5 times a WWE/WCW PPV finished with two main-event debutants

While watching a rerun of Hell In A Cell 2016 recently, it occurred to me how the show was main-evented by two superstars who had never featured in the final match on a pay-per-view before

It got me thinking. Was this as rare as I thought? When was the last time they did this? How many times has this happened in WWE? Or WCW, for that matter?

Well, it was time to do a bit of research, and I discovered that this has only happened five times in WWE or NWA/WCW history.

An extra bit of digging revealed that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were in the main event of Hell In A Cell 2014 as singles wrestlers for the first time, but that doesn’t count as they had main-evented a PPV as part of The Shield.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn main-evented at Money In The Bank 2017, but that doesn’t count either as there were four other guys in the match who had previously closed a PPV.

So, to be clear, we are looking at main events where every superstar involved had never been in the final match on the card for his/her promotion before.

#1 Harley Race v Ric Flair (1983)

In the NWA days, eight years before the company was renamed WCW, the first PPV produced by Jim Crockett Promotions saw Harley Race and Ric Flair compete in the main event of Starrcade 1983.

Flair defeated the then-World Heavyweight Champion inside a steel cage and went on to feature in 18 main events out of the next 23 NWA/WCW PPVs.

Admittedly, this is an underwhelming inclusion but, as Starrcade 1983 was the first PPV produced by the company, whoever went on last would make this list.