The old adage, You never get a second chance to make a first impression, often is applied when it comes to a first date or a job interview, but it easily can apply to a professional wrestler. A competitor making his or her debut has the opportunity to win fans over, to get them to buy into the character he or she is portraying. WWE debuts often occur one of two ways: The wrestler is heavily hyped for weeks with vignettes or promos announcing the debut, or it is a surprise, with the wrestler often coming out to answer an open challenge or to attack someone. Recently, the Raw After WrestleMania (RAW) has become a major platform to launch wrestlers WWE careers, particularly NXT stars who are being promoted to the main roster. That is probably the best time to pull the trigger since this Raw often gets higher ratings, plus its a point where new storylines begin. Monday, fans saw the WWE debuts of Kalisto (as part of the Lucha Dragons) and Adrian Neville. Both men scored pinfalls in their first official matches and hopefully will become successful roster mainstays. However, this phenomenon is not a new one. In fact, wrestlers have been debuting on the Raw After WrestleMania almost since the shows beginning. So, how do these debuts stack up? Whose first appearance had the most impact, both short-term and long-term? Its worth noting that debuts will include former WWE wrestlers re-debuting after having left the company for some time. Its hard to call someone coming back to WWE after being away eight years a return when the same term could apply to Sheamus, who returned Monday after a four-month absence for injury.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.
