{"id":147343,"date":"2025-11-29T00:46:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T05:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=147343"},"modified":"2025-11-29T00:46:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T05:46:33","slug":"5-wwe-survivor-series-debuts-we-will-never-forget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/11\/29\/5-wwe-survivor-series-debuts-we-will-never-forget\/","title":{"rendered":"5 WWE Survivor Series Debuts We Will Never Forget"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ever since the inaugural Survivor Series event in 1987, the PLE has stood as one of WWE’s most significant shows of the year. WWE has presented the Survivor Series event annually without interruption, cementing its place among the company’s “Big Four” pay-per-view events. While we’ve witnessed various iterations and formats of Survivor Series over the decades, it has consistently remained an exciting event on the WWE calendar.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Given the prestige of Survivor Series, the event has produced countless memorable moments throughout its history, including several iconic debuts that left lasting impressions. As we approach the 2025 edition and anticipate more unforgettable moments, let’s revisit five Survivor Series debuts that remain unforgettable to this date.<\/div>\n

5. Kurt Angle (1999)<\/h2>\n
After signing with WWE in 1998, the Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle finally stepped into a WWE ring at Survivor Series 1999. WWE built anticipation for the debut through weeks of promotional vignettes, setting the stage for Angle’s first official match against Shawn Stasiak.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Stasiak put up a fight against Angle, but Angle picked up the win, hitting him with the Olympic Slam. Angle would quickly gain a lot of success in the WWE, as he had one of the best rookie years in WWE history, even winning the WWE Championship in 2000. While the debut match itself isn’t much special, it kicked off the career of a future WWE Hall of Famer who is considered one of professional wrestling’s all-time greats.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

4. The Rock (1996)<\/h2>\n
The Rock’s illustrious WWE career began at Survivor Series 1996, where he made his debut as a much-hyped 3rd Generation wrestler at Madison Square Garden. He wrestled under the name “Rocky Maivia” and was part of a 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Rocky, who was a babyface on his debut, had a pretty impressive performance as he finished the match as the sole survivor, eliminating Crush and Goldust, who were prominent names at the time. While his initial babyface character ultimately failed to connect with fans and necessitated a heel turn, the debut itself was quite good. Of course, The Rock would eventually go on to become one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling history.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

3. The Shield (2012)<\/h2>\n
Survivor Series 2012 witnessed one of the most impactful debuts in WWE history when NXT talents Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns interrupted the main event. The trio, which would be known as “The Shield”, made an immediate statement by attacking Ryback with their signature Triple Powerbomb during the WWE Championship triple threat match, allowing CM Punk to retain his title by pinning John Cena.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Shield would quickly become one of the hottest acts in the WWE, and all three wrestlers went on to become big stars. Each of them won World Championships and headlined several PPVs throughout their careers. To this day, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose, who’s now known as “Jon Moxley,” are three of the biggest stars in the wrestling industry, cementing their Survivor Series debut as an unforgettable moment.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Sting (2014)<\/h2>\n
Following WWE’s acquisition of WCW in 2001, nearly every major WCW star eventually appeared in a WWE ring, except for one big name. Sting, arguably the most iconic face of WCW, stayed away from WWE for well over a decade despite numerous offers to join the promotion. That would all change at Survivor Series 2014, when The Icon finally answered the call.<\/div>\n
\n
\"A
Photo Credit: By Miguel Discart<\/a> from Bruxelles, Belgique – 2015-03-30_20-10-05_ILCE-6000_4111_DxO, CC BY-SA 2.0,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Towards the finish of the Team Cena vs. Team Authority survivor series elimination match, Sting appeared out of nowhere to interfere in the Authority’s plans. He attacked Triple H and then helped Dolph Ziggler pick up the win for his team, putting away The Authority. Even though Sting’s WWE career was pretty short-lived, the debut itself was very cool and lived up to the hype.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

1. The Undertaker (1990)<\/h2>\n
The Undertaker’s nearly three-decade-long WWE career started at the 1990 edition of Survivor Series. He was introduced as the fourth member of the “Million Dollar Team” by Ted DiBiase. Undertaker was a heel here and immediately captivated audiences with his mysterious dark persona.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Undertaker wasted no time making an impact, eliminating both Koko B. Ware and the opposing team’s captain, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. While Undertaker would get eliminated after getting counted out, he had already left a strong impression. The Phenom would go on to have a legendary career, and even after all these years, this remains the most iconic debut in the history of Survivor Series.<\/div>\n
\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Header photo \u2013 WWE\u00a0\u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a> for more on WWE Survivor Series: WarGames and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the significant news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>A&E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever since the inaugural Survivor Series event in 1987, the PLE has stood as one of WWE’s most significant shows of the year. WWE has presented the Survivor Series event annually without interruption, cementing its place among the company’s “Big Four” pay-per-view events. While we’ve witnessed various iterations and formats of Survivor Series over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5707,"featured_media":147347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7205,4,3],"tags":[8701],"class_list":["post-147343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-wwe-survivor-series"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5707"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147343"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147349,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147343\/revisions\/147349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}