Albino Heat
Don Corleone
You're a nasty bastard, and your momma said so!!
Posts: 2,095
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Post by Albino Heat on Apr 12, 2018 12:56:34 GMT -5
Legacy Cody Rhodes- 2010 to Dashing/Dr Doom Cody Rhodes 2011
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Pushed to the Moon
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Tony Schiavone in Disguise
Working myself into a shoot
Posts: 15,819
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Post by Pushed to the Moon on Apr 12, 2018 13:10:19 GMT -5
The most obvious answer from the past: Kurt Angle In recent memory: Braun To look out for: Ronda Rousey Outside of the WWE: Cody In NXT: Cien Andrade Alamas Yeah if Rousey is full time now works constantly I'm intrigued to see how good she might be this time next year.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Apr 12, 2018 13:11:44 GMT -5
Braun is what instantly came to mind.
From being just a dude who stood around in the Wyatt family to BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUN.
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PTBartman
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 7,043
Member is Online
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Post by PTBartman on Apr 12, 2018 13:15:32 GMT -5
On the distaff side, I'd go with Nia Jax. From the moment she threw on that little black back pack and ran off to check on Enzo in the hospital I've noticed nothing but improvement. She's really been helped by booking letting her show her personality rather than pretending to be a monster heel. It also helps that she's always game to take bumps when needed. Totally agree. That's why I don't mind the Braun comedy spots, that and he has the chops to pull it off.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Apr 12, 2018 14:16:20 GMT -5
I’d say AJ Styles has a pretty good first year He was the finished article when he arrived though, so his improvement as a performer was negligible.
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clifford
King Koopa
Shingo Takagi stan
Posts: 10,683
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Post by clifford on Apr 12, 2018 17:51:14 GMT -5
Velveteen Dream is on course for a year like this.
Edge; from winning Money in the Bank at Mania 21 to cashing in on Cena to defeating Foley at Mania 22 was a real 'chart the rise from upper midcard to bonafide main eventer' year. His promos and big time presence grew measurably.
Batista went from 'the other one' in Evolution circa summer 2004 to second biggest star in the company summer 2005. He learnt how to be a top babyface so quickly and with ease.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
HaHa U FaLL 4 LaVa TriK
Posts: 46,202
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Apr 12, 2018 17:55:33 GMT -5
Cien Almas.
From Uninspired and going through the motions to a freaking super-worker.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
HaHa U FaLL 4 LaVa TriK
Posts: 46,202
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Apr 12, 2018 17:58:20 GMT -5
I mean, gotta be Angle's first year, right? Although instead of taking a whole year, he just got really good really quickly. Miz's in-ring work improved tremendously when he got teamed up with Morrison, though it's a little hard to tell if he was already pretty good, but he just hadn't gotten a chance to show it. Miz's improvement has been more sneaky and steady, IMO. Every time he picks up something new (figure 4, the DBD kicks), it takes him a little while to get comfortable with it. What really impresses me about Miz is that he always makes sure there's a historical justification for cribbing moves from other dudes.
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fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
Tribe has spoken for 2024 Mets
Posts: 39,144
Member is Online
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Post by fw91 on Apr 12, 2018 18:08:39 GMT -5
Randy Orton from 2002 (young boring jobber) to 2003 (Evolution Rising Star)
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Apr 12, 2018 18:09:30 GMT -5
I mean, gotta be Angle's first year, right? Although instead of taking a whole year, he just got really good really quickly. Miz's in-ring work improved tremendously when he got teamed up with Morrison, though it's a little hard to tell if he was already pretty good, but he just hadn't gotten a chance to show it. Miz's improvement has been more sneaky and steady, IMO. Every time he picks up something new (figure 4, the DBD kicks), it takes him a little while to get comfortable with it. What really impresses me about Miz is that he always makes sure there's a historical justification for cribbing moves from other dudes. For all the shit Miz gets over his Figure Four (which really stems from that one time against Ziggler when he completely botched it), the drop toehold transition into the Figure Four he used to do is one of the best variants of the hold I've seen.
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Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
Posts: 6,847
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Post by Reflecto on Apr 12, 2018 18:59:48 GMT -5
Despite the general opnion of him on here Jinder Mahal has to be a contender too. He returned in 2016 as a jobber on Raw. A year later he was set to defend his WWE championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. If you're going to use booking-based 1 year improvements, then Alexa Bliss would have a good argument in the discussion, especially since in-ring she had become solid enough: July 2016, a flailing NXT midcarder as part of a meh tag team that was going nowhere (and hadn't proved she was better than "just a good heel manager" to most people.) July 2017: First woman to hold the Raw/Smackdown Women's titles and undeniably one of the biggest stars in the women's division.
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Post by Redbeard's Ghost on Apr 12, 2018 20:49:32 GMT -5
Batista went from bodyguard for Reverend DeVon (Deacon Batista) to Evolution member to Royal Rumble winner/Number 1 Contender in a little over 14 months.
Angle, of course - crazy 1st year.
Recently, I'd say that Elias has gone from afterthought to potential main event guy in under a year.
So many to choose from.....
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Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
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Post by Crappler El 0 M on Apr 12, 2018 20:54:46 GMT -5
I want to say Buddy Murphy from last year to this year, but I don't think he ever appeared on TV at all last year, though he worked steadily on the NXT live events, mostly on the Florida loop. Still, he has improved a great deal from the days when he was a regular on NXT TV.
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Post by Gerard Gerard on Apr 12, 2018 21:42:48 GMT -5
Surprised it ain't been said, but Lesnar was a post-WM X8 call up as a not-jolly green hoss and was a credible main-eventer* of Wrestlemania 19.
*no points for mentioning the SSP.
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