15 Wrestlers WWE Debuted In The WORST Way Possible
3. “It’s Christian”…On ECW
Debut: The 10 February 2009 episode of ECW was in full swing when none other than Christian (don't call him Cage!) walked out to a decent-enough surprise pop to get in the face of Jack Swagger. This was Christian's WWE comeback moment after several years of excellent work in TNA, and it'd eventually lead to sought-after World Heavyweight Title success.
Why It Was Bad: The actual debut was underwhelming to say the least.
Then-ECW announcer Todd Grisham couldn't have sounded less thrilled by Christian's company comeback and re-debut. His call of, "It's...it's Christian" was akin to disappointed kids when they get a PS4 instead of a PS5 for Christmas. Or, worse, maybe they got an ECW replica title instead of the shiny WWE ones back in '09. Grisham's downer couldn't match what fans were going through, however.
Most had wanted Christian to play a part in the ongoing feud between Edge and Jeff Hardy. Instead, it was Matt who turned heel at Royal Rumble weeks before Christian returned to the company. McMahon's entire ECW concept was a real, '...but we have Paul Heyman's renegade promotion at home' experience for people, and they were totally dissatisfied that someone expected to play a part in top storylines had been mired on a going-nowhere show.
Things would work out for Christian longer-term, but his debut was woeful. Grisham admittedly has to take some of the blame for that. The least he could've done as a lead commentator was hype the moment up as something massive for ECW. Instead, he sounded weirdly bummed out and deflated.