wrestling / Columns

The Magnificent Seven: The Top 7 First Years in WWE

February 1, 2017 | Posted by Mike Chin
Image Credit: WWE

As a long-time fan, I’m always interested to see how far wrestlers come in WWE. Take John Cena, who may have gotten his start on the main roster by stealing a pin over Kurt Angle, but spent significant time in the months to follow in a back-and-forth feud with Kidman, before he’d finally start to find a direction and build toward a career as wrestling’s biggest star of the modern era. Or consider CM Punk—an up-and-comer with potential from his early days in ECW, but not someone you’d take seriously as a world title contender until he won his first Money in the Bank contract two years into his tenure, only to go on to be one of WWE’s defining stars for the five years to follow.

This week, however, I’m looking at a different breed of star. Those who WWE took seriously from the beginning and who delivered in at least the short term. I’m considering the performers that had the best first year in WWE/WWF.

An important caveat: I decided to only consider wrestlers who debuted in 1990 and after. This is largely an arbitrary decision, but there were a lot more one-off appearances and talent exchanges in the WWWF and earlier days of theWWF that made it difficult to quantify when to start counting someone’s first year with the company. We could certainly go with a year earlier than 1990 (the dawn of WrestleMania was the other cut-off point I considered), but it was a good, clean round number, so I rolled with it.

Additionally, I counted first years based on when a performers first televised match on the main roster aired, to the point one year later plus a week. The extra week might seem arbitrary, too, but given tape delays and scheduling in the 1990s and scheduling concerns like when a PPV happened to fall, it seemed fair to me.

This is a tricky countdown, because I did aim to consider kayfabe accomplishments like matches and titles won, but I also wanted to consider quality of performance as an overall professional wrestler (in-ring as well as on the mic). Like any countdown that blends that which is real with that which is scripted, there’s a lot of room for judgment calls—I as always, my personal opinion weighs heavily.

#7. Charlotte, 2015-2016

At first blush, Charlotte’s name may look out of place on this countdown alongside a crew of mostly men’s world champions who main evented across periods of years. In truth, I think history will be telling on this pick—if the way WWE books in regards female talents remains constant or grows from here, so, too, do I suspect that Charlotte’s legend—and the legend of her first year on the main roster—will grow. If the women’s movement stalls out or moves backwards, she may be subject to more of the Lita-Trish Stratus treatment—well-respected and important, but not an act regarded at higher than upper mid-card status.

What did Charlotte’s first year look like? She debuted auspiciously enough, alongside NXT cohort members Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to launch what was billed as the Divas Revolution. She was quickly booked at the fore of the women’s division, winning a triple threat in her PPV debut, and wrestling on the winning team when the three women’s factions went head to head at SummerSlam. By the end of the summer, Charlotte was pursuing Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship, and made good on the chase that fall to win the title from Bella, and proceeded to get the better of Paige, Natalya, and Becky Lynch in a reign that extended nearly ten months, straight through the end of her first year) and that also included an excellent triple threat at WrestleMania and the championship being rechristened as the Women’s Championship as WWE dropped the Divas moniker altogether.

In the months to follow, Charlotte would shore up her spot as a top-level star, main eventing Raw and then a the Hell in a Cell PPV in a Hell in a Cell match. But focusing on just that first year, she proved herself as a highly capable in-ring performer (arguably under-appreciated for all of the love Sasha Banks gets opposite her), held the top championship available to her for most of her first year on the main roster, went undefeated on PPV, and meaningfully contributed to the elevation of her whole division. Not bad and enough to land in the number seven spot.

#6. The Undertaker, 1990-1991

The Undertaker debuted as a force at Survivor Series 1990, a major contributor to Ted Dibiase’s team who pinned Koko B. Ware and was responsible for the elimination of Dusty Rhodes, too, looking every bit the unstoppable force as he battled The American Dream to a double countout.

At the time, one might dismiss most of the The Dead Man’s year to follow as generic monster heel stuff, but hindsight is 20/20 and the history has been kind to this run. Picking up a long series of squashes on TV may not have been remarkable, eliminating three mid-cards in the Royal Rumble was just an OK showing, and his victory over aged star Jimmy Snuka at WrestleMania was a bit of a foregone conclusion. Looking back, though, ‘Taker was dominant and unbeaten in televised matches, eliminated past and future world champions Bret Hart and Kerry Von Erich (plus Bushwhacker Butch) in the Rumble, and launched arguably the greatest undefeated streak in wrestling history when he pinned Snuka at his first ‘Mania.

But then there’s the way The Undertaker’s rookie campaign ended—challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship. The match easily could have been a forgettable addition to the lore of Hogan fighting off monsters. Instead, The Phenom pinned The Hulkster and took his title (albeit with the benefit of outside interference) in a victory that felt shocking at the time and that history proved to be a paradigm shifter—quite arguably the end (or at least a signal the end was coming) for the original Hulkamania run).

Particularly with the benefit of historical perspective, there’s no question ‘Taker had one of the greatest first-year campaigns in WWF of all time.

#5. Yokozuna, 1992-1993

Rare is the WWE star who arrives on the scene and fundamentally shifts the landscape around him to the point it’s hard to imagine he’s only been around for the year. Such is the case for Yokozuna who debuted in the late summer of 1992 via a series of squashes on TV that built to him crushing Virgil at Survivor Series. In the months to follow he’d demolish mid-card acts like Koko B. Ware and Jim Duggan in the early days of Raw, and won the Royal Rumble (unceremoniously launching Randy Savage from the ring for the last elimination). Less than six months into his run, Yokozuna wasn’t just knocking on the door of the main event, but was inarguably the WWF’s top heel.

Yokozuna’s twin crowning moments came at the two PPVs to follow. First, he pinned Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 9, which segued immediately (as in less than two minutes later) to a program with Hulk Hogan. Though Yokozuna would drop the title to Hogan in an impromptu match at the end of ‘Mania, he would beat Hogan at the King of the Ring to not only regain the championship for a nearly year-long run, but to send Hogan packing from WWF programming for over eight years. The big man spent the remainder of his first year feuding with Lex Luger in the build to their SummerSlam showdown.

While Yokozuna never approached Hogan’s star power, nor was he nearly the worker that Hart was, he was a fitting monster villain for his time, who I’d argue goes historically under-appreciated for reigning over a down period in the WWF’s business (financially, creatively, and in terms of match quality), when he was also the villain with the physical credibility (both sheer size and surprising athleticism) to hold down the fort during this challenging period.

#4. AJ Styles, 2016-2017

Over the last few years, I’d written off AJ Styles as the great wrestler of his generation who never had a run with WWE. And that was OK. For he had practiced his craft in TNA, ROH, and NJPW to reach the very top of his game, and probably would have had to water down parts of his repertoire in WWE anyway. While we’d miss out on dream matches like AJ Styles-John Cena and AJ Styles-Chris Jericho, I could also understand we’d probably never see these matches performed at peak level anyway under WWE booking and as each of these men grew older.

Fast forward to January 2016. Styles debuted, direct to the main roster, at the Royal Rumble. Upon receiving a star’s reaction, he stuck around and shored up his position as an unlikely new face in the upper mid-card—about as good or better than I realistically expected WWE to do with him if he ever did sign.

When Styles dropped his WrestleMania match to Chris Jericho, it looked as though he had peaked, and wouldn’t break through to the main event level. Lo and behold, that wasn’t right either, as Styles would go on to a short rivalry with world champion Roman Reigns, in which they put on two very good PPV matches and Styles would go from face to tweener to heel. After that, it was off to the races with Styles, feuding with, and ultimately getting the best of John Cena (most memorably in their superb SummerSlam showdown), before Styles moved on to beat Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship.

And so, Styles’s first few months on the main roster were good, the next few were excellent both from a workrate and creative standpoint, and finally he arrived at greatness, the unlikely face of the Smackdown brand, and the kind of talent it’s hard to imagine has only been around for one short year. I’m writing this column before the Royal Rumble, but the fact that he’s headed into this show the reigning world champion opposite John Cena speaks volumes.

#3. Ric Flair, 1991-1992

I had a hard time placing Styles and Flair because of what I saw as pronounced similarities in their first-year runs—each arguably the greatest wrestler of his generation not to have performed under the WWE banner, each a main event fixture on the WWE landscape by the time that first year had run out. I’m giving Flair the edge just barely here because he was treated more like a main eventer from the very beginning and spent essentially that entire first year in that role.

Flair debuted, touting himself the “Real World Champion,” carrying around the Big Gold Belt and then, when legal issues came up, other title belts blurred to represent the NWA World Championship. He’d have his first high-profile match captaining a team at Survivor Series in a lukewarm match out of which Flair emerged the sole survivor. His bigger contribution that night was helping The Undertaker defeat Hulk Hogan, and in so doing shaking up the world title picture. The angle would pay off when Flair ran the gauntlet at the Royal Rumble two months later to win his first WWF Championship in a virtuousic iron man performance. He would follow that up with an intense feud opposite Randy Savage that culminated in something of a forgotten gem in their war at WrestleMania 8.

Flair would win the world title back in the fall, only to drop it to Bret Hart to formally pass the torch to the next generation of WWF stars, and ride out the year with a high profile tag performance at Survivor Series, paired with Razor Ramon against Mr. Perfect and Randy Savage.

1992 saw Hulk Hogan depart from full-time performance and stars like Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior ride out their final days as main eventers on the WWF landscape. The era changed, and while the workrate may have picked up, the WWF’s business slipped (it’s creative arguably did as well). Amidst all of that, Ric Flair was Ric Flair, putting on a number of tremendous performances, tallying two world title reigns, and winning a Rumble.

#2. Brock Lesnar, 2002-2003

Brock Lesnar has always been a special property on the WWE landscape, and immediately grabbed the audience’s attention upon his post-WrestleMania 18 debut. Yes, he was a big, mean, dominant monster, but his athleticism allowed him to be more than a physical specimen, but a legitimately awesome force. He started by targeting lower-card talents, including single-handedly decimating The Hardyz.

From their, Lesnar embarked on a steady ascent, winning the King of the Ring tournament (last beating Rob Van Dam), tearing apart Hulk Hogan just for kicks, then pinning The Rock to win his first world title at SummerSlam. He’d go on to get the best of feuds with The Undertaker and Edge, before turning face when manager Paul Heyman turned on him to help The Big Show steal his title. The dawn of 2003 would see Lesnar get his revenge, beating Show at the Royal Rumble PPV, only to go on to win the Rumble match itself and proceed to a title feud with Kurt Angle, out of which Lesnar would win his first WrestleMania main event.

For Lesnar, there was little build—minimal working his way up the ranks from the mid-card or a tag team spot. On the contrary, he debuted as a force, won his first world title a third of a year later, and remained in the main event scene, thriving as both a heel and a face, for the remainder of his rookie year, a good indicator of how his abbreviated and often-as-not part-time career to follow would play out (save for the Goldberg matches).

#1. Kurt Angle, 1999-2000

While I can see an argument to place Lesnar’s first year over Angle’s in this countdown, particularly in recognition of kayfabe accomplishments, I’m giving Angle the nod for not only having an excellent first year as a character, but for so thoroughly establishing himself as a great all-around performer in his first year in the WWF.

Angle debuted on TV at Survivor Series 1999 with a victory over Shawn Stasiak. He’d enter a short undefeated streak from there, before putting over Tazz at The Royal Rumble. While this loss may have signaled that Angle would take up residence in the mid-card, he went on to cultivate his comedic persona, paired with his rapidly improving in-ring game as the Euro-Continental Champion—a duel reign that he put on the line in a stellar bout with Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit at WrestleMania. Angle lost the belts, but moved on up the card, winning the King of the Ring tournament, then engaging in fringe-main event feud with Triple H. While Angle would come out on the losing end of that one as well, it would prove the last stepping stone before he won his first world title, pinning The Rock.

So, in his first year, Angle exhibited excellent in-ring and promo work. While Lesnar started and ended essentially in the main event, Angle had truer mid-card beginnings as well as ups and downs—it’s just that he underwent an epic journey, truncated into a year’s span. Moreover, his spectactular first year would pave the way for a stellar WWE career to follow, and even longer tenure with TNA after that, all culminating in his WWE Hall of Fame Induction this year.

What would you add to the list? Some of my top honorable mentions included Vince McMahon 1998-1999, Diesel 1993-1994, The Shield 2012-2013, Kevin Owens 2015-2016, Wade Barrett 2010-2011, and Daniel Bryan 2010-2011. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Read more from Mike Chin at his website and follow him on Twitter @miketchin.