After everyone swooning about Nakamura's match with Sami on Friday, I was wondering...where does it rank with other debut matches? Is it the best? Certainly one of, but what are your thoughts?
Classic debut matches:
Nakamura/Zayn (Takeover Dallas, Nakamura WWE debut)
Rey/Angle (Summerslam 2002, Rey WWE debut)
The Shield/Bryan, Ryback and Kane (TLC 2012, Shield main roster debut)
Owens/Cena (EC 2015, Owens main roster debut)
Kane/Mankind (Survivor Series 1997, Kane debut)
Nash and Hall/Luger, Savage and Sting (Bash at the Beach 1996, Outsiders debut)
Hart/Flair (Souled Out 1998, Bret Hart WCW debut)
Taker, Honky Tonk Man, DiBiase and Valentine/Hart, Koko, Neidhart and Dusty (Survivor Series 1990, Taker's debut)
1. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE NXT Takeover: Dallas)
2. Team Hell No & Ryback vs. The Shield (WWE TLC 2012)
3. Low Ki vs. KENTA (ROH Final Battle 2005)
The hilarious thing is when RVD had his first WWF match in 97, it was against Jeff, and when he had his first match as a full time member of the WWF roster, it was against Jeff again at Invasion.
Quite honestly, it ranks alongside any you could care to name. He showed more charisma in that one match in a tiny arena than the main full-time roster have shown in the last 12 months combined. Nakamura Styles (I know it's already happened elsewhere) has the potential to be an all-time classic match for the ages.
Nakamura/Zayn (Takeover Dallas, Nakamura WWE debut) Rey/Angle (Summerslam 2002, Rey WWE debut)
The Shield/Bryan, Ryback and Kane (TLC 2012, Shield main roster debut)
Owens/Cena (EC 2015, Owens main roster debut)
Kane/Mankind (Survivor Series 1997, Kane debut)
Nash and Hall/Luger, Savage and Sting (Bash at the Beach 1996, Outsiders debut)
Hart/Flair (Souled Out 1998, Bret Hart WCW debut)
Taker, Honky Tonk Man, DiBiase and Valentine/Hart, Koko, Neidhart and Dusty (Survivor Series 1990, Taker's debut)
Rey debuted on Smackdown a few weeks earlier against Chavo Guerrero. The Summerslam match was excellent though.
Haven't seen all the matches in your list, but surely Nakamura has to top it. Recency bias, maybe, but who has ever set the MOTY bar in their debut? Owens and Shield had excellent matches, but I honestly can't think of a better WWE match this year than Zayn vs. Nakamura.
I think Nakamura's had the best WWE debut match ever, tbh. Closely followed by Shield's main roster debut against Hell No/Ryback. I thought the Shield's debut match would never be topped until Nak/Zayn happened.
One of my favourites from ECW who was a dominant badass vs. One of my favourites in WWE, who was a master. How the hell will this play out?
Also back then a suplex meant something!!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Wrestling Forum
23.4M posts
266.6K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to all Wrestling enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about WWE, AEW, Ring of Honor, Impact and all forms of professional and amateur wrestling.