16 Best WWE Debuts And Returns Of 2018
Who showed up and made an impact in 2018?
As 2018 draws to a close, we see WWE promising to “shake things up” amid sagging ratings in part by introducing new faces to the main rosters. That means debuting and returning superstars showing up to create new matchups and new feuds, which can sometimes jostle the product in a good way.
This is a common theme in WWE throughout the year, particularly around the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. The Raw and SmackDown after WrestleMania have become traditional launching pads for debuting wrestlers.
But in 2018, we saw a bunch of wrestlers debut and return after long absences from the ring, and they showed up at various points throughout the year. Some of them made an immediate impact, while others quickly flamed out. The jury is still out on a few of them, but with more superstars on the way, the lower-ranking members of the roster could find themselves on the bottom of the WWE food chain.
With that said, let’s take a look at the most notable superstars who showed up in WWE during 2018 and see how they stack up against each other. For purposes of this list, wrestlers who were on 205 Live during 2017 and showed up on Raw or SmackDown this year (such as Drake Maverick and Mustafa Ali) don’t count. This is mainly NXT call-ups and returning wrestlers.
Let’s get to it…
16. No Way Jose
No one could have expected No Way Jose to be an impact player in WWE. He’s purely an opening act performer – a guy who gets the live audience enthused and into the action from the get-go.
But Jose really, really fell off the map quickly on Raw.
Debuting on the Raw after WrestleMania, No Way Jose had a short-lived feud with Baron Corbin, which the Lone Wolf decisively won in May. After that, he lost a one-sided feud with another forgotten Raw wrestler, Mojo Rawley, in June/July. That July 9th loss to Rawley was Jose’s last Raw match until he lost to Jinder Mahal in November.
Don’t plan to see too much of the conga line in the future – unless “shaking things up” means more dancing.