10 Things That Prove January Is The Best Month For Wrestling

5. Big-Name Debuts

The Rock John Cena
WWE.com

In terms of WWE, the company has used January to debut some huge names in the promotion.

Recent memory conjures up AJ Styles appearing at #3 in the 2016 Royal Rumble match, or Ronda Rousey turning up to close out the 2018 Royal Rumble PPV, yet WWE has a long history of debuting some big-name talents during January.

The ball may have ultimately been dropped on them, but Tazz shocking the world by ending Kurt Angle's undefeated streak at the 2000 Royal Rumble, and Vader laying waste to Gorilla Monsoon the night after the 1996 Royal Rumble were major deals at the time. Other notable, albeit less impactful debuts were the likes of Kofi Kingston, Fit Finlay, and Hakushi.

Away from these names, January also saw the WWE debut of arguably the biggest name in the history of the pro wrestling business. Which brings us nicely on to our next entry in this list...

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.