10 Best WWE Pay-Per-View Debuts Ever
You only get one chance to make a first impression...
Pay-per-view is still WWE's ultimate proving ground, something which has been the case ever since the medium launched in the mid-1980s. The promotion can change the way those shows are delivered to fans all they want, and they have with their own Network, but what happens on those monthly specials still matters way more than anything on Raw or SmackDown.
The age-old phrase, "you only get one chance to make a first impression" is key here. Even if wrestlers have worked episodes of TV in the lead up to their supershow bow, what happens on that first pay-per-view can be make or break.
If it's a winner, then there's every chance the debutant will go on to bigger and better things, but there are no guarantees that any debut will be successful. The margins, much like the rewards for a job well done, are fine...
10. Rocky Maivia (Survivor Series 1996)
His hair may have looked like a poodle and he may have been armed with a smile cheesier than Hannah Montana, but Rocky Maivia was made to look like a true star during his WWF debut at the 1996 Survivor Series. Best of all, it happened in Madison Square Garden, a venue steeped in WWF/WWE history.
It had to be a conscious choice to debut Vince McMahon's next big babyface hope at the Garden. Bounding out like he was everybody's best friend in the whole wide world, the guy who would go on to become Hollywood's leading man had fans on his side. That wouldn't last, but for the briefest moment Rocky must have thought this wrestling malarkey was easy.
The 'Sole Survivor' in his match (one also including the likes of Jerry Lawler, Triple H, Goldust, and Jake Roberts), Maivia was off to a hot start in his ill-fated quest to become a happy-go-lucky hero. Fans turned on Rocky pronto, but his pay-per-view debut was an undoubted winner.