Ranking All 24 WWE Debuts & Returns In 2023
2. Dragon Lee
Dragon Lee’s callup to SmackDown this fall is a great
example of how to showcase a truly significant talent in a way that doesn’t
overexpose him too quickly, nor does it diminish his aura or potential.
Lee arrived on the main roster two months ago and has wowed audiences with his effortless style. He’s received an endorsement from Rey Mysterio as the future of lucha libre. His matches are treated as special occasions by the announcers, rather than just run-of-the-mill contests.
While Lee has won most of his matches so far, they’re mostly competitive bouts that show off his talents – see his two SmackDown matches against Cedric Alexander – rather than quick squashes to just give him meaningless wins. In other words, WWE is letting Dragon’s actions in the ring do the talking.
His loss to Santos Escobar at Survivor Series could be viewed
as a setback, but when you consider that this was a high-profile PLE match in
front of 17,000 rabid fans – who were chanting his name – that in itself was a
victory. And you have to have faith that WWE is not going to screw this one up.