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Survivor Series: WarGames is almost upon us. WWE's final "Big Four" premium live event of 2022 emanates from the TD garden in Boston this Saturday, boasting a blockbuster card. The main roster debut of the WarGames match concept is the primary source of excitement, but the card is stacked all round.
Survivor Series has always been a buzzworthy event, whether consisting of traditional 5-on-5 matches or interbrand bouts. The addition of war games will certainly enhance its legacy, but the legend of Survivor Series goes beyond these matches. Some of the biggest legends in WWE history have made their debut on the second-longest running premium live event in the company's history.
Here are seven of the biggest WWE legends to debut at Survivor Series
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#7: Sting arrived in WWE at Survivor Series 2014
The main event of Survivor Series 2014 saw Team Authority take on Team Cena with major implications for both teams. If Team Authority lost, The Authority would be disbanded while a loss for Team Cena meant its members, apart from Cena himself, would lose their jobs. The match took many twists and turns, including a shocking heel turn from Big Show in which he eliminated himself and John Cena in one sweep.
Team Cena looked in grave peril with COO Triple H attacking their sole survivor, Dolph Ziggler, who only had Seth Rollins to beat. The lights went out in the arena, and out came WCW icon Sting, who attacked The Game and helped Team Cena win. It was an iconic arrival for the legendary figure, and will always be an iconic moment in his WWE career, which was shortened by injury before he joined AEW.
#6: Olympic gold medallist Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle made his WWE debut at the 1999 edition of Survivor Series with a quick win against Shawn Stasiak. The Olympic gold medallist's introduction to the company was kept short and simple, but it laid the foundation for one of the greatest rookie years in WWE history. Vince McMahon's decision to turn him heel on the fly due to a negative crowd reception was particularly genius.
Angle was outstanding as a heel and was world champion within a year of his solid debut. He would go on to have a Hall of Fame career before retiring in 2019. It all began with his bow at Survivor Series, which, while not as blockbuster as others on this list, did enough to show the world how quickly Angle had picked up the business.
#5,4,3: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose changed the WWE landscape at Survivor Series 2012
The main event of Survivor Series 2012 saw CM Punk defend the WWE championship against John Cena and Ryback. The Second City Saint retained his title in an incredible contest, but the match will forever be remembered for the iconic debut that interrupted it. Three NXT talents dressed in black attacked the competitors in the main event, leaving destruction in their wake.
They would later reveal themselves to be Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, collectively known as The Shield. The trio went on to dominate the industry over the next decade, winning fourteen world championships in two major companies. As 2022 comes to a close, Reigns has been Universal champion for over 800 days, Rollins is the United States champion and Ambrose (now Jon Moxley) has just main-evented AEW's Full Gear as world champion.
As far as memorable debuts beginning iconic careers go, The Shield's bow may just be the best in Survivor Series history.
#2: The Rock
Survivor Series 1996 was the birthplace of WWE's first third-generation Superstar, in the company's spiritual home of Madison Square Garden. 24-year old Rocky Maivia debuted to a lukewarm reaction as a babyface, making a big splash as the sole survivor of his traditional 5-on-5 team. He continued to be booked strong after the event, drawing the ire of the fans who didn't like his bland babyface character.
The negative reactions inspired a character change into the heel character The Rock, a brash trash-talker with truckloads of charisma and promo ability. Thus was born arguably the most popular WWE Superstar of all time, who went on to become the biggest movie star of an era. Survivor Series 1996 is where it all began.
#1: The Undertaker
It could be argued that The Shield or The Rock's debuts deserve to top this list because they were more impactful or produced bigger stars than this entry, respectively. However, few can deny that The Undertaker has given more of his life to WWE than any performer apart from Vince McMahon himself. It all began at Survivor Series 1990, when The Deadman debuted as Ted Dibiase's mystery teammate for a traditional 4-on-4 match.
'Taker was counted out of the match but helped his team achieve victory with Dibiase being the sole survivor. He built on this debut by becoming the youngest world champion in WWE history a year later before building a super-legendary career spanning 30 years, culminating at WrestleMania 36.
The Phenom is now a Hall of Famer, a distinction he shares with Sting and Angle, and will surely be joined in by The Rock and all three Shield members. Seeing how the seven-time world champion had a hand in all but Sting's ascent to their iconic status, his influential nature lands him the #1 spot.
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