10 Wrestlers Who Peaked In Their First Match

6. Pat McAfee

Dustin Cody Rhodes AEW Double Or Nothing 2019
WWE.com

Say it ain't so!

Yep, critically-acclaimed former SmackDown colour commentator and Shinsuke Nakamura cheerleader Pat McAfee gets a spot on this list. He's had six matches in WWE, but it's the very first one that deserves your attention the most. Pat would never better that NXT TakeOver: XXX scrap.

Adam Cole showed his in-ring prowess by layering the bout with some huge (but deceptively straightforward) spots that made McAfee look like a super-worker. Of course, Pat had to meet Cole halfway and hold up his end of the bargain. The future announcer certainly did that, and he deserves a ton of praise for nailing his in-ring debut.

Future bouts, including a WarGames brawl in NXT, wouldn't show off the best of McAfee. The least said about bog standard showings vs. Baron Corbin, Austin Theory, The Miz and even Vince McMahon, the better too. None of those came close to matching what he'd achieved with Cole.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.