Will the WWE Ever Have Another "Surprise" Debut?

[THEpapachamp]

Since the pre-attitude era many well known superstars especially after WWE bought out WCW and ECW, came over some in the most surprising ways such as..

Chris Jericho

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Ric Flair

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Goldberg

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Just to name a few.. and recently with the returns of people like..

The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Booker T, Kevin Nash and "debuts" of Awesome Kong ect.

Will we ever get another chance to have a surprise return or debut in the WWE this generation?

If so who?.. and why

 

[#hamler]

There is really no competition.

We could have AJ Styles jump to WWE but no one would really know just who the hell he is unless you're an internet geek. TNA or any other wrestling promotions just aren’t that popular like NWA, AWA and WCW were back in the 90s. We might have some surprise debut of sorts if someone like Sting come to the WWE but that is very unlikely in my opinion. A TNA surprise debut would be more likely because of the WWE's star power and popularity.

 

[Mac Attack]

Well how to answer this question? The truth of the matter is that if it is a suprise debut from someone new then how are we supposed to guess who it will be. So I guess than the only way to answer this question would be to assume that someone from either TNA comes back or a former star comes back so if there is one person who I could see this happening for is Mick Foley.

Mick Foley has recently quit with TNA and as we know has pretty good relations with Vince McMahon. I could easily see him return for a leadership type of role on WWE programming. He is a loved person in the WWE and he loves wrestling so what better then to have him be a suprise debut.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Chris Jericho will make another surprise return, although it won't be much of a surprise because all everyone does is speculate on when the hell he'll be back.

As for debuts, I have to agree with Hamler, there isn't really many guys that could come into the WWE and be worthy of having a big debut. If say AJ Styles signed with WWE one day, I'm sure people would know him but he wouldn't be good enough to get a massive amount of applause once he appeared.

If Kurt Angle ever returned to the WWE he'd get a massive return. And the reason I'm saying return is because you posted a video of Flair, that wasn't his WWE debut, he worked for the company in the 90's.

 

[WeAreLasers9097]

Well, there will never be technically another "surprise" return or debut, because of the internet and all the spoiler sites. But if the circumstances were correct, the next big surprise return or debut would definitely be someone from TNA or some sort of international superstar or MMA fighter. I can't narrow it down to one person, since there's plenty of options, but you get the drift. Guys in the vicinity of Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles and people like that.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Sting really is the only HUGE debut surprise that could truly shock us all, but we all know there's no chance of this ever happening. Sting is very loyal to TNA, and I don't think we'll ever see him in a WWE ring. AJ Styles could make an impact in WWE, but he's another unlikely choice. I think he will remain in TNA for the rest of his career, because he is another wrestler who will most likely remain loyal to TNA. Also, I don't think too many people would recognize Styles. He might be Mr. TNA, but die hard wrestling fans are the only people who will go nuts for his appearance.

There's a good chance we'll see some surprise returns in the future, but the chances of seeing a big surprise debut are very slim.

 

[stillboy21]

The only surprise debut, not return, that could ever get everybody behind would have to be if Sting decided to come over to WWE. Sting is the most well known wrestler to never be in the WWE. He would get a better reaction then AJ Style, Samoa Joe or anybody. But last I heard he wasn't too keen to join the WWE Universe.

 

[RattleRockerJet97]

As far as Debuts go. I also believe it could possibly be Sting, seeing as its always been him that's been the one of the "Topdogs" from every other promotion other than WWE. His Debut would probably need to be on a large scale, best damn crowd and with none other than Taker. That would truly be the magical moment. Im waiting for the day.

As for returns, I think Goldberg might come back maybe for one more match or something. But since Atlanta has passed on in terms of large venues, i dont really have an honest guess. But i mean Goldberg was already on WWE before so the shock factor might be lessened. But its also purely for the fact that i want to see him go one more time in a large atmosphere.

 

[DRH123]

there is no way that AJ Styles is gonna stay in TNA for the rest of his career, wanna know why? cause TNA will be LONG gone before AJ retires, just sayin lol

 

[MarkoMan]

there is no way that AJ Styles is gonna stay in TNA for the rest of his career, wanna know why? cause TNA will be LONG gone before AJ retires, just sayin lol

[And that's a big] If that were to happen, then it probably wouldn't be that much of a surprise for AJ, or anyone from TNA, to show up in the WWE...

 

[trashboy]

Nope. As big as the internet is these days.. there's no way we can have a "surprise debut," unless they kept it a big time secret and it didn't get leaked or whatever.. the only way it could be a surprise is if you stay away from the internet.. because anytime you go to a site like wrestlezone, they're always mentioning guys or women that just signed with WWE or whatever..

like Awesome Kong.. here debut wasn't a surprise because we knew she was on her way.. just didn't know when it would be

Desmond Wolfe aka Nigel McGuinness just got released from TNA, so maybe him? Thoughts?

and no to this.. if he were to debut in WWE, it wouldn't really be much of a surprise because for the most part, no one would know who he was.. unless they follow ROH or TNA.. if I had no idea who he was.. and he came to WWE, I'd just be like.. Uh, who's this jobber?

 

[saw411]

I have to say prolly no more "huge" surprises because since the monday night wars, wwe at least and I'm sure tna to a certain extent have "no compete" clauses. Wwe's is their typical 90days. And wwe always reports on wwe.com when someone gets released. The last big surprise was jeff hardy in tna, and well he hasn't been a big pay off imo. I don't blame tna for bringing him in. But with no compete's, and the internet, its gonna be really hard for a surprise debut. I am all for a surprise debut, but its prolly never gonna be what it use to be. And that, I find unfortunate.

 

[zman21]

daniel bryan was a huge shock but that wasent a debute. i would go with luke from tough enough i think wwe will sign him soon and after spending time in fcw he can do a suprise debute and the crowd knows him and already hates him so it can work

 

[Sheamus' Suntan]

I am going with Daniel Bryan here at Summerslam last year. WWE played us for fools and TECHNICALLY it was a debut because he was on the lowly NXT before and then played 1 night on RAW during the attack.

I remember everyone BELIEVING Bryan would be back when he first got fired. Rumblings of "its a work" went around and there was this HUGE outrage. He doesn't come back for months...suddenly it starts to feel like he really will never come back. People believe that he's been fired. He's gone for good. That's it. Then BAM. Here he comes again.

They actually managed to beat the IWC at their own game and tbh, I believe the whole thing was a work.


In the day of internet spoilers though it is VERY difficult to keep things under wraps. VERY VERY difficult. I mean let's be honest, we know everything now a week before it happens. Redebuts or debuts to begin with HAVE to happen on RAW or a PPV for them to be a surprise, and truthfully, they have to be veiled so well now that I swear to God, only Vince would be able to know about them.

My hoping would be that Sting does NOT become a "mystery debut" to WWE. The man is 50+. He has a couple of years left. Is INCREDIBLY loyal to TNA. TNA give him what he wants - he's likely to be one of the best paid on the roster, he can come and go as he likes. He's as good as The Undertaker of TNA with his on/off record. What can he REALLY bring to WWE and why does EVERYONE want to see Taker vs. Sting? It really wouldn't be that great...Taker now needs someone who can still REALLY go in order to produce a strong match. Yes, sting can, but it's just not going to be a fantastic 5* match. It's big names going against one another, that's all.

I think the WHOLE of the Nexus' debut on RAW was a shocker. Did anyone HONESTLY see that coming? One minute, we've got a great match between CM Punk and John Cena going on, the next, everything's been destroyed by a group of 7 stars from a show where they were degraded by pushing barrels around the ring etc come and destroy the top of the WWE's food chain just because they are sick of being pushed around. Brilliant debut onto RAW for all of the Nexus and in truth, it worked. It worked the fans. Worked the IWC. This was THE debut onto RAW of this decade that produced the "shock" factor.

New signings? No. We hear about them first. Those that want to be pushed don't get a shock entrance, they get a vignette styled thing...otherwise the fans wouldn't give a damn about them. AJ Styles? Yes he'd be heard of, but wouldn't be over immediately. Is there really anyone else "new" to WWE that would be over enough before coming to WWE? No. TNA just ISN'T big enough to produce house hold names like WCW was and therefore if any of the TNA guys came over to WWE, the capacity wouldn't be there to build them instantly using a shock entrance. Not unless they did what the Nexus did and gunned immediately for Cena.

 

[Matisyahu]

I think the only good suprise debut would be if Samoa Joe were to come in because first of all he is a huge guy with a huge following.

I honestly dont see how WWE can do any worse with the guy than TNA has recently and I think he would do really good with the WWE style.

How awesome would it be for him to debut and destroy the Nexus to the horror of CM Punk and ended it by choking out Mason Ryan or hitting Otunga with the muscle Buster. The crowd would blow the roof off the place because Joe is a well-known around the world and has history with Punk on top of it.

 

[ANT1GOTH]

I really don't think their could be another "suprise" debut in the WWE. Fact of the matter is it's because of wrestling sites like these. All though some people may not read about the debut themselves, they would most likely be told about it by a friend. I think the last really shocking "debut" was the original Nexus, they took out EVERYONE in that arena, including Justin Roberts and the ring itself.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

In the short term there's no money to be made by surprising you, especially at a Pay-per-view.

WWE wants to promote the heck out of any big upcoming moment so you are sitting on your ass watching their program when it happens. The internet is one way they make sure you will be there when something big happens. Shocks and surprises may hook you on the programming but hype is the only sure way to get the ratings or PPV buy.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

No way is there going to be a suprise debut in WWE not even in TNA. In this day in age, there is no way unless you lived in a cave wich would hamper you ability to even watch wrestling anyways. Back in the day (when internet was non existent) a wrestler could return or debut in a new company without the fans knowing about it. Take for example Scott Hall and Kevin Nash going to WCW nobody outside of the buisness new about it. Now with internet and the 90 days no compete clause, its impossible to have a surprise debut.

 

[Trill Co$by]

I doubt there would be... unless it was someone from WWE to like TNA, and it was really a big name like maybe Randy Orton or CM Punk. The problem, though is that even if TNA didn't have a history of doing that already, there would definitely be people expecting it since the modern wrestling world is spoiled by all of these big time wrestling fan sites.

There is really no competition.

We could have AJ Styles jump to WWE but no one would really know just who the hell he is unless you're an internet geek. TNA or any other wrestling promotions just aren’t that popular like NWA, AWA and WCW were back in the 90s. We might have some surprise debut of sorts if someone like Sting come to the WWE but that is very unlikely in my opinion. A TNA surprise debut would be more likely because of the WWE's star power and popularity.

Uhm...

What?

Let me ask you something... when you come to the forums and say something, do you actually think it through? Or do you just try to troll on purpose?

TNA averages over a million viewers a week where as WWE averages just barely over 3 million. In terms of viewing, that means about 1/3 of the entire WWE crowd is more than likely to know who TNA's stars are. Hell, Kharma's impact in WWE wouldn't have been as surprising if nobody knew who she was. She would've just been some big lady who probably would've had a small stint and left... without a pregnancy being the cause of it.

 

[closet_fan]

Well, there will never be technically another "surprise" return or debut, because of the internet and all the spoiler sites. But if the circumstances were correct, the next big surprise return or debut would definitely be someone from TNA or some sort of international superstar or MMA fighter. I can't narrow it down to one person, since there's plenty of options, but you get the drift. Guys in the vicinity of Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles and people like that.

as long as you can afford to shelter yourself from this site and any other wrestling site out there, there will always be at least one new signing or surprising every couple of months.

the problem is insiders within the organization. as long as there are people who will tip sites off as to what is going on within the organization, surprises will never exist again.

didn't the mcmahons try and eliminate the tipsters by checking everyone's cell phones a couple years ago?

considering everyone knew booker t and nash were supposed to be at the royal rumble weeks in advance, that did nothing.

the surprise in wrestling will never happen again unless vince and that wrestler only are the only ones who know what's going on.

and even then, we will always get "Sources say ........... is backstage at tonight's RAW."

 

[#hamler]

Let me ask you something... when you come to the forums and say something, do you actually think it through? Or do you just try to troll on purpose?

First time i have been called a troll. Funny shit.

TNA averages over a million viewers a week where as WWE averages just barely over 3 million.

RAW averages four to five million.

In terms of viewing, that means about 1/3 of the entire WWE crowd is more than likely to know who TNA's stars are. Hell, Kharma's impact in WWE wouldn't have been as surprising if nobody knew who she was.

No, the reason she got over so quickly was because she was different. It had nothing to do with being a TNA Knockout.

She would've just been some big lady who probably would've had a small stint and left... without a pregnancy being the cause of it.

That's horse shit. She was over because she was dominating. Unless you watched TNA you wouldn't understand who the hell she was. How the hell was my answer trollish. A TNA wrestler debuting wouldn't be as big a WCW wrestler debuting. Simple logic.

 

[vthokie8]

It would have to be somebody from the past that we would have no idea they were even thinking about coming back. We all know Jericho will be back at some point so that not really going to be a "suprise." If the Raw GM was revealed to be say Paul Heyman, Bishoff or Hogan that would suprise the hell out of me. As far as active wrestlers though, Sting is the only one left that would be a big suprise and like most said, not going to happen. If A.J. Styles, Abyss, Samoa Joe, Beer Money or any big name homegrown TNA talent were to jump ship it would only be a big buzz amongst the internet community and WWE probably wouldn't put a lot of effort into debuting them, maybe Abyss because of his character, but A.J. Styles is nothing more than another Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes or Alex Riley with a way better moveset. That being said if a few TNA guys lets say A.J. Styles, Beer Money and Matt Morgan just all got fed up and jumped ship much like the Radicalz and just showed up front row at Raw then that would work and would be suprising.

 

[Calderownz]

It will be difficult, but it's possible. One of two ways for this to work out for WWE.

1. TNA becomes bigger. If TNA gets bigger, the debuts will mean more. Sure, AJ Styles showing up would probably rock the IWC but not put MUCH of a dent into the ratings. However, if TNA was getting consistent 2.0+ ratings, and he jumped, that could mean a lot more.

2. WWE making young stars and them having them leave or "retire" take time off. You can see this with CM Punk, for example. Rumor has it, he's taking some time off. If it was a lengthy period of time -- say, a year or more -- and then came back in some major way, that would make for some decent television.

The problem with both of these situations is that the IWC tends to catch new signings before they debut or return. So, the surprise is already taken out. That's more than half of the appeal. The other half is how they debut. But, when you know who will show up, you tend to get an idea in your head of how they should debut. As opposed to just being surprised. So, it's a tough situation.

But it's possible.

 

[gooseholla]

A few years ago there would have been loads that people would want to see, even though they might not be at their best.

Luger, Sid, etc... Been a surprise, and nice to seem them for a while. However, now - no chance. Too old. Too long forgotten. No one would care.

TNA stars: No one would really care or know who they are. Samoa Joe/AJ about the only ones who could come to WWE and be a surprise, but they'd just be mid-card at best in WWE.

There are no real big names left that any one would want to see, or be a surprise. And, in the future, there aren't any really big ones from 5 or 6 years ago who left the WWE who could come back and be a surprise. Brock, yes, but wouldn't. Batista, yes. No one else really main event level could do it. Look at Booker T. Was huge a few years ago, comes back - decent reaction at PPV, but Smackdown when he came out was nearly dead.

Bret Hart - returns after all those years, HBK's reaction is twice as loud. Cena gets more of a pop than Hart, etc. etc.

So really, wrestling is stumped unless another big promotion starts up, and gimmicks/characters people want to see are built up.

 

[JBShakes]

I agree with most of the posters here - the lack of viable competition to the WWE makes it pretty tough to think there'd be anybody actually debuting with the company who'd make the kind of splash that Jericho or Goldberg's debuts did (although I'd argue with you that either of those debuts were much of a "surprise" - did you not see the guy holding up the "Jericho = Millennium Man" sign at the 1:50 mark of the first video, or hear the crowd chanting "Goldberg" during Rock's promo?). TNA and RoH just can't do the kind of job establishing stars that WCW did in its prime. Maybe if one of those two companies really gains some momentum...

However - I COULD see somebody like Edge, Batista, Angle, or even Brock Lesnar coming back for a short run and getting that kind of a pop - it'd be hard as hell to do, since the internet seems to ruin any kind of real surprise. The only one I can think of recently where I think the fans were really and truly stunned was when Angle jumped ship to TNA - the roof absolutely came off of that building.