AEW's Lance Archer Looks Back On Hectic WWE Debut

If there was one bright spot to WWE's oft-panned version of ECW, it gave opportunities to those who might not have gotten a look otherwise. That includes AEW's Lance Archer, billed as Vance Archer at the time. Some might need a reminder that Archer was on WWE's roster around this time, or perhaps had no idea to begin with. Archer looked completely different when he first debuted in WWE-ECW, sporting a cleaner look than what fans typically associate with "The Muderhawk Monster." On "The Hawk's Nest," Archer revisited some of the eleventh-hour decisions surrounding his debut.

"I literally had no idea I was debuting until Joey Styles was like, 'Yeah, we'll get your information for the website later,'" Archer said. "And that's when I got first clued in to like, 'Oh, this is not just a look-at. This is a debut'...It went from not knowing that I was going to be doing anything, to finding out that morning."

Archer said he came in sporting an appearance similar to his current look, with extremely long hair and a full beard. But a last-minute directive from Vince McMahon sent Archer straight to the barber's chair.

"Vince McMahon and Johnny Ace were standing there, and they're talking to each other," Archer remembered. "Johnny Ace was finally like, 'Kid, come here.' 'What's up?' 'Cut your hair.' Like, 'Okay, cool ... Johnny took me straight to the hair and makeup ladies, and was like, 'Change his look.' ... [then] they took me to Vince, and Vince was like, 'Yes! I love it! ... I always say they turned me into 'Big Guy No. 3.' And that was Vance Archer.

For weeks Archer squashed opponents in enhancement matches, or "en-Lance-ment" matches, as he put it. Archer was released from WWE in late 2010 as part of broader budget cuts.