10 Strange Wrestling Debuts That Left Fans Bewildered

Failure to launch.

Miro Kip Sabian
AEW

There are many ways for wrestlers to make an impact on their debut. They can opt for total chaos, as Nexus did when they laid waste to John Cena and the RAW arena back in 2010. They can give an iconic promo, as Scott Hall did when he told WCW "You people, you know who I am... but you don't know why I'm here". Or they can simply hint at the greatness to come, as Asuka did when her threatening smile on the entrance ramp teased the carnage she would wreak on the NXT roster.

All of the above examples left the wrestling world buzzing with anticipation for what was to come next. The entrants on this list, however, left us scratching our heads at what we'd just witnessed. Either through nonsensical character transformations, weird behaviour or outright terrible gimmicks, each wrestler on this list left us more baffled than intrigued when they made their first steps through the curtain.

Oh, and if the mention of Nexus brings to mind a certain contemporary RAW faction then rest assured - we will most certainly be discussing them later...

10. Otis Creeps On Alexa Bliss

Skip to the last minute of the above clip and you'll see a large, heavyset man sidle up to a woman half his size and begin barking "purdy lady" at her before being dragged off by his apologetic friend.

Ladies and gentlemen, that gurning lunatic is your new babyface hero!

Seriously, it's hard to guess what WWE were thinking when they scripted this. Alexa Bliss was a great heel, but at this point in time her injuries and lack of in-ring action meant she was no longer the heat magnet she once was. As such, it's impossible to feel anything other than sympathy for her as she backs away from the grunting, terrifying madman crashing her interview. Otis doesn't come across as a loveable goof, he looks like someone who should be sectioned, an image not helped by him having to be ushered away by WWE officials.

Fortunately, WWE soon found their groove with Otis, as his storyline with Mandy Rose and Dolph Ziggler provided the best midcard storyline in the run-up to WrestleMania and had arguably the most satisfying payoff of any match on the show.

But for any prospective bookers out there, "creeper" is not an attractive quality in a babyface.

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Hello! My name's Iain Tayor. I write about video games, wrestling and comic books, and I apparently can't figure out how to set my profile picture correctly.