10 Greatest Debut Years In WWE History
2. Brock Lesnar
Sometimes a fast push can bring negative attention, either from the locker room or from the fans, who can reject a star if they’re imposed upon them. Well, try telling Brock Lesnar you don’t want him to be the new face of the business.
Lesnar, a college wrestling phenomenon, was a no-brainer of a signing, and exploded out of OVW in spring 2002. He went on a tear, chucking around smaller stars, aligning with Paul Heyman, and earning his nickname The Next Big Thing.
A quick stop off to win King Of The Ring in short order, and then the real fun began. Lesnar squeezed the life out of a returning Hulk Hogan, dominating him like few ever had. At SummerSlam he won the Undisputed Championship from The Rock, sealing his rise barely 100 days after he turned up on the scene.
Just over a year after his debut, he headlined WrestleMania XIX, though his appetite for the business was starting to wane. He’d step down from WWE after a disastrous match with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, and we never heard from him again.