Greatest Rookie Year Ever

[Mad Dog]

Wasn't Angle kind of a total shitshow in that match too?

[The Thread Killer]

In my opinion, yes. Angle tried hard but he looked really stiff and awkward. You could tell he was really past his prime at that point. If I am remembering correctly he had a hard time pulling off a few basic moves, not from lack of skill but just because he was so broken down physically.

Going into that match I assumed that Angle and Triple H would assume the majority of the work and be the stars but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Rousey was a revelation and even Stephanie did a great job in her limited role. As I recall they really sucked the fans into that match and gave it the heat.

[MoS]

Every time Kurt Angle has been in the ring in the last 4 years, he has looked like a weak Thanos. This is not a compliment. I remember being literally terrified every time he would step in, that we would watch a guy die on live TV.

As far as most impactful debut years go, how about Goldberg. His Nitro debut was in September 1997. In one year, he was the 2nd biggest draw in wrestling, and the first was Steve Austin who at that time was the God of pro wrestling

[Microstatistics]

I agree with the shoot-style picks.

Volk Han 1992 (technically he debuted in late 1991 but still)

Kiyoshi Tamura 1989

[KinchStalker]

On 12/19/2020 at 8:22 AM, NintendoLogic said:

He was a main event-level star pretty much from day one. He challenged Dory Jr. for the NWA heavyweight championship less than two months after his in-ring debut. Less than five months later, in his third match after returning to Japan, he and Baba held the Funks to a time-limit draw in a tag title match.

A bit late to this, I realize, but as much as I love the guy I'm hesitant about counting the NWA shot as being purely based on Tsuruta's merit. It's clear from Japanese resources I've managed to gleam that there was a heavy political element to him getting that shot as early as he did.

In April, the JWA finally folded, and while Sakaguchi would go to New Japan (being the necessary bargaining chip for TV Asahi - then still NET TV - to swoop in and save that company), this meant that AJPW would be saddled with talent that had stayed with them. (Apparently Baba was reluctant to take them, but the Momotas insisted.) As a result, there were now two people with enough seniority and kayfabe clout to threaten the spot which Tsuruta was being groomed for: Umanosuke Ueda and Kintaro Oki. (Both left the company when Jumbo got the spot they assumed one of them would have had. Ueda turned in his notice the very same day as the Baba/Tsuruta vs Funks match, and went to America for three years to wait out his domestic no-compete clause which Nippon TV's contract had enforced, but Oki somehow worked something out and got to work for New Japan for one match in 1974 and some more the following year. He would return to AJPW much sooner than Ueda, but by that time he was no longer a threat to the hierarchy which Baba had snubbed him in order to establish.) 

The NWA title shot was suggested by Terry and then requested by Baba, so as to advance the narrative that the man who would be Jumbo was a phenom worthy of the level he would be booked at upon his return. It happened when it did because Dory, having separated his shoulder in March, was going to drop the belt to Harley Race after a six-week recovery period (and some matches building up to their Kansas City, KA match).

 

[ohtani's jacket]

You have to think some of the British workers qualify. Dynamite Kid is the best teenage worker I've seen, but I'm sure there were others. 

[Tabe]

On 12/23/2020 at 5:14 PM, The Thread Killer said:

That’s not a bad pick. I can’t think of anybody else who can honestly claim that their very first professional match ended up being the best match on the show, never mind at Wrestlemania.

Volk Han.  His debut was not only the best on the card, he was far and away the best worker on the card.  He legit was world class from day one.

[flyonthewall2983]

Goldberg

[KawadaSmile]

I think Dominic Mysterio has had a fairly good debut year for himself.

[Loss]

Glad OJ mentioned Takehiro Murahama. That's what I came here to post. He may not be the answer, but he had his debut on 1/4/00 in a four-star singles match and had a hell of a run all year.

[Shrike02]

Has to be Jumbo. His 70s stuff is tremendous. Akiyama stands out too, as does Dynamite Kid.

[joeg]

I think a common thread between many of the guys discussed in this thread is that either they were legit athletes who competed at an extremely high level of free style wrestling, greco roman wrestling or some other form grappling based martial arts (judo, sambo, catch, etc) before entering pro wrestling.   Angle, Tamura, Volk Han, Jumbo, Murahama, Dynamite, etc. There's got to be something said for having mastered skills such as rolls, throws, sprawls, body control, joint manipulations, etc. from childhood rather than having your first roll ever come when breaking into wrestling. 

[Robert S]

Also, in lots of martial arts doing "showcase fights" is not an uncommon thing. I did Judo for a couple of years as a kid, and we did one or two exihibitions a year that besides individual technique demonstrations always contained a showcase fight or two. Furthermore, I once attended a guy doing an evaluation either for the 1st kyu (brown belt) or the 1st dan (black belt), I don't remember exactly, that contained a five minute demonstration fight, that was basically a worked match.