Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

[Graphik]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

Well he's a flashback to the old days where wrestler size didn't matter, it was all about attitude, and Murdoch has that. He has great charisma as well, if you saw his backstage skit with Vince it was golden, "I'm your hucklebuck!" I like Murdoch because he can hold his own in the ring and he is the average man, well below average but that's what makes him so unique, and once again his charisma is through the roof.

Good points. I always though Vince had a fettish for the super buff men. I'll check him out next time.

[sven]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

Back around the time of Wrestlemania 4. Which would have made me around 6 or 7 I think. I loved Brutus The Barber Beefcake, Jake the Snake, The Hart Foundation, Ricky The Dragon Steamboat, and Demolition.

And yes I thought it was real for a while.

[SPTO]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

Sorry for taking so long to reply to my own thread (sheesh)


Anywho when did you guys first start watching wrestling?

It was 1987. I vividly remember renting WM III and marking out over the Hogan/Andre match. That match had the biggest build up to any match up to that time. I didn't realize that Andre was so sick at the time and to this day i'm still amazed that he went through with the match.


When did you fully understand the product and realize it was "fake"?

Well I always thought it was real up til the (I think) Royal Rumble match between Undertaker and Yokozuna. It was the match where 'Taker ascended to heaven and all that stuff. I was so impressionable that I thought the world was ending or something and I was literally praying to God! My father told me it was just an entertainment show but I was still spooked like hell.

So from that time on I knew the in ring stuff was staged to an extent but it wasn't until I got internet access in around 1998 that I realized it was more intricate then that.

BTW Graphik that special you mention, the guy behind the mask was none other then Harley Race. He got a lot of heat from other old time wrestlers for revealing those "tricks of the trade"



Who's your favourite all time wrestlers?

I can't lie either, I was a huge Hogan fan. I used to go around doing all the Hogan poses and screaming out "whatcha gonna do when hulkamania runs wild on you!". Hell I still do some of that from time to time! I was a very sheltered wrestling kid as I didn't get NWA/WCW til the late 90s. Even then I didn't watch much of it. I have grown to love Ric Flair and I think of him as the greatest of all time.

I'm also a huge admirer of Bret Hart, HBK (in ring only), Ricky Steamboat, Macho Man (ooooh yeah!) and Mr. Perfect



Are you tape traders/buyers/sellers?

Nope, tho I did buy a couple tapes off of a guy named Corey Morgan. Even tho his site said the material was G/VG quality it didn't really live up to it. It wasn't so bad as I got to watch some matches I hadn't seen before.

I've bought a few DVD sets and such and I wouldn't mind buying/recieving anything from someone on OS (tho it's a bit taboo)

BTW Graphik there's an undertaker set out right now.



Do you have interest in wrestling before your time?

HELL YEAH I do! I've found that the late 70s/early 80s WWF stuff i've seen on WWE 24/7 is pretty much sleep inducing but Vince McMahon was "gasp" a darn good commentator! I also enjoy watching the ECW product as i've never seen it except for 2 matches on a tape I mentioned earlier. I also enjoy watching the older NWA/WCW stuff as well. The NWA was truly leagues better then WWF for a time.

I've also seen some AWA stuff and let me tell you, unlike the late 70s WWF, AWA was pretty darn fast paced for its time. I saw an hour long documentary thingie on Verne Gagne this month and saw some clips of him wrestling. The man may get some flack for wrestling for as long as he did but he was a very agile and technically sound guy in the ring.

[Acid]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

When did you guys first start watching wrestling?

90's, I forget when. But ECW, WCW, and the WWF were around. I watched all three of them (had a satellite back in the day with MSG for ECW). I'd constantly flip between Nitro and Raw, what a time. I'd watch WCW for the non-main event matches, like with Jericho/Benoit before they totally got into main-event status. But then I would watch the WWF Main Event because it was awesome. I used to LOVE the Hart Foundation, Bret and Owen Hart rule, Brian Pillma was amazing.

When did you fully understand the product and realize it was "fake"?

Pretty early on, I think my cousin told me.

Who's your favourite all time wrestlers?

Owen Hart
Brian Pillman
Chris Benoit
Tajiri (ECW)
Rob Van Dam (ECW)

Are you tape traders/buyers/sellers?

Nope.

Do you have interest in wrestling before your time?

Sort of, I'd love to see some old matches, but I really loved the generation of wrestling I watched. It was the perfect blend of competition, creative writing, and good wrestling.

[Spear]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

When did you guys first start watching wrestling?

My late grandfather took me to a House Show back here in Hamilton in early 1997, so I was 8 or 9. My brother and I loved it from that event...my brother phased out in like 98, while I kept liking it. I used to always watch it with my Grandfather, he'd tape every Raw, Nitro, Thunder, Smackdown you name it. He never ordered PPVs because he thought it was a waste of money, so I kinda followed suit on that and don't order too many.

When did you fully understand the product and realize it was "fake"?

Early on I did, when my Grandfather told me that I was going to a wrestling show, he explained everything to my brother and I.


Who's your favourite all time wrestlers?

RVD (ECW)
Sabu (ECW)
Bret Hart and the whole Hart Foundation (WWF)
Pretty much all the canadian wrestlers as well.

Are you tape traders/buyers/sellers?

yup, big time....gotten into it more as of late. I buy the odd tapes and burn stuff. I used to be able to go to this flea market and get all these old tapes from 1995. But in the past 2 months, I've upped my collection big time...adding like 3-4 shows a week to my collection.


Do you have interest in wrestling before your time?

Anything in the 90s I'm usually game for. Any ECW of course.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

My gosh....even though I'm only 18....I've been watching wrestling for AT LEAST over a decade. I remember when Survivor Series was known as "The Thanksgiving Night Tradition" I remember Undertaker's debut. I remember so much.

I used to get scared when my brothers would say "Shut up or I'll call the Undertaker". I guess thats when I thought it was real, or that maybe the characters were real. I realized it was fixed not too long after. And you know what? I dont care. Let it be fixed. It makes it all that much more entertaining and skillful. It takes so much to be able to do that, truly commendable.

My favorite wrestlers? Hmmm....too many to count. Bret Hart, Owen Hart (God rest his soul), British Bulldog, Ultimate Warrior, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Crush (Yes, Crush), Ted DiBiase, Axe and Smash, I mean, It's so hard to choose just one.

I'm not really a trader/buyer of videos, but we used to tape a whole helluva lot of shows. I bet most of em got taped over though

I'm not toooo interested in wrestling before I was into it. My interest probably goes back to 1980 or so. But I have a major appreciation for the history, thats for sure.

[woodjer]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

When did you guys first start watching wrestling?

I started watching when I was about 8...around the time of the first Wrestlemania. A friend of mine got me into it so I started checking out the Superstars show on Saturday mornings. It took me a while to realize that the jobbers were, in fact, supposed to lose. For the faces, it was cool because they had all the personality but for the heels, it was annoying because I always wanted them to lose because of their personality. Guess they played the role pretty well, huh? Anyway, I remember it being a big treat for me if my mom would let me rent a wrestling video--I either had to have a friend over, my sisters had someone over, or my sisters were gone altogether. My friend and I would always time our sleepovers at his house around Saturday Night's Main Event. I got another friend into it and we'd beat the crap out of our pillows pretending to be different guys. We even created a pen-and-paper, D&D-style wrestling game that we'd play all the time at recess and kept trying to perfect it up until we ended up at different middle schools. Man, it brings back memories...

When did you fully understand the product and realize it was "fake"?

Not sure when. Like someone else said, I think I figured out that characters were fake fairly early on but the matches themselves took a little longer to convince me. I'd guess around the time of the big trial.

Who's your favourite all time wrestlers?

Undertaker, hands down. I liked Hulk when I first started watching because you were supposed to but then I got sick of seeing, more or less, the same match every time. To this day, it hasn't changed a ton. Granted, the guy is good at making you think that there's no way he'll come out on top.
Other favorites include Demolition, Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage, Kane, RVD (a fellow BC boy!), Mick Foley (Cactus is my fav face),1 and Chris Benoit. HBK somewhat but more so because of his WMX ladder match. Still one of my favorites! HHH in early 2000's (up until his injury in the tag title match) was, in my opinion, the best heel ever. I remember jumping up and down when Jericho pinned him on Raw (when he was forced to give it back because of some crap with Hebner's count) and then feeling embarrassed because I knew it was fake and wouldn't hold up.

Are you tape traders/buyers/sellers?

Buyer, sure. I used to be more into it than I am now but still keep an eye out for any good deals on PPVs from the 80s and 90s. I've bought from traders but don't actually trade myself. I'm happy to sell if I get an offer but don't actively look for it.

Do you have interest in wrestling before your time?

Not too much. Sure, some of it is cool but 97ish-2003-ish was one of my favorite eras. I've kinda tailed off lately but still catch it once in a while--mostly to catch up on the Taker-Orton rivalry.

Thanks for letting me share!

[Brandwin]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

Ok so I blatantly stole the concept from graphik "pays the royalties"

Anywho when did you guys first start watching wrestling? When did you fully understand the product and realize it was "fake"? Who's your favourite all time wrestlers? Are you tape traders/buyers/sellers? Do you have interest in wrestling before your time?

I'll answer my questions if this thread gets at least 3 replies.

when did you guys first start watching wrestling?

It was Wrestlemania 5..when the Mega Powers fought, Hogan and Savage. It was my older cousins birthday and they rented the pay per view for it.

When did you fully understand the product and realize it was "fake"

Not sure when i really understood the product..I actually thought Nash and Hall were taking over WCW and didnt think much of it being staged. I knew it had to be fake though back when I was 12. (or 11..close to it) It came down here and Macho Man and Dusty Rhodes were feuding in the WWF, Sherry and Saphire involed as well..I know you guys remember that. Anyway, after they fought on the main event, my dad knew the guy who ran the place it was held. After the match I got to go backstage and meet Savage and Rhodes. Well, they both were in the same room together and knowing they hated each other on tv, I put two and two together. I was so shy..al I remember was Savage shaking my hand and asking me if I liked the SHOW and him having just a bandana around his waist..with no clothes on.

Who's your favourite all time wrestlers?

Well I was more of a WWF guy. I like a few on WCW and more so growing up. Flair and Sting for sure. In WWF I was a huge Hogan fan as a child,( I also ran around posing, wearing hulkamania shirts etc) I also loved Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Mr Perfect. Looking back..I now have a ton of respect for other guys I didnt care for as a child because they were bad guys. Rick Rude is def one who was a great wrestler as well as Flair being in the same cat. I can respect understand how gifted enterainers they are, as a child I was just into the "good guy" role.

Side not..I was so upset when Warrior beat Hogan at Wrestlemania and I wrote a letter to Hogan when he got squashed by Earthquake.

I was also a huge toy collector...I would go to Toys R US every friday and get one or two and would hide the ones I didnt have and couldnt get until next week. Im talking like aisle over in places people wouldnt look.

Are you tape traders/buyers/sellers?

Nah..I used to record every pay per view from I would say 6 years old until I was about 13 or 14. But I dont buy or sell or even watch wrestling anymore.

Do you have interest in wrestling before your time?

Not really.

[fistofrage]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

I don't even know why I'm in this thread, but I remember watching wrestling when the shiek was a scrawny little guy, before the Iron shiek and Nikolai Volkov. I remember before Hogan was really popular, Andre the Giant vs. Big John Stud. My Dad took me to a wrestling match when I was a little kid and I saw the Junk Yard Dawg beat Tito Santana for the Intercontinental title. Then when I watched wrestling on TV the next week, The Junk Yard Dawg didn't have the belt, I was like WTF? Because I remember slapping his hand when he won it and came running down the aisle, I was going nuts!!!. I thought I had witnessed history, only to realize it was a charade.

[RailStone]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

I first started watching wrestling in 85. I loved tag team wrestling of the bat, esp. The Hart Foundation.

I have alot of respect for technically sound wrestlers, and guys with good in ring psychology. My all time favorites are Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, and The million Dollar Man for his terrific character. He could get over bigtime as a heel in any era IMO.

I hated the guys who were egomaniacs behind the scenes and in it for themselves, Sorry HBK, legend you are not in my book.

I'm not a big tape trader or anything, but I do have my fair share of old WWF tapes.

Much like matrix, I dont feel a need to look further than 85 for wrestling, but i do respect the history of it for sure.

[Spear]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

I've bought a few DVD sets and such and I wouldn't mind buying/recieving anything from someone on OS (tho it's a bit taboo)

I was thinking about that the other day, except I don't think many on here would be interested. I on the other hand would love to do this, as theres some things I need for my collection, and I can help others out too by giving them copies of whatever I can, be it VHS or DVD I have my ways .

[sven]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

Who's your favourite all time wrestlers?

Well I already named my past favorites but my current favorites are Low Ki, Austin Aries, Bryan Danielson, Matt Sydal, Delirious, and Cheech.

Are you tape traders/buyers/sellers?

Well I have about 4 ROH shows on DVD and a whole bunch of older WWF PPVs on tape plus a my HD is packed with wrestling too. but I'm not a trader or a seller.

Do you have interest in wrestling before your time?

Not really. Its hard enough to keep up with wrestling in my time.

[heaf8]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

Started watching wrestling in the late 70s when I was about 10. Paul Boesch ran a local promotion here in Houston and was on late Sat nights. Saw Ted Dibiase, Tully Blanchard & Hacksaw Jim Duggan when they were known as the Rat Pack. Remember seeing Kamala in his prime. When Vince bought out all the local promotions across the country I started watching the WWF. Been watching ever since.

Favorite wrestler: Undertaker or HBK

[Emjay]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

IHere is a question for you: Who was Ox Baker and what was his finisher? Don't look it up, I just want to see who knows it off the top of their head.

I don't remember too much about Ox Baker, but he was a tough guy whose finisher If I remember was The Heart Punch, which wound up being the Undertaker's finisher before he came to WWF/E, which was also Crush's finisher around 1997.

Anyhow I got into wrestling back in the early 80's when it came on at midnight in NY. I've been a fan ever since. My favorites over time were Savage, Steamboat, Sting, the Horsemen (except Paul Roma version) Austin, NWO (before it got too redundant) & the Rock. I first knew it was fake when I just realized that there is no way someone could take that many punches and their face not be swelled up, especially when compared to boxing.

My first wrestling event was a house show at MSG. I did get to go to the first Wrestlemania (the ticket were not nearly expensive as they are now)

I don't trade tapes and what not, I just have a couple of DVD's and tapes of events.

[sirjam]

Re: Remember the Times: when did you first watch wrestling?

I don't remember too much about Ox Baker, but he was a tough guy whose finisher If I remember was The Heart Punch, which wound up being the Undertaker's finisher before he came to WWF/E, which was also Crush's finisher around 1997.

Anyhow I got into wrestling back in the early 80's when it came on at midnight in NY. I've been a fan ever since. My favorites over time were Savage, Steamboat, Sting, the Horsemen (except Paul Roma version) Austin, NWO (before it got too redundant) & the Rock. I first knew it was fake when I just realized that there is no way someone could take that many punches and their face not be swelled up, especially when compared to boxing.

My first wrestling event was a house show at MSG. I did get to go to the first Wrestlemania (the ticket were not nearly expensive as they are now)

I don't trade tapes and what not, I just have a couple of DVD's and tapes of events.

You are correct my friend. I always stump people with that. I don't remember to much about him either, that has just always stuck out in my head.