Who had the better WWE First Year?

[ASYLUMHAUSEN]

AJ Styles capped off an AMAZING First Year tonight with what was probably (in my opinion at least) the best match on TV all year.

But did he have the best WWE Debut year ever?

I'm sure I'm forgetting people....but Bork & Kurt immediately popped into my mind.

[Instant Classic]

Brock won King of the Ring, beat Flair and Hogan, beat The Rock for the WWE title, then beat Taker in his own backyard. lesnar for sure.

[Deleted]

Didn't we just have this thread not too long ago?

[ASYLUMHAUSEN]

Dec 27, 2016 22:40:38 GMT -5 @ambrosefan said:

Didn't we just have this thread not too long ago?

Did we?

I was off the board for a while and may have missed it.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

We did, and my answer remains the same; AJ Styles had a huge year, and maybe it didn't come with the same on paper achievements that Brock did, but WWE has been incredibly gunshy about bringing people onto the main roster and giving them the world expressly because of how they threw everything at Brock to make him happy and establish him as a huge deal, only for him to walk away from them and burn them so hard that they've spent the past 13 years trying to make the brand bigger than any one star because of it. AJ has not only decisively beat John Cena, he's done it multiple times and with no 50/50 booking to give Cena a win on the side. Just being allowed to have a first year like AJ has had, especially as a star built in other companies, is unprecedented in today's WWE.

[rrg251]

Fun Fact: None of these guys won a WrestleMania match in their first year.

AJ lost to Jericho at WM32

Kurt Angle lost not once but twice (losing two titles in the process) at WM2000

Brock Lesnar debuted on March 18, 2002, the night after WM18. WM19 was not held until March 30, 2003, so he did not have a WrestleMania match his first year.

[FAR5222]

Entertainment wise Kurt Angle

Spectacle wise AJ Styles

Kayfabe wise Brock Lesnar

I enjoyed Angles first year more.

[Chiral]

According to Michael Cole at Roadblock the answer is Charlotte.

[bootytea]

Kurt Angle is my all time favorite wrestler so I loved his first year, but AJ Styles is doing such a wonderful job.

Brock was basically given everything based on his size and I never really liked that.

Can't think of as many memorable moments that Brock himself did if that makes any sense. There was the whole mariachi thing, botching the shooting star press and kissing Kurt Angle, but everything else was essentially the WWE giving the world to him.

Kurt and AJ put on stellar matches each and every week and had more layers to their personality than "I'm beeg and dominate! Arrrgh!"

[Push R Truth]

Snitsky killed a demon seed rape baby, punted another baby into the crowd and showed up at a wedding in a cutoff tuxedo.

[Mayonnaise]

Dec 27, 2016 22:40:17 GMT -5 Instant Classic said:

Brock won King of the Ring, beat Flair and Hogan, beat The Rock for the WWE title, then beat Taker in his own backyard. lesnar for sure.

Yeah, AJ had a year to remember, Brock had a legendary year. On top of that, Brock did it with no outside popularity.

[MrElijah]

The more I think of it, AJ's year is more comparable to Flair's first WWF run.

-Come in as a top guy
-Win WWF/E World Title
-Had big programs with top guys.


The difference is Styles beat THE guy in his era, clean.

[mizerable]

I would gladly pay a pretty penny for every segment that Angle had during his first year. He was just that damn fun. In my opinion, no one has ever reached those entertainment levels, he was must watch TV in what I still consider the best two years of wrestling between 1999 and 2001.

Now, he was good in subsequent years, but they started giving him more of an edge that I guess helped his longevity. Again, I can't stress how much I looked forward to his stuff early on.

AJ is awesome and Brock was destined to be great...but if we're just judging the beginning of their WWE careers, I'd give it to Angle in a landslide.

[Soultastic]

Say what you want about the Ellsworth story, AJ went the whole year without losing to Big Show or attempting to f*** Steph, so I'm going AJ.

[schma]

What I didn't like about Brock's first year is that we were constantly hearing about him being the next big thing. Heyman was constantly going on. Angle showed up and simply excelled. He didn't need a hype man to tell everyone he was great. He showed everyone he was great. AJ's had a fantastic year as well. Strange to think when you consider he lost to Jericho at WM, feuded with Roman and with Cena that his year would end up this good.

[sravaj]

I didn't even look at the other options... I am too biased towards AJ Styles... But honestly, he has had a great year... Even if its not the best amomg the 4 you have mentioned, he is still in the conversation with the likes of Kurt Angle and Lesnar... That is in itself a big thing

[Dang!]

Didn't Lesnar come in as an instant beast who destroyed everything and became their youngest world champ ever? I didn't watch at the time, but from what I've read and watched in clips it's clearly Lesnar.