How Were You Introduced To Wrestling?

[Its_A_Snake!]

How were you introduced to wrestling?

What was it that made you sit there in awe about the product and who really stood out for you?

For me, we go back to 1996.
My neighbours at the time had a VHS tape I was intrested in looking at, It was called WWF 1996 Royal Rumble. On the cover you had Bret Hart with the WWF title and his opponent and challenger, The intimidating Undertaker

Reading the back I noticed they had a 30 man rumble. a 30 Man Rumble ?! Good god I wanted to watch that match ! so I chucked it on !

Then, the 1st match I ever watched, The bonus free for all. The winner becoming number 30 and the loser being number 1 in the rumble match!

The rich snob Hunter Hearst Helmsley Vs The bum looking but loveable Duke The Dumpster Droese.
I couldnt believe what an arrogant ass Helmsley was & enjoyed watching The Dumperster throw him around and beat the hell out of him.
Then watching Hunter blast him in the face with something to cheat and gain number 30 spot made my blood boil! However Gorilla Monsoon changed that when he reveresed the decision thanks to the WWF's instant replay.
I was happy. That snob was number 1 & The dumpster was 30 !

Then I remember a number of different things.. Shawn Micheals coming out for an interview.. People going wild, HBK doing his thing was electric! I was glued to the edge of my seat. I have watched that interview a million times and know it from memory and HBK has been my fav ever since.

I was jumping for joy when he won the rumble. But he eliminated his best friend! Big Daddy cool dammit!
I thought Diesel was the coolest guy in the world! The cool swagger, then chilled out approach for an interview.

The Undertaker & Goldust scared the hell out of me.. Goldust because he was just, well.. Weird and The Undertaker because I had never seen a real life deadman before.

Bear in mind I was only 6 years old. haha

 

[DirtyD79]

I started watching back when I was about 10 or 11. My parents would rent wrestling video tapes for my brother at the store and I started watching them too. I still remember Ultimate Warrior's entrance. He would run down to the ring like he had diarrhea and no dimes. Shawn Michaels was one of my favorites too even though he was a heel. I never really got into the whole good guys versus bad guys thing.

 

[Wald]

My brother used to watch it a lot, I started paying attention with the Mega Powers exploding angle and it just snowballed from there.

I remember nearly crying when Hogan beat Macho

 

[Dan]

My Cousin got me into it around 1998, And i haven't stopped watching it since.

 

[neildittmar]

Summer of 1989, I was almost 12 years old. My grandparents had come up from Florida to visit like they always do. I know my grandpop had always watched wrestling (both WWF and NWA) while they stayed with us, but never really paid it any interest in prior years. I'm not sure what was different about that particular year, but I was instantly glued and watched with him every time he had it on.

About 2 weeks later they had left to go back home, but my interest in pro-wrestling didn't wane. In fact, it grew increasingly stronger. The first major feud I remember was Hulk Hogan and Brutus the Barber Beefcake versus Randy Savage and Zeus on the upcoming Summerslam PPV. I begged my parents incessantly to order the PPV, but was subsequently disappointed when I was told that Pay-Per-View wasn't yet available in our area. By the time Summerslam rolled around the next year, our cable provider had finally got with the times and could support PPV ordering. I was in bliss watching Ultimate Warrior defend his newly won WWF Championship vs. Ravishing Rick Rude in a cage. Things just continued to snowball from there.

A little sidenote about the '89 Summerslam... my mom, being the awesome person that she is, got in touch with someone who actually went to the event and was able to bring back pictures from Summerslam. She put together a photo album for me of all those shots and gave it to me for my birthday a few weeks later. I'm fairly certain I still have it packed away somewhere.

I've pretty much been a fan of some kind of wrestling for the last 22 years or so since. Currently, I'm paying the most attention to TNA but WWE has me hooked a little again with it's strong programs going into Wrestlemania this year. I haven't ordered PPV's religiously in many, many years and am not as glued to the product as I once was. However, I'm still a fan and those initial memories remain fresh in my mind. Those early experiences are, in fact, what has kept me a fan over the last two decades, even as the product has grown, changed, and shifted focus over time.

 

[Krossbreed]

watching it with my dad and family...then eventually i noticed they stopped watching and i kept watching...wrestling has always been a pick me upper, whether its a bad day at school or work, a break up, or even if you loose our job...you watch wrestling and by the end of the show you feel allot better than you did before...it takes your mind off things...ufc does the same, all sports do...our minds go blank and we spectate.

I watch wrestling because we arent left out of anything...if wrestling was real i prob wouldnt watch it as often, i like promos more now...wrestling not so much i prefer the story telling.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

My cousin was a big wrestling fan, he had a hell of a lot of wrestling figures, both WCW and WWF, and we always used to play with them when I was round at his house. His Bret Hart one was my favourite.

Then, we started watching some of the shows on TV, and I remember just being immediately drawn into it. I can't really remember the first matches I saw, but as my parents hated wrestling I never got to watch it at home in those early days, so whenever I was at my cousin's we used to either watch it on TV or watch some of his WWF video tapes.

I havent stopped watching since.

 

[King Patrick Star]

It was a nice Spring day in 1989. WrestleMania V just passed a few weeks ago. My friends in the neighborhood couldn’t stop talking about it. By this time, I saw a few matches here and there from the day I was born, but never really got into it. One day, after the Saturday morning cartoons were done, I decided to channel surf. I come across WWE Wrestling Challenge and saw a promo cut by Hulk Hogan, followed by a match pitting the Ultimate Warrior vs. a Jobber. From that point on, I never stopped watching.

 

[Lowdown]

My older cousin got me into to it at an early age, around 4 or so. This was after the first WM and he had the original WWF figures. So once I started watching it regularly, I was a fan of Hogan and Andre, and later on Jake the Snake, Macho Man, and Demolition. I just wished I would've listened to him and watched NWA at the same time and saw the beginning of the Horsemen forming and Sting when he debuted in WCW. But I got some DVD's now so I go back and watch from time to time.

 

[alfonzo13]

It was actually late 2007 when I first watched it, Smackdown. I had watched RAW a few times during the attitude era. But when I started watching again, they were coming off the end of TV14 era and transitioning to pg programming. But when I did watch it, I figured I'd start with Smackdown, since Kane was my favorite back then. I switched to RAW in March of 2008, and Randy Orton just grew on me right away, the rest is leads up to now since I still watch it. I started TNA in summer of '08, but it never really clicked for me, now, I just watch RAW and Smackdown.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I was aware of the whole wrestling explosion in the main stream media in 84 & 85 but I wasnt impressed. I had even watched the 1st WrestleMania and again, I wasnt impressed.

Then one Saturday night in the spring of 86 I switched on TBS during their weekly 2 hour wrestling show. I caught a confrontation between a jeans & T-shirt clad young guy and a suit & tie clad guy with sunglasses, dressed to the hilt. The jeans & T-shirt guy was Ricky Morton & the dressed for success guy was Ric Flair. Morton was railing at Flair for being obnoxious and turning on the fans who support him. To my surprise Flair responds that the fans are lucky to have him, they need him not the other way around. Then he pulls a training bra out of his sport coat, handing it to Morton to give to one of his "little girls" because Flair hangs out with "women" who dont need such things. Morton calmly takes Flair's sunglasses of his head & smashes them with his foot. Flair, shocked, slaps him in the face and Morton proceeds to beat Flair up in a pretty good brawl.

The promo was way more intense and entertaining than anything the family friendly cartoon like WWE was offering and I was hooked. Living in Pgh, WWE territory, I wasnt aware there was wrestling outside of Hogan & company. I waited all weel to watch this show again and the following week the fan favorite Morton came out during the heel Flair's scheduled match vs some prelim guy and challenges him to a match with him. Surprisingly Flair despite being a villain accepts. The prelim guy is sent back and these two put on a match every bit as good as Flair-Steamboat or Hart-Michaels, absolutely fabulous 45 minute classic match with Morton going over clean. The match was so much better than anything Id ever seen in WWE at that point there was no doubt I was hooked.

Both companies were in their heyday during this mid 80s boom period and I watched both but was always more entertained by the NWA, better matches, better promos, etc. Despite growing up in WWE country during the heyday of the Rock & Wrestling Connection, the rise of Hulkamania, etc it was Flair-Morton that got me hooked on pro wrestling.

 

[JohnnyBlaze1986]

I'm an Italian in NJ. That alone should give it away lmao.

My grandmother was a HUGE wrestling fan. She even had some of the boys at the house and used to go to the Armory over here all the time. So, it's no secret that I was RAISED on this business. But, the first show I can remember watching was the December 1986 MSG show with Hulk Hogan vs. Kamala. Hogan beat the SHIT out of Kamala after that interview!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_m95ck6Th8

I've watched it ever since. Hell, I just recently spent a PRETTY penny getting my favorite toys of all time back: The ORIGINAL Series 1 Hasbros and the Official Ring. The ring I was pretty much forced to get new as the ropes on those became dry rotted after a long time.

I have so many memories in the business that I could write a book. Most of my friends(including my BEST friend) and best memories were because of wrestling. I'm up to my EARS in old DVD's of PPV's, Coliseum Videos, On Demand programming, the WORKS!

Even though I've been smartened up since I was a kid and even made somewhat of a second career bitching and moaning about what's WRONG with the business, I still hold wrestling deep in my heart.

I wish we had a thread of JUST wrestling stories. I bet that thread would fill with pages FAST!

BTW, not picking on anybody, but notice how it's the OLDER wrestling fans who grew up in the 80's who have the biggest passions about wrestling. The internet kind of ruined it for this generation, me thinks...

 

[ITrippedTheShockmaster]

It was the mid- to late-80s. I was probably about 7 or 8 years old. I turned on the television one day and came across either NWA or WWF programming (can't remember the show). I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Larger than life characters battling in the ring and talking trash to each other outside of it. Hogan, Flair, Macho, Warrior, Roddy Piper, Jake the Snake, Road Warriors, The 4 Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, Sting, etc. I was hooked. Started watching as much as I could of NWA/WCW, WWF, Deep South, WCCW, etc. I'm from the south, so there's a lot of wrestling tradition here that's hard to avoid. There was also a local promotion in my area, 5 Star Wrestling, that had somewhat notable names in it from time to time and they had a late-night television show that I'd stay up to watch. I also remember coming home from school each weekday when I was in junior high and early high school and watching WCCW on ESPN. My first live experience was a house show where the main event was Sgt. Slaughter (in the Iraq gimmick) against Hacksaw Jim Duggan. My buddies and I at the time used to rent the WWF PPVs on video after they came out, and also watched all of the older ones. I used to record all of the WCW Clash of the Champions events (still have many of them, BTW). As I've gotten older, I started to appreciate the behind-the-scenes stuff, production value, character development, etc.

 

[HitmanRicks]

I was a kid during the Attitude Era, about age 7 or 8 when all the tough kids in my grade were watching and loving Stone Cold and The Rock. I also remember being alone in my church's classroom with a TV that had an antenna and scrolling through the channels on a Thursday night, finding a blurry, static-filled broadcast of Smackdown with what I think was Booker T facing Chris Jericho, and trying to watch it since I was bored. I always thought wrestling was stupid and fake, and I didn't bother giving it a chance.

One day while flipping through the channels in late 2005, I stumbled upon 2 men in a wrestling ring doing crazy things with a ladder. It was Matt Hardy vs Edge in a Ladder Match for Edge's Money in the Bank Briefcase on the RAW Homecoming, and if Matt lost, he'd be banned from RAW. I stayed on the channel and was blown away by the athleticism.

Then I saw Stone Cold hit the Stunner on every member of the McMahon family. I remember dying laughing when Shane O'Mac got into the ring, put the mic up to his lips, took a breath...and was dropped with a Stunner before a word could leave his mouth.

Ever since then, I've been hooked. I've went back and watched any match I could and fell in love with the work of guys like "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart, and more.

 

[Pbenglish]

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was born in England, but moved to Canada when I was young, and every month or two, WWF would come to town and put on a show at Maple Leaf Garden in downtown Toronto (by the way, Maple Leaf Wrestling was the BEST syndicated show WWF ever ran, it was essentially WWF Superstars, but the main event was always a match from Maple Leaf Garden...) My father was friends with a man who handled ring announcing at Maple Leaf Garden. It wasn't like today where you know who the announcers are, this man was an employee of Maple Leaf Garden, and from time to time, he would get us tickets to Leaf games, and other sports, but not wrestling as I just didn't watch it.
So anyways, a few weeks before Wrestlemania 2, the Toronto Sun ran a full page story about WWF coming back to town, and on the opposite side of the story was a full color photo of Hogan posing. I didn't fully understand all of it (I was 6 at the time), but I do remember later that day watching Maple Leaf Wrestling and sure enough, this massive man that was in the paper was now on TV, talking about running wild all over King Kong Bundy. I was HOOKED! I went and begged my parents to take me to the next show at M.L.G, and my father spoke to his friend, and we were hooked up with tickets for the next show (which was before Wrestlemania 2)
Almost 30 years later, I still remember sitting there, enthralled, as I watched all these giants in the ring. Seeing Andre the Giant lumber down to the ring scared me...it just didn't seem possible that someone could be THAT BIG. Seeing Hogan live was amazing. The whole thing was magical. I still have the program at my parent's house, and the lineup was amazing. Hogan, Andre, Big John Studd, Piper, Hart Foundation, etc etc etc. As we left the show, we walked by Paul Orndorff on a payphone in the lobby, which is something I doubt you'd see today. It really was different.
It's funny how things like that work. I can't remember much about my childhood at that age, yet I can still distinctly remember that article in the Toronto Sun, I can still remember the feeling of walking into Maple Leaf Garden and how the ring looked, I can remember walking by Orndorff and being completely terrified, yet amazed by him.
I've gone to shows over the years since then, and not one of them has held the same magic as that first show (and I've been to 4 Wrestlemanias, numerous Raw/Smackdown tapings, other PPV's and house shows). Nothing ever matched that first card in Maple Leaf Garden.

Great thread by the way!

 

[jrichardson25]

My story is slightly complex... and when I say that I mean its not at all...

My older cousin (about 8 years older than I am) watched wrestling before I was born and still does (he's who I attend shows and watch PPV with). I remember being a Hulk Hogan fan when I was real young. He was a fan of Ultimate Warrior (so circa 1990). He got me the Hulk Hogan wrestling buddy (that I still have. Best merch EVER) I never watched a lot... then I fell out of it...

I played the wrestling video games for fun (Smackdown 1 on PS1 and a couple others) I got into high school in 2001 and about halfway through the school year (so right after Wrestlemania X8 and the change to WWE) I started picking it up again because of my friends. I got hooked on it before too long and here I am 10 years later.

 

[FanSince85]

My uncle was a bodybuilder and used to work out with guys like Savage, Magnum T.A. and Koloff. There was a house show where I lived and he ran into Savage at the gym, Randy gave him some tickets and he took my brother and me to the show.

 

[JBPK]

Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling at age 4. I loved cartoons (as do most kids) & I loved that cartoon. Especially JYD & Hillbilly Jim. My dad bought the tall, all rubber LJN Hulk Hogan figure from Marshalls & everything.

Then, a random Saturday afternoon, I came across WWF Wrestling Challenge.

Blew. My. Mind.

Before that moment I thought wrestlers were just cartoon characters. Now, Im seeing all these dudes in real life??!! Are you kidding? I was completely sold. Then I saw the likes of Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Immediate hero.
Had all the toys. The ring. Spent all my quarters playing Wrestlefest in the arcade. You name it.

Then, while spending an evening at my friends grandparents (who had cable, which was awesome at the time because we didn't), I stumbled across him watching WCW Saturday Night. I didn't know any of the wrestlers, but I knew I hated Johnny B. Badd. Before long, I was neck deep in wrestling & never stopped...except for between 2001-2009, but I digress. That's my story.

 

[closet_fan]

I was aware of the whole wrestling explosion in the main stream media in 84 & 85 but I wasnt impressed. I had even watched the 1st WrestleMania and again, I wasnt impressed.

Then one Saturday night in the spring of 86 I switched on TBS during their weekly 2 hour wrestling show. I caught a confrontation between a jeans & T-shirt clad young guy and a suit & tie clad guy with sunglasses, dressed to the hilt. The jeans & T-shirt guy was Ricky Morton & the dressed for success guy was Ric Flair. Morton was railing at Flair for being obnoxious and turning on the fans who support him. To my surprise Flair responds that the fans are lucky to have him, they need him not the other way around. Then he pulls a training bra out of his sport coat, handing it to Morton to give to one of his "little girls" because Flair hangs out with "women" who dont need such things. Morton calmly takes Flair's sunglasses of his head & smashes them with his foot. Flair, shocked, slaps him in the face and Morton proceeds to beat Flair up in a pretty good brawl.

The promo was way more intense and entertaining than anything the family friendly cartoon like WWE was offering and I was hooked. Living in Pgh, WWE territory, I wasnt aware there was wrestling outside of Hogan & company. I waited all weel to watch this show again and the following week the fan favorite Morton came out during the heel Flair's scheduled match vs some prelim guy and challenges him to a match with him. Surprisingly Flair despite being a villain accepts. The prelim guy is sent back and these two put on a match every bit as good as Flair-Steamboat or Hart-Michaels, absolutely fabulous 45 minute classic match with Morton going over clean. The match was so much better than anything Id ever seen in WWE at that point there was no doubt I was hooked.

Both companies were in their heyday during this mid 80s boom period and I watched both but was always more entertained by the NWA, better matches, better promos, etc. Despite growing up in WWE country during the heyday of the Rock & Wrestling Connection, the rise of Hulkamania, etc it was Flair-Morton that got me hooked on pro wrestling.

Before we had cable, wrestling was only on on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. That was it. My first recollection of WWF was Corporal Kirchner.

I remember when we finally got cable, I thought the NWA blew away what Vince was pushing out at the time and that's how I really got into it. You had real storylines, not "I hate you. I hate you. Let's fight."

I was watching NWA a hell of a lot more than the WWF after that. I still watched both, but the NWA was more realistic to me. When the Four Horsemen broke Dusty Rhodes' arm, I really thought it happened. Their characters were more realistic to. Magnum TA looked like a guy you'd see at someone's cookout.

 

[KoC417]

I started when I was about 5 maybe 6. I saw Sister Sherri laying a smooch on Robert Parker and i thought it was hilarious how he was so scared from the kiss. From then on anytime I was taken to captain video or "moovies" whatever the company was called I would sneak into the "sports" section and find old tapes to watch.
Man I still remember watching the surfer style Sting coming out. I'd hop up on the couch and "WOOOOH!!!!!" whenever he would. Scared my parents half to death everytime but that made it all the more enjoyable.

 

[HBsam31]

Shortly after wrestlemania 3 when I was about 5 years old, my dad brought me home a recorded copy of it. I don't remember watching anything else except Hogan and Andre over and over again. (I did watch the whole event, but this match obviously stood out along with steamboat/savage). I was hooked for life after that. I started watching superstar and all american wrestling, and I never looked back. Wrestling has always been a comfort show for me. If I have a bad day or something wrestling always makes me forget my problems. I am now 31 and still going strong, and have no intent to stop watching anytime soon.

 

[King of the Words]

I started watching the WWF back in the mid 80's when I heard of this wrestler named Hulk Hogan who was getting really popular. As Hulkamania grew so did my interest in wrestling. My Younger brother even got the Hulk Hogan work out set that came with two 2 pound bar bells, a skipping rope, and Hogans voice on a cassette tape giving a cardio work out to all the little Hulksters and Hulkamaniacs.(lol) It was all really fun and new. I watched the rockin Wrestling cartoon, watched the show on saturday, and collected a lot of those hard rubber WWF wrestlers. Andre was my favorite because of his size. I was just hooked by Mania 3 and thought it was the best thing I ever saw. My grandfather`s mother use to watch it back in the day and my grandfather always watched it so I guess it was in my blood. I pretty much was a WWF-WWE loyalist. I never got into WCW or anything else. I always thought the entrances with the music and all was way better in WWF and really added to the product. I have enjoyed the WWf-wwe product all the way up from Mania one until this pg era. This Mania is looking promising, so I hope it doesn`t become a let down. I wonder, though, after all the attitude era stars retire what will happen with the WWE when Cena and Orton are the oldest ones left in it. Hopefully new talent will be focussed on the next couple of years. Punk and Sheamus look good, Dolph and Cody, Wade, and Bryan are getting over too. It could be a promising future for WWE if they build new stars properly.

 

[FiveTymeWCWChamp]

I remember watching as we called it in VA "wrassling" with my grandmother. I was lucky enough to live in the mid atlantic and was able to watch both WWF and NWA. Right after Saturday morning cartoons, it was NWA at 11 and WWF at 12. I got the best of both worlds. We were a NWA household though. It just seemed more real. I loved Magnum, Dusty, the RnR Express growing up and then came Sting. The Horsemen were the guys you loved to hate, which became guys that you just loved. The Varsity Club. Then when we got cable and WCW Saturday Night. So I have to say my love for wrestling came as a child watching it with my grandmother

 

[ECW Sandman]

1984-85 I was 2 or 3 years old I was at my Uncle's house and he was a big wrestling fan now a days he does not watch it any more but back then he did anyways he was watching WWF and I was playing with my twin brother and my cousin and the TV was on in the background and all of a sudden I hear this beat that caught my ear and I looked up and saw Hulk Hogan ripping his shirt and I was little so I thought he was mad and I remember asking my Uncle why is that man mad and he told me he's not he's just really pumped up, So after my first encounter with Hulk Hogan on TV I was hooked but not until I saw Macho Man Randy Savage then I was really hooked Savage was my all time favorite in the WWF since 84- 85 and Hogan was my second so both of them got m e really hooked on wrestling and I have been watching wrestling for 28 years and I still enjoy it.

 

[EB112177]

Really good thread I must say. For me it was back in the mid 80s. I want to say summer right after WM2 or maybe it was fall. I was about 8 or 9. I was over next door at my friend's house. His older brothers were watching WWF Superstars. I thought it was the coolest thing. It then became a routine every Saturday I'd go there and we'd watch it. Even after Superstars was over, we'd then start wrestling. Then after a couple months I'd stay home and watch it. Dad would watch it too every now and then with me. They were always coming to my area every month. So one day I was surprised, didn't even ask to go, we had tickets to go to a live wrestling event. Remember being in the second level of the areana. That was awesome. Them right after intermission, they would announce that they were returning the next month. I was asking to go again. This time wanting to be closer to the action, down on the floor or what not. Was always trying to get front row tickets. Thats how it all started for me.