Your earliest pro-wrestling memories

[Ry009]

Thought it wouldn't be the worst idea creating a new thread off a post I made in the Network thread and thought it be nice to hear how some of you guys first got into the watching it. Reckon we'll have a lot of varied answers here.

Very early memories as small kid was Ricky Steamboat in WCW when they'd show it 12pm on Sundays, but really got into it when they showed a cut down version of Survivor Series 98 on Ten. Then WWF did a really good job at the time of having their finger on the pulse and pushing wrestling as a 'cool' product to not to be ashamed of watching.

Remember it making a very boring evening at the grandparents a salvagable one.

Fast forward to 2015 being the same age as Mania, and pretty much like my team, took the success for granted in the late nineties and have had a lot of lean years of viewing ever since

Looking into the future I'd like to expand my taste into the less mainstream/non US stuff.

Over to you guys!

 

[Igloo]

Summerslam 1998 - Triple H vs The Rock in a ladder match for the Intercontinental championship. I have no clue how I came upon it and started to watch, but i'm very glad I did.
WWE should go back to yellow ladders

The first match I ever saw (or at least, remember seeing) involved the 2 wrestlers who have been my favourites through all those years up until now. The seed was planted early, apparently.

 

[Valentino Dmitri]

In the late 80's there was a WWF TV advert set to Another One Bites The Dust. Vaguely remember all these enormous blokes that looked liked cartoon characters but were REAL, was too much for my mind to handle. There was a particular bit where Macho did his top rope elbow. The actual show must have been on after my bedtime though, as I never saw an episode at home.

Did get to see an episode when visiting an uncle one night though - only 2 real memories stick with me, Jake The Snake w/Damian, and Ted Dibiase stuffing a $100 note in his unconscious opponents mouth. What a jerk!

First PPV I rented with the kid next door was the Survivor Series ~1990, where Ultimate Warrior and Hulk teamed up to beat about 9 baddies. I remember mean gene trying to translate Warriors promo after he'd been the sole survivor in his preliminary match because where he's screamed "AND WHEN THE DONE WAS DONE, WE WERE ALL OOOOOOOOVER!!!" then walked around flexing his muscles and no one knew what he was on about. Still completely awesome of course.

 

[Hawks1523]

Watching the 92 royal rumble on tape we borrowed from a video shop.

I can remember my dad wanting Greg the hammer valentine to win, lol

 

[RumourWindmill]

I'm sure I used to watch it every Saturday afternoon in the mid to late 80s on wide world of sports but I may have made this up in my head

 

[Maxwell110]

My earliest memories of wrestling are from the early 2000s when I'd go around to a mate's house and I'd catch a random Raw or Smackdown every now and then. None of them really stick out to me though. Then that same mate showed me WM 22 and that's when I knew I had to start watching regularly, so I'd watch some more Raws and Smackdowns, the only raw that I remember after WM 22 is the one where Lita went up against John Cena. Then I got WM 23 to watch and loved it and watched a ppv every now and then until I stopped watching around WM 26 and have been watching mostly everything since I came back before wm 28

 

[TradeDraft]

Watching the Bret Hart Doco on SBS I think in 1999 and I liked that show so I found Nitro was on CH9 Monday Night. Though was months out of Date and then was WWE show on Channel 10 I watched.

WWE Show they where talking up No Mercy in 1999 so then I went to Civic at the Shops and Borrowed that PPV so I could watch it.

Then I saw they had a Ton of WWF and WCW VHS so I just Borrowed them and watched a ton of PPV's

 

[E92_]

After my friends got me into it I played the hell out of the smackdown games of the PS1.

As for actually watching it I remember choosing to watch my first live PPV instead of going to Rottnest for the day (I think it was either No Mercy or Bad Blood). I wasn't allowed to get the PPV but it was the PPV with the street fight between HBK and HHH at SS 2002(?) and I was just listening to the audio without the video on Main Event (back when foxtel was cable). When I was watching Raw or SD and I saw that they were coming to Perth I did laps around the house.


I miss when SD was good...

 

[NSWCROW]

In the late 80's there was a WWF TV advert set to Another One Bites The Dust. Vaguely remember all these enormous blokes that looked liked cartoon characters but were REAL, was too much for my mind to handle. There was a particular bit where Macho did his top rope elbow. The actual show must have been on after my bedtime though, as I never saw an episode at home.

iirc , that was one of the SNME's before WM2
Ch10 showed it at 7.30 on a tuesday ( or Thurs night )

Hogan vs Muraco main event ( Bundy Pearl-Harbour )

 

[NSWCROW]

I was just listening to the audio without the video on Main Event (back when foxtel was cable)

Same way i heard Goldbergs streak end

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT
THAT'S SCOTT HALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NotAMagpieBogan]

I never watch it when I was really young, but i do remember being at my Aunty and Uncles place once when it was on TV, I remember the One-legged bloke being absolutely destroyed by Big Show and Stephanie McMahon.

I also remember some guy stealing wheels off a car haha?

 

[BABYBOMBERS2007]

I never watched wrestling when I was younger, but I do remember some of my friends in high school watched it. I was in year 9-12 from 2004-2007, and I remember a friend saying to another friend at some point that John Cena sucks. When I started watching wrestling years later I thought Cena was alright to begin with, but eventually I understood why many people didn't/don't like him.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Wasn't allowed to watch as a young kid (probably 5-6) but my cousin used to watch and he'd get my dad to dub the videos from the video store for him as we had two VCR's setup. This was in the late 80's and I think he must've recorded WMIV off TV or was getting my dad to dub it.

Then whenever we went to my grandma's usually on school holidays I'd get him to bring some round and we'd go to the video shop and load up on WWF and Loony Tunes videos. One of the earlier ones I remember watching was Survivor Series 90 debut of the Undertaker and had the sole survivors match at the end with Hogan & Warrior going over was great. He kind of went out of it around 93 but I kept watching pretty much all through until early/mid 99 and have been on/off since. My brother is 9 years younger than me so when I went out he was watching madly and I was jealous he could watch Raw/SD on TV every week and not have to watch PPV's from the video shop months after they'd happened.

 

[NSWCROW]

Zac Gowen's legs.

 

[cheesedogg]

Pretty much the exact same story as Ryz in his OP minus the Steamboat part and the fact I was actually at my Aunties house the night it aired on 10, not my grandparents.


Oh, and the fact we won a flag in 2010

 

[The Casey Cat]

Started watching WCW from around Fall Brawl 98. Had some pretty good stuff going on with Hart v Sting, Page v Goldberg, Nash v Hall, Flock internal troubles and cruiserweights/Jericho. Started on WWF about the same time just prior to Summerslam.

 

[Baird]

WCW around 98. Mainly Goldberg destroying people.

 

[Maxwell110]

Now I think of it I'm real sure if some of the earlier stuff I watched was WWE or WCW because I didn't really know that they were different when I was young enough for WCW to still be around. I seem to have very strong memories of Benoit vs Hart at Mayhem 1999, the match featured in the Malcolm in the Middle intro. I'd say that's my first wrestling memory.

 

[JordanWCE]

My mum used to work with a guy who was an avid wrestling fan. It started with him lending a me a copy of WCW vs NWO World Tour on N64 which I would play non-stop. He then lent me a VHS tape of Starrcade 97, I thought Sting and his entrance was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen. Probably the earliest memory I can think of, I used to get tapes from this guy weekly after that and haven't stopped being a fan since.

 

[bkozican]

Hulk Hogan v The Ultimate Warrior...Aw, The good ol days

 

[Cleavy]

Hulk Hogan v The Ultimate Warrior...Aw, The good ol days

????

 

[Wizard]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Series_(1998)

That was the FIRST time i ever seen wrestling. Was a late Saturday night on channel 10 and i was just laying in bed and stumbled over it as i was channell surfing.

 

[Donstuie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Series_(1998)

That was the FIRST time i ever seen wrestling. Was a late Saturday night on channel 10 and i was just laying in bed and stumbled over it as i was channell surfing.

Possibly not the first I ever saw, but remember seeing.

Hogan v Bundy at WM2
or
Jake Roberts v Ricky Steamboat (when he had the Goanna)

 

[SugarShane]

Have been into it since before I can remember, but the earliest I can remember is seeing Hulk Hogan run out and win the 1990 Royal Rumble. Pretty sure I watched No Holds Barred not long before because young me was wondering why they were calling him Hulk and not Rip.

 

[Rainfall]

This was the first time I had ever seen anything wrestling related then I never saw it again until 2008. If Big Show was still like this.. would be great