10 Wrestlers With Incredible First Years
The masters of hitting the ground running, these men quickly overtook all in their way.
In a year full of miraculous tales of career rebirths, character reinventions, and surprise breakout stars, there can be none better or more satisfying for wrestling fans than that of AJ Styles.
Starting 2016 with his final show for New Japan Pro Wrestling, mere weeks later he was a bombshell Number 3 entrant in the Royal Rumble.
From there, he made it to his first Wrestlemania with Chris Jericho, had a scorching series with Roman Reigns, lit WWE on fire with a scintillating run of dream matches with John Cena and as if all of that wasn't enough, will end 2016 as WWE Champion, Smackdown's undisputed Number One talent, and arguably the top star in the entire company.
As a fan, it's always exciting to see a long-time favourite instantly prove themselves, forgoing any perceived paying of dues on a fast-track to the top.
But he's not the first to combine talent, charisma, timing and the bit of luck needed in assembling a dream freshman year in the industry.
As we celebrate 12 'Phenomenal' months for AJ Styles, here are 10 more talents who rose the steepest in their first year.
10. The Dudley Boyz - WWE
Appearing on WWE screens in late-1999 decked out in tye-dye with a stuttering Buh Buh Ray Dudley on the microphone, even the Dudleys themselves couldn't have imagined how well their first year would turn out.
As the abject failure of The Public Enemy experiment still hung in the air, D-Von and Buh-Buh quickly garnered respect in hard-hitting brawls with The Acolytes, then stumbled upon enormous success as a feud with The Hardy Boyz lead to the re-introduction of tables to their act.
Refining the gimmick with a well-timed outfit adjustment and more risky plunder wars with Matt and Jeff, the duo were chosen to end the New Age Outlaws' final Attitude-era reign with the Tag Titles, symbolically closing the door on the old tag team regime in WWE.
Stealing the show as they would at Wrestlemania and Summerslam with Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boyz, the last remaining piece of the puzzle was a face turn, which timed out well with Edge & Christian's ascent to top heel duo in the company.
By the time their one-year anniversary came around, The Dudleys were one of the most over acts on a stacked roster, and had already sealed their fate as likely Hall-of-Famers.