Merzbow Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 And why is it Volk Han when he faced Akira Maeda in 1991? Ok, so I thought this could a good idea for a thread where we talk about the best debut matches over the decades but them remembered that so many likely aren't even on tape.. I guess Logan Paul could genuinely be up for a shout though. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) It’s Ronda Rousey though, isn’t it? Wrestling debut, at Wrestlemania, with Kurt Angle and HHH, and she looked like a million dollars ( and indeed she was for a year or two there).  How exactly the wheels came off I can only speculate but this first run has to stand as one of the great unexpected runs in wrestling history.  I saw her at the O2 and she blew the roof off the place.  By far the WWE’s biggest star for about 12 months. Edit: I went and watched the match back, and it's even better than I remember.  HHH and Angle start out and both look pretty rusty and obviously well past their prime, but from the moment Rousey gets in against Stephanie, the whole thing just takes off.  It's not about how well she adapted to doing the movezz... she flubs a couple early on in fact, but Rousey just gets the important things - timing, selling, facial expressions... storytelling.  She hits every mark perfectly.  The story of the match is great too - everyone thought the climax would be Rousey getting her hands on Stephanie, but no, what it really builds to is her getting her hands on HHH at which point the rulebook (and the crowd's expectations) go out the window and it's just one long pop to the finish. HHH and Angle manage to roll back the years, Stephanie looks hot af in her leather jumpsuit, and Rousey has the best wrestling debut of all time.  What a match. Edited March 17 by Loki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 That was a perfectly rehearsed match, has there been any talk on how long it took to put together or anything? I'm guessing Kurt has a podcast episode on her, I'll have to look it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I'm having Logan Paul for this, certainly in the modern era. BadBunny had a bit of life in him too, but I think Logan Paul might be the most naturally gifted novice since Kurt Angle. Ronda was good, but it's Logan for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I imagine nearly every match at WrestleMania nowadays is rehearsed ad nauseum. Which, to be fair, it worked for Savage and Steamboat. Rousey is tremendous in that match though, and they must have thought they struck gold. Bad Bunny and Logan Paul have kind if ruined this discussion because they came in and looked good from the start. Again, they were protected in tag matches, but still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 17 Paid Members Share Posted March 17 Lost somewhere in the story of Sable, between the manner of her exit and the lawsuit, the surprise of her return, that she ended up marrying Brock Lesnar and how great her boobs looked at Fully Loaded, was a really rather good debut match at WrestleMania XIV. I wasn’t expecting much for an total non-wrestler opposite a nutter like Luna Vachon, maybe that she’d take a few minutes abuse and catch a sneaky roll up if they wanted a crowd pleasing win. But Boston went crazy when she smashed her with a lovely powerbomb and again with that smooth TKO for the win. 26 minutes ago, Vamp said: Rousey is tremendous in that match though, and they must have thought they struck gold. To be fair, they had. She was believable in the ring and got good pops, and though she found the road schedule tough she still made house shows and could be relied upon to draw a decent house when they had a lack of star power with Lesnar absent and Reigns battling cancer. They turned her heel for the Mania run in because Becky needed to be the only hero of the story, and Ronda was even better at being a smug bitch. Had she not gone off to make babies we’d probably already be talking about her as one of the best of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no user name Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 From what I have seen possibly cena. To face angle in his first match was pretty special Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 17 Paid Members Share Posted March 17 23 minutes ago, no user name said: From what I have seen possibly cena. To face angle in his first match was pretty special Was absolutely not his first pro match though, was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no user name Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 2 hours ago, air_raid said: Was absolutely not his first pro match though, was it? No fair enough. I misread the title. Was pretty impressive though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonworden Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Not the best match and I've only got Angle's version that it was a spontaneous change to go by but his debut for "you do not boo and Olympic gold medalist" ranks up there for me. That one line with it's condescending tone set up his character for the next 5 years until he eveloved into super hard wrestler Angle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members CleetusVanDamme Posted March 18 Paid Members Share Posted March 18 I'm not making the case that it was the best match but it's a fitting thread to remind ourselves that this happened, and it was beautiful. The original Rainmaker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted March 18 Paid Members Share Posted March 18 DeAngelo Williams was amazing in TNA. So much so I can still remember the blokes name without googling it, and I havent seen him since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 18 Paid Members Share Posted March 18 7 hours ago, simonworden said: Not the best match and I've only got Angle's version that it was a spontaneous change to go by but his debut for "you do not boo and Olympic gold medalist" ranks up there for me. Was absolutely not his first pro match though, was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted March 18 Paid Members Share Posted March 18 I was going to say that Pat McAfee's match at NXT Takeover XXX with Adam Cole was was a pretty good but annoyingly Pat had a fucking awful match in 2009 against someone called Warpig for IWA East Coast. Its on YouTube, its the drizzling shits. So it's Logan Paul for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted March 18 Paid Members Share Posted March 18 Dominic Mysterio was quite impressive at Summerslam 2020 against Seth Rollins. Probably been overshadowed by Logan Paul's debut since, but at the time I remember thinking he looked really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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