10 Big-Time Wrestling Debuts That Were Totally Wasted
It's a complete and utter waste of major WWE, AEW, TNA and WCW debuts.
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00:00I mean what I'm about to say, obviously, otherwise what are we even doing here?
00:05But I think if I was offered an average long run as a wrestler, or a very, very short one,
00:09but I get an iconic debut, I'd pick the latter.
00:12So many of my favourite memories have been guys and girls turning up in new promotions,
00:16and it can turn you into a superstar, you just have to get the balance right.
00:20So what's the fallout when the opposite happens?
00:22Let's find out.
00:23Because I am Side4WhatCulture, please hit that subscribe button, and this is 10 Big
00:28Time Wrestling Debuts That Were Totally Wasted.
00:3110.
00:32DDP In The WWF
00:33The 18th of June, 2001, Monday Night Raw.
00:37We all knew WCW guys could now appear in the WWF as the company was dead, and rather than
00:42wait out his contract, Diamond Dallas Page decided to accept a new deal and try to make
00:46it elsewhere.
00:47He totally would have done this too, if we had given him a good gimmick.
00:51For you see, despite being a natural babyface and beloved in World Championship Wrestling,
00:56Vince McMahon decided Page should be a bad guy.
00:59Worse still, we turned him into the stalker who'd been going after The Undertaker and
01:03his wife.
01:04Over 20 years on, and I still cannot believe this was the role we gave to Dallas.
01:08It hurt even more as the reaction he got when he unmasked was excellent, but in a few weeks
01:12the bottom had fallen out and the whole thing was done.
01:14If DDP was just allowed to be himself, this would be on a totally different list.
01:18It was all there, and we dropped the ball.
01:219.
01:22The Big Show In WWF
01:23Another jumpy from WCW, Paul Wight could see the writing on the wall and made the shift
01:28at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre pay-per-view in 1999.
01:32Anyone in the know knew this was on the cards as Vince McMahon had told people he had an
01:35idea how he could make this giant a big star, and then he arrived, and well, meh.
01:41The newly dubbed Big Show didn't have the best start, even if what he did looked cool.
01:45Ripping out of the ring as McMahon took on Stone Cold Steve Austin, Wight grabbed the
01:48Rattlesnake and threw him so hard into the steel cage, the box-like structure broke meaning
01:53Austin had won.
01:54That's ridiculous on so many levels, but it also meant Show had just helped his new
01:58enemy win, whoops.
02:00This would tie into his first few years as the tone was all over the place, and he was
02:04doing comedy come 2000.
02:06He did find it in the end and his career has been pretty damn good, but yeah, making a
02:10mistake on your debut just looked like a fool.
02:138.
02:14Razor Ramona Diesel Part II In WWF
02:17I mean, forget Waste, this was just an awful idea.
02:20Going on Raw on the 20th of September 1996, everyone decided they didn't need Scott
02:24Hall or Kevin Nash to play the roles of Razor Ramona Diesel, so just told Glenn Jacobs and
02:29Rick Bogner to do it, you heard that correctly.
02:32It was doubly bad because it also trolled the audience, because they didn't think fake
02:35versions of these characters were going to walk out.
02:37They assumed a deal had been made, and then got slapped round the face when pretenders
02:41stood in other people's shoes.
02:43It was essentially two wrestlers being made to cosplay live on television, and it basically
02:47ruined Bogner's career.
02:49That is not cool.
02:50If you do go back and watch this now, make sure you take notice of the fans' faces.
02:54They are totally shocked here, and not in the appropriate way.
02:587.
02:59Will Ospreay In AEW
03:00I am not as enraged as this by some people, and actually thought it was fine.
03:04AEW has debuted so many people, we were always going to get to the point individuals just
03:08strutted out, especially when we're building to an inter-promotional pay-per-view.
03:12The gloves are just off by that stage.
03:14Fans were stunned, though, that not only did Ospreay just walk out on the 8th of June
03:172020 Dynamite, but later on, he was in the main event on Rampage, and he lost.
03:23It was a six-man tag, so he didn't take the pin, but his United Empire fell.
03:27And I do get this too, because if we had done the Lights Off, Lights On gimmick, I bet the
03:31reaction would have been huge, but really, the fact that Will gets to be a New Japan
03:35employee and turn up in AEW, plus here, there and everywhere, well, it makes the whole thing
03:39kinda cool.
03:40We're just living in different times, I guess.
03:43All because of that damn, damn Forbidden Door.
03:456.
03:46Miro in AEW
03:47This really was an odd one.
03:49As a Rusev diehard fan, I love that he was an early recruit for AEW, because the man
03:53is a hero and deserves every opportunity.
03:55Therefore, on the 9th of September 2020 Dynamite, he did arrive as Miro, and he was really into
04:00video games.
04:01Now, I am really into video games too, but seeing Miro make gaming references, hang out
04:06with Kip Sabian, and call himself the best man was baffling.
04:09Remember that skit where Donkey Kong record holder Billy Mitchell was just in an arcade
04:13with these two?
04:14I don't think it was ever explained.
04:15Clearly everyone knew this as Miro was soon transformed into the Redeemer, which was far
04:19better, and that's the main thing we got there in the end.
04:22But there was this period when it was just not sticking, and I'm pleased it eventually
04:26got wedged in there.
04:285.
04:29Rob Van Dam in TNA
04:30I swear, no one really ever understood the levels Rob Van Dam could have reached.
04:34Fans just gravitated to him no matter what, which is why on the 8th of March 2010, he
04:39appeared in TNA on Impact.
04:40It started excellently, as not only was he a surprise opponent for Sting, but RVD snuck
04:45up behind him, booted the icon in the face, hit the rolling thunder, and pinned him in
04:49about 30 seconds.
04:51Everybody went wild.
04:52Then within minutes, not only had this been used to further everything between Sting and
04:55Hulk Hogan, meaning Van Dam felt like he was in 3rd place, Sting absolutely killed him
05:01with a baseball bet.
05:02It took away any momentum this would have had, and it was quite clear TNA wanted you
05:05to be thinking about two people here, and neither of them was Rob Van Dam.
05:09Now, I don't know about you, but that seems to be the wrong way around.
05:13You only ever get one debut.
05:154.
05:16The Ultimate Warrior in WCW
05:18What a spectacle this was.
05:19Eight months prior, Vince McMahon had made an offer to The Ultimate Warrior to try and
05:23get him to return to the WWF, simply because he knew WCW was also having conversations.
05:28As you know, it didn't work out, and the once-Jim Helwig was headed down south, but
05:32good grief, this was bad.
05:34All the way back on the 17th of August 1998, Warrior did arrive to pomp and circumstance
05:39and fans were pleased to see him, then he started to talk, then he talked some more,
05:43then he kept on talking, and talking, and talking, with none of it making any sense.
05:48He then disappeared in a cloud of smoke like he was Batman, meaning Hulk Hogan and his
05:52cronies had to act shocked, and when this segment was done, whatever hype there was
05:55had gone, and yes, it was that fast, nobody cared.
06:00I just went to watch all this again, and it's actually 13 minutes of uninterrupted chat.
06:04Word.
06:05It's not well thought out at all.
06:073.
06:08The NWO in the WWF
06:10You can argue this one, I would say I'm on the fence.
06:12The WWS version of the NWO had a great first intro and Vince McMahon spun around in his
06:17chair and I still remember being a child and going nuts, I couldn't believe this was
06:21going to happen.
06:22We soon learned this would be at No Way Out 2002 and that Hogan, Hall and Nash were going
06:26to destroy everything, then they arrived and were very, very nice people.
06:30The real problem was that no World Wrestling Federation fan wanted to pretend that Hogan
06:34was anything but the red and yellow 80s hero, so within seconds it was almost like we had
06:38a disconnect here.
06:39We also had no mention of what these three did first time around, and it was almost like
06:43we had our hand in different pies.
06:45It worked out because months later we were going to get that Hulk-Rock match, but this
06:48was a slight disappointment simply because it was obvious this wasn't going to be
06:52the New World Order we wanted.
06:54So that makes you a sad, a sad panda.
06:572.
06:58CM Punk in WWE
06:59Simply because it wasn't what you wanted, although to be fair, not even this should
07:03have happened.
07:04Nobody saw it coming either, as on the 12th of November 2019, during an episode of Fox's
07:08WWE Backstage, CM Punk returned.
07:11Kinda, not really, but maybe.
07:14It melted down the internet because people couldn't believe it, and the reason this
07:17upset so many individuals is down to what we've already talked about.
07:21If Punk was ever going to go back to WWE, they wanted a surprise Raw appearance, a mystery
07:25opponent and a big time angle, and they didn't get it.
07:28I mean, if you were a Punk fan, you should just count your lucky stars we got this because
07:31it was so out of left field, especially when you throw in all the things he has said about
07:35the WWE since.
07:37The dude was never going to work under that umbrella for a second time, so this is as
07:40close as you're going to get.
07:421.
07:43Bret Hart in WCW
07:44Still hurts, doesn't it?
07:45WCW had the hottest property in the world after the Nightmare that was the Montreal
07:49Screwjob and they decided to do absolutely nothing with it.
07:53This was truly bonkers.
07:54It was alright at first as Eric Bischoff made sure to tell everyone the hitman was coming
07:58to the company, the Nitro after the Survivor Series, and then we didn't see him until
08:02the 15th of December.
08:04Want to know what his role was on that night?
08:06The special guest referee for Eric Bischoff vs. Larry Sabisco.
08:10I still cannot believe this was a real thing that somebody signed off.
08:13For one, Bret was being used as a prop, and two, people had been desperate to see this.
08:18Have him win the flipping title or something, but no, he was a match official now, so we
08:22should have known how this was going to go from this point on really.
08:24I mean, talk about a waste, and no, I'm still not over it.
08:29Know of any other big time wrestling debuts that were totally wasted?
08:31Make sure you let us know in the comments below and don't forget to like the video,
08:34share the video and subscribe.
08:36Then head over to WhatCulture.com where you can read articles like this with your eyes.
08:39Make sure you follow us on social media at WhatCultureWWE or at Simon at 316, and I do
08:43believe we have other videos, why don't you watch one?
08:47My name is Simon from WhatCulture, thank you very much for joining me as always, and if
08:50I ever did debut, somehow I'd have wings.
08:54And no, I don't know what that means.
08:56Goodbye.