10 Wrestler Debuts That Blew Us Away

4. The Big Show - St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (14 February 1999)

Near the end of his run in WCW, Paul Wight had turned into a giant disappointment. He could deliver an impressive dropkick when he first debuted, but looked like a shell of his former self only a few years later. By the time his contract ran up, his character had been positioned as a lazy guy who smoked. He was hard to care about, but with the WWF on fire at the time, there was hope he could turn things around.

Even though The Big Show was pushed as a mere mortal when he left WCW, Vince McMahon saw major things in the future for the 27 year old. The boss envisioned him as his next Andre the Giant-type special attraction, which is why he afforded Show with a near unheard of 10 year contract (Mark Henry also enjoyed a similar deal).

At the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the main event saw a major showdown with mortal enemies Steve Austin and McMahon battling it out inside of a steel cage. Since Vince wasn’t a trained wrestler, he got his ass beat for the vast majority of the fight. Things weren’t looking good for the boss until he got a little help from his newest signee. Big Show emerged from the bottom of the ring, tearing open the canvas and popping his head out like a rabid gopher.

Paul Wight (as the announcers called him) went after Austin and beat on him to let Vince regain his composure. He repeatedly threw The Texas Rattlesnake into the side of the cage, but ended up doing so one too many times. The structure broke open and Austin was able to swing his way to victory.

It was a giant mistake, but a moment that set up the WCW star as a major player out of the gate.