Author: Ian Hamilton

Following up on last week’s column where we looked at a couple of WWF debuts from the 1990s, it’s time to look at the other side of the fence and see how WCW debuted some familiar (and not so familiar) faces.

Continuing our #BACKFILL series, and we’re back to Camden’s Electric Ballroom for PROGRESS Chapter 22 from October 2015, and the overly-titled “Trust, Encouragement, Reward, Loyalty, Satisfaction”. If that sounds familiar, it might be because you’re a fan of a British comedy…

Zack Ryder’s WWE career has been full of ups and downs. Originally debuting in ECW as Brett Majors – one half of the Majors Brothers tag team – his team with Brian Majors (now Curt Hawkins) was fairly nondescript.

Buried away in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter was a brief reference to WWE looking at starting up some more tournaments later this year. There’s been plenty of hype about the renamed-Cruiserweight Classic that’ll be filmed in the coming weeks, but perhaps WWE is fishing the same pond too soon, particularly when it comes to a rumoured women’s tournament.

Last weekend’s group of releases was surprising in that it didn’t include one name: Ryback. On the surface, it would seem ridiculous to let him go, but after he was sent home following a contract dispute, suddenly all bets were off.

This past Friday saw WWE release eight performers from their contracts, in a move that represented a throwback for the company, who for years had been avoiding the negative PR associated with releasing talent, by instead just not renewing contracts.

PROGRESS returned to Camden on April 24 for Chapter 29 – “Practically Progress In Every Way” – with a show that featured a pair of matches for WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series, and the finals of their latest Natural Progression Series. This would be an opportunity for the company to further put themselves on the map – and they grabbed the chance with both hands.

Everyone’s gotta start somewhere. Whether it’s a character whose first impressions become famous for the wrong reasons (Shockmaster) or for all the right reasons, you only get one chance to make a first impression. This week on Random Reviews, we look at a series of debut matches.