The 12 WWE Wrestlers Who Debuted In 2017 - Ranked

4. Elias

elias samson jason jordan
WWE.com

WWE Debut: Raw, April 10

One of the toughest wrestlers to judge for his debut year, Elias lost his last name (Samson) and nickname (The Drifter) during his journey from NXT, but he certainly hasn’t suffered for a lack of TV time.

Elias’ gimmick as a vagabond troubadour has clicked surprisingly well with live audiences, with fans alternately clapping along as he strums his guitar and booing his anti-fan lyrics. While he doesn’t have a real signature victory, he’s battled wrestlers like Dean Ambrose, Finn Balor, Jason Jordan and Roman Reigns, winning some of the matches and being surprisingly competitive in all of them.

Like Tye Dillinger, Elias might not have a high ceiling (though you never know), but he certainly has had a better first year on the main roster than many of his NXT cohorts.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.