise to the top was so good that the WWE and The Rock made a film about her. When Paige debuted on Raw, she had already been NXT women’s champion and was on her way to becoming the next big star for the WWE women’s division. Paige was the youngest Diva’s champion in history and would go on to have good matches with the Bellas, Emma, Naomi, and AJ Lee to keep up the momentum that had been developed over in NXT.

For a long while, Paige was the division and the one fans wanted to see; she took that on her young shoulders and ran with it. Paige was the one who helped kick start the WWE women’s revolution when she debuted and defeated AJ Lee.

2. The Undertaker

In 1990 Vince McMahon came up with the idea that he would go down as his most incredible creation when he convinced Mark Calaway to become the gimmick of The Undertaker. The Undertaker would debut at the 1991 Survivor Series and have all eyes on him even in an era where gimmick wrestlers filled the roster.

The Undertaker would make his presence known, eliminating Koko B Ware and Dusty Rhodes. This was the beginning of what many wrestling fans consider the most incredible run in professional wrestling. The Undertaker would defeat known wrestlers such as Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, and Jimmy Snuka.

1. Kevin Owens

Over the last decade, the WWE has created a formula for debuting NXT Stars on Raw and Smackdown to see what type of reaction they get. Some wrestlers have been successful, and some have failed to impact the main roster. When it comes to Kevin Owens had the best debut in the WWE because he went straight for the top guy in the company John Cena.

In May 2015, Kevin Owens made it known to the WWE Universe that he would be a top guy in the company. Kevin Owens would use his incredible promo skills to build himself into a believable opponent for Cena. He took this one step further by beating him clean at Elimination Chamber. The feud would go two more matches, and while Cena sadly won both, it elevated Owens immensely, and each clash was great.

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