When did you start watching wrestling?

[Wishbone]

I was inspired by one of Noid's comments over in the Better Wrestler thread to ask this question. So like the title says when were you first exposed to wrestling? Feel free to just give the era/year/etc, or go all out and tell us why you were drawn to it. Maybe throw in a story about your earliest memory with wrestling while you're at it.

I'll start. My first introduction to wrestling was through my father who would occasionally throw it on when I was much younger. It wasn't until I was 7 or so that I started watching regularly myself though. I started off with a lot of my dad's old tapes with stuff mostly from the 80s and a little that I think might have predated that. Pretty quickly I started watching current WWF stuff with my dad. This being roughly around 1997. We'd sometimes watch WCW too, but not nearly as often, and honestly I never got into it all that much for some reason. I'd also watch ECW stuff with a friend of mine who was huge into it and would scoop up anything he could find.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

1988.

[johnsmagic]

early 96

[Emperor Smeat]

Either 1988 or 1989. Mega Powers breaking up and the Bushwhackers time in the WWF are usually the moments I use the most for remembering.

As a kid, used to go over my grandparents house on Sunday mornings after CCD classes to watch tv with WWF wrestling shows among the stuff seen.

[Mr. Nerfect]

End of 2000. A weird time to get in, isn't it? Just as everybody else was leaving.

[Juan]

1990 Survivor Series

[DAMN iNATOR]

End of 2000. A weird time to get in, isn't it? Just as everybody else was leaving.

Don't feel bad. I went with my cousin to a mutual friend's apartment which I had no idea at the time where he lived, and it was the first time since summer of 1998 I had seen him, so I was looking forward to re-connecting with him, and when we got there, he and some other friends were watching the last bit of Survivor Series 2001, during the tag team championship match where Jeff Hardy did that insane spot off the top of the cage (Swanton Bomb, I think) and ended up putting himself through a table which I believe one of the Dudleys were on before moving bat the last second. Needless to say, I was hooked.

Oh, yeah, and then a while later, 2003 WWE happened, and as I said before, I may be negatively influenced by most of that year being my mother's struggle with, and eventual loss to breast cancer. Full disclaimer or whatever in case others have more fond memories of 2003 in WWE.

[Zeeboe]

1990, just before Summerslam during the Hulk Hogan/Earthquake program.

[#1-norm-fan]

Was born into it. My dad and my grandma were both into it and I followed suit.

[Black Widow]

1990, just before Summerslam during the Hulk Hogan/Earthquake program. Same

[Evil Vito]

Early 1998. I started hearing kids in school talk about it and my grandfather was always down to watch it.

Goldberg immediately became my favorite wrestler and I was decidedly a WCW guy. I watched Nitro and Raw but Nitro always got priority right up to its dying day. Funny how when you're a kid it didn't register at all that WCW was consistently churning out a worse product than WWF.

I did watch all of the PPVs for both shows, too. I miss that little black box.

[screech]

First show I can remember is when Kane debuted in 1997. Didn't start watching regularly until the following summer, though.

[Ruien]

No idea the date or year but 123 Kid and Scott Hall lost their tag team championship match. Backstage ,123 Kid was and threw like a chair or something.

[Blue Demon]

I can tell you the exact day....March 29, 1987....I was a young 'un and my brother brought me to a buddy's place to watch WrestleMania 3

[Stickman]

Don't know exactly when, and I never saw a ppv when I was young, but I watched Superstars and whatever else was shown on weekends. My earliest memories include Macho man, brutis beefcake, andre, warrior and hogan. So I would guess late 80s

[Rammsteinmad]

1992 or 1993. I had a coupon from the newspaper to get this sticker album for free... got hooked from there and haven't left since.

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/URIAAOSwYHxWNMLk/s-l225.jpg

I still have this sticker album somewhere... living each day in the hope that I'll complete it before I die. :D

[Bad News Gertner]

1987. Wrestling Challenge was on and I saw Kamala give some poor sap a top rope splash. I was hooked.

[Theo Dious]

1990, just before Summerslam during the Hulk Hogan/Earthquake program.

Same here. Specifically the SNME where Hogan returned. Fell in love with Mr Perfect and Demolition that day.

[Wishbone]

Huh, bit surprised by the results thus far. Seems like most got into it in the late 80s/early 90s around here. Bit earlier than I expected.

[Cool King]

My introduction to wrestling is pretty hazy, but I remember being at my auntie's house and my uncle was watching wrestling on TV. I remember the blue mats surrounding the ring and seeing Doink The Clown and finding him pretty creepy. It must have been 1993 as Doink was being a dick to everyone and him playing pranks on people along with his theme made me not like him and find him creepy.

I didn't really watch much after that as I was only around four years old and had other interests that didn't creep me out. It wasn't until late 1997/early 1998 that I began watching through choice and not just because a family member was watching it, but I was watching it sporadically. I would miss a week or two of Raw and pretty much most of the PPV's around that time.

I specifically remember The Undertaker burning Stephanie McMahon's teddy bear in front of Vince though. I think that's the clearest memory I have of when I began watching as a fan and I've been watching ever since.

Week in and week out.

[Cool King]

So I don't know if you want to count 1993, late 1997/early 1998 or early 1999 as when I started watching wrestling.

[A.J.K]

the 1st wrestling event i watched was a DVD copy of Survivor Series 2000. My parents didn't have cable until 2007 so the 1st time i watched a show ,it was Smackdown on CW, back when Chavo hung Rey on a ring post and he hit him with a chair to the knees.

Loved the teams of Deuce and Domino and Londrick

[XL]

1992 or 1993. I had a coupon from the newspaper to get this sticker album for free... got hooked from there and haven't left since.

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/URIAAOSwYHxWNMLk/s-l225.jpg

I still have this sticker album somewhere... living each day in the hope that I'll complete it before I die. :D

My recollection of when (and why) I started watching is a little hazy. I too collected these stickers (the 1994 album apparently, which may have been released in '93) but I don't know if I was a fan before or because of this album.

Both me and my cousin were in to wrestling but again I don't know who was first. I've a feeling it might be some time in 1992, with the rise of popularity in the U.K. due to SummerSlam 92 at Wembley. I had/have WrestleMania 8 on VHS but I don't think I was watching at the time of the event, I do remember having a neighbour record Royal Rumble 93 so I was definetly watching by early 1993.

I stopped watching shortly after Mania 11 in 1995, then got back into it in 1998 when a friend was watching Raw and I ended up watching SummerSlam live at his house. I've "watched" pretty religiously since then, probably a period when at uni were I couldn't catch the shows but still followed results.

[Bad News Gertner]

Huh, bit surprised by the results thus far. Seems like most got into it in the late 80s/early 90s around here. Bit earlier than I expected.

A lot of us are in our 30's

[Lock Jaw]

Was born into it. My dad and my grandma were both into it and I followed suit.

Same, except it was my dad and grandpa.

I didn't really watch it "religously", though.... it was always just "kind of around" when I was a kid, and I was into Macho Man and the Ultimate Warrior...

Then I think I took a "break"/"hiatus" after I saw Papa Shango make Ultimate Warrior throw up and I got "grossed out"/"scared"

Was still "around", but I paid attention less.

Then I picked back up Summerslam 1996 when I saw Paul Bearer turn on Undertaker, and have missed very few shows since.

I guess the Papa Shango thing was 1992.... so 1992-mid1996 is when I "paid attention the least"/"watched the least"..... caught up on some stuff via VHS tapes, but a lot of that time is still a "mystery" to me..... Diesel's whole title run was not something I learned of until much later......

[Shisen Kopf]

1987. Wrestling Challenge was on and I saw Kamala give some poor sap a top rope splash. I was hooked.

1987? Noob. Been watching since 85.

[Mr. Nerfect]

But were you at WrestleMania X-8?

[Bad News Gertner]

You're mistaken Noid. Shisen has never been to Wrestlemania before.

[WinterDecay]

in 1983, my elementary school had a "Father\Son night", which amounted to a tv with a vcr that showed a Football game, tv with a vcr that showed a basketball game, and a tv with a vcr that showed a wrestling match with Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat .... I was hooked from then on.
My father was disgusted.

[DAMN iNATOR]

But were you at WrestleMania X-8?

You're mistaken Noid. Shisen has never been to Wrestlemania before.

You sure? I could've sworn he was at X8 holding a "NOID AND GERTNER FEAR SHISEN KOPF!" sign on camera...

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

End of 2000. A weird time to get in, isn't it? Just as everybody else was leaving.

False. People left 2001-2002 and a lot more after.

[Disturbed316]

1989

Cant believe ive been watching something for that long. Next closest thing is probably either Friends or South Park.

[#1-norm-fan]

End of 2000. A weird time to get in, isn't it? Just as everybody else was leaving.

False. People left 2001-2002 and a lot more after.

...

[rockman725]

May 1993

Heard kids talking about wrestling on the bus and vaguely remember the big deal about Hulk Hogan being in the movie The Nanny. Never really "watched" wrestling until I flipped it on one day soon there after, WWF Superstars probably, and that was right at the point when Hogan was champion fighting with Yoko. They must have promo'd Raw during the episode cause I'm pretty sure I tuned into Monday Night Raw the following week and never stopped. I did not watch King Of The Ring '93, but my first PPV was Summerslam '93. Although Hogan was the big deal at that very moment heading into KOTR, I instantly became a fan of Bret Hart.

And similarly, I started paying attention to WCW when Hogan joined in '94. Was an off & on viewer until the Hall/Nash takeover and watched both WWF & WCW from that point forward.

Because I was a WWF guy first, I was always more partial to WWF, even though I hated the WWF a lot by 1998. Yeah, the "era" you all love, I absolutely hated....but I never stopped watching. Came very close though.

[Nicky Fives]

Late 1996. First show I remember watching was Summerslam 1996 on VHS which my uncle rented. That would have made me just barely 7....

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Huh, bit surprised by the results thus far. Seems like most got into it in the late 80s/early 90s around here. Bit earlier than I expected.

Most of us are either just under or a bit over 30, shouldn't be too surprising.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I'll say 1990-1991 though, hard to remember

[Gerard]

80's watching the British Wrestling (if you can call it that) on Saturday afternoons. Then nwa used to be on early in the morning so got that taped.

[EazyMack]

Definitely remember promos for SummerSlam 88, which was when I was 4 years old. Watched until 2004, then the raunchiness got old for me. Watched sporadically in 2007 and 2009.

Picked it back up on a full-time basis just before Rumble 2016!

[cnoslim]

I forget exactly what year i know it was the early 90's and we just moved i was judt a young kid and my dad had just hooked the tv up in my room and he put it to the channel it was on and here comed tatanka and was instantly hook but i cant even remember who he even wrestled.

[Bad News Gertner]

Should have spent more time hitting the books