What got you into Wrestling?

beakerjoe

I want to know what got people interested in watching Wrestling? Where you hooked from the get go by watching your first show, or did you end up loving it after watching a big angle or show in-particular?

For me my earliest memory was watching Hulk Hogan battle The Macho Man during my youth. It drew me in and made me take notice. With that, other characters appeared such as Jake Roberts, Zeus, the Ultimate Warrior, The Big Bossman, Tugboat, Rick Rude and the Million Dollar Man. I loved everything and became so emotionally invested in it.

It was so outrageous and cartoony but Id didn't notice, it was all real to a 5-6 Year old beakerjoe. It seemed like everyone watched it and you had to be watching it too.

So, What got you into wrestling

Moneymaker

This is a topic for the podcast.

beakerjoe

Moneymaker wrote: »

This is a topic for the podcast.

Was this the question for Wednesday?

Moneymaker

beakerjoe wrote: »

Was this the question for Wednesday?

Nope, but it will be now. :pac:

I had a similar-ish question.

Mr.Saturn

The AKI WCW N64 games; you can only imagine my reaction when they got their mitts on the WWF license. They were effective, if not well-aging. Explains why I turned on WWF Livewire expecting Hogan having come off months playing World Tour and having no clue about 'rasslin, but I stuck around due to the Austin/Kane/McMahon/'Taker business in the run-up to IYH: Breakdown.

Best mate was a closet WCW fan, watching the TNT Saturday broadcasts of Nitro. Monday Night Wars in the arse-end of Dublin. Credit to him, he stuck with it through 2000, invited me over to watch a bit too, but the storms in August 2000 left him without satellite for a little bit, so he switched to WWF for a 'temporary' fix and, even when it was restored, never bothered with WCW again.

Ape Lincoln

Earliest memory I believe is around the latter part of 1991 with them angles involving Hogan et al at Undertaker's funeral parlour. It is possible that I didn't watch these at the time and only saw them later on the Survivor Series 1991 VHS. But pretty sure I watched them at the time.

Then WWF was off TV for a while WCW was on UTV so I saw surfer Sting. Then WWF returned and the kids in school were watching and talking wrestling.

No idea why I kept watching though.

markcahill1985

Saw Jake Roberts getting his snake to bit Mancho Man, was hooked from then

MitchKoobski

Renting WWF Warzone on the PS1 for a weekend and having no idea what it was, but then I was flicking through TV channels one Saturday morning and saw the guy that was on the front cover and decided to watch it.

beakerjoe

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

Earliest memory I believe is around the latter part of 1991 with them angles involving Hogan et al at Undertaker's funeral parlour. It is possible that I didn't watch these at the time and only saw them later on the Survivor Series 1991 VHS. But pretty sure I watched them at the time.

Then WWF was off TV for a while WCW was on UTV so I saw surfer Sting. Then WWF returned and the kids in school were watching and talking wrestling.

No idea why I kept watching though.

As I recall Sky One was taken off the cable link channels at the time and didnt return until 1993/94. I remember Razor Ramon was debuting as a bad guy and when Sky came back he was a good guy, took some VHS catching up.

Ape Lincoln

markcahill1985 wrote: »

Saw Jake Roberts getting his snake to bit Mancho Man, was hooked from then

I can remember this too but again, it could be a false memory and I just rented the SS 91 tape years later but it wasn't untip maybe 1994 that I started renting wrestling tapes.

Mr.Saturn

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Renting WWF Warzone on the PS1 for a weekend and having no idea what it was, but then I was flicking through TV channels one Saturday morning and saw the guy that was on the front cover and decided to watch it.

'So how d'you do a clothesline?'

-opens up moves list-

'This got through quality control?'

Blue_Dabadee

I started watching wrestling during Attitude Era (good times). It's crazy how wrestling was so popular back then compared to now.

It's hard to say what got me interested into wrestling. I knew a lot of people that watch wrestling when i started watching it and moments in the Attitude Era is what keep me watching the product.

Ape Lincoln

beakerjoe wrote: »

As I recall Sky One was taken off the cable link channels at the time and didnt return until 1993/94. I remember Razor Ramon was debuting as a bad guy and when Sky came back he was a good guy, took some VHS catching up.

Yeah was a dispute between the two. It also meant Simpsons was off TV in Ireland unless you had a dish. When Sky returned the cover of the RTE Guide featured Bart Simpsons with a caption that he had returned. Afaik it was in 1992 and was possibly around the Summerslam was in London.

Mr.Saturn

mxph3 wrote: »

I started watching wrestling during Attitude Era (good times). It's crazy how wrestling was so popular back then compared to now.

I think JayHunter said it best in terms of how mainsteam it'd gotten with the 'it was like Wrestlemania week, every week'. Kinda apt, methinks.

beakerjoe

mxph3 wrote: »

I started watching wrestling during Attitude Era (good times). It's crazy how wrestling was so popular back then compared to now.

I think the Wrestling from when I was 5/6 (late 80's) was very cartoonish and colourful and suited by age back then, and as i grew up, wrestling conveniently grew up to suit my age. When I was 13 in 1997, the brash edgy attitude of the time seemed to be perfect for the types of story's and visuals that I graved, ie teh sex appeal, the violence, the take no ****e attitude. The fact that WCW had emerged and started to dominate, meant that WWE had to step up its game and compete.

beakerjoe

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

I think JayHunter said it best in terms of how mainsteam it'd gotten with the 'it was like Wrestlemania week, every week'. Kinda apt, methinks.

Spot on. Every week was must see TV from 1998 to 2000. I was addicted and needed my fix alot, whether it game in TV show, wrestling Efeds and magazines to actually recreating matches on a bouncy castle.

savemejebus

Neighbour came to me saying "next week i'm getting the video of Ultimate Wire fighting Wick Woood from my cousin, come over and watch it". So following week went over to his place and watched 2 tapes, SummerSlam 90 followed by the SME Oktoberfest (this was prob in November of 90). Once i realised that Wire was a mispronunciation of Warrior I thought it was cool and then a few weeks later I was in the local video shop and saw they had Wrestlemania 3 to rent for 50p. Got that and after seeing Macho Man vs Steamboat was hooked....though i did think Piper was far to young to be retiring :P

Scavenger XIII

Earliest memory of wrestling was being sat down in front of what must've been the '95 or '96 Rumble, just remember Shawn Michaels winning.

Watched through until the end of the attitude era then just drifted away and missed most of the next decade, only catching the odd episode here and there.

Last year just caught a random episode where a bunch of lads in combat gear came hopping over the barricades and beat the crap out of everyone and just thought "Oh ****, these guys are badass!" I've been a massive Shield mark since, caught up on every match, researched their indy careers, bought the merch, cosplayed as Rollins, held my feels during the implosion...

Garseys

Probably early 2000 remember watching Smackdown in my cousins house, then got sucked into it proper about Summerslam 2000.

Blue_Dabadee

Garseys wrote: »

Probably early 2000 remember watching Smackdown in my cousins house, then got sucked into it proper about Summerslam 2000.

Same

jaykhunter

I've 4 older brothers who were into wrestling so that was that, really. Memories of the late 80s start around the MegaPowers explode. They'd gotten into heels so I enjoyed them as well as being a kid and loving the faces (kinda like Transformers!) so wrestling was just amazing. After that it's much clearer from Warrior & Rick Rude's posedown at Rumble 1990 onwards.

I did stop watching when Sky went to a pay-channel so as soon as we got it back (Sept 96) I picked it up again, and kept watching thanks to Stone Cold, Bret and the Legion of Doom (my anchor point from the early 90s).

thebostoncrab

My cousins were very much into it. I remember going to visit them in the very early 90s and they wanted to get home quickly, their friend had got a tape of matches from All Japan. Watching Misawa was my very first memory of wrestling and I haven't looked back since.

Moneymaker

Piper v Bret Hart WM8.

Never looked back since.

A Rogue Hobo

I was about 3 or 4 years old at the time, my older brother was into wrestling at the time and was watching it on tv, undertaker came out, lights went out in the arena, and he scared the crap out of me so much I hid behind the couch. Been hooked ever since.

Angron

Well it was a popular thing in school, with the rise of DX and the NWO, but I think the big thing that got me was the debut of Kane.

Reganio 2

I remember being babysat by a lad who wasn't much older than me I was old enough just not old enough to be left in the house alone kinda thing anyway I guess it was Friday nights or something he had sky sports so we used to watch raw and I'd watch smackdown on Saturday mornings on sky. Good times.

gnfnrhead

My dad watched it every single week so as soon as I was able to hold my own head up, I was sat with him and watching it too. Late '87 or early '88 depending on how long it took before I mastered the skill of sitting. I've been a wrestling fan since I was a couple of weeks old probably.

Unfortunately, I don't remember anything specific and instead only remember wrestlers. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Ted diBiase, Macho Man, Warrior, Demolition etc. 1996 is my first clear memory of something other than the actual wrestlers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phBOmvBGrhw

Ruu

Watched WCW on Saturday afternoons on UTV, Sting, Ron Simmons, Rick Rude, Vader, 'Heavy Metal' Van Hammer, Paul E, loads more. Richer cousins had the official Silvervision Wrestlemania tapes, when they were done with them, they gave me 3 and 8. I still have them somewhere. My Dad got the pub owner to tape the big events (Survivor Series 1993 stands out) for us until we got Sky in 1996 and mostly watched WCW. The amount of money we spent on Sky box office was ridiculous, all the 'In Your House' shows and whatever else where was!

JeffKenna

Was WCW for me as well. It used to be on TNT network at 9pm on a Friday night. First thing straight after the Cartoon Network! Thinking back it really was quality entertainment, I just to be so scared of the plight of poor WCW against the 'evil' NWO.

Still watch clips of that era to this day. It's a shame what the PG era has done for wrestling, but I guess that's a different conversation!

Ape Lincoln

Angron wrote: »

Well it was a popular thing in school, with the rise of DX and the NWO, but I think the big thing that got me was the debut of Kane.

Primary or secondary? Wrestling was popular in my all boys prilary school and openly discussed but in my mixed secondary school year it was never openly discussed and was even a bit taboo like, "ew, jesus you watch wrestling, what a baby!". I did transition year and the fifth year I went to has wrestling fans which wouod have been towards the end of the boom period.

Angron

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

Primary or secondary? Wrestling was popular in my all boys prilary school and openly discussed but in my mixed secondary school year it was never openly discussed and was even a bit taboo like, "ew, jesus you watch wrestling, what a baby!". I did transition year and the fifth year I went to has wrestling fans which wouod have been towards the end of the boom period.

Primary, I think most of the school watched it and there was crotch chops galore. In secondary there was a group of maybe 10-15 of us in our year that still watched it.

Agent Coulson

Saturday World of Sport on ITV got me hooked on wrestling then they would show an odd match from North America which was so different from what they did in England.

We then got Sky and they had WWF which is when I first saw Roddy Piper talking smack and I was hooked all my friends liked Hogan but I loved Piper becuase of the smack talk.

This was all around the early mid 80's

gerTheGreat

Bret Hart's shades. They were the coolest thing ever to a 8 year old.