10 Terrible Wrestling Debuts (That Led To Awesome Careers)

10. Steve Austin

The Debut:

The WWF spent virtually its entire existence promoting its own brand of sports entertainment as superior to and more glamorous than traditional pro wrestling, and then debuted Steve Austin as simply "a drab man who is nonetheless very good at wrestling", expecting the audience to give half a f*ck. The Ringmaster had this weird quirk, man - he'd say "man" after everything he said, man - and that gruff Texas accent felt alien to the act because the act was alien to the performer. An inauspicious start to the best career, perhaps, of all time.

The Career:

That career is considered by many to be the best because Austin was so phenomenally entertaining, all of the time, that when he wasn't, something felt so off that it compelled Vince McMahon to turn him heel. It was a different time; they turned Austin not when he cooled off, but when he stopped shaking buildings. And even then, with business tumbling, Austin was superb in a badly miscast role. That's how good he was.

In the right role - an hilarious, super-working, authentic badass who jaw-jacked the crippling pain of adversity - he was the best.