The 411 Wrestling Top 5 3.03.10: Week 64 – Rookie Debuts

Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. Most of our topics will be based on recent events in the Wrestling World, looking at those events that make us think of times past.

So, on to this week’s topic…

ROOKIE DEBUTS

The debut is the first impression that we get of a new wrestler and it usually defines how the career of that person will go. Now, let me clarify what a rookie debut is. Chris Jericho debuting in the WWE after being in WCW for years is not a rookie debut. This is for the wrestlers who get their first taste of the big leagues, whether it be the former WCW, or the still operational WWE and TNA, and who made the biggest impact and lasting impression.

So what did our group of writers select? Let’s find out…

Michael Bauer

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tazz – Tazz debuted after being in ECW for many years with some good hype and made Kurt Angle pass out at the Royal Rumble.

5.CM Punk – After plenty of debut videos and hype, CM Punk debuted at Hammerstein Ballroom on ECW, where he already had a huge fan base thanks to his Ring of Honor days. I admit, I marked out at the very first promo video of his, and his match, while nothing spectacular, was the exact type of reaction you want.

4.Desmond Wolfe – As you will see, I pick on Kurt Angle a lot here and this one is no different. Desmond Wolfe comes into our screen durng a Kurt Angle interview and shows nothing but respect, before kicking the living crap out of him. And then he closes out the show by hitting Angle with the Tower of London and standing tall. Not bad for his first TNA appearance.

3.Carlito – Well, whoever saw this coming is a liar. Yeah, we had the videos to hype of Carlito and his coolness. But if you were to tell me that you knew he would show up in Boston and beat John Cena for the United States Title on his debut, I would call you the biggest liar ever.

2.John Cena – Cena was the pure definite of ruthless aggression and he proved it against Kurt Angle in his debut. Sure, he didn’t win, but until that time, no true rookie had ever had that good of a match and that much of an impact on their first showing.

1.Daniel Bryan – Ok, maybe some bias here since I marked out like nobody’s business the entire show. But let’s face it, how can you top a guy being the main person on the debut of a new show, while making his debut on WWE television at the same time? I think it’s kinda hard when you face the World Champion in the main event.

Aaron Hubbard

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rob Van Dam – When RVD was brought into the WWF in 1997, they acknowledged his past in ECW and Jerry Lawler put him over, and he also got to showcase his offense against Jeff Hardy.

CM Punk – Was brought in the right way by having a solid match in the Hammerstein Ballroom where he would be most over due to the smart fans, and beat Justin Credible.

Carlito – Got an upset win over John Cena to become U.S. Champion in his first televised match.

5.Tazz – I could talk about how Tazz was crazy over at MSG and how good the match was and how using a chokehold instantly set him apart and gave him a storyline, but I think this sentence covers it best: On his first night in WWE, Tazz defeated an Olympic Gold Medalist who had been undefeated up to that point. Oh, and he did it in less than five minutes. As good as the debut was, I can’t really go any higher than this as WWE never really capitalized on it afterward.

4.The Undertaker – Instantly over upon his entrance, Undertaker commanded respect from the very instant he entered the arena. Part of that was his one of a kind gimmick, but in the hands of anyone else it could have, and probably would have flopped. He hits the Tombstone Piledriver on Koko B. Ware and eliminates Dusty Rhodes, and the only way he gets eliminated is by a count-out that he himself initiates. Monster booking at it’s finest, and I’d say he’s proven worthy of that initial push.

3.Daniel Bryan – Yes, it’s recent, and yes, I’m biased because I believe than Daniel Bryan is the best in-ring performer in the business. HOWEVER, if this had been any other NXT Rookie, I would have put it here. The whole show was devoted to getting this kid over. He comes out at the beginning of the show and has a war of words with his “mentor” The Miz, wrestles the World Champion, arguably the best performer in WWE and arguably the most over heel, and has a competitive match with him. He hurts himself performing a suicide dive yet keeps fighting through it, counters The Walls of Jericho, had the fans biting for the upset off of a heel hook, and loses to a Liontamer, and then gets beat up post match to generate sympathy. And it WORKED. Anybody who says Bryan has no chance of getting over because of his size or his lack of charisma needs to remember one thing: any performer with the backing of Vince McMahon, the best PROMOTER in the world, can and will get over. The fact that Bryan has the talent and the work ethic only helps his chances. Clearly, from this debut, McMahon knows what they have. I’m not saying he’s going to be a World Champion in WWE, but if WWE pushes him over as a resilient submission wrestler who takes no crap from anyone and overcomes the odds, as they did on this first show, he will be a STAR. But for Bryan stumbling a bit (though he got a lot of mic time for a “rookie”), Jericho messing up some in the match and Michael Cole’s idiotic burial, this would be my #1.

2.Rocky Maivia – This was an example of how the Survivor Series gimmick can be used to really help get someone over. As part of a four-man team that included Barry Windham, Jake Roberts and Marc Mero, the rookie Rocky Maivia was the last man on his team against Crush and Goldust, two men that were very comfortable midcarders. Miraculously, Maivia defeated both men and won the match for his team and won the approval of the crowd. I don’t even think Vince knew quite what he had here, but this was the case of booking being right, the wrestler pulling it off, and the fans reacting that makes it one of the best debuts ever.

1.John Cena – Let me just direct you to the video:

Now, what you see there is a young kid in red tights and boots. He’s ripped, but he’s also very quick. He’s also handsome and charismatic. With five words and a single punch, he’s over. By the time the match hits the home stretch, the crowd buys the nearfalls. The whole match structure is perfect. Cena gets shine at the beginning, counters BOTH of Angle’s finishers, survives some of his patented suplexes, unleashes a flurry of offense and nearly gets the win. By the way, that’s basic, everyday offense, nothing fancy, but the crowd buys it and it gets over. In the end, Angle has to resort to going to the eyes, and then using an amatuer wrestling move to stack Cena into a pinning position, showing how desperate he was. Oh, and Michael Cole and Tazz on commentary were doing a perfect job of conveying the story to the television audience. Cena didn’t win his first match, but he pushed arguably the best in the world to his limit. Everyone involved hit a home run on this, and you could tell that Cena was going to be a World Champion someday.

Julian Bond

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tazz (WWE) – Oh man. I remember how crazy-hyped me and my friends were, along with those in attendance of the 2000 Royal Rumble, for the much anticipated debut of then ex-ECW main-eventer Tazz. As soon as his “beep…beep…beep…” sick-sounding theme music hit the speakers, everyone went crazy. Awesome way to debut and would be higher if the match itself was a tad bit better (and that the WWE didn’t totally f*ck up his run shortly after this).

Samoa Joe (TNA) – When Joe first came into TNA, it was kind of like the similar hyped-debut of Brock Lesnar in WWE, except for the one major difference of Joe being automatically placed into the “smaller” X-Division instead of straight into it with the Heavyweights. So while Joe’s debut with destroying known X-Division fav Sonjay Dutt, I only put him here instead of higher cause it wasn’t as heavily hyped due to the division labeling.

Carlito (WWE) – When the mostly unknown Carribean Carlito Cool (aka the “bootleg” Razor Ramon as some dubbed him then) debuted in the WWE on Smackdown and very shockingly defeated then US Champ John Cena for the belt in the main event (mind you) on a Smackdown show, it was one of the craziest debuts I’ve personally ever seen.

5.CM Punk (WWE) – What made CM Punk’s WWE debut (not counting his almost non-existent debut in TNA) so great was both the awesome, slow burning hype along with his actual first in-ring debut for the company. With the hype, WWE/ECW perfectly started playing for weeks vignettes hyping his debut with Punk looking bad-ass talking bout competition and living “straight-edge” and with his actual in-ring debut, it was great because both the viewers in arena and at home seemed to hold onto every single move of his in his bout against Justin Credible and approved Punk with a nice ovation at the conclusion. Definitely a great major debut.

4.Undertaker (WWE) – When the Undertaker debuted at Survivor Series as the mystery partner of the Million Dollar Man’s team, it was crazy to some people cause they didn’t really know what to think about the dude who dressed in all black, had huge gloves, and had pale make-up on his face. But as soon as he started taking everyone out from Bret Hart to Dusty Rhodes down in a strange zombie-like way, people took notice and the rest is of course history.

3.Desmond Wolfe (TNA) – Desmond Wolfe aka Nigel McGuiness despite his huge reputation in the Indies with being ROH Champion for a loooong time, could have arrived in TNA and just been shuffled to the side and horribly underused. But the company wisely made Wolfe into the bad ass that he made himself to be in ROH by having him introduce himself to AND then beat down known ring bad-ass Kurt Angle in his first night in the company, while looking awesome the whole time. Sure he may not be as bad-ass looking currently in TNA, his first night had done so much to solidify him as main-event player that he can play off of it for a good while to come.

2.Brock Lesnar (WWE) – The description of Brock’s debut the night after Wrestlemania X-8, in which he completely demolished…no….no…MURDERED the ragtag group of Maven, Al Snow, and Spike Dudley ever so easily is pretty simple….WTF?!? To see the mega monster-looking dude suddenly jump in the ring and then proceed to destroy everyone with sick-looking moves with ECW mad genius Paul Heyman cheering him on was a sight to behold. Sure it may have seemed like a “standard monster heel debut”, but Brock was not only brand-spanking new, but he looked like he was seriously made to hurt people. Not just a big goofy grappler that does one move and they’re deemed “bad-ass”, but a huge guy who JUMPS to the ring, does something called the “F-5”, and then powerbombs Spike Dudley to the point where you were afraid that he was going to go through the ring.

1.John Cena (WWE) – “Ruthless Agression”!! As corny as hell as that statement may sound and as much as some wrestling fans STILL truly despise the guy, when John Cena yelled out those words in his first appearance in WWE and then slapped the shit out of the super bad-ass Kurt Angle (y’all see a pattern here!!!) that moment automatically woke everyone up and got himself noticed in the wrestling world. Not only this, but paired with his near super-upset win over Angle the same night, Cena’s debut was an absolute miracle as everyone in the arena and those witnessing it at home on TV were actually behind this rookie all the way without ever knowing the guy. Cena had no real hype, no cool-ass videos, and no known info about him. Just a corny looking dude in corny looking shorts with a corny haircut. That’s it. But the way that Cena looked so damn confident and then backed it up in the ring easily made this one of the best and suprisingly good debuts I’ve personally ever seen.

Julian Williams

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Carlito (WWE) – When this afroed punk first showed up in a series of vignettes, we all laughed him off as a joke. Ooooooohh, he spits apples in the faces of people. What a tough guy. Big friggin deal. Many of us would have to eat those words, though, when Carlito made his official in-ring debut. He challenged the US Champ, John Cena, for the title in Cena’s hometown of Boston. There’s no way that Cena could lose, right? Wrong! Carlito shocked the world by defeating Cena and winning the US Title in his very first match. The look of shock on the faces of the crowd when Carlito got the three count said it all. It’s too bad that Carlito’s lazy ways have resulted in him being practically forgotten about because I thought that the WWE had found their next big heel after seeing Carlito’s debut.

CM Punk (WWE) – For weeks, the ‘E had been running great hype packages for Punk. He seemed cool, cocky and confident. To the average viewer who had never heard of Punk before, he seemed like a future star in the making just through those vignettes. All of that could have been blown if his debut didn’t live up to the promise and luckily, the WWE realized that. They made a smart move by having Punk debut in the Hammerstein Ballroom in front of a raucous crowd who knew exactly who Punk was. They greeted him like a hero and made him seem like a big deal, which was absolutely essential in order to get somebody who had never heard of Punk before buy into him. Punk took off from there, never looking back, and I think his strong debut is a big reason why he is in the position he is today.

5. Desmond Wolfe (TNA) – He took out Kurt Angle in his first night in the company. Let me repeat that. He took out KURT ANGLE in his first night in the company. Kurt Angle is the biggest star in TNA and Desmond Wolfe punked him out like he was some type of jobber. People who had never heard of Desmond Wolfe (or Nigel McGuiness for that matter) were left in shock that this rookie was able to leave Kurt Angle lying and helpless. How many people debut in a company and take out the top guy in the company on their first night? Not many and Wolfe’s debut showcased that he was going to be a major star in TNA.

4. Tazz (WWE) – I expected Tazz to get a pretty decent reception when he made his WWE debut at Madison Square Garden to face Kurt Angle. After all, New York was a big supporter of ECW so it would be expected that a good portion of the audience would know who Tazz is. What I didn’t expect is for the place to go nearly ape-sh*t once Tazz came out. If you were a person watching at home who had never heard of Tazz, you would have assumed that he was a big-time player just based on the reception he received. It was massive. Then he trots down the ring and proceeds to beat the hell out of the undefeated Kurt Angle before choking him out for the victory. When I first saw this, I was convinced that Tazz was going to be an immediate main eventer in the WWE. Of course, the WWE had other plans and Tazz’s injuries didn’t help matters. Regardless, this still stands as one of the best debuts I’ve ever seen because the crowd absolutely made Tazz look like a star on his first night in the company.

3. John Cena(WWE) – When I first saw John Cena storming down the ring to accept Kurt Angle’s open invitation, I thought to myself, “Who is this loser?” He just looked like a total dork. A jacked-up dork who could kick my ass, but a dork nonetheless. I figured that he would get in the ring and Kurt would make him tap in a few seconds before moving onto some REAL competition. Instead, this kid got in Kurt’s face and slapped the holy hell out of him. He then proceeded to give Kurt the fight of his life, where Kurt was barely able to escape with a victory. After that, my thoughts on John Cena completely did a 180 and I felt that this guy could actually make it. I would have never guessed, though, that he would become the face of the company a mere 3 years later.

2. Brock Lesnar (WWE) – When I first saw this huge, genetic freak hop out of the crowd on a throwaway episode of Raw, my first thought was, “Jesus, Val Venis has been really going overboard with the steroids”. Once I realized that it wasn’t Val, though, I was left in awe by the monster of a man who was destroying everything in his path. I had never seen somebody so destructive since Goldberg. After Lesnar finished practically killing poor Spike Dudley, I was convinced that this guy was going to be the next big thing (pun fully intended). And he was. It’s just too bad that he didn’t share the same passion for the business as the business had for him.

1. The Undertaker (WWE) – When The Deadman stepped through the curtain for the first time, the WWE audience was introduced to something that they had never experienced before. It was evident, just from that first slow walk to the ring, that the WWE had their next big star. The look of fright and astonishment on the faces of the crowd told the story. And that’s before he even got in the ring! Once he got in the ring and started to dominate everything in his path, it was clear that this man was going to be a force for years to come. Little did we know that two decades later, he’d still be bringing crowds to their feet in awe and wonder.

Mathew Sforcina

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Daniel Bryan – I’m sorry, but it’s FAR too early to be calling this as a greatest debut ever, thank you.

Rob Van Dam – His WWF debut when he won the Hardcore title was great, but given that it’s a debatable debut in terms of the concept, it don’t get in.

5.The Undertaker – First official night in, and the Taker character was THERE. Not a beta version that needed to be fine tuned. Not a hesitant worker fitting into a new gimmick. The moment The Undertaker stepped through the curtain, he was THERE. Fully formed, fully created.

4.Tazz – Tazz gets a massive ovation as he chokes out Kurt Angle on one of the better PPVs of all time, in MSG, at the start of one of the best runs in WWF history in terms of product and popularity. That’s the sort of debut you dream about, and Tazz got it. First night in, made to look like a star. Second night in…

3.Brock Lesnar – Dear god this was glorious. To see this large angry man come in and just kill whoever was in his way, the night after WM, was just a sight to behold. Shame it didn’t work out, but then that’s a pattern here…

2.Carlito – Yes, he’s a lazy unmotivated loser now. Yes, he’s only still around since the rest of the family is too. But first match in, wins US title, PINS JOHN CENA. Yes, that wasn’t quite as impressive at the time, but still, historically, that’s damm impressive.

1.The Giant – This is one that I’m not surprised is forgotten. Yes, he won the title on a technicality the following night. But the fact is, his first match EVER, he wins the World Title from Hulk Hogan. That is, frankly, the biggest debut ever. And a pox on anyone who disagrees.

Jeremy Thomas

HONORABLE MENTIONS

CM Punk – Punk’s debut in the WWE was one of the most anticipated debuts by the smarts at the time, and still remains such with the possible exception of…well, the guy who likely inspired this list (we’ll get to him in a few). Well-executed, well built-up and did exactly what it needed to in helping get a new star over.

Santino Marella – Like it or not, Santino Marella’s debut in the WWE was huge for him. He appeared as a planted fan in the crowd during a Raw in Milan, Italy, and defeated Umaga in a No Holds Barred match to a huge reaction (albeit due to help from Lashley). He hasn’t hit the same height since, but at the time, that came out of nowhere and was awesome.

Carlito – If there was a “Sixth Place” instead of Honorable Mentions, it would go to Carlito. The older Colon brother defeated John Cena in his first match on the SmackDown roster and then got involved with Cena in a storyline where Jesus supposedly stabbed Cena in a night club. Beating a guy like Cena, even during his US Title days, was huge for a guy just debuting and it put Carlito on the map.

5.Daniel Bryan – Daniel Bryan’s debut on NXT last week was undoubtedly a moment that will be remembered in his career. People can talk all the crap they want about him—how he’s never going to get over in the ‘E, how his move set will have to change and how he has no charisma—but the truth in the matter is that Bryan got exactly the kind of treatment that the ‘E sees in future main eventers. Think about it. In his first week, Danielson got a brief amount of face time on Raw as he watched the Miz defend the Unified Tag Team Titles, then a promo against the Miz where he did perfectly fine on NXT. He then battled the World Heavyweight Champion for a good six minutes before he lost. In terms of WWE television matches, that’s a lot of time and while yes he did lose, it was against one of the top men in the company. He then gets a little more face time as he watches Miz battle Edge on SmackDown. People can talk about his future prospects all they want, but they can’t deny that Daniel Bryan was set up to be THE star of the first season of NXT. That could translate into huge things for him.

4.Tazz – There’s an interesting trend that runs through my top five: three of them debut against Kurt Angle. I don’t know if that’s due to coincidence, Angle’s willingness to put new guys over or what, but there you have it. Whatever the case, Tazz’s debut was something special. Kurt Angle’s run in the ‘E had been pretty bad-ass, as he was put over huge by being an Olympic Gold Medalist and had gone on an impressive undefeated streak. That ended at the Royal Rumble when Tazz came out, popping the New York crowd hugely. He then came into the ring and put the brakes down hard on Angle’s streak, choking him out for the win. This was the moment where you realized, assuming you didn’t before, that ECW talent had a much better chance of making it in the WWE than they did in WCW. Granted, the Human Suplex Machine’s WWE career didn’t exactly explode after that but he had a good enough run before he ended up behind the announcer’s booth.

3.The Undertaker – If you want to get technical, the Undertaker’s debut wasn’t at Survivor Series; it was three days earlier at the tapings for WWF Superstars. But that didn’t air until after this show, so this is his “official” debut. When Ted DiBiase announced the arrival of the Dead Man, you knew he was something special. His gimmick was undoubtedly cartoony much like the rest of the WWE at that time, but the way that he sold every aspect of his character made the audience believe, and the announcing put him over as something to be feared. Then he got into the ring and proved it by doing some things that guys of his size did not do. He pinned Koko B. Ware with a Tombstone about a minute in just to show his dominance, and later he did a double axe-handle off the top rope. The ‘E booked Taker to be a monster and it worked. The rest is history.

2.Desmond Wolfe – Nigel McGuinness’s debut in TNA was highly anticipated, but there were a lot of questions hanging over it as well. The former ROH Champion had been signed to a WWE contract but was let go before the deal was finalized due to reported concerns over his physical state. So when he came into the company and went right after Kurt Angle, the results were phenomenal. People went crazy over it and deservedly so; unlike most people’s big debuts which would often fizzle out, Wolfe proceeded to have an extended feud with Angle where he looked to be on an even keel with the multi-time, multi-company World Champion. His debut showed a lot of people that sometimes, a guy can come out of nowhere (in terms of kayfabe, at least) and make an immediate impact at even the highest levels.

1.John Cena – Cena’s debut in the WWE was a major stunner. Based off Vince McMahon’s earlier statement about new stars showing ruthless aggression, John Cena came out to answer Kurt Angle’s open challenge. He slapped the taste out of Kurt’s mouth and then proceeded to have a match with the Olympic Hero that left people open-mouthed. This kid who came out of nowhere kicked out of Angle’s finisher. He took the ankle lock without tapping. He nearly beat Angle in the match on more than one occasion. The end result was a loss, but there was no doubt that on that day, a star was made. That moment helped propel Cena to the position he is now as the flagship talent in the company and one of the most recognizable names still in the business not named Hulk Hogan. If anyone, ever, has proven that a great debut can potentially mean a great career, it was this man on this day.