10 Best 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.