Your first exposure...

[Guest notJames]

(Side note: Woo hoo! I'm on Heat! No more getting stiffed by Saturn or tagging with Funaki! Or getting ignored on commentary by Coach and Nailz Kelly! Angle feud, here I come!)

 

 

Now then, do you remember the first time you were exposed to This Great Sport, whether it was on TV, a magazine, an actual live card? I'd like to get a perspective on how we all came to love this thing we call professional wrestling.

 

When I was in 5th grade in 1982 (don't laugh, you young whippersnappers), a kid in my class brought in these magazines with all these pictures of guys in tights hitting each other and bleeding. Really bleeding. I mean, faces drenched with thick plasma. I thought, eww, gross. What is this stuff? So he goes on to tell me about this thing called wrestling, where guys throw each other around and hit each other to the point of bleeding. Of course, this was a Catholic school (don't laugh, you young heathens), so the mags were promptly taken away with a stern talking to. But it intrigued me that people actually did this for a living. Kind of like boxing, but more brutal and chaotic. I was disgusted.

 

I remember a colour picture he showed me of Bruiser Brody, hair matted to his face and dripping with blood. It reminded me of a KISS album my old babysitter showed me with Gene Simmons's face in a similar state. Scared the bejeezus outta me, but I was still curious about it. I didn't have cable back then, and my TV viewing habits were skewed to Saturday morning cartoons and prime time sitcoms, so I couldn't watch the guys in action.

 

A few years later, my cousin got cable, and as I was checking out the channels, I caught a glimpse of wrestling on one of the Spanish stations. I couldn't understand a word, but I finally saw what I had been missing. Bodies tossed around, huge monsters pummeling the hell out of each other, the crowds emerging out of the shadows, cheering, booing.

 

I was hooked. Unfortunately, I still didn't have cable and would have to wait a few more years until I found WWF Superstars of Wrestling to get any kind of weekly fix. But luckily, as I got older, I was able to rent old WWF and NWA tapes and see all the stuff I had been missing. I still wish I had made a copy of the NWA History of Starcade 1980-1985 (?) before Blockbuster discontinued it. I haven't seen it since.

 

So, what's your story?

 

(BTW, does anyone remember that weekly syndicated show where they chronicled wrestling events from different promotions? I think it was hosted by Gordon Solie and Joe Pedocino.)

[Guest]

Hey, I went to a Catholic school too, so its not funny!

 

Anyways, back on January 2, 1999, I was watching and taping SNL (The host was either Garth Brooks or Jennifer Love Hewitt, don't remember which one) and during the commercial, I flipped threw the channels and came across Shotgun Saturday Night. They were showing the Recap of 1998 piece, and it was great.  I had seen some wrestling, as some people at school were kind of into it (They're not anymore, pretty much none of my friends watch it regularly liike I do.) I taped that 1998 segment, then watched Raw two days later. It just happened to be one of the best Raws ever, so maybe thats how I got hooked.

 

I do remember playing Warzone back in 1998 before I started watching it, and my friend trying to do the Stunner with Austin.  I remember thinking "What the hells a stunner?"

I also remember printing out how to do all the finishers, and the site had put HBK instead of Shawn Michaels. Needless to say, I spent the whole evening wondering what HBK stood for and who it was.  I finally realized it when one of the announcers called him the Heart Break Kid that it was Michaels.

[Guest]

Sorry, double post. ???

[Guest muzanisa]

First exposure was to British Wrestling on the TV when my Dad wasn't watching Horse Racing. First to the WWF was the Superstars Arcade game in the late 80's then I saw a WWF magazine with the Hart foundation on the cover and Warlord inside; because of the game I got that. After that found out which of my friends had SKY TV and got them to tape it for me.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

March Break, 1988, when I was 7 years old.  My family were staying in a hotel, and we stumbled across Saturday Night's Main Event.  I watched a bit of Hogan/Race, but the first full match that I saw, and the one that got me hooked on wrestling was the Savage/Dibiase main event (Dibiase won by CO).

[Guest Singular]

My first exposer was when I moved here to Texas with my family in the early 80's.  MY dad took me to a wrestling event (not sure where) for the first time and that's when  saw Kerry Von Erich and his brothers in action.  Been a fan ever since

[Guest Jericholic82]

Well my actual first exposure was sometime in the 80's, I saw a macho man poster somewhere, then saw a bit on tv i think.  I don't remember watching until 1990 Survivor Series. I was in 3rd grade then.  We had a black box and my dad was watching it (he was a casual fan, but liked it).  I was like what is this?  He told me to watch it, it's fun. SO I did and I got hooked, the debut of undertaker was awesome.  Of course this also had Gobbledly Gooker, but I was a kid so....  After that I found superstars and challenge and continued to watch ppvs. I found out about WCW by watching i think Superbrawl '91.  I remember I was watching Rumble '91 and I fell asleep.  I was so mad lol.  In november '91 i went to my first wwf show, a house show at msg, three days after survivor series '91. No taker there even though he was champ.  Main was Hogan vs Flair and FLAIR WON!  Also Rockers lost to Nastys and continued to fight.(before breakup)  SO I have been a fan for 11 full years,  I have been subscribing to WWF magazine since 1992.

 

My saddest moment was in April (i think) '93.  We went to go to RAW at manhatten center.  We took the bus all the way down there and walked in the rain for a half hour,  then we got there and they said it was sold out.  Needless to say, that sucked.  we had to go all the way home and I was so mad and upset.  we got back in time to see it on tv though.

[Guest]

it was about '93 or '94 (not sure) when lex luger was fighting with yokozuna and jeryy lawler was fueding with bret hart i was only 6 and i luved bret hart

[Guest notJames]

My first exposer was when I moved here to Texas with my family in the early 80's.  MY dad took me to a wrestling event (not sure where) for the first time and that's when  saw Kerry Von Erich and his brothers in action.  Been a fan ever since

Must have been at the Sportatorium. I think that's where World Class did their shows (assuming it was a World Class show you saw).

 

That's pretty damn old school.

 

And I forgot about Wrestling Challenge. Man, I practically raped the TV Guide every week just so I could catch some kind of wrestling. I even watched GLOW... for the wrestling. I swear...

 

[... falls into sweet reverie remembering Becky the Farmer's Daughter in her Daisy Dukes...]

 

[Guest JHawk]

I've pretty much always been exposed to wrestling (I'm a 4th generation wrestling fan...where's my WWF push?), and the weekly show was always on, but my first live card was in Warren OH in 1986.  It was a few weeks before WrestleMania 2, the main event had King Tonga (Haku) having to substitute for somebody (Tito I think) and teaming with JYD against the Funk Brothers, and Mr. Fuji subbing for The Magnificent Muraco to face Ricky Steamboat.  My dad swears up and down that Santana-Savage was on that card but I woulda remembered Savage being there.

[Guest]

Well, as far as my memory goes, the earliest exposure to wrestling for me was when I attended a house show with my sister and a friend of hers, sometime around the 80's.  I know for certain that it wasn't my first exposure, but it's as far back as I can go.  

 

The wrestlers I saw in the house show, which was in Ohio, most likely in the city of Dayton...

 

The British Bulldogs went against Nikolai (sp?) and the Iron Shiek... when the heels were singing the Russian Anthem, the British Bulldogs came up from behind and executed dropkicks on their backs.  I also remember seeing King Kong Bundy and Horowitz (sp?) as well.

 

That's about it...  Ever since that time, I stuck through watching the WWF and WCW, even through the mid-90's and I remember quite a bit from those days.  Bastion Booger was a guy that I remember too much about... don't ask.

 

(Yay, my first post!)

[Guest ShamRock]

I was about 9 or 10.I was playing Super Nintendo with my friends(Street Fighter still rules!) and my friends sister came in and said wrestling was on.I thought she was talking about sumo wrestling.I discouraged my friends to watch it.They still did,but when they turned the Super Nintendo off and turned on TNT,I saw Hollywood Hulk Hogan posing on stage with the nWo.At that time,I was living in Germany and totally dispised the WWF.Mankind used to scare the shit out of me.My first favorite wrestler was Dean Malenko.Always loved those cruiser matches.I was never into the main-event scene.Then Goldberg makes his debut and squashes Hugh Morrus.I was like damn,that was fast.Then on Thunder he squashes Glacier and he instantly became my favorite wrestler.I started to watch more of WCW,but it(Nitro) always came on Friday night.Then they said something about Goldberg and Hogan.It was in the English language and I didn't understand a damn thing.That night,Goldberg defeated Hogan for the belt and I was totally marking out.Then I moved to the US in 1999 and watched the WWF,not knowing that WCW was on TNT.About late 99,I fully started to watch wrestling and never stopped.I got the 'net in 2000 and had access to websites such as wcwwwf.com.It was cool and shit.I was a huge Rock mark at that time and thought Rock was the best wrestler ever.???Then the Radicalz came and I recognized all of them.I was marking out for Benoit when he wrestled Triple H.I was fucking mad.I heard about the smarks in late '01 and checked out the board.Then I saw the light about Triple H,he indeed was a asshole by holding everyone down. From late 99,I watched every single WWF and WCW show(main shows).

[Guest Tony149]

I was first expose to wrestling in 1989. It was WWF Superstars (Of Wrestling). I don't remember much about the show, but I got hooked on wrestling. I then rented pretty much every WWF video from the local video store. Knew most of the stroylines from the past after watching the videos. I first saw WCW in 1990. It was Worldwide and the first guy to wrestle was Sting. I was then hooked on both the WWF & WCW.

[Guest Austin3164life]

My first exposure to wrestling was watching the Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Savage ME for WM 4.  I was over my uncle's house (5 years old at the time), and I had been sleeping throughout the whole show, because I was playing soccer before that.  My uncle woke me up for the match, and I remember seeing DiBiase's entrance, and I became hooked, no matter how hard people were booing him.  I also cheered for Randy because he seemed cool as well.  One of the lesser reasons as to why I hate Hogan is because he cost Ted the World Title win.  A great spectacle to witness.....

[Guest]

My uncle ordered Wrestlemania VI.. thats the one with Warrior and Hogan right??  I remember watching the tape with him the next day, and I wasn't interested until I saw the main event.  Both men just looked phenomenal and had great crowd support.  My uncle, he actually trained to be a wrestler once, starting SERIOUSLY marking out when Warrior won.  I've been hooked since then.

[Guest TheDames7]

The year : 1984.

 

The scene, Bronx, NY, my living room.  My father sits down to watch WWF, I think it was Superstars.  I saw Tito Santana beat someone's ass, and I thought it was pretty cool, being 4 years old and all.  They showed clips of Hogan and Ordorff, and I remember saying to my father "Why are people cheering for the guy in yellow....he sucks".  He said that it was because he was a good guy, and thats all that mattered.  I didn't cheer him then though.  I wasn't really into it hardcore at that point, but when I saw the British Bulldogs and the Hart Foundation rip it up....I was in.  Saturday Night Main Event, i would beg to stay up.  

 

Then.....in 1990.  I found out it was "fake".  The last show that I saw was Wrestlemania 6.  The next day in school, my teacher told me that it was fake, and some other kids "confirmed" it for me, and I was so pissed, I just stopped watching.  Eventually, I was like, you know.....fuck it, I like it, I dont care what anyone says.  The next show I watched was Royal Rumble 91.  So....I missed the Ultimate Warrior's ENTIRE reign.  I always mark out for that tidbit.  I ended up seeing it on tape years later, but still...

 

I've been a die hard WWF fan since.  

 

I stumbled onto WCW accidentally.  It was 92, and I think SNME was on Fox now or something and while I was flipping the channels, I saw clips of Vader destroying Sting on Worldwide.  It was just clips of their last match at GAB'92, but still...I watched SNME and then watched Worldwide every week after (if SNME wasn't on).

 

Dames - Hogan Hater Since 1984.

[Guest DebilitatorX]

When I saw Hulk Hogan in Rocky III in 1988.

[Guest Some Guy]

My childhood best friend got me started watching in late 1988.  I don't remember much from that time but I do vividly remember Hogan and Savage's deuling promos on Superstars and Challenge.  They would stand in front of screens with their logos on them and babble about how they were going to beat each other up, dig it?  OOOOOOOOOH YEAAAAh I dug it and haven't stopped watching it except for a about a year a half from mid 93 to Oct 95.

[Guest]

I started watching wrestling in 1986. WM 2 was the first event I saw.  I Went to the NWA Jim Crocket Cup Tournament At Baltimore in 1987. I was at a House show where the Main event was Hogan and Orindorf in a Steel Cage.  I Met Animal, Brad Armstrong, Ric Flair, Lex Luger (Master of Prickness) glad he is semi retired and out on the Highway with a sign that reads WILL WRESTLE FOR FOOD IF ONLY I ALWAYS WIN AGAINST YOUNGER WRESTLERS.

And met the Late great Big John Studd.

[Guest RedJed]

I think it was sometime in 83 or something when I first saw wrestling. I was staying alot at my uncle's apartment in St. Paul, MN......we went up there for weekends and stuff to visit sometimes. He was in college and him and all his roomates were big fans. Anyway there was some old AWA on over some weekend, can't remember exactly who it was, I think maybe the Road Warriors and someone else. Anyway since then I was hooked, followed the AWA for a few years every weekend on TV and then saw the WWF for the first time on Showtime when they showed a replay of WrestleMania 2. Then I got REALLY hooked!

 

On a lil side note, my uncle lived in the same floor in a different apt complex as two youngsters trying to get a break in the business around 84 or 85 I believe. Shawn Michaels and Marty f'n Jannetty.

[Guest erotic jesus]

I had watched it growing up, but I never became hooked until my parents finally let me sit and watch a PPV with my brother and his beer swilling friends...  It was WM9.  I remember they all made a big deal and were pissed when Hogan won the title at the end...  For a while I thought he had beat "Yokozuma".

 

For some reason that night, though, I got hooked.  I think my favourite was Shawn Michaels...  Anyhow, from that point on, I taped the shows every week...  I think I still have some tapes left.  I should check those out.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

I kinda was always around it. my dad was a huge wrestling smark *wouldn't be shocked if he was reading this post*

 

But my first clear memory was when i was around three and the WWF had oh i think it was superstars on and Hulk Hogan was on the stick with Mean BY GAWD Gene by his side and he was going on and on about the power of Hulkamania and one of the big monsters he was always feuding with came out and crushed him.

 

I turned to my dad and said, "I hope that Hogan Guy Loses"

[Guest Cataclysm911]

My father got me hooked on wrestling. He use to watch it every Saturday. I got hooked somewhere between Wrestlemania IV & Wrestlemania V. I watched the Mega-Powers collide live, and I remember Macho Man earlier than that, because I remember the buildup to the WM5 match. It was sometime after WM4 that I got hooked.

 

Hogan got me hooked, though the Ultimate Warrior helped.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Hogan got me hooked, though the Ultimate Warrior helped.

some guy on the chat the other night hooked me up with ultimate warriors number. doubt it's legit but if it is it's priceless

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Sometime in 88, a match involving Randy Savage. I was pretty young then, but I didn't start watching wrestling full time until 1992. I was watching WrestleMania 8 (after it was released on tape, we didn't have cable yet) and I was completely blown away by Bret/Piper. But Flair/Savage truly cemented wrestling as something I had to watch and discuss. I never stopped watching after that except for a brief period in 1997 when Bret Hart turned heel.

[Guest J*ingus]

It was Superbowl Sunday, 1999.  I was in the lobby of one of the college dorms, and they had Halftime Heat on the bigscreen TV.  Mankind vs. The Rock, empty arena match.  I remember watching it and thinking, "Wow, things have really come a long way since that Hogan guy was the big thing."  How little did I realize...

[Guest notJames]

Wow... nice mix of old school and new generation fans. And the fact that a lot of you were Hogan-Haters from the get-go really says a lot

 

(I too had a lapse in watching wrestling around from about '93-'96 (the Diesel Years as I call them). They stopped showing WWF shows on free TC (no cable at my parents' house), and college life started to pick up. I would occasionally watch the late night WCW stuff on Saturday nights if I was home, but that's about it.

 

Keep 'em coming!

[Guest]

I feel a little old next to some of these post but I was dragged into wrestling by my uncle in 86'ish. I remember him coming home with the Wrestlemania 2 PPV tape he got from his friend. We couldn't get PPV's up here in New York until Mid-90's. Anyway, I was hooked. I remember Hogan and Bundy in the Big Blue Cage and Piper Vs Mr. T & I thought it was one of the coolest things. One of the first matches that I truly remember watching on Saturday Morning was when Savage Beat Tito Santana for the IC Belt. I was just still getting into wrestling so I hated when Savage won because of the "Foreign object." My first live WWf show was at the Glenns Falls Civic Center. It was a TV taping and it was headline by World Champion Hogan Vs IC Champ Savage. Only other thing I really remember from the show was Hart Foundation getting upsetted by the Can Am Connection in a Non-title Match. (Yes, I been a Bret Hart Mark for many years) Then  later that year for WM4 I went there again and watched it on CLOSED CIRCUIT!!!  Now I feel old, LoL

 

Well, that's pretty much the beginning of me watching the WWF but at the same time I was getting into the NWA and I can say I was lucky enough to go see Clash Of The Champions 9 in Troy, NY in 1989. I wasn't into it as much as the WWF but it was great. The guys like the Road Warriors blew me away and the main event was like nothing I ever seen before when Champion Ric Flair faced Terry Funk in a I. Quit Match. This right here was what really made me appreciate the "wrestling" aspect of it.

[Guest swan]

I think it was sometime in 83 or something when I first saw wrestling. I was staying alot at my uncle's apartment in St. Paul, MN......we went up there for weekends and stuff to visit sometimes. He was in college and him and all his roomates were big fans. Anyway there was some old AWA on over some weekend, can't remember exactly who it was, I think maybe the Road Warriors and someone else. Anyway since then I was hooked, followed the AWA for a few years every weekend on TV and then saw the WWF for the first time on Showtime when they showed a replay of WrestleMania 2. Then I got REALLY hooked!

 

On a lil side note, my uncle lived in the same floor in a different apt complex as two youngsters trying to get a break in the business around 84 or 85 I believe. Shawn Michaels and Marty f'n Jannetty.

Thats funny I was staying with my uncle in Minnesota summer of 1983 and he took me to a live AWA show. The only people I remember are the High Flers and the Road Warriors. I have the program some where in a box. I too got super hooked with the WM replay on Showtime.

[Guest caboose]

my cousin was watching wrestlemania 8 when i went round to his, that was the first time i sat through a whole show, and the first time i got hooked on wrestling was around the time when when ron 'farooq' simmons was wcw champion.

i really got hooked on wcw worldwide from the infamous disneyland tapings.

when wcw was pulled from british television(about early 1995), i didn't watch wrestling until just after the nWo originally formed.