10 WWE Wrestlers Who Lost On Their Debut

The only way is up.

sting triple h
WWE.com

Making a good first impression is hard enough as it is, but imagine how much harder it would be if you were contractually required to follow a script in which you trip over your seat and insult your date's hair.

Well, that's kind of what happens with many WWE wrestlers. Instead of being given the red carpet treatment like, say, Tazz - who scored a win over Kurt Angle inside the five-minute mark in his debut match - they're forced to endure the humiliation of a defeat on night one.

Thankfully, a setback of this kind tends (in most cases) not to be terminal. Getting pinned, or even buried, once or twice during the early part of your time on the books of the world's biggest wrestling promotion is pretty much a rite of passage for anyone with designs on a long-lasting career in the business.

It's called paying your dues, and virtually everyone - Triple H included - has had to do it at some point or other. In fact, the only wrestler who has escaped being briefly cast in the role of a hapless jobber is Brock Lesnar, possibly because bookers have always been too scared to tell him he has to lose.

10. The Miz

sting triple h
WWE.com

It won't be surprising to anyone who saw The Miz in action (or even just standing around with his hair pulled into that ridiculous mohawk) during his tentative first steps on the main roster more than a decade ago that he lost his debut WWE match.

The identity of his conqueror, however, may be a little shocking. At Armageddon 2004, the then-24-year-old was beaten by fellow Tough Enough contestant Daniel Puder, the same man who had almost legitimately broken Kurt Angle's arm in a segment the previous month.

Uniquely, this wasn't even a proper wrestling match. The two rookies instead contested a "Dixie Dog Fight" - which, as it turns out, is basically just slang for boxing. Neither man scored a knockout, but Puder was given the victory on the strength of his crowd reaction. Perhaps they should try that with Roman Reigns.

At the time, it would have been inconceivable to suppose that Miz, and not his martial artist opponent, would be the one to go on and enjoy 13 years of success in WWE. Patience, as it turns out, can be hugely important in the career of a young wrestler.

Contributor