10 Wrestlers With Incredible First Years

8. Kevin Owens - WWE

Kurt Angle KOTR
WWE.com

As if his rise in NXT wasn't meteoric enough, Kevin Owens became an overnight sensation in May 2015, making his unannounced debut on the main roster with a memorable promo on (and beatdown of) John Cena.

Beating Cena clean in their first match, Owens would go on to work two more phenomenal matches with the 'Face that Runs the Place', immediately propelling himself into the upper echelon despite defeat in the storyline.

And even though no feud post-Cena would serve as WWE's top story, Owens made everything he did seem extra significant, particularly his love affair with the reborn Intercontinental Title and his unending blood feud with Sami Zayn.

As the only wrestler on the current roster apart from The Undertaker to appear on every Pay-Per-View in his first 12 months with WWE, Owens exhibited the consistency necessary to prove doubters over his longevity and look dead wrong.

He would go on to score the WWE Universal Title just 15 months into his tenure, which wouldn't have been remotely possible without such an amazing first year.

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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