Hey Jon and welcome!
Part of my pre-flight checks is making sure all the connections are snug, that includes the cables connecting the controller to the ESC as well as the battery to the ESC.
The battery connector has a small pre-charge resistor that helps reduce arcing as the ESC draws lots of current at first to fill its capacitors.
It could be that the battery wasn’t fully plugged in and then you replugging it in made sure it was past that pre-charge resistor. Some good info on that in this thread - Connector arced, easy clean
If you do a ground run-up for ~10 secs and you’re getting good power etc. that should help your peace of mind.