* Pre-debut vignettes are specifically this trope, producing a character for the audience to get a feel for, before they even wrestle a match.
** The Satanic spiel of Wrestling/KevinSullivan, his Army Of Darkness, as well as his summoning ritual to bring about [[Wrestling/MarkLewin The Purple Haze.]]
** [[Wrestling/ScottHall Razor Ramon]]'s 1st promo showed his disdain for intellectuals and that all he respects is strength. Meanwhile, he'd "live the good life" while showing nothing but disdain for ex-girlfriends and wait staff.
** Razor's SpiritualSuccessor Wrestling/{{Carlito|Colon}} had pre-debut vignettes that saw him walking around the Caribbean, smugly lecturing the audience on what "cool" is... then taking a bite of his apple and spitting in someone's face.
-->'''Carlito:''' I spit in the face of people who don't want to be cool!
** Wrestling/ValVenis' pre-debut vignettes showed him lounging around porn movie sets clad in only a towel, spewing out {{double entendre}}s like they were going out of style. One such vignette ended with the not-at-all-subtle tagline "Val Venis Is Coming." Another featured [[TheCameo a cameo]] by Jenna Jameson, the It Girl of late [[TheNineties '90s]] porn.
** Fitness guru [[Wrestling/MikeBucci Simon Dean]] debuted with an informercial for his "patented Simon System." You could even call the number at the bottom of the screen!
** Probably the mother of 'em all as far as pre-debut vignettes go was [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr. Perfect]], in which he'd perform incredible athletic feats, and brag about being the perfect athlete. In one, he bowled a perfect game. In another, he'd throw a football, then run downfield and catch his own throw.
* A wrestlers theme song and entrance is another example of being able to establish a character prior to actual wrestling. One example is Wrestling/HulkHogan and his theme "Real American," which illustrated Hogan's character as a man who fought for what was right, stood up against the bad guys, defended America and its values and always came up victorious.
* [[Wrestling/RandySavage Randy "Macho Man" Savage]] debuted in the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]] dressed in a gaudy purple robe that makes Wrestling/RicFlair look modest.
* Wrestling/TerryFunk: His 1985 debut — where he famously beat up ring attendant Mel Phillips for putting on his cowboy hat (so he could handle all the ring gear — and use of his branding iron showed the future king of hardcore as a ruthless, uncouth brawler and sadistic bully.
* Wrestling/{{Kamala}}: James Harris' Ugandan headhunter-cannibalistic savage gimmick had been used with success in several regional promotions, including [=USWA=] before [[Wrestling/FreddieBlassie "Classy" Freddie Blassie]] brought him to the WWF in the summer of 1984. The trope came into play during an infamous promo on the WWF's ''Tuesday Night Titans'' show, where Blassie -- along with Kamala's "handler," Friday (also a holdover from [=USWA=]) -- brought a caged live chicken onto the set. As Blassie bragged that Kamala would soon defeat both Wrestling/AndreTheGiant and Hulk Hogan, Kamala was preoccupied by the chicken. When hosts Wrestling/VinceMcMahon and "Lord" Alfred Hayes questioned Kamala's behavior, Blassie declared that it was time "for the chicken to do a disappearing act. He's going to eat him alive!" With several off-stage screams being heard, [=McMahon=] tried to stop Kamala and yelled out, [[BigNo "No! No! No!"]] as Friday opened the cage and Kamala reached for the chicken. A cut shot showed Kamala sitting on the couch with feathers around his mouth and [[EyeTake a completely insane look in his eyes]] (the idea of the promo being, of course, that he was a feared savage that could and would, given the chance, literally eat his opponents alive).
* When Wrestling/TommyDreamer started out in Wrestling/{{ECW}}, he was a hated pretty boy wrestler who looked like a WCW reject. Then, he had his famous Singapore Cane match with [[Wrestling/JimFullington the Sandman]], which he lost and, as part of the stipulation, had to be caned. With his back bloodied and him being unable to stand, Tommy should've stayed down. Instead, he got up and said, "Thank you, sir. '''''May I have another?'''''" He got his wish, and it was here that Tommy went from a hated pretty boy to the "heart and soul" of ECW.
* Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin when he won ''Wrestling/KingOfTheRing'' 1996: "You sit there, and you thump your bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts you]] '''''anywhere!''''' Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16... [[MemeticMutation Austin 3:16 says 'I just whipped your ass!']]"
** When he first became Stone Cold, he refused to wrestle a {{jobber}} and lost by forfeit. Then he came back and beat up the guy anyway.
* Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} made his Wrestling/{{WCW}} debut by Jackhammering the nearly 350-pound [[Wrestling/BillDeMott Hugh Morrus]] and pinning him.
** He later made his WWE debut by ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu spearing]] [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]''.
* Wrestling/{{Kane}} showed what he was made of when he showed up at the Wrestling/ShawnMichaels vs. Wrestling/TheUndertaker Hell in a Cell match at ''Wrestling/BadBlood'' 1997 and ripping the door off the cell.
* Wrestling/BigShow (though he was referred to by his actual name, Paul Wight, during the event he debuted in) interrupted a steel cage match between Stone Cold and Mr. [=McMahon=] and he threw Stone Cold onto the cage, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain causing it to break open]].
* Wrestling/ChrisJericho's WWE [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sRtouhd6co debut]] is one of the most famous instances of this trope ever. He interrupts a promo by ''[[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]'' to proclaim himself as "saving" the company.
-->'''Jericho:''' '''WELCOME TO... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis RAW! IS! JERICHO!!!]]'''
* Retroactive example, as Wrestling/SamoaJoe was initially only suppose to be in Wrestling/RingOfHonor for one night. But when fans saw him get kicked in the back of the head by Wrestling/LowKi, and ''[[BloodKnight smile]]'', they made it clear they wanted to see more of this guy.
* Wrestling/JohnCena debuted in 2002 as a generic wrestler wearing generic gear coming to the ring to generic music so bland the audience likely tuned it out. But the impression of a lifelong mid-carder or one destined to be future endeavored vanished when he took the fight to Wrestling/KurtAngle, countering Angle's finishing slam and ankle lock during their match and in general showing the attitude of a man who would never back down to any threat. All while uttering the words "Ruthless Agression" with such weight straight to Angle's face.
** Six months into Cena's Wrestling/{{WWE}} career, he was on the road to being lost in the shuffle until a Halloween episode of Smackdown, where he appeared dressed as Music/VanillaIce, cutting promos in freestyle rap. He hasn't looked back since.
* Wrestling/{{Umaga}} debuted in WWE by utterly demolishing Wrestling/RicFlair.
* Project 161 had been teased for ages, but it's establishing moment was when a mass of assailants attacked the Briscoes after their ladder war and suspended a bleeding Jay upside down. As his blood rained down on Wrestling/JimmyJacobs, it became better known as The Age Of The Fall.
%%ZCE * The NXT Riot was this for Wrestling/TheNexus.
* The debut of [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Kharma (the former Awesome Kong)]] in WWE. While the vignettes that had been airing painted her as no one to be trifled with, her first actual appearance came at Extreme Rules 2011, where she came out after Wrestling/MichelleMcCool lost a LoserLeavesTown match. She took her time getting to the ring and stalked an absolutely terrified [=McCool=] (a multiple time Women's/Diva's champion, mind you) for a good two minutes before getting in the ring and completely destroying her with an Implant Buster, then cackled insanely while the rest of the WWE Divas division looked on in horror from the locker room, knowing they are monumentally screwed.
* Wrestling/SinCara's WWE debut introduced both his flying-trampoline ring entry stunt and his general ability otherwise to virtually fly into the lights. In a run-in against ''Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}''.
** It also unintentionally established his tendency to mess up when performing moves, as he leapt over the ropes wrong and nearly came down directly on his head.
* When [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] debuted for Elite Wrestling, he did so barefoot, and among his first actions were trying to eat Cheese Burger, as well as trying to eat the hair of the referee.
* When Wrestling/JonMoxley made his first appearance after leaving WWE, it was at the highly anticipated ''Double or Nothing,'' the first Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling pay-per-view. How did he do it? By aping the old Shield entrance through the crowd and then laying waste to Wrestling/ChrisJericho, a referee, and ''Wrestling/KennyOmega!'' As if hitting the former two with his double underhook DDT wasn't enough, Moxley dropped Omega with it on the poker chips that were a part of the set and then gave him what was practically an [[Wrestling/JohnCena Attitude Adjustment]] off said chips, sending him crashing through the stage!
** For a few weeks, vignettes played during Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling shows, showcasing a man at a bar watching IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson intently while craving away at the bar counter with a knife. That man ended up being Jon Moxley, who would challenge Juice for the US title at the ''Best of the Super Juniors'' finals. Moxley quickly showed everyone that he was as violent as ever, attacking Juice with chairs, opening him up and attacking Young Lions at ringside. When a simple double underhook DDT wasn't enough to put Robinson away, Moxley debuted a variant which saw him lift Juice up with both arms hooked and driving him headfirst into the mat to win the title in his first match since leaving WWE.
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