8 Superstars Who Won A Championship in Their WWE Debut
The toughest part of a Superstar's career in WWE could arguably be their introduction. Fans often very quickly decide whether to cheer or boo them, whether they are a babyface or heel. It can be when you are made or broken.
While a push could come very soon for a debuting Superstar, what could still arrive several months down the line is a Championship opportunity. In the eyes of many, both the fans and peers backstage, Championship matches are generally seen as being earned. But sometimes the WWE writing team can have big plans for a debuting Superstar right from the get-go, which more often than not involves a Championship victory.
That could be the case either for storyline purposes or company higher-ups seeing a lot of stock in a newcomer. Now and then we have seen a brand new Superstar make a huge statement in their debut match by not only being given a Championship match but becoming a Champion too. Here are eight times that a superstar has won a WWE Championship in their very first WWE main roster match.
#8 Paige, WWE Diva's Championship - 2014
In terms of this list, this one is probably the most famous of Championship debut victories.
This, of course, was not the first match Paige had ever had in WWE, as she spent the previous two years in NXT and was even the inaugural NXT Women's Champion. As far as WWE is concerned, however, this was her debut match.
Occurring the night after WrestleMania XXX on the always eventful post-Mania RAW, reigning WWE Diva's Champion AJ Lee came out to brag over her successful Championship defense the previous evening, and how it had been pretty much the entire WWE Diva's division being who she defeated in one night. She was then interrupted by reigning NXT Women's Champion Paige, who claimed she came out to congratulate her.
AJ responded by slapping her and challenging her to a title match, which Paige would surprisingly win in just a few minutes after catching the Champ off guard with a Paige Turner. Paige would hold the Championship for about two months before losing it back to Lee. She would trade Championship wins with Lee twice more in the coming months.
Paige winning the title, just went on to show you the quality of talent the WWE possessed in its developmental division. The NXT has been a driving force in giving the WWE an edge over other promotions in terms of talent push.