10 Best Rookie Years In WWE History
Some wrestlers were destined for success from the get-go.
WWE are always on the lookout for for the next big thing. The company’s talent scouts are constantly scouring the global wrestling scene for new blood, those wrestlers who’ll take the mantel held by the likes of John Cena and The Undertaker, and lead WWE into the future.
Dozens of new wrestlers pass through WWE’s main roster every year, each of them hoping to break through and become the next major superstar. Some make it, some don’t, and for all a wrestler’s prior success, it’s nearly impossible to predict whether they’ll thrive or flounder when they eventually hit the big time.
WWE still generally prefers to reserve its biggest opportunities for those wrestlers who’ve proven themselves over long stints with the company, but history is littered with exceptions. It takes some WWE wrestlers years to get anywhere near the main event scene, but others find themselves thrust towards gold and glory as soon as they walk through the door.
The first 12 months are key. If WWE get it wrong and push someone who just isn’t ready, that wrestler will be doomed to an eternity of midcard purgatory and muted fan interest (see: Ryback). Get it right, however, and a dominant rookie year can be the perfect foundation for a long, prosperous WWE career.
Not including those wrestlers who’d already achieved mainstream success elsewhere, here are the top 10 rookie years in WWE history.
10. Bobby Lashley
One of WWE’s foremost beneficiaries of the “Goldberg Push”, Bobby Lashley debuted on WWE television in September 2005 and immediately blitzed his way through a stream of low/mid-level wrestlers.
While this direction has been used for just about every over-sized, over-muscled monsters who’s debuted in the past 20 years, it was clear from an early stage that WWE were very high on Lashley. A strong showing in the 2006 Royal Rumble confirmed this: it took Kane and The Big Show’s combined power to eliminate him, and Lashley moved into a prominent storyline with record-breaking former World Heavyweight Champion JBL shortly after.
Young, athletic, and incredibly strong, Lashley was everything Vince McMahon looks for in a potential superstar. Though he lagged behind in terms of microphone skills, Lashley was presented as a beast throughout his first year with the company. Lashley only really lost through extenuating circumstances, and despite his flaws, looked set to become WWE’s go-to “monster babyface” for years to come.
Despite reaching the King of the Ring finals and wresting the United States Championship from JBL’s clutches in his rookie year, Lashley was released from WWE in 2008. It didn’t work out for him in the long run, but Lashley’s first 12 months in WWE were monstrous.