10 Best Rookie Years In WWE History

Brock Lesnar.

Debuting the night after WrestleMania X8 by destroying Spike Dudley and Al Snow on Monday Night Raw, Brock Lesnar set the standard by which all future WWE newcomers would be judged.

Nobody has ever debuted with such an impactful rookie year. Flanked by the loathsome Paul Heyman, Lesnar blitzed through the competition with the greatest of ease. A different kind of monster, Lesnar was huge and intimidating, but compounded it with elite level athleticism and freakish explosive power. Lesnar had it all, and his first year was devastating.

Joining Raw as part of WWE’s first Brand Split, Lesnar first obliterated both Hardy Boyz in barbarous fashion, then clobbered Bubba Ray Dudley, Booker T, Test, and Rob Van Dam to become 2002 King of the Ring. His tournament escapades won him a shot at The Rock’s WWE Undisputed Championship, and after a quick rivalry with Hulk Hogan, Lesnar defeated The Brahma Bull to take the gold home.

Only Ric Flair has captured the WWE Championship so soon after debuting, and he was already one of the biggest stars in the business by the time he showed up in WWE. Lesnar powered through one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE history to become champion a mere 126 days after debuting, and he’s rarely moved out of the spotlight since.

It’s hard to imagine another debut ever matching Brock Lesnar’s. The efficiency with which he steamrolled some of WWE’s most highly thought-of roster members is shocking to this day, but it worked perfectly. Countless monsters have failed since Lesnar’s debut, but in Brock, WWE had captured lightning in a bottle.

Lesnar would lose his championship to The Big Show at Survivor Series ‘02, but not before successfully defending against The Undertaker on two consecutive pay-per-views. Also winning the 2003 Royal Rumble in his debut year, Brock went from “The Next Big Thing” to one of the industry's brightest stars very quickly.