From a visual standpoint, it's hard to put the Wyatt Sicks6 on top. Joe Hendry also making huge numbers for 5 minutes of time on NXT. All time it's gotta be... it's Gotta be KANE! That Badd Blood debut is still talked about to this day. Undertaker's debut at Survivor Series will always have a special place in my heart as well. In a world of "colorful" WWF here was this monster in all black and gray. Even Piper and Monsoon solid it so well. "Look at the sizes of those Hamhocks!"
The leaps and bounds WWE’s made with their presentation under TKO have been incredible, the execution of that sequence was about as perfect as it gets for this kind of live TV.
Growing up through the monday night wars... the shocking debut of the radicals in the crowd was insane at the time. Benoit, Eddie, Dean, and even crazy ass Saturn.
I don't think the brilliance of the Kane debut gets mentioned enough in the aspect of how like Simon mentioned they drew attention away from that lingering presence by building up the Michaels - Taker feud so well and the idea for the Hell in a Cell as a new blood feud concept. It all cake together so perfect.
In no particular order (I'm too tired to think order right now 😂): Tazz. Sting. Nakamura. Aleister Black (specifically, as his time as Tommy End was unexpected but not as good). Jericho. Fiend Wyatt. AJ Styles. Tribal Chief Reigns (debuting different characters by the same person can be just as valid). Which comes to.. Biker Taker. The run wasn't great, but man did I love the concept. And his promos were a blast. "I'll make you famous" 😤 And finally, one I definitely had to think about (Nexus seemed cheesy, Shield was just random and a very WWE type debut), but 100% the New Radicalz. Knowing most of those guys from personal interactions AND seeing them in WCW, it was hard not to be extremely excited. It was something that other guys (RVD, especially) SHOULD have prepared me for, but man was I still taken back It was Benoit vs Booker in their best of 7, Malenko's feud with Jericho, and Eddie's classics with Rey that got me so incredibly hyped. They were a group of killers in my fantasy booking for months, just pulling off Shield like runs and wrecking everyone.
Simon talking about scrambled sky TV giving me wrestling flashbacks. Although I was a WCW girl (TNT was free to air without the scrambling) some nights they'd only have 1 hour of Nitro on a Friday night so it would be watch the Nitro highlight and jump to scrambled Raw since we never had live WWF or WCW back then. Though we did have Sky One which would have Livewire (raw highlights) and Shotgun challenge (essentially matches recorded before Raw since no Smackdown yet). Oh and since I knew German back then and analogue sky dish could get Channels all over northern Europe, German WCW was also a much watch. (Outside of the commentators getting super turned on by Lex Luger calling him Sexy Lexy). Now what would be my list (Dis)honorable mentions due to real live events that would have been in top 10 if not for who is part of it. The Radicalz jumping from WCW to WWF. We all know why it is a dishonorable mention but even without him, having Eddie, Saturn and Melenko all jump ship at the same time pretty much seemed the nail in the coffin for WCW especially when he had just won the big one in WCW. Also the debut of Brock Lesnar 10 (This is kind of a cheat) ECW joins the invasion. While I was never that big into ECW, I respected the fuck out of it. Firstly seeing those who were not originally signed on (and yes some were in the ECW invasion a few years earlier or had been in WWF) join up with WCW and WWF guys were like "Woah", then hearing the theme later as they walked to the ring through the crowd was just something different... Well until 5 mins later when they joined up with WCW for reasons.. 9 Cena. For the casual fan a relative unknown comes to the ring against the guy who likely was at that point the biggest name who was still actively wrestling (Kurt Angle) and says 2 words. RUTHLESS AGRESSION 8 The Undertaker. A man who could not be stopped and yeah I'm that old. 7 Flair. Hyping up debut for the REAL world's champion. And the audience actually playing their part. 5 Goldberg. Like I said I was a WCW girl and this was Goldberg of the late 90s/early 2000s. Him coming in, takes The Rock down and leaves. 4 The Shield. Everything that came from them just made it bigger than it seemed at the time. 3 That's gotta be Kane - Vince McMahon (Not JR as some people think). My friend was a WWF guy since he had Sky Sports and since Monday wasn't a school night for this (or for night of the Screwjob) watching that freaked out young me 2 Jericho. Hearing the countdown, King and JR wondering what was happening (scrambled Sky Sports TV) and then "WELCOME TO RAW IS JERICHO." left me flabbergasted, this was a WCW guy on WWF TV who I watched closely when he was in WCW 1 Bischoff. The guy who took the fight to Vince, gave away results of WWF events, mocked WWF especially when WCW was winning, right there walking up to a Shocked Booker T who couldn't finish his catchphrase (I forget if the look on Booker Ts face was legit shock or part of the script) as Bischoff just walked up and shook his hand. Then just a bit later Shook Vince's hand and hugged him. It was like "WTF am I watching?"
I remember going to a friend's house for Badd Blood 97. I had to beg permission cause it was a school night, but we were in total awe because 1. Shawn Michael's was getting murdered all match to a level I hadn't seen and 2. It was the first time I remember seeing fear in Takers eyes as Kane came out. So well done.
I was a Sting fan growing up. I lived in the WWF territory around the Philadelphia area. Got cable TV in the late 80s which had TBS. Found WCW on there one Saturday evening. Could not wait for WCW Saturday night to come on TV just after dinner. I was a WCW guy more than WWF guy after getting into WCW. Jericho's RAW debut was so brilliant with the countdown ending during The Rock's promo. Nothing tops Kane's debut.
19:21 My fellow dude of a certain vintage, I watched more scrambled WWF and WCW PPVs in the ‘90s than I can count. That’s pretty common among American fans our age since a lot of us grew up with cable TV but couldn’t afford PPVs, didn’t realize it was it was a thing in the UK because pay TV works so differently over there.
Two big ones that were missed -The Radicals(even though they were just sitting in the crowd) -Tazz (amazing debut, breaking Angle’s undefeated streak.shame everything after was horribly booked)
I'd also add Becky, Charlotte, and Sasha debuting on the main roster. It was messy afterwards, but that triple submission felt like a real moment. And yeah, Kane debut is unmatched.
Kane is the undisputed #1 when it comes to debuts, but I will always wonder what would have been if he'd not been able to keep his feet when he nearly tripped on a camera cable during his entrance. The production cuts made it look like he was just accelerating towards the cage, but he came so close to decking it.
Not many people have noticed this.... Gable wasn't shot.... The hammer Eric had was flat on one side and slightly pointed on the other side.... And the pointed side had red on the tip of the point.... Gable got hit with the hammer in the temple....
maybe that's recency bias, but CM Punk Survivor's Series does belong somewhere there... such a pop, so much interest built beforehand (at least for nerds), such disbelief, ...
That's a return, though, not a debut. I'm sure Simon could do a video just for the greatest returns, as there are plenty of those. Punk in 2023, Cena in 2008, Shane in 2016, Edge in 2020, etc.
I like your Ten, but I would swap DDP w/ Wyatt Sicks, and swap Jericho and Kane. I didn’t get to watch Kane debut live. It actually was on the Saturday or Sunday morning recap shows that I saw it. While cool, I didn’t appreciate it the way I did watching Y2J live. That blew my mind. As for the Wyatt Sicks and DDP, I love DDP but I was disappointed that he was the stalker. It felt like another forced WCW embarrassment from Vince. The Wyatt’s is ranked there instead because of the sentimental meaning behind it and how horror movie-like it was.
I know it was a return, but it was after a career ending injury. Edge returning at the Rumble was insane. I think there will be a lot of folks who include Cody's debut as The American Nightmare up there. If we are limiting to actual first appearance in the company, then I understand neither being in there. The Cody who returned to WWE is really not the same guy he was when he left tho.
With that Vince and Eric collab... And forbidden doors being opened lately... I think WWE (HHH to be exact) might have a shocking collab with AEW now that Tony Khan is not ok.
I only clicked on this video to see where Kane would end up. I just talked with a co worker who grew up on the Attitude Era like I did, she was like 'name a better debut than the Wyatt 6.' I said Kane and instantly changed her mind
Do a list of people who would have had an amazing run if nxt was around when they started you could talk about people like jack swagger and Dolph and how they would have benefited from nxt you could even talk about older wrestlers that never got their shot in wwe
I will always remember the debut of Eric Bischoff on Monday Night Raw. I could have attended that event. I decided not to because "I didn't think anything important would happen." I thought the program would be business as usual, so I didn't want to spend the time, money, and effort to attend Raw. Imagine my absolute surprise, shock, and awe! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
@@dannyaraya8017 The venue had a few names across its lifetime, but it was most commonly known as The Meadowlands Sports Arena in East Rutherfood, NJ. The location closed in 2015.
I will caveat this by saying F Benoit. I popped massively for the Radicals being say in the front row at Raw. Benoit was the WCW Champion just 2 weeks earlier
Best debut would be Simon Miller leaving what culture and doing "left and rights" his own tinder version of ups and downs, it would be easy to edit to swipe the screen each time!
Simon you can have the Best debut if you show up at Dynamite or Collision for AEW before ALL IN as they will be having the shows before the PPV! Unless you get used as security again, oh I’m sure they may also do ROH if they do tapings over there so hey U maybe just maybe my friend we can see you debut! Lol or maybe when WWE comes back you be able to debut
Simon I really need your definitions of 'spooky' and 'creepy' because you're hoping the Wyatt Sick6 will be creepy..... but as far as I'm concerned those are two words describing the exact same thing so please explain.
Thank god we don't have to agree on everything - my list looks *ALOT* different than this - also I can't help notice there isn't a *SINGLE* female on this list are they all really *THAT* bad?
Wait.. what about repo man??? I bet Simon didn't mention him because he will be coming out AS repo man for the 2025 royal rumble.. why?? Because he repoed the gimmick . That's why!
the best WWE debut : Simon miller 25' royal rumble
YUP BOOK WWE FN FN BOOK IT WHEEEEW!!!!!!!!
It's in the cards.
🗣 YEE!
Hold up, let him cook
And hopefully Chris Danger and Brandon Collins in the same rumble, two 2k TH-camrs and Simon Miller Would be awesome
From a visual standpoint, it's hard to put the Wyatt Sicks6 on top. Joe Hendry also making huge numbers for 5 minutes of time on NXT. All time it's gotta be... it's Gotta be KANE! That Badd Blood debut is still talked about to this day. Undertaker's debut at Survivor Series will always have a special place in my heart as well. In a world of "colorful" WWF here was this monster in all black and gray. Even Piper and Monsoon solid it so well. "Look at the sizes of those Hamhocks!"
The Wyatt Sicks debut was cinematic of the highest order
The leaps and bounds WWE’s made with their presentation under TKO have been incredible, the execution of that sequence was about as perfect as it gets for this kind of live TV.
@@MrBeardsley exactly TKO has definitely benefitted WWE here
True but much like a game trailer.. lets look at that gameplay probably gonna be mid at best.
The pat mcafee show just went off the air with a blackout and it had the wwe sound effect when the lights went out
Honorable mention to Flair coming in with the literal WCW title
Growing up through the monday night wars... the shocking debut of the radicals in the crowd was insane at the time. Benoit, Eddie, Dean, and even crazy ass Saturn.
Shockmaster S.
😆
Kevin Owen’s debut match was against cj Parker aka juice Robinson…broke Kevin’s nose too that was actually a great match
Simon, none of us would complain about an hour long video lol
would love to hear a handful of simon’s lists:
top 10 fav wrestlers of all time
top 10 current wrestlers
top 10 tag teams
top 10 factions
top 10 ppvs
Strowman has said that he had left the building (chasing the Judgement Day) before the attack on social media
Someone said it's a security guard
I don't think the brilliance of the Kane debut gets mentioned enough in the aspect of how like Simon mentioned they drew attention away from that lingering presence by building up the Michaels - Taker feud so well and the idea for the Hell in a Cell as a new blood feud concept. It all cake together so perfect.
In no particular order (I'm too tired to think order right now 😂):
Tazz. Sting. Nakamura. Aleister Black (specifically, as his time as Tommy End was unexpected but not as good). Jericho. Fiend Wyatt. AJ Styles. Tribal Chief Reigns (debuting different characters by the same person can be just as valid). Which comes to.. Biker Taker. The run wasn't great, but man did I love the concept. And his promos were a blast. "I'll make you famous" 😤
And finally, one I definitely had to think about (Nexus seemed cheesy, Shield was just random and a very WWE type debut), but 100% the New Radicalz. Knowing most of those guys from personal interactions AND seeing them in WCW, it was hard not to be extremely excited.
It was something that other guys (RVD, especially) SHOULD have prepared me for, but man was I still taken back
It was Benoit vs Booker in their best of 7, Malenko's feud with Jericho, and Eddie's classics with Rey that got me so incredibly hyped. They were a group of killers in my fantasy booking for months, just pulling off Shield like runs and wrecking everyone.
Taz would definitely be on my list. Such a badass debut.
Simon talking about scrambled sky TV giving me wrestling flashbacks. Although I was a WCW girl (TNT was free to air without the scrambling) some nights they'd only have 1 hour of Nitro on a Friday night so it would be watch the Nitro highlight and jump to scrambled Raw since we never had live WWF or WCW back then. Though we did have Sky One which would have Livewire (raw highlights) and Shotgun challenge (essentially matches recorded before Raw since no Smackdown yet). Oh and since I knew German back then and analogue sky dish could get Channels all over northern Europe, German WCW was also a much watch. (Outside of the commentators getting super turned on by Lex Luger calling him Sexy Lexy). Now what would be my list
(Dis)honorable mentions due to real live events that would have been in top 10 if not for who is part of it. The Radicalz jumping from WCW to WWF. We all know why it is a dishonorable mention but even without him, having Eddie, Saturn and Melenko all jump ship at the same time pretty much seemed the nail in the coffin for WCW especially when he had just won the big one in WCW. Also the debut of Brock Lesnar
10 (This is kind of a cheat) ECW joins the invasion. While I was never that big into ECW, I respected the fuck out of it. Firstly seeing those who were not originally signed on (and yes some were in the ECW invasion a few years earlier or had been in WWF) join up with WCW and WWF guys were like "Woah", then hearing the theme later as they walked to the ring through the crowd was just something different... Well until 5 mins later when they joined up with WCW for reasons..
9 Cena. For the casual fan a relative unknown comes to the ring against the guy who likely was at that point the biggest name who was still actively wrestling (Kurt Angle) and says 2 words. RUTHLESS AGRESSION
8 The Undertaker. A man who could not be stopped and yeah I'm that old.
7 Flair. Hyping up debut for the REAL world's champion. And the audience actually playing their part.
5 Goldberg. Like I said I was a WCW girl and this was Goldberg of the late 90s/early 2000s. Him coming in, takes The Rock down and leaves.
4 The Shield. Everything that came from them just made it bigger than it seemed at the time.
3 That's gotta be Kane - Vince McMahon (Not JR as some people think). My friend was a WWF guy since he had Sky Sports and since Monday wasn't a school night for this (or for night of the Screwjob) watching that freaked out young me
2 Jericho. Hearing the countdown, King and JR wondering what was happening (scrambled Sky Sports TV) and then "WELCOME TO RAW IS JERICHO." left me flabbergasted, this was a WCW guy on WWF TV who I watched closely when he was in WCW
1 Bischoff. The guy who took the fight to Vince, gave away results of WWF events, mocked WWF especially when WCW was winning, right there walking up to a Shocked Booker T who couldn't finish his catchphrase (I forget if the look on Booker Ts face was legit shock or part of the script) as Bischoff just walked up and shook his hand. Then just a bit later Shook Vince's hand and hugged him. It was like "WTF am I watching?"
I remember going to a friend's house for Badd Blood 97. I had to beg permission cause it was a school night, but we were in total awe because 1. Shawn Michael's was getting murdered all match to a level I hadn't seen and 2. It was the first time I remember seeing fear in Takers eyes as Kane came out. So well done.
joe hendry
I believe.
I believe in Joe Hendry
Love the list and absolutely agree with #1, Kanes debut will always be my favorite.
You should do a list of best Canadian wrestlers of all time. Maybe make it a series, then do the UK, etc
I can't believe you didn't put The Gobbledy Gooker at number1.
I've always loved undertaker at survivor series, I didn't see it live, but a few months later on video. I was a child and it has always stuck with me.
I was a Sting fan growing up. I lived in the WWF territory around the Philadelphia area. Got cable TV in the late 80s which had TBS. Found WCW on there one Saturday evening. Could not wait for WCW Saturday night to come on TV just after dinner. I was a WCW guy more than WWF guy after getting into WCW.
Jericho's RAW debut was so brilliant with the countdown ending during The Rock's promo.
Nothing tops Kane's debut.
Based on the crowd, Triple H return was pretty massive
19:21 My fellow dude of a certain vintage, I watched more scrambled WWF and WCW PPVs in the ‘90s than I can count. That’s pretty common among American fans our age since a lot of us grew up with cable TV but couldn’t afford PPVs, didn’t realize it was it was a thing in the UK because pay TV works so differently over there.
Always felt like the Tazz debut was well done
I'm not mad at this list. Big red machine Kane looked like what I imagined the devil would look like to me as a kid.
Two big ones that were missed
-The Radicals(even though they were just sitting in the crowd)
-Tazz (amazing debut, breaking Angle’s undefeated streak.shame everything after was horribly booked)
I'd also add Becky, Charlotte, and Sasha debuting on the main roster. It was messy afterwards, but that triple submission felt like a real moment.
And yeah, Kane debut is unmatched.
Regarding number nine - truly significant moments only become significant in retrospect. They changed the game!
Do it. A best of all time top 100 debuts! Sting was my absolute favorite from WCW as well! I wish that run was better as well.
Kane is the undisputed #1 when it comes to debuts, but I will always wonder what would have been if he'd not been able to keep his feet when he nearly tripped on a camera cable during his entrance.
The production cuts made it look like he was just accelerating towards the cage, but he came so close to decking it.
Fantastic list. Can't rent argue against any of it.
Not many people have noticed this.... Gable wasn't shot.... The hammer Eric had was flat on one side and slightly pointed on the other side.... And the pointed side had red on the tip of the point.... Gable got hit with the hammer in the temple....
maybe that's recency bias, but CM Punk Survivor's Series does belong somewhere there... such a pop, so much interest built beforehand (at least for nerds), such disbelief, ...
On a returns list, yes, but this is just for debuts
That's a return, though, not a debut. I'm sure Simon could do a video just for the greatest returns, as there are plenty of those. Punk in 2023, Cena in 2008, Shane in 2016, Edge in 2020, etc.
Golden up that you included my man DDP. Too bad it went downhill since he debuted. Self hi 5. BANG!
Only one I would add would be Bray debuting The Fiend at Summerslam against Finn, what a moment that was
Jericho shoulda been one
agreed. thought Tazz was gonna be 1 but that Jericho pop is all time 💥
jeez i was just watching rock reacts, you look and sound so different - crazy how time works
I like your Ten, but I would swap DDP w/ Wyatt Sicks, and swap Jericho and Kane.
I didn’t get to watch Kane debut live. It actually was on the Saturday or Sunday morning recap shows that I saw it. While cool, I didn’t appreciate it the way I did watching Y2J live. That blew my mind.
As for the Wyatt Sicks and DDP, I love DDP but I was disappointed that he was the stalker. It felt like another forced WCW embarrassment from Vince. The Wyatt’s is ranked there instead because of the sentimental meaning behind it and how horror movie-like it was.
I wouldnt mind a hour long @Simon miller
I know it was a return, but it was after a career ending injury. Edge returning at the Rumble was insane. I think there will be a lot of folks who include Cody's debut as The American Nightmare up there. If we are limiting to actual first appearance in the company, then I understand neither being in there. The Cody who returned to WWE is really not the same guy he was when he left tho.
With that Vince and Eric collab... And forbidden doors being opened lately... I think WWE (HHH to be exact) might have a shocking collab with AEW now that Tony Khan is not ok.
I only clicked on this video to see where Kane would end up. I just talked with a co worker who grew up on the Attitude Era like I did, she was like 'name a better debut than the Wyatt 6.' I said Kane and instantly changed her mind
Do a list of people who would have had an amazing run if nxt was around when they started you could talk about people like jack swagger and Dolph and how they would have benefited from nxt you could even talk about older wrestlers that never got their shot in wwe
I will always remember the debut of Eric Bischoff on Monday Night Raw.
I could have attended that event. I decided not to because "I didn't think anything important would happen." I thought the program would be business as usual, so I didn't want to spend the time, money, and effort to attend Raw.
Imagine my absolute surprise, shock, and awe!
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
what city\arena?
@@dannyaraya8017 The venue had a few names across its lifetime, but it was most commonly known as The Meadowlands Sports Arena in East Rutherfood, NJ. The location closed in 2015.
I was at the aew show(winter is coming) when sting debut. It was an interesting and unique experience
I love DDP, he just a great guy overall! He had such a great debut, then they messed it up, he should have been challenging for the WWE title.
In the 90s was a wcw fan as kid so when all the radicals jumped ship that was a huge debut to me.
Think owens debut was against Juice Robinson when he was doin the hippie gimmick n had that banger of a theme song
Do top 10 fave return pops!!
The day that Shield debuted I told my friends that these guys one day gonna run the WWE. Never been more right in my life.
Great work!!
I will caveat this by saying F Benoit. I popped massively for the Radicals being say in the front row at Raw. Benoit was the WCW Champion just 2 weeks earlier
Best debut would be Simon Miller leaving what culture and doing "left and rights" his own tinder version of ups and downs, it would be easy to edit to swipe the screen each time!
Simon, You Freakin Rock. 🤘🤘
Simon you can have the Best debut if you show up at Dynamite or Collision for AEW before ALL IN as they will be having the shows before the PPV! Unless you get used as security again, oh I’m sure they may also do ROH if they do tapings over there so hey U maybe just maybe my friend we can see you debut! Lol or maybe when WWE comes back you be able to debut
Simon I really need your definitions of 'spooky' and 'creepy' because you're hoping the Wyatt Sick6 will be creepy..... but as far as I'm concerned those are two words describing the exact same thing so please explain.
Great oldie the debut of Macho Man Randy Savage. All heel managers want him and out comes Elisabeth.
Take a shot every time Simon calls himself stupid
Thank everything you finished the lyric.
I wonder whether Sting would have been booked differently under Triple H rather than Vince
Sting by far is my number 1 wrestler of all time Vince could have done so much with him even though he was older aew proved that as an even older man
Jericho is my #1; AJ is my #2. Those guys are beyond their competition.
Simon i want your TOP 20 WRESTLERS OF ALL TIME
The thing with the Nexus was done again and it was even less successful. It was done with Retribution.
HA! I remember the screen scrambled sky sports!!
Simon quoting Cotton Eye Joe = golden up 👍🏼🏆
The Dudleys debut with the rock in the ring is top 5
The fiend debut would be my top 10 and wyatt sick6 would be my top 5
Simon now has to redo this video for Jacob Fatu.
Y2Jericho was my favorite debut of all time
7 is 1 for me. still goosembumps.
Surprised the Undertaker isn't on this list!
Kevin owens faced juice robinson in his nxt debut match
Yes. Kane is number 1. Yes.
Glorious
Every WWE surprise debut ranked from worse to best… You got this Simon
Damn bro kick you out the window?! 😂
WyattSicks should be higher (it sparked this video 😂😂😂😂🔥🔥🔥🔥)
No Tazz debut at the Rumble against Angle?! For shame, Miller! 😉
Simon kane was my favorite when i was 7
Best debuts of all time video please Simon, doesn't mattr of its 2 hrs long
8:54 you said number 5, its number 6. Chingow way
Thank god we don't have to agree on everything - my list looks *ALOT* different than this - also I can't help notice there isn't a *SINGLE* female on this list are they all really *THAT* bad?
Wait.. what about repo man??? I bet Simon didn't mention him because he will be coming out AS repo man for the 2025 royal rumble.. why?? Because he repoed the gimmick . That's why!
To me becky sasha and Charlotte is my favorite
Unfortunately there will never be real competition again:…
Its awesome but no HHH and gabel didn't get shot. He just fell over drunk speaking from experience.... Drink responsibility
Let's see your top 10 wrestlers and give us the reason why R Truth is #1.
GWFL
Do a biggest betrayals
For real , when will you join the WWE ?!?!?!
It's gotta be Kane!!
If the shockmaster and repo man is not here I'm not watching simon again
Who's number 1?
"THATS GOTTA BE KANE!"
Only Gable got attacked. No other superstar was.
AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble
Imagine ranking wyatt 6 as number 8. Saddos.
Is Joe hendry on this list?
I'm a wwe snob. Wtf is a Joe Hendry?
Where did he come from where did he go🕺
#1 Kane