10 Weirdest Wrestling Debuts Ever

3. Akebono

Otis Dozovic Alexa Bliss
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Strangely, given the profound philosophical differences in style, there exist several parallels between the sports entertainment of North America and the puroresu of Japan: both during major boom periods soared through the charisma of patriotic babyfaces, the bubble burst across both scenes at more or less the same time in the early 2000s, and both returned to a sort of prominence after classic, white meat babyfaces John Cena and Hiroshi Tanahashi starred in Ace roles.

Also, debuting wrestlers emerge from eggs in Japan.

Such was the case with Monster Bono - best known to WWE fans as Akebono of WrestleMania 21 fame - upon debuting for the HUSTLE promotion in 2007. As origin stories go, this is as demented as the notion of Vince McMahon thinking anybody other than himself would laugh at Bono's Gobbledy Gooker inspiration - only genius. Conceived through intercourse between the Great Muta's mist and the ovum of Yinling the Erotic Terrorist - an unholy union that resulted in the egg from which Monster Bono came - Mono possessed the body of a sumo wrestler and the mind of an infant, hence the dummy that appeared in his mouth.

It may read as crazed "Only in Japan" stuff, until you remember that Vince ordered Big Show to dress up as the New Year's Baby because he'd "gotten fat" on him.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!