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First impressions are often a vital and unavoidable part of every aspect of life. This is even more true in WWE, where first impressions are incredibly, incredibly important. These moments really do start to pave the way for a Superstar to reach success and become a star in the business.
The first time we see a Superstar tells us so much about them: whether or not they're a heel or a face, what their gimmick is, what entrance music they have, what mannerisms or character ticks they display, how good they are at actually wrestling, how well they can talk on the mic and how much charisma/star power they have. Just to name a handful of things.
Over the years, there have been a great deal of Superstar debuts (as evidenced by the above video from WWE themselves), many of which were excellent and did their job of getting the WWE Universe excited about that Superstar, but only a handful were memorable enough to go down in history as the best ever.
Here's what I consider to be the best ever WWE debuts from the last decade, the ones that made an impact, that were big moments.
#5. The Fiend - SummerSlam (11th August, 2019)
What better place to start than with the most recent debut, the in-ring debut of Bray Wyatt's new Fiend gimmick against Finn Balor at WWE SummerSlam 2019.
It's safe to say that the character was already on its way to a home run following the series of 'Firefly Funhouse' vignettes and the random ambushes on various WWE Superstars and Legends, but SummerSlam really cemented Wyatt's place alongside the greatest in-ring debuts of all time.
Everything about the debut was great: from The Fiend getting a special type of font for his onscreen introduction, there being a darker, heavy metal remix of his old theme song, to him carrying a lantern made out of the severed head of his previous cult-leader gimmick.
Then he got in the ring and he dominated Finn Balor with headbutts, a brutal neck snap, Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw. During the match he showed conflict whilst listening to his 'hurt' and 'heal' gloves, further developing the character element.
Finally after posing over a prone Balor having been victorious, the lights flash - then go out briefly - and when they came back, on The Fiend has gone, completely disappearing from the ring.
This was pitch-perfect: it was dark, foreboding, portrayed the Fiend as a monster, and absolutely painted the whole thing as a big deal and the Fiend as a star.
#4. Ronda Rousey - Royal Rumble (January 28th, 2018)
Ronda Rousey's WWE debut was always going to be a matter of when and not if. Still, fans were still absolutely blindsided by the former UFC champion's appearance during WWE Royal Rumble 2018.
After Asuka had won the Royal Rumble match, she confronted both Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss and SmackDown Live Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, but the three women were interrupted.
Joan Jett's 'Bad Reputation' blared out of the PA, the iconic style lettering came up on the Titantron with Rousey's surname and a visibly ecstatic "Baddest Woman on the Planet" came out wearing 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper's jacket (literally his actual jacket, bequeathed to her by the late WWE legend).
With the commentary team losing their minds, Rousey proceeded to gesture towards the WrestleMania sign, indicating that she intended to participate in the Show of Shows that year. The whole time, meanwhile, the live arena crowd was going absolutely nuts.
Making this debut even better was ESPN immediately announcing that Rousey had signed a full-time contract with WWE, which was something nobody was expecting. As we know now, Rousey would go on to win the Raw Women's Title and eventually main event WrestleMania alongside Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.
#3. Paige - Monday Night RAW (April 7th, 2014)
When you think about all-time iconic debuts, you would be foolish not to list Paige's very first main roster appearance on the list. It was a genuinely history making moment, and marked the beginning of the end for WWE's 'Divas' era.
AJ Lee had just defended her title and then NXT Women's Champion Paige made a surprise appearance to congratulate her. She ended up eating a slap to the face from AJ Lee for her troubles, instead.
An over confident AJ challenged Paige to an impromptu title match and the rest, as they say, is history. Paige shocked both the WWE Universe, and, of course, AJ Lee to become the new Divas champion in her first ever match on the main roster.
Paige made history on that day as she became the youngest WWE Divas Champion in history at the age of 21, as well as the first and only woman so far to hold the NXT Women's and main roster women's title at the same time.
If that's not a debut worthy of being among the best ever, then I don't know what is.
#2. The Nexus - Monday Night RAW (June 7th, 2010)
This debut is one that truly shocked me at the time. I can still remember how speechless I was, watching it unfold in front of me. It was all those years ago when several of NXT's 'rookies' decimated John Cena and destroyed the arena.
It was unexpected, brutal and brilliant. John Cena was wrestling CM Punk (with Luke Gallows at ringside) when Wade Barrett walked out on stage. Suddenly the rest of the Season One NXT rookies appeared (Daniel Bryan, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, Darren Young, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and David Otunga)
The group attacked Gallows and Punk, who Cena had thrown out of the ring. They then surrounded Cena in the ring and proceeded to beat him down. Suddenly they were attacking everyone and everything - Matt Striker, Jerry Lawler and Josh Matthews on commentary, destroying the ringside area, and even the ring itself. The crowd switching between angry booing and stunned silence.
What's left is an image of destruction rarely seen in WWE - the ring has been gutted, the ropes removed, people are laid out everywhere and no one quite knows how to react or what actually just happened.
That group would later be called 'The Nexus' and, led by Wade Barrett, they went on to conduct one of the greatest reigns of terror the WWE has ever seen. They cemented themselves as one of the best factions ever to exist in the company, but nothing they did would eclipse that amazing debut.
#1. The Shield - Survivor Series (November 18th, 2012)
Finally, we move on to another faction appearing in a shocking manner, another major call-up for a group of NXT Superstars, and yet another fantastic WWE debut. I am, of course, talking about the first time we ever saw Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as The Shield.
CM Punk was defending his WWE Title against John Cena and a white-hot babyface Ryback at Survivor Series 2012, and looked set to lose his belt after Ryback hit John Cena with his Shell Shock finisher. Then... something shocking happened.
Ambrose, Rollins and Reign,s wearing all black, emerged from the crowd and attacked Ryback. They would then debut their now iconic Triple Powerbomb, putting Ryback through tan announce table. This distraction allowed CM Punk to pin Cena in the ring to retain his title.
The members of the Shield would go on to become three of the biggest stars in the company.
What are some of your favorite recent debuts in WWE? Share your memories in the comments below.
