The Four Worst Wrestling Debuts Ever
All four of these performers are indistinguishable on RAW, and none are even exclusive to it yet. We are two months and one day removed from the first teaser trailer, and already, the ensemble feature has bombed at the box office.
The title of this article, while combative, is not clickbait. It’s the truth: these are the worst four debuts in the history of professional wrestling because, individually and collectively, WWE has achieved the opposite of the desired effect. It’s almost impressive satire, or it would be, if this were Reddit or something. EC3 does the opposite of what might yet get him over; he doesn’t talk. Heavy Machinery are losers. Nikki Cross is a loser, and she lost to a major pay-per-view loser in Ruby Riott to set up a bullsh*t squash match. Lacey Evans is a loser.
That they debuted en masse ruined them all, too: not only was this a very optimistic and arrogant gesture on WWE’s part, but it was just “Here are some guys.” That was it. A debuting pro wrestler should catch our attention. This performer is special, we should think, because they pose a threat to the existing roster. The debuting star once threatened to skin the existing roster alive. The debuting star was once the Perfect athlete. The debuting star once wanted the world, chico, and everything in it. The promise of the debuting star isn’t compromised by competition. They are a new, singular attraction.
These four absolute nonentities literally hung around backstage under the faint hope that management might graciously allow them the privilege of performing. It is a catastrophe of promotion, because why, why would we react to them as stars? They are the opposite of stars. EC3 and Evans in particular were literally backstage extras.
It’s pointless, it’s nihilistic, but think about it for a second. Think about this in dreaded kayfabe, as impossible as that is, now we are so far through the looking-glass. A promoter should only bring in a new act, in theory, if they stand even a chance of winning, of increasing the level of competition, of changing the landscape, of making them money. To put this premise over, they should win. But they do not, because so few do.
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