9 Wrestlers Who Won Titles On Their Debuts

They say you should learn to walk before you run, but they also say it's a good idea to hit the ground running. Which of these two contradictory axioms is it?

Perhaps the best advice is to not listen to half-baked platitudes, but when it comes to wrestling, both are broadly, if paradoxically, true.

The fact is, no wrestler is ever as hot as on their debut - especially if they've made a dramatic, headline-snatching migration from a rival company. But at the same time, if they're not ready for the deep waters of the big time, sinking will soon follow. We call this Ahmed Johnson's Corollary.

So it's a major risk to put a title on a newcomer not just soon after their arrival, but on the very night of their debutante ball. In a single match, any sense of accumulated anticipation is instantly evaporated - and if the performer in question turns out to be complete arse, well, you've got a duffer champ on your record books.

Jon Moxley winning gold on his NJPW debut last week, in spite of his vast experience, still presented similar pitfalls as he tested the waters of a whole new style of wrestling. It's safe to say he stayed afloat and will continue to so. Others have tried. It didn't always work out.

Not even actual death could stop The Giant from snatching away Hulk Hogan's WCW Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc '95.

The show was either a disgraceful farce or a complete comedic triumph depending on your predilection for the absurd. Before Hogan and the debuting son of Andre the Giant (nope) faced one-on-one in their favoured sport, they obviously met on the rooftop of the adjacent Cobo Hall for a game of monster truck chicken. Fairplay soon turned foul, and in a terrible - and we mean terrible - accident, Hogan 'accidentally' shoved The Giant off the roof and into the Detroit River.

Jonathan Frakes stay away: we didn't make that one up. Later in the evening, Hogan proved apologies weren't beneath him, as he begged God's forgiveness for having killed a man. It was granted, but this is a vengeful God, and out popped the dearly departed right as rain, as a retributive punishment from up high.

With a little help from the supposed Yeti and a now-evil Jimmy Hart, The Giant seized Hogan's assets thanks to a rule which allowed the championship to change hands via disqualification - on any other night, the stupidest thing on the show. It was a memorable debut, to say the least.