Biggest debut on WWE History?

[Joker ' Ferreira]

In your opinion who draw a better debut on the history of the World Wrestling Entertainment, I only watch Wrestling since 2001, so it's kind of difficult to me to choose someone but I would say Umaga, he destroyed Nature Boy, it doesn't mean it was the most shocking moment, but after Estrada introducing him perhaps no one would expect he would squash Flair, maybe a roll-up victory or something like that.

Your opinion...

PS: Sorry for my bad english btw.

 

[V4E]

I would have to say Brock lesnar, if I remember correct in 6 months he became World champ when there was only 1 world title! He also destroyed the Hardys on his debut.

 

[tuwind]

Chris Jericho, the first time. His entrance was HUGE. He interrupted the Rock when the Rock was pretty much God. Then he became the first person to co-hold the intercontinental championship with Chyna.

 

[jshoemate07]

Yea i definitely have to agree with you. I was in attendance at the show the night Y2J debuted on Raw. And being the crazy man that i am i watched both WCW and the WWE. When Jericho's name came up on the screen it wuz like a bomb dropped. The crowd went insane. And it was definitely a very well kept secret. The way he interrupted The Rock also showed that the man wuz gona create shockwaves in the WWE. And what really surprised me wuz that his mic skills were just as impressive as The Rock's.

Hands down: THE biggest debut in history.

 

[Addict]

It has to be The Great Khali. Like him or not in his first appearance he completely destroyed the Undertaker.That's like if that Vladmir guy destoryed cena in his first appearance.What made it even more impressive was the fact that it was fresh of a wrestlemania victory and by Khali destorying the Undertaker they were in a sense saying that he's more dominant than Mark Henry.

 

[rKo0019]

Y2J....cuz if you can't tell...I'm a big Jericho mark...ever since his days in WCW, I rooted for him...then one day he disappeared off WCW programming, and I switched to WWE and saw this weird "Countdown to the Millenium" clock thing. I was like "WTF?"
Very big entrance, awesome pop from the audience, and classic encounter with the Rock. This just showed us that great things were to come...

Rock: "The Rock says you talk about your Y2J Plan? Well the Rock has a little plan of his own, and it's called the KY Jelly Plan, which..."
-crowd pops-
King: "You know what that is, JR?"
JR (dryly): "Yeah."
King: "You do!?"

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Not for long term impact, but for the pure shock and surreality of it, Eric Bischoff walking out of the curtain on RAW was just utterly ridiculous. The most evil man in wrestling, the man who tried to murder WWE, the man who created the NWO...walking out on RAW and HUGGING VINCE??? It was an absolutely unreal moment.

Another one that didnt have a huge impact in the long run, but that was extremely surreal, was Goldberg coming through the RAW curtain and confronting the Rock. Hearing the war music, seeing the pyro, hearing the WWE CROWD chanting the goldberg chant. Just didnt seem real.

 

[FytingIrish]

I would have to go with Kane during the Bad Blood (In Your House) PPV. It came during the first (ever) Hell In A Cell match Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels. I will never forget the look on Undertakers face, seemed pretty genuinely surprised (though sure he wasn't) That debut will always stick out in my mind the most. Not to mention the match itself was AMAZING.

 

[Grymes]

The one I most remember is Y2J's since I was at that Raw when it happened. It was cool to see him after he was pretty much ****ed at WCW. The Rock made quick work of him on the mic tho which made it really cool. It was a sign of good things to come.

 

[SeetheSkills22]

Of course it is Eric Bishoff. The man was anti-WWF with the nWo. Then you go on and hire him and bring him into your company? Hell yeah man Bishoff was the most shocking, biggest, best, whatever you want to call it it was that. I was there also which was a bonus, but that certainly doesn't influence this post btw.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Well I have to agree Eric Bishoff showing up was just unbelievable. The fans went wild; with shock, with anger, with laughter. It was kind of surreal. Here was a man who had spent a long time trying to pull the WWE down, and was seen as an enemy to Vince McMahon, to the WWE wrestlers, and to the fans. Yet he was hugging our chairman on Raw. This will always be remember by me, as I was sat in shock, and I was just laughing at how no one had expected it and how it was just known as great.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

Hmmmm a lot of good people have been listed. I'd have to definitely agree that Jericho, Bischoff and Goldberg are all contenders, but my vote would go towards The Radicalz, when they all debuted together, it was a huge shock and unheard of that time for that many to debut together at one time. The fans and wrestling community were shocked and surprised, it was a "what is going on" moment, a "is this really happening" moment.

 

[Davi323]

I have to agree with those who say either Kane or Bischoff. They built Kane's debut up perfectly, probably one of the best introductory buildups they have ever done...and immediately set up Kane as a Taker-killer. That was a GREAT debut...But, with Bischoff, who in the world EVER thought they would see Eric Bischoff appearing on WWE Programming?

 

[Derf]

I never saw alot of these peoples debuts, but just by what I have read, I'm gonna guess Eric Bischoff was the biggest. Head of the rival company, who would have seen it coming. Props to Y2J and Kane for their debuts, as well as Khali. He was impressive that first night. And only that first night.

 

[Consequences]

I don't know if it'd count, but Hogan as the third member of nWo was the biggest debut since I've watched (since 1992). If that wouldn't be considered, then I'll go with Jericho's first debut in WWF. Separately, the biggest surprise debut, I would say, is Kane's.

 

[alleyezonme86]

i agree, chris jericho all the way. as a fan who was watching both nitro and raw here in the uk, (we only had raw live) it was a big deal when some of those guys went over to raw

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I wanted to go with Eric Bichoff, by my intellectual counterpart Mr. Norcal beat me to it. That's fine, I have a backup.

The Undertaker.

At the Survivor Series, we hear about this mystery partner. Blah blah blah. Fans usually assume a myster partner is someone they know who is either making a re-turn or a heel-turn. Not this time. No, this time it was a brand new guy, frighteningly large and dark, who came to the ring and systematically stalked and choked everybody in the ring. Impervious to pain. Moving in slow motion but elliciting fear from the children at ring side. He was like a serial killer.

That day set into motion what is termed nearly two decades of destruction, and one of the longest running single characters with one company in wrestling history. And THAT debut, lacking all the fanfare of the Jerichos and shock of the Bichoffs and anticipation of the Kane's, was awesome.

 

[Low_Ki]

Its really weird but the one I always remember (not so much biggest) was when Carlito debuted and beat John 'God' Cena for the US title.

I don't know why, but I have always liked Carlito's gimmick, and see him as more than Santinos bum boy. But thats getting off the subject, Big debut in my eyes.

 

[sammy j]

I wanted to go with Eric Bichoff, by my intellectual counterpart Mr. Norcal beat me to it. That's fine, I have a backup.

The Undertaker.

At the Survivor Series, we hear about this mystery partner. Blah blah blah. Fans usually assume a myster partner is someone they know who is either making a re-turn or a heel-turn. Not this time. No, this time it was a brand new guy, frighteningly large and dark, who came to the ring and systematically stalked and choked everybody in the ring. Impervious to pain. Moving in slow motion but elliciting fear from the children at ring side. He was like a serial killer.

That day set into motion what is termed nearly two decades of destruction, and one of the longest running single characters with one company in wrestling history. And THAT debut, lacking all the fanfare of the Jerichos and shock of the Bichoffs and anticipation of the Kane's, was awesome.

i'm with you

here was a guy with no build up, no one knew who he was, but by the end of the match he had everyone hooked. he wrestled well, had a cool, original gimmick, and as a 6 yo watching, i was completely SHITSCARED, even though i knew wrestling was fake he still made me shit my pants.

i was so distraught when he put the ultimate warrior into a casket....

but in recent times you'd have to say santino's debut was pretty big, winning the IC title over a monster heel afeter being "plucked from the crowd" in front of his "home" audience. sure it devalued the IC title more than the US dollar, but still pretty big.

 

[Rated K for Kennedy... Kennedy!]

Not for long term impact, but for the pure shock and surreality of it, Eric Bischoff walking out of the curtain on RAW was just utterly ridiculous. The most evil man in wrestling, the man who tried to murder WWE, the man who created the NWO...walking out on RAW and HUGGING VINCE??? It was an absolutely unreal moment.

Another one that didnt have a huge impact in the long run, but that was extremely surreal, was Goldberg coming through the RAW curtain and confronting the Rock. Hearing the war music, seeing the pyro, hearing the WWE CROWD chanting the goldberg chant. Just didnt seem real.

I gotta agree with you there man, although Bischoff's debut really po'd me and still bothers me to this day, he should have never been in WWE.

For me Jericho had the greatest debut in WWE history, it was impactful, original and very refreshing to see WWE giving a WCW star a real push and the surprise of it will never be recreated because of the current "Spoiler culture", won't soon forget that.

Goldberg's debut shocked me because JR said "We knew Goldberg was coming" but I don't recall any promos or vignettes before he debuted, am I wrong?

 

[tevangeline87]

I would like to say that the undertaker was my favorite when he came with brother love the undertaker was kind of scary at the survivor series in 1990 i think that the undertaker will win the world heavyweight championship against edge i hope edge will rest in peace

 

[carbondioxide830]

kane. when he debuted in the hell in a cell match, that was crazy. him ripping the door off and finally coming face to face with the undertaker...thats unforgettable.

edit: to answer someone's question, they did in fact air a goldberg promo during wrestlemania xix (19) and had safeco field chanting goldberg during the middle of wrestlemania; that was pretty sweet.

 

[awesomecactus]

my personal favourite is kind of a re-debut.............it came on an episode when mankind was feuding with hhh, and said he wasnt ready to face the game at the royal rumble, instead ripping off his mask and shirt to reveal cactus jack.....
now obviously it was just a man taking off a mask, but foley was such a genius at cutting promos, that it wsa incredibly effective......
'and his first official act as a member of the World Wrestling Federation is to kick your teeth all over the cith of CHicago!'
genius....

anyways, dunno if that qualifies, but it was pretty cool either way

 

[owenhartfan]

I would have to say the biggest debut in wwe history was the shocking debut of Perry Saturn, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Melenko and Chris Benoit...

4 of wcw's best workers and highly misused talent went from nitro one week to raw and got a huge reaction...I remember being so excited and calling all my other wrestling fan friends because I couldn't believe it...I was a huge fan of all of these guys and knew that wwe matches were about to improve greatly..

Tazz- Had an amazing anticipation and crowd reaction..It was great seeing him be the first person to defeat the then very hated Kurt Angle

The Big Show- WCW's #1 heel for the last 4 years came through the ring to the shock of the fans and tossed austin WWE's biggest star through the cage

XPac= HHH's promo for this was priceless...Sean Waltman went from a nobody in WCW to a huge star in the WWE because of his introduction

Jericho- I love his mic work any day, but him and the rock were aweseome together that night

Undertaker- He wasn't an established star like everyone else above...his dominating debut in the 1990 survivor series was unforgetable..I remember being extremely scared of him as 7 year old kid when he debuted

 

[Total Impact]

Chris Jericho, because even though many knew he was coming, that pop was huge and no one had a easier ride to WWE stardom like Jericho. I mean the WWE has tried to bring that hype for another wrestler, but it has yet to happen. That was the best debut ever and no one can compare the the countdown.