10 Best Rookie Years in WWE History
How much can change in 12 months...
6. Yokozuna
Like the Undertaker, Yokozuna had the benefit of being a monster WWE creation that ticked a lot of boxes for the time.
He was experienced, he had a great gimmick and he had the size required to be pushed as a force.
Which he was, right from the get-go, as he Bonzai-dropped his way through the opposition from his October 1st, 1992 debut to the Royal Rumble, which he won by last eliminating Randy Savage.
This was the first Rumble that guaranteed a WWE Title opportunity at WrestleMania, the sumo leaving The Showcase of the Immortals as champion after defeating Bret Hart…
…no, wait, it was the Hogan thing, wasn’t it?
Anyway, Yoko wasn’t without the title for long, as he won it back at the King of the Ring pay-per-view.
His first real test was the suddenly patriotic Lex Luger, who famously slammed the big man on the USS Intrepid on July 4th.
Yokozuna lost their big match at SummerSlam, but retained the title since it was only by count-out.
Somebody please tell Luger before he – oh, too late, he’s already celebrating with confetti.
Yoko passed his one-year-in-WWE mark as champ, the then-youngest WWE Champion ever having established himself as the man to beat.
Written by Lewis Howse
Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.
