10 Wrestlers Whose Rookie Years Exceeded Expectations

Although Kurt Angle first appeared on WWE television in March of 1999—in a segment involving Tiger Ali Singh trying to get Angle to blow his nose on the American flag—he was made to wait some eight months for his official in-ring debut.

Once it finally arrived though, Angle more than made up for lost time.

Having beaten Shawn Stasiak at the Survivor Series PPV on 14th November, 1999, the former Olympian went on to pick up a whole host of honours over the course of the coming weeks and months. In February 2000, he captured both the Intercontinental and European Championships, before being crowned King of the Ring just a few months later, beating Bradshaw, Bubba Ray Dudley, Chris Jericho, Crash Holly, and Rikishi along the way.

Of course, the best was still yet to come; Angle’s momentum showed no signs of slowing and on 22nd October, 2000 at the No Mercy PPV, he defeated The Rock to become the WWF Champion.

While he was of course an Olympic Champion, Angle came in without any prior pro wrestling experience, making his meteoric rise all the more remarkable than many would initially have predicted.