What was your first Exposure to Wrestling

[JJMc 0]

I'm pretty sure it was March to Wrestlemania VIII. I remember they showed the Warrior/Hogan match (or parts of it at least). When I really got into it was right before Wrestlemania IX. The first Raw I ever saw was the week after Beefcake's return where Hogan came back.

 

 

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I miss how the Saturday's of my youth used to be wrestling nearly all day long. WCW Pro Wrestling came on TBS at 9:05, WWF Mania w/Todd Petengill & that Stephanie lady for a while aired at 10:00, then Smokey Mountain Wrestling aired on the local WB network at 2:00, followed by USWA at 3:00, WCW Worldwide came on WB at 4:00, and then WCW Saturday Night aired from 6:05-8:05. WWF Superstars then aired in my area around 11:00 PM but its time slot changed and sometimes happened on Sunday at 11:00. Can't forget ECW coming @ 2:00 AM either.

 

Then on Sunday's you still had some decent action with the WWF Action Zone at 12:00 and WCW Main Event at 6:05 or so. My weekends from 1995 to 1997 (when the Smokey Mountain and USWA programs went dead) totally revolved around wrestling.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Same here. I really miss WCW Saturday Night, and having the option to watch it for a couple hours in the evening on Saturdays when there's not much going on 'til later.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant at Wrestlemania III

[King Kamala 0]

Same here. I really miss WCW Saturday Night, and having the option to watch it for a couple hours in the evening on Saturdays when there's not much going on 'til later.

 

 

I miss wrestling on Saturday period,for a brief time in '97 IIRC, it was WCW Pro at 9 in the morning, WWF Superstars at Noon, WCW Saturday Night from 6 to 8, and then WWF Shotgun at midnight.

[luke-o 0]

My parents were dead set on me not watching wrestling. I never really saw it as a child.

 

But my friends had "Battle Royal at the Royal Albert Hall" on VHS and I went round his house to watch it without my parents knowing. I was hooked instantly. The only thing I can really remember was that Bulldog won the Battle Royal and it featured The Mountie, Bossman, Natural Disasters, The Nasty Boys, (I think) The Rockers and Ric Flair.

 

I first became obsessed with wrestling just before the Royal Rumble 2000 with one storyline and one line in particular, "I think you know the guy, his name is CACTUS JACK!" . I watched it religiously up untill Hulk Hogan won the undisputed title then I lost intrest. (Plus, channel 4 lost the rights to show WWE programming to SKY, and I didn't have SKY).

 

When I went to university, my housemate was a wrestling fan and had a BUTT load of DVDs, so I spent a lot of time catching up on what I'd missed. Now I'm hooked again.

[eiker_ir 0]

 

they used to show Superstars and PPVs completely free, i used to watch Superstars every weekend when i was like 5 and the first big match i remember was Hogan-Warrior from WM 6.

 

 

[Vanhalen 0]

My very first WWE show was the Royal Rumble 1992 and Wrestlemania 8, and to this date they are my favourite WWE shows, I sort of lost interest say bout 1996 or so, and I even missed the 1998/99 Austin era, that all passed me by, what got me hooked again was exactly what Luke said, which was when Channel 4 in the UK started showing WWE on terrestial TV(I remember looking at the TV guide thinking it couldnt be right, but I was wrong ) and during that showing of Heat, they were promoting the 2000 Royal Rumble on Channel 4, which I watched and the Street Fight blew me away, watched all the channel 4 shows that I could until I got Sky just before Backlash 2001(missed out on watching wrestlemania x7 live grrr) and been a fan ever since, although not as much as I was in 2000/2001.

[razazteca 0]

Would you believe my very first exposure to pro wrestling was actually All Japan or New Japan of the mid 80's? Well its true, what else was I suppose to watch when there was only one english speaking channel on the air base. Would you also believe that it was the anime Kinnikuman that got my attention oh yeah fart jokes and Musclebusters ruled the day. Then 2 year later, moved to Florida where I saw NWA/WCW and began worshiping the wrestling gods Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen. Went to a couple Championship Wrestling of Florida events, watched every single NWA program that was on syndatication from World Wide, Pro, Saturday Night, Main Event, etc. Didn't really care for WWF until Saturday Night Main Event became regular on NBC but even then I didn't really care for Hogan "brother, brother, brother, eat your vitamins, say your prayers, look at my pythons, brother, brother, brother" Ted Diabiase, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper were my favs of the time.

[cabbageboy 0]

Regarding cable TV, you didn't need it to see a lot of stuff. Superstars was on local Fox for me, USWA was on a local station too. The SNME shows were on NBC. So it was really just the NWA/WCW that you needed TBS to see, as well as whatever WWF stuff was on USA.

 

I stopped watching for whatever reason in very late 1989, and started watching again in Feb. 92. It was a SNME on Fox I think, first time I saw UT. Got hooked once more.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Happened upon WCW Worldwide late in '97 and saw Sting demolish the New World Order. First memory of the WWF was a Livewire or Superstars recap of Shawn Michaels faking Undertaker's entrance.

[yankovic fan 0]

I was always aware of wrestling and the wrestlers through out my developing years in the 80s, but I never really watched. Then one day in 1991 I watched All American Wrestling. Roddy Piper was going on about Ted Dibiase in a promo in the funeral parlor. The featured match that stands out was "Sid Justice" vs. masked wrestler "El Diablo." For some reason, Undertaker and Paul Bearer came down and bribed Diablo to leave. Taker and Sid tangled for a bit, and then El Diablo returned and revealed himself as Jake the Snake Roberts!!! They pulled out the snake and had Sid tied in the ropes. Then Hacksaw Jim Duggan came and made the save.

 

It was very shortly after Summerslam 1991 because Bret Hart came out with his newly won IC title. Throughout college from 99-03 I was in and out due to my job working me on Mondays, but I invariably had people tape raw/nitro for me. I had the internet to keep me up to date. From 04-present I've watched even less, but recently I can tape raw on schedule now that I have a reliable VCR and DVD burner. I forget to tape Smackdown.

 

Anyway, back to 1991, I bought the whole fallout from Survivor Series 91, with Hogan being on life support, Hook line and sinker.

 

 

[Red Baron 0]

While I did watch wrestling as a youngster during the late 80's, I never followed it until 97. It was a cruiserweight match between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio Jr.

[strummer 0]

I stopped watching for whatever reason in very late 1989, and started watching again in Feb. 92. It was a SNME on Fox I think, first time I saw UT. Got hooked once more

 

It's funny because, for whatever reason, its seems a lot of people stopped watching the WWF in late 1989. As I mentioned earlier I stopped watching during that time and whenever this topic comes up it's a common answer.

 

Turned off by the Zeus program?

 

Hogan was stale?

 

Warrior?

 

Who knows

[King Kamala 0]

Regarding cable TV, you didn't need it to see a lot of stuff. Superstars was on local Fox for me, USWA was on a local station too. The SNME shows were on NBC. So it was really just the NWA/WCW that you needed TBS to see, as well as whatever WWF stuff was on USA.

 

 

Worldwide was syndicated so you didn't need cable to see that show! And who wouldn't want to miss a show with scintillating matches featuring the likes of Roadblock, Frankie Lancaster and The Gambler?

 

There was also a show very briefly in late '99/early '00 on the local UPN affiliate here called "Ultimate Pro Wrestling" that aired old later day WCCW, USWA, and IWCCW matches plus the rare current indies match. It was only really notable for featuring the nonsensical color commentary of Tony Atlas and hyping a Steve Austin Vs The Undertaker match (Which of course ended up being Mark Calloway as IIRC, The Punisher squashing a rookie Steve Austin in two minutes from USWA Dallas).

 

 

Sadly, I don't think there are any more nationally syndicated wrestling shows anymore since the demise of Jakked and Metal.

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't really have a real good reason why I stopped watching wrestling in late 1989. I guess some of it is that my brother was born in Oct. 89 so I had to help my mom a bit more, but that isn't really a total reason. I seem to recall watching Survivor Series 89 and then after that I just sorta stopped.

 

The Zeus feud didn't turn me off at all. If anything Hogan came off huge when he beat Zeus. I didn't think Hogan was stale per se, but that he was simply out of competition. Ditto Warrior...after the Rude and Andre feuds I didn't see much for him as IC champ since he had dominated everyone. I think Demolition had just regained the tag belts and there didn't seem like much serious competition on the horizon there either (though they lost to the Colossal Connection apparently right after I stopped watching).

 

Had I kept watching Hogan and Warrior's dominance would have made more sense because they were programmed against each other at WM, which is something I had never thought would happen.

 

Truth be told I think a lot of people just stopped watching in late 89 because wrestling was sorta viewed as this "80s thing" and the 1990s was almost there.

[razazteca 0]

Worldwide was syndicated so you didn't need cable to see that show! And who wouldn't want to miss a show with scintillating matches featuring the likes of Roadblock, Frankie Lancaster and The Gambler?

Oh yes coming from the fabulous Universal Studios of Orlando hosted by Dusty Rhodes, Lee Marshell, Larry Zybrisko! Don't forget the other regular jobbers who from time to time would get a mercy win like Men At Work, The State Patrol, Cuban Assassins, High Voltage

 

Hogan was stale?

Yup, he made what 3 appearances on tv and even then all you could expect was a DQ of some sort to end the match.

[TheSSNintendo 0]

I miss how the Saturday's of my youth used to be wrestling nearly all day long. WCW Pro Wrestling came on TBS at 9:05, WWF Mania w/Todd Petengill & that Stephanie lady for a while aired at 10:00, then Smokey Mountain Wrestling aired on the local WB network at 2:00, followed by USWA at 3:00, WCW Worldwide came on WB at 4:00, and then WCW Saturday Night aired from 6:05-8:05. WWF Superstars then aired in my area around 11:00 PM but its time slot changed and sometimes happened on Sunday at 11:00. Can't forget ECW coming @ 2:00 AM either.

 

Then on Sunday's you still had some decent action with the WWF Action Zone at 12:00 and WCW Main Event at 6:05 or so. My weekends from 1995 to 1997 (when the Smokey Mountain and USWA programs went dead) totally revolved around wrestling.

 

Almost the same for me, but it was like this at the beginning:

 

WCW Pro Wrestling/Power Hour - 9:05 (TBS)

WWF Mania - 10:00 (USA)

WWF Superstars - 12:00 (WBFF-45 FOX; don't know why it was that station, 'cause over the years FOX in our area was WTTG)

WCW Saturday Night - 6:05 (TBS)

 

WWF All-American Wrestling - either 11 or 12

WCW Main Event - 6:05 (TBS)

WWF Wrestling Challenge - about 12 AM

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

My first memory was Bret and Owen Hart against the Rougoue Brothers, when Bret wouldn't tag Owen in, and I remember thinking, damn that Bret Hart is selfish, why didn't he tag his Brother in. Being totally unaware of what wrestling was about and everyones backstory, I took a liking to Owen Hart straight away.

[LooseCannon25 0]

Anyone remember when the big shows like Wrestlemania and Wrestling Challenge were on Closed Circuit TV, which was before PPV became the big thing?

 

I remember watching WM III with my uncle in a bar. It was on a huge screen and I had the time of my life. That Savage vs. Steamboat match had my undivided attention from bell to bell

[King Kamala 0]

My first memory was Bret and Owen Hart against the Rougoue Brothers, when Bret wouldn't tag Owen in, and I remember thinking, damn that Bret Hart is selfish, why didn't he tag his Brother in. Being totally unaware of what wrestling was about and everyones backstory, I took a liking to Owen Hart straight away.

 

 

It was The Quebecers... They weren't The Mounties! Nor were they The Rougeaus for that matter.

[cabbageboy 0]

Incidentally I watched that Survivor Series 93 show on 24/7 this past month and Pierre was hurt so Jacques was on the team solo. They billed him as "Quebecer Jacques" at the PPV. To me if he's alone with that same outfit he's just The Mountie again. Does anyone know why pray tell they wouldn't just call them The Mounties? As in Quebecers is harder to say and the gimmick was the same.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

My first memory was Bret and Owen Hart against the Rougoue Brothers, when Bret wouldn't tag Owen in, and I remember thinking, damn that Bret Hart is selfish, why didn't he tag his Brother in. Being totally unaware of what wrestling was about and everyones backstory, I took a liking to Owen Hart straight away.

 

 

It was The Quebecers... They weren't The Mounties! Nor were they The Rougeaus for that matter.

 

Oh yeah! They were the same guys though, weren't they?

 

[Vern Gagne 0]

I stopped watching when the originial steroid scandal first broke. Didn't get back into it until 1995.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Incidentally I watched that Survivor Series 93 show on 24/7 this past month and Pierre was hurt so Jacques was on the team solo. They billed him as "Quebecer Jacques" at the PPV. To me if he's alone with that same outfit he's just The Mountie again. Does anyone know why pray tell they wouldn't just call them The Mounties? As in Quebecers is harder to say and the gimmick was the same.

 

I believe the answer to this is that the Royal Mounted Police got pissed off at the WWF that the Mountie was a heel character and it made them look bad. I believe this led to actual legal action against the WWF by the Mounties union/their representatives and as a result the Quebecers theme music became "We're not the Mounties..." instead of the Mountie theme "I'm the Mountie..." as a jab at them.

 

Interestingly enough, I read last night about the Quebecers on Wikipedia and it says that Men on a Mission weren't supposed to win the belts from the Quebecers on the UK tour. What happened was that Mabel accidentally pinned Pierre because Pierre got stunned when Mabel fell on him. That kinda cleared up why that small title change occurred to me since it always appeared weird that the WWF would have MoM win the belts off TV.

[King Kamala 0]

My first memory was Bret and Owen Hart against the Rougoue Brothers, when Bret wouldn't tag Owen in, and I remember thinking, damn that Bret Hart is selfish, why didn't he tag his Brother in. Being totally unaware of what wrestling was about and everyones backstory, I took a liking to Owen Hart straight away.

 

 

It was The Quebecers... They weren't The Mounties! Nor were they The Rougeaus for that matter.

 

Oh yeah! They were the same guys though, weren't they?

 

 

Almost...The Rougeau Brothers was Jacques and Raymond Rougeau. Then Raymond retired in 1990, Jacques went on to be the Mountie and in 1993, he teamed up with Pierre Carl-Oullet to become The Quebecers...who for the record, were NOT The Mounties.

[haws bah gawd 0]

My uncle took me and my cousin to a WWF house show in the early 90's headlined by Ultimate Warrior vs Mr. Perfect. I don't remember much of the show, because I may have only been 9 or 10 at the time. I vaguely remember The Rockers vs The Oriental Express and Tugboat wrestling someone. My biggest memory is the place going batshit crazy when The Warrior's music hit.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

My first memory was Bret and Owen Hart against the Rougoue Brothers, when Bret wouldn't tag Owen in, and I remember thinking, damn that Bret Hart is selfish, why didn't he tag his Brother in. Being totally unaware of what wrestling was about and everyones backstory, I took a liking to Owen Hart straight away.

 

 

It was The Quebecers... They weren't The Mounties! Nor were they The Rougeaus for that matter.

 

Oh yeah! They were the same guys though, weren't they?

 

 

Almost...The Rougeau Brothers was Jacques and Raymond Rougeau. Then Raymond retired in 1990, Jacques went on to be the Mountie and in 1993, he teamed up with Pierre Carl-Oullet to become The Quebecers...who for the record, were NOT The Mounties.

 

Ah, thanks for that

 

Actually, on further memory draining, I can kinda remember Pat Sharp (English DJ, TV Personality and owner of the grandest Mullet ever) hosting a WCW show on ITV (Channel3) around the early 90s. I'm not sure if that or the WWF memory came first. Anyone else remember Pat Sharp hosting a wrestling highlight show?

[luke-o 0]

I wish bars in the UK would show wrestling over here, would make my life a lot easier.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah but if the Canadian govt. was pissed at the WWF over the depiction of the Mountie, then why not repackage the guy?