10 Greatest Debut Years In WWE History

While others have made splashier beginnings, no one “got” pro wrestling as quick as Kurt Angle. And indeed, at first the Olympian didn’t get it at all; he was appalled by an ECW taping he attended, and for a while considered the whole pursuit beneath him.

When he was finally lured to WWE, though, he was the ultimate natural. He debuted in late 1998, understandably as the All-American heel. His squeaky clean promos didn’t land: no matter. With the tiniest bit of tweaking from Kurt, he became the most perfectly irritating heel in the business, pompous, pious, but incredibly vicious.

That combination of shoot chops and comedy sent him flying up the card. He worked the aforementioned ‘Mania 2000 highlight, became King Of The Ring, feuded with Triple H, headlined SummerSlam (much of which he worked with a horrendous concussion), and messed around with Edge and Christian in his spare time.

Angle didn’t just get it from the jump; he emerged the complete package, and what’s more he only got better and better. The industry will never see another like him.