Best debutant in recent years

[Father:_Polley]

In the last few years, there has been a bucketload of talent debut in WWE/TNA.

Out of all the guys (from Kennedy to Primo Colon), who has been the most interesting. Feel free to base opinions of ROH, any other promotions you like. Just give reasons as to who has made the biggest impact on the two big companies in American Wrestling

For me, I'm picking a young lady who has her birthday in two days time alongside my own in Kia Stevens...that's Awesome Kong for those who are unaware.

This lady to me revived the flagging entity that was women's wrestling in America. It introduced credibility to a women's division that was little more, in fact, it was with the exception of Gail Kim, purely eye candy, and along with the addition of other talented females, sparked the Knockouts into a credible force.

Miss Stevens, I salute you for your role in restoring some pride to female wrestlers, at least in one company.

Who do you choose? (Note...debuts in TNA from WWE don't count for all the Angle fans)

 

[captian spanky]

The most interesting debut to me would have to be c.m. punks to the wwe. I had herd quite a bit of hype on him from roh fans, and could somewhat remember him from his stable with raven in tna. After rvd got into the mess that he did the only reason i watched ecw was to see just how far wwe would let this guy from roh go. Now i am a huge punk fan, and hope at somepoint in the future he has a feud with trips, in which he would debut the pepsi plunge, as i dont like the gts. and while he may not have made the biggest impact yet, i feel that he will in time.

 

[Disco Sucks]

I want to say Samoa Joe, but TNA really hasn't let him usher in an era of the strong style, competitive wrestling that he does best. If TNA goes back a more wrestling based product like they had promised in the past, then I think Joe will be in the forefront leading the way.

 

[Milkyway!]

i wanna say biggest impact at the time, had to be umaga, who expected him to completly destroy ric flair in a matter of seconds?? =\ sure its old tattered up flair but hey, its still ric flair right?

 

[jpfizzle]

Ted Dibiase Jr. He came out with his old man. Instantly getting a rub from one of the all time greats, but the promo he cut was both incredibly mature and instantly had people talking. The word "Priceless" could have turned into something big and I remember the weeks following on these forums when there was quite a buzz forming. In his in ring debut, no matter how it was done Ted Dibiase left with the tag team titles. Not many acheive something this big on there debut. Given time I can see Dibiase having a huge future in the WWE. His debut acheived the goal of creating his character and giving him something to move forward with, essentialy what we have is an all round succesful debut and long may this rookies career continue to be as good.

Santino Marella is another wrestler who had an amazingly succesful debut, love him or hate him he got a pin fall victory over Umaga to take the IC title in his first ever match. The Milan Miracle was instantly in the record books and since then has showed the ability to develop and evolve his character into something quite, well, unique.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

I think the guy who debuted "recently" who has the most chance to actually make it and become a break-out star in WWE is MVP. From day one he's been impressive as hell in the ring and a natural on the mic. Fantastic matches with Benoit and Kane in his first year. US Champ. Tag Champ. Need I say more? Mr. 305 could very well be a major star in the future. I'd choose Kennedy, but something tells me that his time to shine may never come, so MVP is more of a safe bet :/

Another impressive debut guy is Evan Bourne. This man can work magic previously unseen in a (WWE) ring. His in-ring talent knows no boundary and he's entertaining to watch. He's not fantastic on the mic, but he's alright. As far as pure talent goes, he might be the most sound WWE debut guy in recent memory.

Finally, I'll have to give some props to Santino Marella. Here's a guy who practically makes Monday Night Raw worth watching by himself. Just pure comedic talent. Sure, he might not have a future lined with championship gold above the Intercontinental Championship (Though I'd love to be proven wrong >.<) but at the end of the day, the amount of entertainment you provide and the work you do is what makes you memorable and a great WWE talent, not necessarily the amount of titles you've held. But then again, he's a two-time IC Champ, which is something!

 

[HBK-aholic]

Santino seemed to be successful. If you're basing this on the debut only, rather than what they have done with it. Well he's IC champion so you could say he'd done the most with that too. But the crowd seemed to love him. He was pushed as just a regular fan who was out living the dream.

I'm an agreement with HK about MVP actually. People seem to change their minds on him frequently, one minute he's boring, the next he'll be a huge star. I go with the latter. MVP is a great asset to the business, and I honestly think in a few years time we could see him main eventing and possibly holding gold.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

MVP didn't have an impressive debut. He was all hype before. And yes WWE did a good job with it. But it all turned to shit in the ring. His debut bombed, he then feuded with Kane, bigger bomb. When his match with Benoit was announced for Mania nobody was impressed. nobody spoke up about the potential MVP had, all because he hadn't shown any yet.

It's not a good debut if you only start to impress nearly 6 months into your run.

 

[AFC1986]

One debut that stands out for me is Khali. There were gasps from the crowd when he was face-to-face with the Undertaker in the ring and the crowd were just in awe of Khali's size as nobody had ever seen anyone make Taker look so tiny.

The most shocking part of his debut was that he completely decimated the Undertaker and left him lying in a broken heap and instantly made an impact in the WWE

 

[HBK-aholic]

Khali's not the best debutant at all. His debut was good, simply because of how different he looks, and how people were just in shock at that. But that wears off, and Khali is one of the most boring wrestlers in the business. The only reason he is so big, is because he is 'big'. You can call that a good thing, call it a bad thing. But in all honesty I think there are many wrestlers who have done a much better job than he has after their debut.

 

[-John-]

MVP and Kofi Kingston's Debuts were great.

MVP because his has been the best, and he is fantastic on the Mic.

Kofi Kingston because the fans may have not shown much emotion but he has proved himself as a good wrestler and can go good in the ring. His in-ring styles and in-ring skills are fantastic and he should win the Intercontinental Championship again soon.

 

[twisterwrw929]

I'm a big MVP fan, but I really don't see how people think he can win this. Like previously stated, he was built up really well with the press conferences and the contract negotiations and press conferences with Teddy Long, but his actual debut was questionable. For anyone who has seen his first match, it wasn't very good. It was more of a squash and squash matches normally aren't seen as good, but people hated it, nobody was anywhere near being into that match. And after that, people made fun of him for a while for his attire which people compared to that of a power ranger. I do think a while after that though he did start to get good, but to say best debutant, no way.

 

[2012isbs]

Kane made an awesome debut I mean costing taker the hiac macth then kicking out of 2 tombstone piledrivers that's pretty impressive in my book

 

[AMERICANFIRE]

i agree its kane or y2j but i go y2j who the hell else would have been new and interupted the top star in wwe at the time. not me! kane had that holy shit what is that thing moment in his. plus his music was really creepy on top of it.

 

[thisisatest]

Seeing as how my post about the meaning of the word "debutant" was deleted and I was put in limbo or whatever that is all about, I'll skip that part and go with MVP...or maybe Y2J. I'd even go so far as to say Diamond Dallas Page, because it was a total surprise to me, seeing as how I thought of a dozen other guys it could be stalking Sara, and it never occured to me that it might be him

 

[wolvdog316]

Y2J was great, no doubt #2, but folks its Hall if we are going back a decade or so. At that point not everybody was internet geeks. When he showed up it literally SHOCKED people. If people didn't care, if people knew it all along, if people were uninterested then the nWo might not have worked as well.

Jericho is a close 2nd, but even though im a HUGE jericho mark, but he can't compare to a movement like Hall started

 

[Oldschoolersrule]

I think it depends on the timeframe in which you are asking about. To debut as a wrestler/entertainer from day one is alot different than an established name showing up on the competitions roster. Using the latter, what about when Jeff Jerrett showed up in a WCW ring only days after competing on a WWE pay per view?

 

[LegendKiller97]

How about the one and only Mick Foley. Mankind had a great debut. Those promos were really good and creepy and then he came out and attacked The Undertaker the night after WM 12 setting up one of the best feuds of all time in my opinion.

If you wanna go recent though then I would say Ted Dibiase Jr had a good debut as well. Good promo and got a rub from his dad Ted Dibiase. Then in his first match won the tag titles and he and Cody Rhodes have made for a good entertaining tag team.

 

[blair4107]

WWE
I would have to say either Evan Bourne or Kofi Kingston. In both cases you had a debuting wrestler giving a high-quality match right off the bat and each can draw with the crowds very well.

Matt Striker as the new voice of ECW - do I really need to justify this? I believe he has been proven since 5 minutes after his announcing debut. He's well-spoken, knowledgeable, and totally makes up for Todd Grisham's boring-90s Michael Cole-ass.

I'd like to give credit to some others though...
Ted DiBiase - as many have said he had an impressive verbal debut and an impressive debut match and so far "Priceless" have not disappointed.
MVP - I was not impressed with him in his lead-up, his debut, or his first probably 6 or 7 months but I have to admit he has slowly grown on me and I now feel that he actually is a pretty damn good performer.
Miz - Another case of being completely down on the guy for his debut and the entire Miz/Extreme Expose angle but once they fueded/then teamed him up with John Morrison he really stepped up his game and I am actually a fan now (as shocked as I was since I actually do remember him as the racist-mormon on the Real World lol).
Kennneeeddddy - (Sorry lol) I have liked this guy from the very start, he has amazing mic skills and he performs superbly (although I did prefer his corner-finisher to his new backwards-Stroke [Mic Check; isn't this the same move Edge did back in 99-00?]).
TNA
Christian Cage - TNA gave Christian what WWE just wouldn't, a real chance. Towards the end of Christians WWE career he was starting to be very over with fans, even though he had almost always been the whiny-douchebag character (excluding the E&C face turns). People were really starting to believe in him but they just weren't going to give him the same opportunity they were preparing Edge for.

Notable debut:
Basham and Damaja.... just kidding.
I really don't know what to put here I like Samoa Joe and feel that his debut and everything up until they put the title on him was very impressive but honestly, even as a fan, I feel he has failed as champ - whether it's his fault that he's not staying over or it's creative's fault for making him a whiny-face instead of the destroyer.

 

[MikePhotoGuy]

In WWE:

I would have to say Koslov. His run has been impressive and he is getting a really good push by WWE. He is a big guy who wrestles well and has a good series of moves that they have developed for him.

The undefeated streak angle has been done a lot, what with GOLDBERG, Brock Lesnar, Umaga, etc. but in his case, they are acknowledging that some of the matches were complete squashes which is why Koslov is always demanding "better competition."

I am looking forward to his match with HHH at Survivor Series, and I see Koslov one day being a really good heel for the company.

 

[Fizzy]

The best debutant in recent years would have to be for me Bobby Lashley. He comes out in a jobber style, and beats Simon Dean. I looked at the guy and thought "how the fuck are they gonna have him job to Simon Dean?" Turns out they were smart and had him beat Dean multiple times. In recent years I have not seen someone come out and beat someone who was already in WWE for a few years. Bobby surprised me and continued on to become one of my favorite wrestlers. I think no one has had a better debut then Lashley.

 

[Pala!]

CM Punk, hands down! There was a lot of hype for him being called up to the main roster and when he debuted he got a huge pop from the fans in the ECW arena. You don't really see that. Then a couple of months down the line he out-pops DX at Survivor Series. How many people out-pop Shawn Micheals and Triple H [Together?] not many.

 

[The Reaction]

I'd choose Kennedy, but something tells me that his time to shine may never come

I agree. That injury he suffered after winning the MITB ladder match at that year's Mania really killed his momentum. Imagine if The Rock got injured right before he won his world title and was out for several months?

 

[Yrrab]

My favorite so far was DDP when he first came to WWE. I wasn't much into the IWC, so I didn't really know who the hell it could have been. Then he ripped off his mask and I was just like Holy SHIT. It was great. I wish they'd debut people like that again... vs. all of these vignettes and crap. It'd be a great way for Kennedy to come back.

 

[BaconBits]

The best debutant ever...

Glacier with WCW.

Just kidding.

I'm going to have to say Vladamir Kozlov. It was just like: "Oh my God,who the fuck is THAT guy?" While I agree with a lot of folks that it's kind of a blatant Goldberg ripoff, I like that fact that he came in as a heel. I think most unstoppable monster types like that should be heel.

Close second...

Hornswaggle. Can't go wrong with a little person.