What aspect of the show got you hooked?

[Chill]

For me, what initially got me into the WWF/E was the drama and whole spectacle of the show. I liked to tune into this wrestling show to check out the larger than life characters and become involved in their weekly dramas and then over time it became less about that and more about what they were actually doing in the ring and now I can say I really enjoy all aspects of the show from the gimmicks to the actual in ring work. But at first (and I suppose it was because I was much younger at the time) it was definitely the showmanship that got me hooked rather than the actual wrestling....

So what got you interested? Maybe it was your like of the actual 'sport' of wrestling or was it the characters, the storylines, the dramas, a certain match or maybe it was a combination of all of those things?

 

[lamo78]

I got hooked when I was much younger. For me, it was the pageantry, the showmanship, and the bigger than life people. They were real life cartoons in my eyes. The Hogans, Koko B. Ware, Bushwackers, and Ultimate Warrior. They were everything that I wanted to be at the time They were heroes and villians which, back then, was the premise for almost every tv cartoon.

 

[mister_b1LL]

I was introduced to wrestling very early on, but I wasn't hooked until the waning days of the Attitude Era. I loved all the drama and excitement that came with watching wrestling. I loved it when you thought something was going to happen but then a curveball was thrown and a totally different thing happened. I couldn't wait until the next episode of RAW to know what was going to happen next.

 

[TheIronFi5t 92]

I Used to watch CMLL And AAA When I lived in mexico when I was little.
Like in 96 or 97.

I was 5 or 6.

But I started by wtaching my 1st american wrestling show.
WCW.

It was fun watching sting .
He was my favorite wrestler of all times.
Till Eddie joined.
Some how as I was little I knew eventually he would go on to win a title.
and he did.
WWE champ.
I would of love to see him hold the WHC.

But yeah It all stared with CMLL till now WWE.

btw.
Does anyone know if its true about Sicodelico JR. Joining wwe?
I heard he is in FCW Training.

 

[_SCSA_]

foi me, it was stone cold steve austin, i used to have 0 interest in wrestling until my friend brought over the austin 3:16 uncensored vhs, i watched someone drink beer, whoop ass and basically raise hell and i was instantly hooked

 

[LCShazardous]

i think i did'nt get hooked until i saw the steel cage match between taker and edge in 2007 or 2006 a while ago it was a great match both me bleeding and ended in a tie then edge comes out and cashes in money in the bank to win the word title it was something that got me hooked on it like it was cracked


____________
if wrestling was a drug I'd OD on it

 

[Hervina Whippleman]

Becoming a fan as a youngster in the late 80s it was definitely the heroic aspect that hooked me. Not being into comic books or any type of superheros, I turned to the WWF and Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. They were my superheros. So basically it was the good guy/bad guy aspect that got me hooked.

 

[shafe_41]

Oddly, I'm not even sure what got me hooked but from the moment I layed eyes on professional wrestling, I was in awe. I don't believe at all that us wrestling fans are "elitests" in any way, but I do seriously believe that we are the only people in the world capable of keeping an open mind about it as we grow older. First and foremost... it's called "entertainment" people. ENTERTAINMENT. Just like movies, just like sports, and TV. I can't even go into such discussion on this thread about it so I'm going to make one after I'm done typing this.

Anyway... when we were young, it was the drama, the aspect of how we thought it was real, it was the ultimate show we could watch every single week that was not in cartoon form that we could watch a human version of Good vs. Bad. Isn't that what wrestling is really about anyway? The good guy vs. the bad guy? At least back in the day, that's what it was about and that's what hooked every one of us fans as kids. It's the personalities of the performers. They're all one-in-the-same... but all so different that we can each pick a superstar we relate to in some way. One that captures us. One that we can call as fans "my favorite."

Every one of those guys in that dressing room that go on the road 300+ days a year for us are all special in a way that the haters can't even begin to realize. And whether we want to admit it or not, we are effected by every single star in that dressing room. When something awful happens to one of them as far as injury, personal issues, or death... it hits every single one of us fans whether you like the guy or not. I.E. You could have disliked Owen Hart more than anybody in the world, but you still remember how you felt and where you were when you heard the news of his death. Same with Eddie, same with Hawk, Crash Holly, Test, Miss Elizabeth, and yes... even Chris Benoit. All of those guys. They all have an effect on us.

So really in summary... what got us hooked? Easy. We were mostly all young kids and it was a real portrayl of Good vs. Bad that was not a cartoon. We couldn't watch that anywhere else. It all seemed real. But what keeps us hooked? The "drama" kinda... but mostly, I believe it's the ability that us fans with open minds truly have to see the entertainment of wrestling, the less-realistic battle of good vs. bad, and the ability to see the entertainment aspect mixed with the completely true, real, human aspect of it and what these guys really do for us week in and week out.

 

[billyrage]

I got into wrestling at around late 1999 to early 2000 and what go me interested was the whole spectacle of the show, and wrestlers that had great mic skill such as The Rock and Chris Jericho, Jericho in particular had really funny promos that made the show just fun for me to watch.

 

[Razor Blade Dream]

My earliest and fondest memories are of wrestling so I can't recall any one single moment. I do recall I stopped watched after the Austin/Pillman gun angle as I was sort of offended at the time. So I missed a good amount of the Monday Wars and was brought back in around 1998-1999. I will say that The Rock, Stone Cold and Foley brought me back in the fold. Lately I have been slacking off though and I'm just bored with it. I still watch the old matches with fond memories though.

Funny side story about wrestling memories, when I was in kindergarten I played Pro Wrestling for NES and I was overly excited that I was actually winning for once. I was sitting cross legged on the edge of my mom's bed and I bounced off the bed and landed face first on the floor. Bear in mind the rug was worn down to damn near nothing and the floor was pretty much concrete. The room used to be a garage and converted over to a bedroom. Anyway, I landed hard on the floor and the NES controller wire. Many tears later and a ban on the game for a while I can still remember that incident by my kindergarten picture. Right below my nose is a red cut where my face hit the most. Good times.

 

[Murfish]

I will say, in all honesty, that the Cena part of the show hooked me. Let me explain. Throughout my childhood I had wanted to watch wrestling, but, due to the reputation of the attitude era, I couldn't. I would shyly catch a glimpse here and there and it felt like a crime. At that time the intrigue was the only thing that kept my attention once in a while. By the time I entered middle school I wrestling had lost its luster. The friends who used to rave about it now denied ever being a fan. However, on a fateful night in 2006, I happened to turn on Raw during an Edge/Cena skit just before the Cena/Edge TLC match. Cena's charisma took me immediately, and I began to watch Raw regularly. The only parts that genuinely garnered my interest involved Cena. He made Kevin Federline entertaining, a feat that I thought was impossible. Cena was for months the only thing that kept me interested.

 

[Mr. Steve]

First Post for me in the forums! hope its not the last

To me, what got me started was Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher(one of the many matches these two did). I had to have like 9 years old. And I remember that in WWC, one of the announcers (the heel one; i can't recall his name) went to some shitty shack somewhere, claiming he found abdullah and got him out of "retirement" to fight carlos. lol he brought forks with him.

After that was Savio Vega vs. Chicky Starr(*cough*bastard!!*cough*), Eddie Colon vs. Carly, Shane "the glamour boy" Sewell arriving at WWC, and teaming with Savio. Huracan Castillo, Invader and the heart punch LOL!

I also remember I watched the first Stunned Austin gave to Vince. "Don't do anything you'll regret, Austin." then WHAM! stunner for Vince. I was 10

lol to be a mark again...good times, good times.

 

[The Doctor]

For me, it was the wrestling. I was in awe of the staged combat and how fun it looked. Then I saw Undertaker vs. Mark Henry (the one when Taker returned) and I was hooked.

 

[red_man25]

First post for me....

The thing that got me hooked was, I think it was Summerslam 88 when the Ultimate Warrior ran out and beat the Honky Tonk Man in like 8 seconds. I remember being like 5 years old and freaking out....

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

The very first thing that got me hooked?

Believe it or not ... it was the managers. Specifically, it was Jimmy Hart.

I first began watching wrestling in 1990, shortly after Wrestlemania 6. Hulk Hogan was on the Brother Love Show and Jimmy Hart came out to distract him. This lead to the Earthquake jumping Hogan and giving him 3 Earthquakes on the set. That put Hogan "out of wrestling" for several weeks (I'm sure Hulk enjoyed his vacation).

But between the antics of Jimmy Hart, and then Bobby Heenan who had Ravishing Rick Rude feuding with the Ultimate Warrior, the "Doctor of Style" Slick, Mr. Fuji, and Sensational Sherri ... I absolutely loved them all, since I was a bit of a troublemaker myself as a kid. I loved the way they absolutely instigated all the trouble, always antagonizing the Faces ... and many times, got their just desserts for doing so.

That really got me hooked. The managers as well as the overall characters they managed.

Besides that, listening to Monsoon and Heenan on Wrestling Challenge, as well as Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura on Superstars .... I was thoroughly entertained by all of the banter on each of the shows.

And sadly, all of that ... and I do mean all of that stuff is gone.

 

[matty256]

The first thing that got me hooked to wrestling was in 1997 when i was 8.
I went to my friends house and his older brother was watching Wrestlemania 13.
The first match i ever saw was the Austin Hart submission match i was glued to the television and amazed that even losing so much blood Austin wouldnt give up (of course i didnt know wrestling was fake back then). But since then i've been hooked and it seems no matter how awful wrestling is today compared to then i cant stop watching it.

 

[phemom]

I got hooked when I was a youngin (like 7-8) when I started watching TV in my own room and I watched WWF Superstars & Wrestling Challenge (this is pre-RAW so like 92-93). I liked the good vs evil element and how everyone was so athletic. The more I learned about it, the more I was hooked. By the time I got to high school I was a full-fan on wrestling....I started learning about Mexico & Japanese wrestling. Nowadays I know about the backstage stuff....and I respect it alot more than just being a fan now.

 

[RH23]

I got hooked as a little kid. Im not exactly sure what about the WWF i got hooked on. I became a fan around 96-97 but i didn't watch it every week until the Attitude Era. Mainly because of Stone Cold. My Dad and I used to watch Raw Is War every week and i became hooked and I have watched WWF/E ever since.(but by myself now sadly).

 

[Age of Orton]

Mine had to be the Bret Hart/Owen Hart feud from 1994, I got into wrestling before summer slam, I liked Lex Luger and I remember him and Tatanka were feuding over the million dollar man, then Tatanka turned heel, was a little obvious looking back but at the time was immense, along with Undertaker/Undertaker story line.. after summer slam I'd catch WWF Superstars on a sunday morning and wwf wrestling mania on the Saturday morning highlighting the week's RAW and if they're had been a PPV over the previous weekend would give you the high lights, as us in the UK didn't get In your house's until around the 14th show, headlined by Bret/Austin III..
Funny thing is back then when you'd essentially wait 6 days for the IYH results and RAW results you actually felt appreciative of the product nowadays you'd rather go online and get the results then wait lol brings back some found memories.

 

[CH David]

I was around 9 or 10. I was just flipping through channels and I saw the Rock on Raw is War coming down the ramp to the ring. I thought he looked really cool so I watched. Like always he had cut one hell of a promo and I couldn't stop watching Raw. A little later in the show, I saw these two brothers called the Hardy Boyz, and seeing them using their tag team style was amazing. Poetry in Motion, Omega Event (Matt's 2nd rope leg drop and Jeff's leg drop to the groin) and the combination of the Twist of Fate and Swanton was just awesome to me. I have loved it from then on.

 

[RKO_Legacy]

I got hooked into wrestling at a younger ago..well still being young, it wasn't that long ago. I started watching around 2001, the days of The Rock and Chris Jericho. As a kid, I loved watching what I thought at the time was real "stuff". The "action" mixed with the smash mouth bashing was enough for me to get hooked.

 

[Paradox100]

What got me hooked to Professional wrestling, was EVERYTHING! It was 1999, i was 4, and Vince Mcmahon was in a wheelchair. Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco were wheeling him around, and if my memory is correct, they started fighting over the Hardcore title. Which made me laugh, and had my eyes glued to the tv, seeing these two 60 year old men fighting. But what also dragged me in, was The Rock's interviews. From then on, we bought the action figures, we went to the events, and I have been sucked in to it ever since.

 

[Bloodlust]

What got me into wrestling was the characters. At the time I started watching, I was a huge fan of comic books and superheroes, So my first favorite wrestler ever was The Hurricane. I liked following the storylines, and the shows always kept me wondering what was going to happen next week.

My 1st Post

 

[Kurt]

I started really watching it after Stone Cold was run over by Rikishi at Survivor Series,I thought it was real so I kept watching it every Monday night and got hooked.The promos that they shot were cool and I remember I watched Summer Slam 02' and quit watching because I loved the Rock so much and when he lost I gave up on humanity...

 

[mlola]

What got me hooked was the unpredictability of the show. For example, the first thing i ever saw in wrestling was The Rock returning in 2001 and choosing the WWF over the Alliance. From what my cousin had explained to me, he had to choose a side and no one knew which side it would be. Then he gave Vince a Rock bottom making it look like he chose the Alliance. Then he gave Shane one. He got a mic and announced his return to the WWF. It was really unpredictable at the time.