What Kind of Debut Do You Prefer

[wrestler36]

A lot of stars have debuted in the last few years and as expected, some have rised to the top, such as the Shield and the Wyatts, and some have stalled out, like Damien Sandow and Titus O'Neill. My question is, do you prefer a big build up with vignettes? We're seeing this now with Bo, Rusev and Adam Rose. Or do you like the surprise appearances? Such would be Paige, the Shield, Xavier Woods.

 

[steve storm]

i personally prefer surprise debuts and my fave one was the shield as no one saw it coming. was also good when paige just walked out on the raw after mania. the ones with the vignettes to build them up depends on how the good the vignettes are. for example i wasn't impressed with the ones for rusev but the ones for adam rose were ok and the ones for bo dallas are funny and cheesy. i think this time he will succeed better than last year when he was on raw for a few weeks after the rumble and had a mini feud with wade barrett but people didn't care about him. when he started the bo-lieve stuff in nxt it was really funny and the crowd reacted to his promos and he was funny that he pretended he didn't hear them. if he stays the same when he debuts on raw he has a better chance of getting over this time.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The pre-hype fellas who make their debut never seem to make it to the top of the card. Wheras wrestlers who just appear seem to find themselves in better poitions, namely The Shield, Sheamus (he just sprung from nowhere, didn't he?) and some others I can't be bothered to mention.

 

[bxbigshow]

I prefer the pre-hype vignettes for Superstars. I think as a kid (or of younger age) the Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect, Ted DiBiase videos really got my attention for the character's debut. And to be honest I don't recall many failures out of that age of "pre-hype" group...maybe Nailz but that's it.

So it is a bit nostalgic to see WWE use vignettes to garner buzz for their guys. Adam Rose and Bo Dallas have decent buzz generated...people are talking. And I was crazy amped to see Bray Wyatt debut last year. It shows that the "office" has faith in these guys.

On the idea of surprise debuts...it can lead to a bit of confusion. While the Shield's was very successful in the IWC's opinion, I think that has more to do with their beating down of IWC nemesis John Cena more than anything.

But when Big E Langston did the same thing a few years back...I don't recall the "love" for him. I think everyone wanted to know who the eff he was more than anything else. You can not surprise debut someone unless they make an impact to the top of the card, in my opinion. Everyone else will then have to spend the 2-4 weeks establishing themselves...when that time could've been used for videos.

 

[Reflection]

I prefer the surprise debut. The never-saw-it-coming factor is always exciting. As for the other option, these days almost all the pre-hyped wrestlers with vignettes and managers and servants etc. go on a winning streak for the first couple of months. Then creative runs out of ideas, and the wrestler has to pay the price. So, the surprise debut is the better way to debut, both for the viewers and the performers themselves.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

The pre-hype fellas who make their debut never seem to make it to the top of the card. Wheras wrestlers who just appear seem to find themselves in better poitions, namely The Shield, Sheamus (he just sprung from nowhere, didn't he?) and some others I can't be bothered to mention.

You often say things like "I can't be bothered", as if you're doing us all a favor by chiming in on each topic. If you can't be bothered, take your two line responses and stick them somewhere they will be relevant--like in a conversation between your wrestling figures while you play steel cage on your bedroom floor. You act like we're all waiting for your thoughts and should be glad you graced us with a response at all...even a short one that ends at the point your lame ass can no longer be bothered. You add nothing to these discussions and should piss off.

For every Million Dollar Man or Razor Ramon, there is an Outback Jack or Nailz. The vignettes can be useful tools, depending on the character and the execution of the bits.

I think the mix of advanced notice and surprising debuts is the way to go. If EVERYONE knows Bo Dallas is on his way soon, give him a vignette. If you sign someone that most people don't know about, have him attack a wrestler or interrupt a segment in some other way for shock factor. I think the execution of the debut is very important and can sway an incoming superstar one way or the other.

Well enough time spent here. Back to the edge of my seat waiting for Y 2 Jake's next two sentences of brilliance.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

It all depends on context.

If someone has a gimmick like Adam Rose, and he just came dancing to the ring randomly, I think it would get a very weird/flat reaction. Whereas because of his vignettes the crowd were already singing his theme on his first appearance.

On the other hand, if you have someone thats cool, and gonna make an immediate impact like Lesnar, Shield, etc. you don't really need the build, because the initial impact of their dominance makes a statement all on its on.

In theory, if enough people watched NXT though, you would never really need much of a build because the fans would already know who they are as soon as they show up.

 

[Eddie Menuek]

It all depends on context.

If someone has a gimmick like Adam Rose, and he just came dancing to the ring randomly, I think it would get a very weird/flat reaction. Whereas because of his vignettes the crowd were already singing his theme on his first appearance.

On the other hand, if you have someone thats cool, and gonna make an immediate impact like Lesnar, Shield, etc. you don't really need the build, because the initial impact of their dominance makes a statement all on its on.

In theory, if enough people watched NXT though, you would never really need much of a build because the fans would already know who they are as soon as they show up.

Yep. I pretty much agree with all of this. It's about context, and of course, execution. I'm sure we can think of plenty examples of either method of debut that were awesome, and plenty of examples that really weren't. It comes down to a lot of things; the quality of the vignettes, what sort of impact the bookers are willing to allow the debutee to make, and obviously how talented the debutee actually is in terms of making his character work after the debut has occured, just to name a few of the factors. If the question is would I get more excited about a debut promoted through vignettes or a complete surprise, then I'd probably go with the latter. Then again, Chris Jericho's debut is my favourite of all time and that was promoted via vignettes of sorts, so it really all depends.

NXT has really changed the game as far as debuts go, in several ways. I mean one of the obvious positives is that it enables a portion of the fanbase to get to know characters before they debut on television, which gives them a headstart, so to speak, over if they were going straight onto television (similar to the headstart that somebody like CM Punk got by being such a big name on the indies prior to his main roster debut). If anything, I think the flipside of this exact point probably also works as the few negatives, in that having a guy on NXT for six months or longer makes it hard to imagine anybody ever coming onto the roster and making an impact in the same way that, say, Brock Lesnar did. At the same time, those sorts of debuts are few and far between anyway so it isn't really that much of a negative.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

I guess one more thing I would add is that the trouble with vignettes is once that person debuts you have to force a reason for them to start a program with someone (ex: Adam Rose kicking Swagger for essentially no reason).

However, if someone just debuts out of nowhere and attacks someone (like the Shield did to Ryback) then a story starts writing itself, because the next show you want to know who, why, where how, etc? It builds intrigue.

Ultimately though, it's still all about context.

 

[Jdulemba1001]

It depends on if I can play with the definition of a debut. When a wrestler is making his debut from developmental, I prefer a vignette. Introduce him to me. I don't know who this guy is or what he's about so you tell me. Then when he debuts, like Adam Rose, i will be more likely to be interested. If its someone coming from another company, say for example if AJ Styles came to WWE, then I prefer a surprise. They always say that Anything can happen in WWE, so i like the "Oh S***, look who it is!" moment.