10 Wrestlers That Became Stars In ONE SECOND

6. Wheeler Yuta (AEW Rampage, April 6th 2022)

Donovan DanHausen
AEW

The Wheeler Yuta story has been far from a rushed one in AEW (he debuted as a Best Friends surrogate in June 2021 losing to Karl Anderson and only earned his spot in the Blackpool Combat Club in April 2022), but the way in which he went from mere prospect to William Regal's newest killer was a nice acceleration from the norm.

His run has been defined by the matches with Moxley specifically, but it was as he drove his bloodstained sneaker through the former AEW Champion's head in the latter stages of their third encounter that the realisation of his ascension set in.

Yuta fell to Mox in just 47 seconds the first time they fought. He spent almost as long kicking the f*cking sh*t out of the hardest man in the company as came within a whisker of defeating him in their Rampage classic. Covered in blood and with a BCC membership assured, Yuta's glare down the lens was the sort of moment only this specific kind of pursuit could have earned.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett