How Were You Introduced To Wrestling?

[BestlyDone]

I started watching in 2005 i was about 10 and the first PPV i saw was No Way Out. Then i saw WM21 and my favorite wrestlers became Eddie, Edge, Kurt Angle and of course HHH.

 

[otto403]

It all started for me with Stampede Wrestling in the late 70's.The live show was on Friday night and was shown on T.V the next day.No mater how much fun I was having with my friends I was always home by 1:30 to watch stampede.I began to watch WWF as former stampede stars made the switch.

 

[jokernaut]

i was about 5 years old and my dad was watching monday night raw and it hooked me. loved all the drama and action. after that i rented wm6 warrior vs hogan on vhs and since then its been a long time love and for those that have seen wm6 understand why i got hooked so easily

 

[SorgFamily]

One summer I became friends with a guy that was a few years older than me and practically every other weekend I was staying at his house. One night he had rented some wrestling tapes. I don't remember what ppv it was or even the year. But I remember it was a tag team gauntlet and I think The Steiners won. The tape was from when they were still in WWF but this must of been 2000 or so. Maybe a year or two before that. I remember being wowed by everything I was seeing and despite knowing no one, found myself rooting for The Steiners. After that it still took a year or two to really get into everything but that tape definitely started everything.

 

[B.Ware]

First of all, excellent thread. I've read every single posters experiences and enjoyed reading most of them.

My first experiences with wrestling were playing with the hasbro figurines and NES games. I never really watched all that much until I was about six or seven years old. We'd go down to the local rental shop and rent a Wrestlemania or Royal Rumble video however my favorite one to watch was the SilverVision British Bulldogs VHS. Around 1993 WCW was aired on Saturday afternoons on ITV and I was hooked on Sting, Ron Simmons and Cactus Jack. Then my parents purchased Sky TV which aired WWF programming on Sky Sports. From then on I was a sure fire WWF fan and never looked back. Thanks to Power Slam magazine, my parents, ITV, Sky Sports and my local video shop for my love of wrestling.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I must be the fresher in here! I started watching wrestling in January of 2009.. The first thing I saw was Randy Orton punting Vince McMahon right to the skull. I felt like "wow, what has just happenned?". The I realized what was "RAW" and what was "Smackdown". And since then I haven't missed a single episode. However, due to my age and the country I live I wasn't able to catch up the attitude era. But, through youtube and Wikipedia I learned many many things for wrestling and I must say that not being older in order to watch the AA and the Golden Era is a pitty.

 

[Paralyzer Z]

Ah yes, I remember it like it was 8 years ago. If you haven't guessed it by know it was 8 years ago that I became a fanatic of professional wrestling.

I got a quick glimpse randomly off TV while at my Grandmother's house in August 2004 when I saw Undertaker choke slam JBL on Smackdown. My brother and I being naive 8 and 7 year old children at the time thought JBL was dead, but my uncle had to reluctantly explain to us his paraphrasing of the dictionary definition of unconscious.

It wasn't until a year later that I tuned in again right about when Carlito was IC champ, Cena and Bischoff were feuding, and Kane was battling Edge shortly before Matt Hardy's return. My cousin got us into it and at first it seemed like a magical show and an extremely emotionally captivating product, that was until I became aware it's "fake nature". Regardless I became a wrestling buff instantaneously while proceeding to constantly research WWE history. Before I knew it I was a die hard (notice I didn't utter "hardcore" wrestling fan at 9 years old. From there on I continuously watched without a break from it for years and years later. Even when the people that got me into it grew out of it I still watch to this very day.

Anyway that was a bit of a tangent. My memory has a very transparent access to that time due to it;s rather recent occurrence, recent in comparison to those who have watched for about 10 or 20 years now.

 

[OldSchoolDude]

How about 50 years ago??? I stumbled across Big Time Wrestling in 1962 or 1963 when I was about 10 on our old black and white TV and was hooked immediately. This was in the days long before national wrestling was around, just territories. I was in Roy Shire's area, Northern California.

Back then, it was a completely different product than what you see today. The guys knew how to "work the stick" and would do several minute monologues during their interview sessions. Seeing these bigger-than-life characters in a real-life melodrama was all it took to hook me in for the rest of my life.

As luck would have it, the TV station where the matches were taped moved into a building a half block from where I grew up and I spent a lot of nights watching guys like Ray Stevens, Pat Patterson, Rocky Johnson, Mephisto, Muraco, Ken Ramey and The Interns... everyone who was anyone... at ringside, for free. Yep... the station just handed out tickets to the tapings every week, and I would estimate there was seating for something like 100 people. Good times, great memories. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to share some Old School thoughts with you all.

 

[i_will_be_electrified]

i had to be about 5 or 6 my moms ex took us to a wcw nitro i really didnt give a shit then fast foward a few years later im flipping through channels and see a bald redneck stomping a santa clause and flipping people off i was crying because this man was beating santa but laughing at the same time because i was pissed at santa because i didnt get my power ranger command center the year b4 long story short ive been hooked since 15 years strong and still love it

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

Well, for me it started around 1999. Ironically enough, I was a 4 year old kid watching WWF programing in the height of the TV-14 rated Attitude Era. Anywho, me and my dad would watch it. My parents would always buy me the action figures, but I never knew who they were, who was good, who was bad, etc. The first thing from wrestling I remember watching was Sunday's Heat. This was back when it came on in the afternoon/morning. They were showing a video package of the X-Pac and Kane vs Big Show and Undertaker rivalry. Since then, X-Pac was my favorite wrestler. Then I saw The Rock. A guy who always made ass jokes, and made fun of the other wrestlers. Since then, The Rock was always my favorite, and I've been hooked to wrestling!

 

[swatts36]

I go back a little bit farther to 1979. I remember it was a Saturday morning and the first person I saw was Harley Race. I was hooked watching wrestling at five years old. I have watched it for all these years but WWE really needs some competition I have been bored with wrestling for several years now. Hell I don't even watch it every week just read about it. I used to order all the ppvs and have went to shows and ppvs live. I have met several wrestlers over the years I just can't into the product they are putting out. The titles are just to watered down no great tag team division. I just wish they would look at improving the wrestling product. The wrestling action is probally better than it used to be but alot of these younger wrestlers cannot tell a story inside the ring.

 

[sweetcosmicpope]

I can't pinpoint it to an exact moment. I suspect I had been watching as early as 1986, when I was 2 years old. I clearly remember, though, the feud between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. My cousin lived with us and we watched wrestlemania, and I'll never forget when Hogan slammed Andre. Doesn't seem like a big deal when you watch it now, but back then both of our eyes widened and we were like "holy crap!!!"

I was definitely a Hogan and Macho Man fan, and when the Mega Powers fueded, I couldn't wait for Macho Man to get his arse kicked. lol

I watched all the wrestling I could in the 80s: WWF, WCW, the local NWA, which I believe was mid-south, and even GLOW.

 

[Dr. IaN]

I got into it from my uncle and cousins. My uncle gave me a tape, which was Wrestlemania 17. I was around 8 or 9 at the time and loved the TLC match with E&C, Dudleys, and Hardys. Not only that, but I heavily idolized The Rock, I didn't have cable at the time so I could only get Smackdown on UPN. So, I would watch RAW with the my uncle and cousins. Pretty awesome experience.

 

[gwarren]

I think I'm the most recent new fan on here, I watched a few random PPVs round friends houses every now and again but it's only been in the last year that I've properly started watching.

I honestly can't remember what made me start watching it fully, but I started to watch at exactly the wrong time, only got to watch Edge in 3 PPVs, Shawn Michael retired, Undertaker looks set to leave soon. I wish I'd been able to see those guys in their prime.

 

[ECW Sandman]

I think I'm the most recent new fan on here, I watched a few random PPVs round friends houses every now and again but it's only been in the last year that I've properly started watching.

I honestly can't remember what made me start watching it fully, but I started to watch at exactly the wrong time, only got to watch Edge in 3 PPVs, Shawn Michael retired, Undertaker looks set to leave soon. I wish I'd been able to see those guys in their prime.

Dude Taker and Shawn in there prime were Simply Amazing, Shawn was the most hated guy in the WWF in 92 when He turned on his life long tag team partner Marty Jannetty on The Barber Shop on WWF Wrestling Challenge It was shocking you should look it up on You Tube. and for Undertaker his presents in his prime was just unreal ( no pun intended ) how he walked the ropes now refered to as '' Old School '' it was a site to see and I saw both in person wrestling in 92 or 93 and let me tell you it was a cool night to see them in there prime, go back and watch some old matches and you will get to see some classics.

 

[MarcoMarquez]

I remember watching it when I was around 3 or 4 years old and Big Show and Hulk Hogan were fighting on top of an arena or something like that? I don't remember much because I was young but I do remember Big Show falling off the roof and I didn't watch it for years due to the mainstream power rangers lol but I started watching again on a Thursday Night SmackDown...Big Show vs Brock Lesnar! Show and Lesnar going at it then superplex off the ring post and boom, the ring implodes and I've been watching it ever since!

 

[irish_glen_1990]

It was random with me. Basically channel flicking and WCW Nitro was on this was 1998 if i remember correctly. Hogan was champ with the NWO. first introduced to WWE also in 1998 in even more random circumstances, Basically we was having a new tv installed with cable and the cable channel was showing a freeview and it was of Stone Cold pulling out the gun on Vince and Vince wetting himself lol.

But because the channel WWE was on was a subscription channel it wasn't untill december 1999 when i really got into WWE therefore for the rest of 1998 and most of 1999 it was WCW only for me as it was on a free-to-air channel.

In my opinion looking back it was the best time to be a wrestling fan as many of you am sure will agree and only being 8/9 years old at the time it was still real to me so even better.

 

[carnivalrejectq]

Well , I guess this will be my first post. I started watching in 93 or 94 , WM 10 was coming up , i can somewhat recall. I was just playing around in the apartment complex i lived in , as usual , when one of my freinds asked me if i wanted to have a wrestling match , having no idea what he was asking me , he gave me more information to watch WWF Raw that night . I did. Im now 24 years old and its been the mainstay in my life ever since. If i were to reset and re exist . Im pretty sure itd still be there. Its a part of my very being .

 

[Ryan420]

I had just turned 12, it was in December 2000, at a friends house school and him and his sister asked me and my brother if we wanted to see someone get thrown off of a roof of a cage. Up to this point for some reason I always criticized pro wrestling, for some reason I thought it was stupid, even though I never watched it before. But I said ok to check it out. They had ordered Armageddon 2000 and taped it. When they played the tape they left the room to do something and when they came back to fast forward it to rikishi being thrown off the Cell I told them to leave it.

First match was Hardyz & Lita vs The Radicalz and The Hardy Boyz entrance music and their look made me want to watch them.

From then on I have been hooked. The Hardyz,Kane and Undertaker stuck out to me at first, as I already knew who Austin,Rock and HHH were before I started watching.
I was ignorant at first as my mom would look in the TV Guide and tell me Nitro and ECW ere also on but I never wanted to watch those, only WWF. But since then I have expanded, I love all pro wrestling, I got dvds/vhs of 80s WWF up to now, NWA/WCW, ECW, TNA, lots of indy stuff, japan etc. I enjoy it all, just because someone asked me if I wanted to see someone get thrown off the top of a cage.

 

[MPWFchairman]

I simply don't remember not watching wrestling lol. My Dad was a big fan of it and my mum said when i was like a year old i was transfixed on it. According to my mum i hated watching other sports and playing with army men and trains all i would do is elbow drops and watch Bam Bam Bigelow lol. And i guess i started actually remembering things from like age 5 and 6. So yeah i have pretty much been a wrestling fan my entire life lol.

 

[g12solution]

I cant remember exactly because i was really young. But my brothers and sister were all big wrestling fans so i watched it with them and i really liked it so i have been watching since 2001

 

[HBKperfect23]

Started watching sometime in between summerslam 91 and survivor series 91. Wanted to watch Hulk Hogan. Hated Ric Flair, didnt understand who was champion. First event was at the spectrum which featured Hogan/Flair. Snake/Macho made me think wrestling was real for sure because Savage really hated him (I was 6). Loved the Rockers, LOD, Bret Hart,Piper,Savage,Bossman ans Duggan. First time I noticed "match quality" was Piper/Hart at WM8.......yes I became a mark at age 6. First "bad guy" I rooted for was Shawn Michaels.

 

[BDaMan612]

It was pretty random for me. It kind of started with me getting WWF War Zone for the N64 when it first came out (I was 7 at the time). I started playing that a lot and got to know all the wrestlers on the game. At this time, I remember I thought Kane and Undertaker were the same person just because they looked the same in the game. Slowly got accustomed to who was good and who was bad (didn't know the terms "Face" and "Heel" yet, of course).

It wasn't until one late night that I watched a few matches on Jakked. One match had Al Snow with Head and I remember not understanding why he was holding a head. Another match had The Hardy Boyz & Lita and I remember thinking it was real cool that Lita was getting physically involved in these matches.

Still didn't get fully involved with wrestling until about 1999, 2000. Got to watch Smackdown a few times, but still didn't know what was going on. One match out of many during this 99-00 time that I remember the ending of was Triple H vs. The Rock. Even though The Rock was Face, I cheered at the fact that Triple H won.

It wasn't until 2001 that I really got a chance to catch wrestling every week. My future stepbrothers (at the time, 2001) who I had just met, they told me how they watched wrestling, filled me in on stuff that was going on and pretty much, the rest is history.

Got cable at my house in 2002 to be able to watch wrestling weekly, and I've missed very few episodes of Raw and Smackdown since. Since 2005ish, I've used to internet to help myself catch up on wrestling past, but also got introduced to the dirt sheets and the IWC.

 

[The12thMan]

My Grandfather and Uncle introduced wrestling to me at the age of 3. During this time, Hulkamania and Macho Maddness was running wild among many other things. I've stuck with it ever since. I've watched it when wrestling was popular in the 80's, the early to mid 90's (New Generation Era), The Attitude Era (97-02), Get The F Out/Ruthless Aggression Era (03-05), (Insert Here) Era (06-08), PG Era (09-Present)

 

[Savage1]

I remember being about 5 or 6 and spending weekends at my grandparents house and they would watch the old WWF programs on saturday mornings and nights and then NWA/WCW on Sundays. I can remember the Four Horsemen in their prime and the first match I remember watching was Macho Man Randy Savage vs Bad News Brown! Macho was the shit! That guy was money in the ring and as crazy as he was, he was great on the pipebomb too. I got to watch the so called golden era in the 80's and the greatest wrestling ever in the 90's...the Attitude era. Nothing can compare to those days.