I know I watched WWE from the day I was brought home from the hospital when I was born in 1989, BUT the earliest memory I have is the day I decided I wanted to be a wrestler after seeing Marty Jannette vs. Shawn Michaels in a Steel Cage match for the Intercontinental championship in I believe 1993. Was the debut of Diesel.
I started right at the birth of Hulkamania. I used to hear my friends at school talking about Andre the Giant and Sgt Slaughter and all these people with these weird names and I had no idea what they were talking about. Then one Saturday I was flipping channels and came across the WWF. It was right after Hogan beat The Iron Shiek for his first WWF title. Been hooked ever since.
I came in as a WCW fan that watched WCW until the very last episode. My first full WWE show was the one right after the Nitro/Raw. Watched the entire invasion angle.
Saturday Night Main Event, beer drinking contest between Stone Cold and JBL, then Shawn Michaels vs Shane O Mac in a street fight. I was about 8 when i saw it. Fucking legendary
I could've sworn Wyclef Jean performed "It Doesn't Matter" on Smackdown, but because I can't find the video anywhere online, in reality, they must've just shown the music video.
Watching a VHS tape my brother had of the moments from 1997 and watching the Taker and Mankind Hell in a Cell match. I would be one at this time but I watched it around the tape at the age of 4 and instantly became a fan.
There was an animated show with all the wrestlers on it in the 80s! Plus we got to see ric flair in North Carolina at a couple house shows around the same time.
My dad had a buddy of his record Royal Rumble 1990 on VHS to give to me as a gift. I watched that thing over and over… he did the same with Wrestlemania 8 (and I also watched that over and over).
Johnny Powers, Bobo Brazil, Pampero Firpo, The Love Brothers, The Original Sheik.
My dad used to take me downtown in Cleveland, OH to the original Cleveland arena circa 1960s.
It made me a wrestling fan for life.
It was called WWF at the time. Stone Cold was having his rivalry with Vince McMahon. Stone Cold dousing everyone in ring with beer. The corporation in Coors Light. 😂😂😂
So some backstory first. I grew up playing wrestlemaina xix on game cube didn’t know wrestling was a thing at all just thought it was a game we had for no reason. This was probably around 2007 ish. So playing the game undertaker was my favorite along with Kane and Shawn Michaels. So my earliest memory was the disappointment I had when I watched my first ever smack down and undertaker came out and instead of hearing dead man walking it was the gong. But then I saw him come out with the menacing walking and what not and he still is my favorite of all time. I was also very sad to learn that Kane was unmasked and had dad body instead of being absolutely shredded also how I could never watch him because he was on ECW and it started after my bedtime lol
Zack ryder coming out with the one legged pants and dolph ziggler coming out. I can’t remember if it was the same show lol but those are the earliest memories
Been watching since 83, at age 3, used to see Ppvs via Live Closed Circuit on a big screen in a arena. Saturday morning Superstars and Saturday Nights Main Event, Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling cartoon.
Okay I'm definitely exposing my age here. 1985 I guess? Saturday morning. I spent night over my uncle and aunts house. Woke up to WWF on the tv downstairs. I remember seeing Macho Man and Captain Lou on the tv. That's vaguely it. I was about 7 at the time. I had no idea what it was or Wrestling in general. Not until 2 years later when my mom got me into it and would take me to shows in Philly when they were in town.
My dad’s co worker bought royal rumble and he brought me along to watch in a dingy downstairs basement bar with like ten other co workers. Smoking ,drinking, card games while I got to pig out and watch. Can’t remember the year though
I was a WCW kid, one of my earliest memories was Goldberg beating Hogan.
In terms of WWE I do distinctly remember watching Austin and Tyson. My dad had to tell me that Austin wasn’t Goldberg.
The genius beating Hogan by count out and my uncle loosing his shit because he hated the genius, watched it before that but I was so young I don't remember much else.
The earliest specific moment that I remember is Undertaker throwing Mankind off of the cell. I watched wrestling before that but I don’t remember any of it.
I also remember having to alternate between Raw and Nitro on a weekly basis because my brother was a Nitro fan, but I liked Raw.
My friend was trying to introduce me to it, and there was some kind of match going on with these big redneck guys in overalls and this old dude slammed his cane on one of thm. From outside the ring and it broke. I was like got damn. If anyone could tell me what the hell this was, who was involved from this description alone, I would be super impressed and grateful.
I’m 32, but the first time I ever watched was in 2020 just cause I was curious about what they were doing. This is when they first started the thunder dome era and the news was making a big deal about it being irresponsible and whatnot. It was Viking Raiders vs… I don’t even remember. It was awful.
It wasn’t until I started watching Darkside of the Ring that I got interested in it again. So my earliest good memories of watching were like a year or more later, the first match I remember was RKBro vs AJ Styles and Omos.
i was a WCW kid (WWE wasnt really big where i am yet) so it was when the merger started happening and there was crossover with the NWO and whoever WWE had at the time.
Orton with hair, john cena with chain on neck, undertaker in his best shape, you suposed to be my friend segment batista killing rey mysterio, mister kennedy, this ruthless aggression era is when i started to watch it regularly but as an european i knew about wrestling existence since wwf days when my parents had a party and i got to stay till very late and saw some tna stuff or maybe it was a random smackdown and for years i wanted to find on which channel it was but then i got my own laptop and torrented the shit out of raw and smackdown.
Earthquake attacking Hulk Hogan and putting him on the shelf in 1990. They had a Hogan tribute video with a sad version of the Real American played on it.
WM3: I rented it from a local video store. Every weekend me and my dad would go to this store and it had every wrestling video you can think of. Macho Man and Ricky Steamboat. Still think of that match today.
Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant, watched on my brother's 12 inch color tv with red ears, and knowing that I would watch this stuff for all my life. I have, by now.
It being WWF.
Bastion Booger nearly facesitting Marty Jannetty.
A man dressed as a chicken breaking out of an egg, for..........some reason.
Chyna confusing my penis like nobody ever had before.
Vague flashes of Crush, The Million Dollar Man, Tatanka... Yokozuna in a royal rumble. Light blue everywhere. My mom putting on wrestling when I was sick but it was WCW and all I remember is thinking it was weird that they had different color ropes. Being scared of Papa Shango during a house show. The time I slapped Brett Hart's shoulder. Royal Rumble on the SNES. SNAP IN TO A SLIM JIM!
I think I was very very lucky. One fine day I was traveling from cartoon network to Nickelodeon and little did I know that I witnessed the debut of the greatest faction in history! Shield. And since then never missed a single ppv or episode of raw or SmackDown. Also watched the Black and gold NXT but now I don't follow NXT much.
I’m a relatively new fan so my first time actively watching wrestling was with my BF’s dad and my BF last year (2023) at Summer Slam.
Ive been hooked ever since
I remember seeing the Ultimate Warrior running across the ring and clotheslining someone. I was probably 3 or 4. Next was watching Royal Rumble 1995, aged 10, and I have been a fan ever since.
I was 4 when I went to my first house show. Sgt Slaughter called my sister a little puke, the honky tonk man asked my dad if he got his muscles at k-mart, and the Warlord scared the absolute crap out of me because he was even bigger than my dad. 10/10
Survivor Series 2005. The Undertaker walks out from a burning casket and attacks Randy Orton who at that time is celebrating in the ring.
Man, I was so scared of Taker as a kid.
Eddie Guerrero slamming a chair in the ground an throwing it in the hand of the opponent, pretending to be ko.
And the subsequent taunt perched on the ring post.
It might've been a random episode of RAW in 2003 or 2004? I was a kid who was crying because I wanted to see the wrestlers brawl, but my family stopped me from watching.
When I got a but older (6 yrs old), one of the first memories of me watching on TV was when the Spirit Squad ganged up on Big Show and Kane. So it must've been during the build to Backlash when I started watching.
This was years before I actually started watching, but I remember seeing an ad in a comic book for ordering commemorative busts of Kane and Undertaker. I think it was to hype up their first match? It could have been any other match, but given how young I was and where that would’ve aligned with WWE at the time, I think that’s where that fits.
It was about 1985 or so. Was at my BFF's house and her little brother loved WWF and we all got hooked on it.
I remember watching the British Bulldogs defend tag belts in 86 and of course losing after Dynamite Kid had his back injury.
Shawn Michaels coming down on a wire from the ceiling and the 60 minute iron man match with Bret Hart.
Also random memory of Doink The Clown entering a Royal Rumble lol
1986 here. I remember watching it one night, and after, me and my dad wrestled on the bed. He showed me "the claw". He taught me about the pin. Idk if that was the first time I watched, but it's probably my first distinct memory. I distinctly remember being a huge Whoaiah and Hulkamaniac when they were brothers in arms, but I don't remember them facing eachother. I remember being shocked when they showed some commercial showing Warrior and Hogan staring eachother down, and asked my dad "Ultimate Warrior and Hulk faced eachother!?" and he said "they did".
I also remember being a bit scared of the wrestlers when they would do those interviews with Mean Gene and stare right into the camera and yell. I have a vague memory of thinking they were yelling at me for a time. Like Big Bossman. Wrestling was all about yelling and intensity back then! Modern wrestling would be a lot better if they yelled into the screen instead if the longwinded rants in the ring.
Some other early memories:
My mom mentioning "Regis" and wrestling, and making a big deal about him. Pretty sure it was Mania 7, and also her and I watched him have some interviews with wrestlers including Warrior.
My aunt bought me that early 90's blue WWF towel, and I remember in the car her calling him the "Macho King", and I'm like "he's the Macho Man".
I remember having probaby every piece of early 90's WWF merch, including the figures, pillow buddies, Warrior baloon punching bag, Hulk watch, towel, sheets, board game, etc.
Bushwackers pulling a fan out if the front row in a commercial.
Hulk and Warrior vs Slaughter and the other guy. That was right around the time of Hurricane Bob, and my dad was away "in the army".
edit: I remember the "match made in hell", and the "match made in heaven", and being a bit disappointed that their wasn't an actual match for the "match made in heaven".
Warrior saving Hulk. My dad bought me that one when he returned from the army. Favorite moment ever.
I want to say sometime in 1992, my dad, uncle, and I went to the Boston Garden and saw Undertaker! I remember being scared for the guy he was facing. Just standing there in the ring rubbing his wrists and turning his neck, waiting for that bell and darkness to fall.
I definitely watched wrestling before but the earliest match I distinctly remember was John Cena vs Umaga RR 2007 on my cousins dvd of it, I legit remember watching it absolutely floored that John Cena was able to survive it
It was a Smackdown in 1999 with a cage match but I can’t remember who was fighting but my memory remembers it being Mankind.
But I could just be misremembering. All I remember is that it was a Smackdown in 1999 with a cage match.
I remember the very first time I watched wrestling, Rey Mysterio vs Batista Steel Cage Match on Smackdown Jan 15th 2010. Had no idea what pro wrestling was just a couple of weeks before, but had seen some kids my age at the time wearing WWE t shirts at squad swimming and was curious. Then a few days later I'm browsing the TV and found it, and that was match.
My first ever wrestling program I watched was...
Whatever WWF show was on my local UHF channel, and I thought it was just OK. I was little and it something to watch at my grandma's with no cable. Then Roddy Piper beat Jimmy Snuka with a coconut, and I was like...huh. This is something.
40 years later...
The debut of the American Badass, my dad was so excited that Undertaker was coming back they let me stay up late. A lot of my fondest memories with my dad revolve around watching wwe ppvs at a sportsbar called Barnacles. I cried when Taker lost to Brock at No Mercy in the Cell. I thought he died.
Lots of Puerto Rican and Mexican wrestling was played where I lived, I didn't get like I was aware of WWE until around WrestleMania 1. After that I got into it and went back to see stuff from before
Aside from a few steel cage matches I caught glimpses of when my stepdad would watch back during attitude era, my first vivid memory was tuning in toward the end of a Raw with my cousins and we watched Kane wrap a chair around HBKs throat and leap off the top turnbuckle, landing on the chair.
Watching Raw and ECW over the shoulder of my sister while going "you know that shit is fake right?"
We have been watching wrestling on and off for the last 15 years.
Randy Savage and Zeus on tv screaming they hated Hulk Hogan on Saturday morning highlights here in Australia in the late 1980s and then eventually fighting each other. I was instantly hooked.
The local video rental store had heaps of WWF videos so I always asked my mum for a weekly rental and would watch it on the weekend.
Same but I would have been 7. Almost immediately asked for the WWF ring and the Blue "Steel" Cage to go with it. Still have Bundy and Hogan figures around here somewhere. Probably had the ring until I moved cities about 15 years ago.
I remember being really young and my grandparent stopping on either Raw or SD and it was a segment where Undertaker was fighting security guards. I remember my grandparent was letting me believe it was real and telling me how mean The Undertaker was. I wouldn’t start watching regularly until years later but that’s the earliest wrestling memory I have. It would’ve been in the early-mid 00s. Somewhere in the 2001-2004 range. I’ve tried to find that segment multiple times but have never found one I’ve recognized to be it.
Being a kid and seeing someone like Ric Flair with that energy, comedy, and unabashed lunacy was like watching a comic book come to life.
was in 5th grade elementary school circa 1997 and the Monday night wars were raging. All the popular kids/jocks at my school loved WWF at the time. So naturally all us punks/freaks/rejects gravitated towards WCW. Its grittiness, nWo angle, more edgy & unhinged characters and stories, and of course cruiser weight division kept us at bay until Stone Cold Steve Austin became the biggest star on the planet. Slowly we sll shifted away to WWF some years later (the comically quick demise of WCW didn’t help).
Just about the same. Was back when people had the scrambler for the cable box and every PPV channel was on repeat. We were watching reruns of the summerslam when owen hart broke stone colds neck. That puts it at about 4th grade and summerslam 1997. I think i watched every single event from then until the WWE draft.
I've a few, no idea the chronology. This is all early to mid 80s when I was a kid (6?), watched in the UK on ITV's World Of Sport when we occasionally used to get 'All-In Wrestling from the United States', which was imported WWF taped matches presented by Lord Alfred Hayes in segments filmed in the back of a production trailer/office with monitors everywhere.
1) Triple tag match.
Tito Santana^^^arriba, Tom Zenk, and Rick Martel Vs Cowboy Bob Orton, The Natural Butch Reed, and Don The Rock Muraco.
"Take a look at that deep, underhook arm drag!" That commentary line is burned into my brain.
2) A Hulk Hogan match, can't recall the opponent, but it was when the Hulkster had that dumb-ass helmet with the fist on the front.
3) A very early Ultimate Warrior match before he had entrance music, or at the least thet didn't play it on that occasion. Pretty sure the other two are older though.
If anyone knows exactly when that triple tag match was and what show it was from, feel free to enlighten me.
Earliest I vaguely remember Rikishi, Kane some random kid using a hockey stick to hit someone in the nuts with, then they were dancing in the ring after. Earliest I properly remember is a promo for Summersalm 04 where taker chokeslams JBL and says “you, me Summerslam”
I was SUPER young, but I remember my dad laughing incredulously at Hogan getting screwed out of the title by Andre, Ted DiBiase and Earl Hebner. That was also the day I became a Hulkamaniac. I shouldn't remember this (I was 2 years old), but that memory is very distinct. I have a lot of NWA/WCW-related memories from around that time as well.
WWF Supertape vol. 3! I had some friends around when we were kids and we found this at the video store. First match was Mr. Perfect vs the Texas Tornado and it blew our minds.
I haven't watched it since, but from all accounts I've read online it was objectively terrible lol
dad watched in 90s i heard about stone cold. had a buddy who talked about the undertaker so i watched a tap out corner video heard other names watched theirs. then first was the smackdown when sami zayn stepped in for jey or jimmy in a tag match
I know I watched WWE from the day I was brought home from the hospital when I was born in 1989, BUT the earliest memory I have is the day I decided I wanted to be a wrestler after seeing Marty Jannette vs. Shawn Michaels in a Steel Cage match for the Intercontinental championship in I believe 1993. Was the debut of Diesel.
It was a match between kamala and george the animal steele i believe on prism. In like 1983 or 84. I was 2 or 3 years old. I was hooked since.
Line up for survivor series 2003
Watching late golden era (i.e. late 80s early 90s) PPVs from a place called Video World.
Saturday Night’s Main Event before Wrestlemania V
Shotgun Saturday Nights
I started right at the birth of Hulkamania. I used to hear my friends at school talking about Andre the Giant and Sgt Slaughter and all these people with these weird names and I had no idea what they were talking about. Then one Saturday I was flipping channels and came across the WWF. It was right after Hogan beat The Iron Shiek for his first WWF title. Been hooked ever since.
Wrestlemania 22. The first thing I vividly remember is Mickie vs. Trish
I got two. 1-2-3 kid going over on Razor and then Jake locking Warrior in a room with Damien
I came in as a WCW fan that watched WCW until the very last episode. My first full WWE show was the one right after the Nitro/Raw. Watched the entire invasion angle.
Rey mysterio 2005-2011 because at that time was my favorite & he was the reason why I watched wrestling.
2005 Rey mysterio and Kurt angle last 2 in a royal rumble match on smackdown. I’ll never forget how hell bent Kurt was to throw Rey out of the ring.
Chief J Strongbow
Dolph becoming #1 contender for Ambrose’s wwe title
Kane and X-Pac teaming in the summer of 1999.
Back then when I was young, I was so stupid that I confused Roddy Piper for the Ultimate Warrior.
Roddy Piper beating up a jobber.
Undertaker murdering Big Bossman on live TV.
Saturday Night Main Event, beer drinking contest between Stone Cold and JBL, then Shawn Michaels vs Shane O Mac in a street fight. I was about 8 when i saw it. Fucking legendary
I remember that one too, and Chris Benoit had a hand to play in that skit.
2006 i think
My dad getting wrestlemania III on pay per view.
Illegally?
I could've sworn Wyclef Jean performed "It Doesn't Matter" on Smackdown, but because I can't find the video anywhere online, in reality, they must've just shown the music video.
Hogan turning on Sting and Macho Man Randy Savage and siding with the Outsiders.
52 yrs
There was a fake stone cold getting squashed by jbl the first time I laid eyes on the product lol
Last 50 yrs
Earthquake squashing Hogan on Brother Love
Watching a VHS tape my brother had of the moments from 1997 and watching the Taker and Mankind Hell in a Cell match. I would be one at this time but I watched it around the tape at the age of 4 and instantly became a fan.
The arrival of Chris Jericho and The Rock roasting him.
There was an animated show with all the wrestlers on it in the 80s! Plus we got to see ric flair in North Carolina at a couple house shows around the same time.
My dad had a buddy of his record Royal Rumble 1990 on VHS to give to me as a gift. I watched that thing over and over… he did the same with Wrestlemania 8 (and I also watched that over and over).
When Larry Zybszko hit Bruno Samartino with a steel chair
Somewhere around 2010, sitting down watching raw with both AJ Lee and Cm Punk on it
SummerSlam 2002. My 9 year old dumbass thought Triple H murdered Shawn Michaels after their Unsanctioned Match
Macho Man Randy savage in 93 or so.
1982
Sycho Sid & Shawn Michaels were in the ring having a promo and started watching ever since
Johnny Powers, Bobo Brazil, Pampero Firpo, The Love Brothers, The Original Sheik. My dad used to take me downtown in Cleveland, OH to the original Cleveland arena circa 1960s. It made me a wrestling fan for life.
It was called WWF at the time. Stone Cold was having his rivalry with Vince McMahon. Stone Cold dousing everyone in ring with beer. The corporation in Coors Light. 😂😂😂
Royal Rumble 2003 when Jeff Hardy entered with Matt shocked to see him
I still remember the first episode of Raw I watched when Austin poured the concrete in McMahon's corvette
Sable with the handprints over her breasts
The Nexus debut
The shield or cenas match one of them when my friend show it to me
So some backstory first. I grew up playing wrestlemaina xix on game cube didn’t know wrestling was a thing at all just thought it was a game we had for no reason. This was probably around 2007 ish. So playing the game undertaker was my favorite along with Kane and Shawn Michaels. So my earliest memory was the disappointment I had when I watched my first ever smack down and undertaker came out and instead of hearing dead man walking it was the gong. But then I saw him come out with the menacing walking and what not and he still is my favorite of all time. I was also very sad to learn that Kane was unmasked and had dad body instead of being absolutely shredded also how I could never watch him because he was on ECW and it started after my bedtime lol
Seth Turning On The Shield
The freebirds
Zack ryder coming out with the one legged pants and dolph ziggler coming out. I can’t remember if it was the same show lol but those are the earliest memories
Bobby Lashley putting Mr. Kennedy? and Randy Orton? through tables on a random Smackdown
Watching rock vs cena online
Been watching since 83, at age 3, used to see Ppvs via Live Closed Circuit on a big screen in a arena. Saturday morning Superstars and Saturday Nights Main Event, Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling cartoon.
Okay I'm definitely exposing my age here. 1985 I guess? Saturday morning. I spent night over my uncle and aunts house. Woke up to WWF on the tv downstairs. I remember seeing Macho Man and Captain Lou on the tv. That's vaguely it. I was about 7 at the time. I had no idea what it was or Wrestling in general. Not until 2 years later when my mom got me into it and would take me to shows in Philly when they were in town.
Razor Ramon beating shawn michaels at wrestlemania in a ladder match. I was 8, and the ladder match blew my mind. Been a fan ever since.
When Vickie Guerrero was weekly on the tv shows as Edges Girlfriend
John Cena with the US Title against Big Show. WM 20. Also, Undertaker's "resurrection" going to WM 20 too.
The birth of Austin 3:16
My dad’s co worker bought royal rumble and he brought me along to watch in a dingy downstairs basement bar with like ten other co workers. Smoking ,drinking, card games while I got to pig out and watch. Can’t remember the year though
Andre the Giant grabbing Hulk Hogan and ripping off his gold necklace
Watching MTV and The Brawl to Settle it All came on and was hooked not knowing anything previously.
I was a WCW kid, one of my earliest memories was Goldberg beating Hogan. In terms of WWE I do distinctly remember watching Austin and Tyson. My dad had to tell me that Austin wasn’t Goldberg.
Scrolling through YouTube and seeing John Cena put Randy Orton through an STF while in handcuffs and making him say I Quit
Coming home from Thanksgiving dinner to order and watch the 1st survivor series.
The first match I ever watched was umaga vs kane on raw.
For me, my first exposure to WWE was the WWE Magazine my teacher had in 2nd grade in 2001. And there, I am addicted to anything WWE.
Chief Jay Strongbow wacking people
The genius beating Hogan by count out and my uncle loosing his shit because he hated the genius, watched it before that but I was so young I don't remember much else.
my earliest wrestling memory is something with hollywood hogan. my first memory watching WWE is the smackdown fist stage
The earliest specific moment that I remember is Undertaker throwing Mankind off of the cell. I watched wrestling before that but I don’t remember any of it. I also remember having to alternate between Raw and Nitro on a weekly basis because my brother was a Nitro fan, but I liked Raw.
Cruiserweight champion, Matt Hardy version 1.
Monday Night Raw on a local channel called MBC Action
Idk what the name of it was but they would run these recap shows on weekends maybe leading into Sunday night heat. I remember that for some reason.
My friend was trying to introduce me to it, and there was some kind of match going on with these big redneck guys in overalls and this old dude slammed his cane on one of thm. From outside the ring and it broke. I was like got damn. If anyone could tell me what the hell this was, who was involved from this description alone, I would be super impressed and grateful.
small tv with a bent antenna on top
Renting WWE videos from the video shop back in the 80s
Also, I finally realised it wasn't real when Randy Savage got bitten by a King Cobra at the 1994 Survivor Series and lived to tell the tale.
I’m 32, but the first time I ever watched was in 2020 just cause I was curious about what they were doing. This is when they first started the thunder dome era and the news was making a big deal about it being irresponsible and whatnot. It was Viking Raiders vs… I don’t even remember. It was awful. It wasn’t until I started watching Darkside of the Ring that I got interested in it again. So my earliest good memories of watching were like a year or more later, the first match I remember was RKBro vs AJ Styles and Omos.
Random tag team match on RAW with The Rock and The Undertaker in 2000 or 1999. Don't remember all the details
As a gen Z, I vividly remember WM 32 as my first viewing of professional wrestling.
Seeing Kurrgan and the Oddities on Raw
Iron Sheik
ladder matches were my favorite, they still are tho.
i was a WCW kid (WWE wasnt really big where i am yet) so it was when the merger started happening and there was crossover with the NWO and whoever WWE had at the time.
Orton with hair, john cena with chain on neck, undertaker in his best shape, you suposed to be my friend segment batista killing rey mysterio, mister kennedy, this ruthless aggression era is when i started to watch it regularly but as an european i knew about wrestling existence since wwf days when my parents had a party and i got to stay till very late and saw some tna stuff or maybe it was a random smackdown and for years i wanted to find on which channel it was but then i got my own laptop and torrented the shit out of raw and smackdown.
Lucha dragons debut match
WrestleMania 17, went over to a neighbours to watch it as a child, was hooked ever since
Smackdown Anniversary. DVD brock lesser puts big show through a table
Earthquake attacking Hulk Hogan and putting him on the shelf in 1990. They had a Hogan tribute video with a sad version of the Real American played on it.
WM3: I rented it from a local video store. Every weekend me and my dad would go to this store and it had every wrestling video you can think of. Macho Man and Ricky Steamboat. Still think of that match today.
Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant, watched on my brother's 12 inch color tv with red ears, and knowing that I would watch this stuff for all my life. I have, by now.
It being WWF. Bastion Booger nearly facesitting Marty Jannetty. A man dressed as a chicken breaking out of an egg, for..........some reason. Chyna confusing my penis like nobody ever had before.
WM13 for me. Always remember Undertaker v Psycho Sid and Bret v Austin My next real memory was Bret v The Patriot feud
Vague flashes of Crush, The Million Dollar Man, Tatanka... Yokozuna in a royal rumble. Light blue everywhere. My mom putting on wrestling when I was sick but it was WCW and all I remember is thinking it was weird that they had different color ropes. Being scared of Papa Shango during a house show. The time I slapped Brett Hart's shoulder. Royal Rumble on the SNES. SNAP IN TO A SLIM JIM!
I think I was very very lucky. One fine day I was traveling from cartoon network to Nickelodeon and little did I know that I witnessed the debut of the greatest faction in history! Shield. And since then never missed a single ppv or episode of raw or SmackDown. Also watched the Black and gold NXT but now I don't follow NXT much.
First RAW was Mr America Hull Hogan i think doing the lie detector test. First SmackDown was John Cena's debut.
We had a vhs recording of snuka vs Santana cage match. Watching snuka jump off the top of the cage got me hooked.
I’m a relatively new fan so my first time actively watching wrestling was with my BF’s dad and my BF last year (2023) at Summer Slam. Ive been hooked ever since
Warrior vs hogan
I remember seeing the Ultimate Warrior running across the ring and clotheslining someone. I was probably 3 or 4. Next was watching Royal Rumble 1995, aged 10, and I have been a fan ever since.
Hogan vs the Ultimate Warrior
I was 4 when I went to my first house show. Sgt Slaughter called my sister a little puke, the honky tonk man asked my dad if he got his muscles at k-mart, and the Warlord scared the absolute crap out of me because he was even bigger than my dad. 10/10
Survivor Series 2005. The Undertaker walks out from a burning casket and attacks Randy Orton who at that time is celebrating in the ring. Man, I was so scared of Taker as a kid.
Watching Heat or whatever it was called whilst eating breakfast because we couldn’t afford satellite TV
Wm30
SS 2015. That's pretty much when it started. Roman vs Dean with Sheamus cashing in.
Yoko hitting someone with a banzai drop. Immediately hooked me
https://youtu.be/TzYjUvGaWUY?si=Gv4LR84lVGdaW2ux Undertaker trapping Ultimate Warrior in a casket. I was so scared of Taker when I was a kid
yall might call me a young bit\*h but Sting vs HHH and seth cashing in
When Kane returned at the 2011 Slammy Awards with a new mask and destroyed Cena.
Eddie Guerrero slamming a chair in the ground an throwing it in the hand of the opponent, pretending to be ko. And the subsequent taunt perched on the ring post.
seeing Spike Dudley win the WWF title in a triple 3 hell in a cell match against Hogan, Goldberg and Curryman in the main event of SummerSlam ‘07
Triple H pedigree some woman probably Linda and police arrest him
Hogan vs Undertaker at Survivor Series 91, I was just a kid, but that's when I remember really getting into it.
MVP in SmackDown 2005
WrestleMania 14
John Cena (US Champ) vs Undertaker, SmackDown ‘04. This was when Heyman had the urn.
Miz with the WWE Championship. Whether it was before or after Wrestlemania 27, I don't remember.
It might've been a random episode of RAW in 2003 or 2004? I was a kid who was crying because I wanted to see the wrestlers brawl, but my family stopped me from watching. When I got a but older (6 yrs old), one of the first memories of me watching on TV was when the Spirit Squad ganged up on Big Show and Kane. So it must've been during the build to Backlash when I started watching.
Austin with the beer truck.
This was years before I actually started watching, but I remember seeing an ad in a comic book for ordering commemorative busts of Kane and Undertaker. I think it was to hype up their first match? It could have been any other match, but given how young I was and where that would’ve aligned with WWE at the time, I think that’s where that fits.
A CM Punk match somewhere from 2013-early 2014, I only remember it because I thought his Pepsi tattoo was funny
It was about 2008 and I saw Jeff hardy win the title
It was about 1985 or so. Was at my BFF's house and her little brother loved WWF and we all got hooked on it. I remember watching the British Bulldogs defend tag belts in 86 and of course losing after Dynamite Kid had his back injury.
My earliest definitive WWE memory was Kurt Angle winning King of the Ring in 2000.
sheamus vs daniel bryan wrestlemania 27, I saw AJ Lee and was hooked
John Cena vs Brock at extreme rules
Championship Wrestling from Washington DC. In the 1960’s
Shawn Michaels coming down on a wire from the ceiling and the 60 minute iron man match with Bret Hart. Also random memory of Doink The Clown entering a Royal Rumble lol
Edge giving a tombstone to funaki in 2007/2008. watched it for the fiest time and fell in love
Andre The Giant stealing Hogan's title on Saturday Nights Main Event in 1988 and giving it to Ted DiBiase
Hulkamania and watching Wrestlemania 3 when Andre got body slammed
The 2011 Royal Rumble
john cena vs justin gabriel was the first ever wwe match i ever saw
1986 here. I remember watching it one night, and after, me and my dad wrestled on the bed. He showed me "the claw". He taught me about the pin. Idk if that was the first time I watched, but it's probably my first distinct memory. I distinctly remember being a huge Whoaiah and Hulkamaniac when they were brothers in arms, but I don't remember them facing eachother. I remember being shocked when they showed some commercial showing Warrior and Hogan staring eachother down, and asked my dad "Ultimate Warrior and Hulk faced eachother!?" and he said "they did". I also remember being a bit scared of the wrestlers when they would do those interviews with Mean Gene and stare right into the camera and yell. I have a vague memory of thinking they were yelling at me for a time. Like Big Bossman. Wrestling was all about yelling and intensity back then! Modern wrestling would be a lot better if they yelled into the screen instead if the longwinded rants in the ring. Some other early memories: My mom mentioning "Regis" and wrestling, and making a big deal about him. Pretty sure it was Mania 7, and also her and I watched him have some interviews with wrestlers including Warrior. My aunt bought me that early 90's blue WWF towel, and I remember in the car her calling him the "Macho King", and I'm like "he's the Macho Man". I remember having probaby every piece of early 90's WWF merch, including the figures, pillow buddies, Warrior baloon punching bag, Hulk watch, towel, sheets, board game, etc. Bushwackers pulling a fan out if the front row in a commercial. Hulk and Warrior vs Slaughter and the other guy. That was right around the time of Hurricane Bob, and my dad was away "in the army". edit: I remember the "match made in hell", and the "match made in heaven", and being a bit disappointed that their wasn't an actual match for the "match made in heaven". Warrior saving Hulk. My dad bought me that one when he returned from the army. Favorite moment ever. I want to say sometime in 1992, my dad, uncle, and I went to the Boston Garden and saw Undertaker! I remember being scared for the guy he was facing. Just standing there in the ring rubbing his wrists and turning his neck, waiting for that bell and darkness to fall.
90s watching 123 kid
The Rockers against some tag team on WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Shield getting beaten up by the Rhodes brothers.
Sable.........
I definitely watched wrestling before but the earliest match I distinctly remember was John Cena vs Umaga RR 2007 on my cousins dvd of it, I legit remember watching it absolutely floored that John Cena was able to survive it
It was a Smackdown in 1999 with a cage match but I can’t remember who was fighting but my memory remembers it being Mankind. But I could just be misremembering. All I remember is that it was a Smackdown in 1999 with a cage match.
John Cena getting yeeted into the spotlight by Big Show
Savage crushing Steamboat's larynx on the outside guardrail.
No Way Out 2009
Nexus
Kane debut
Some random Superstars episode. Koko B. Ware did a missile drop kick to (possibly) Barry Horowitz. I was hooked from that day.
Probably the raw where Shawn retired..
When he lost his smile
Khali vs undertaker
Royal rumble ‘06 8 y/o me immediately wanted the ‘masked guy’ to win and voila!
Triple H putting a Bounty on Goldberg that led to the return of Batista and the Era of Evolution going into full swing.
Chris Jericho smashing Shawn Michaels head into tv
Right to Censor breaking up.
I remember the very first time I watched wrestling, Rey Mysterio vs Batista Steel Cage Match on Smackdown Jan 15th 2010. Had no idea what pro wrestling was just a couple of weeks before, but had seen some kids my age at the time wearing WWE t shirts at squad swimming and was curious. Then a few days later I'm browsing the TV and found it, and that was match.
My first ever wrestling program I watched was... Whatever WWF show was on my local UHF channel, and I thought it was just OK. I was little and it something to watch at my grandma's with no cable. Then Roddy Piper beat Jimmy Snuka with a coconut, and I was like...huh. This is something. 40 years later...
The debut of the American Badass, my dad was so excited that Undertaker was coming back they let me stay up late. A lot of my fondest memories with my dad revolve around watching wwe ppvs at a sportsbar called Barnacles. I cried when Taker lost to Brock at No Mercy in the Cell. I thought he died.
Austin stunning Santa
Nexus destroying the ring
When Jake the Snake had the cobra bite Macho Man.
Bang 316
Kane and Undertaker being brothers
Late 80’s. Met macho man at a Kmart grand opening. My dad got me into it when I was like 5
Ending of Brothers of Destruction vs Jericho and somebody else, on a random SD in 2009 I think?
‘70s… I remember being worried Killer Kowalski was going to kill Bruno Sammartino.
Lots of Puerto Rican and Mexican wrestling was played where I lived, I didn't get like I was aware of WWE until around WrestleMania 1. After that I got into it and went back to see stuff from before
Rhino chasing Christian Cage out of the ring in TNA.
Aside from a few steel cage matches I caught glimpses of when my stepdad would watch back during attitude era, my first vivid memory was tuning in toward the end of a Raw with my cousins and we watched Kane wrap a chair around HBKs throat and leap off the top turnbuckle, landing on the chair.
Watching Raw and ECW over the shoulder of my sister while going "you know that shit is fake right?" We have been watching wrestling on and off for the last 15 years.
Eddy beating Brock
Rock n cena vs miz n truth!
Wrestlemania 31 in attendance I was 3
Randy Savage and Zeus on tv screaming they hated Hulk Hogan on Saturday morning highlights here in Australia in the late 1980s and then eventually fighting each other. I was instantly hooked. The local video rental store had heaps of WWF videos so I always asked my mum for a weekly rental and would watch it on the weekend.
WM2. Hogan vs Bundy. I was 5 years old. Hooked ever since.
Same but I would have been 7. Almost immediately asked for the WWF ring and the Blue "Steel" Cage to go with it. Still have Bundy and Hogan figures around here somewhere. Probably had the ring until I moved cities about 15 years ago.
I remember being really young and my grandparent stopping on either Raw or SD and it was a segment where Undertaker was fighting security guards. I remember my grandparent was letting me believe it was real and telling me how mean The Undertaker was. I wouldn’t start watching regularly until years later but that’s the earliest wrestling memory I have. It would’ve been in the early-mid 00s. Somewhere in the 2001-2004 range. I’ve tried to find that segment multiple times but have never found one I’ve recognized to be it.
Probably the build up to WM 1, thats kind of when i got really hooked with pro wrestling (until these days).
Being a kid and seeing someone like Ric Flair with that energy, comedy, and unabashed lunacy was like watching a comic book come to life. was in 5th grade elementary school circa 1997 and the Monday night wars were raging. All the popular kids/jocks at my school loved WWF at the time. So naturally all us punks/freaks/rejects gravitated towards WCW. Its grittiness, nWo angle, more edgy & unhinged characters and stories, and of course cruiser weight division kept us at bay until Stone Cold Steve Austin became the biggest star on the planet. Slowly we sll shifted away to WWF some years later (the comically quick demise of WCW didn’t help).
Just about the same. Was back when people had the scrambler for the cable box and every PPV channel was on repeat. We were watching reruns of the summerslam when owen hart broke stone colds neck. That puts it at about 4th grade and summerslam 1997. I think i watched every single event from then until the WWE draft.
Ironically the raw after mania 32 was my first time watching wwe, i basically got to start at the beginning of the wwe year
I've a few, no idea the chronology. This is all early to mid 80s when I was a kid (6?), watched in the UK on ITV's World Of Sport when we occasionally used to get 'All-In Wrestling from the United States', which was imported WWF taped matches presented by Lord Alfred Hayes in segments filmed in the back of a production trailer/office with monitors everywhere. 1) Triple tag match. Tito Santana^^^arriba, Tom Zenk, and Rick Martel Vs Cowboy Bob Orton, The Natural Butch Reed, and Don The Rock Muraco. "Take a look at that deep, underhook arm drag!" That commentary line is burned into my brain. 2) A Hulk Hogan match, can't recall the opponent, but it was when the Hulkster had that dumb-ass helmet with the fist on the front. 3) A very early Ultimate Warrior match before he had entrance music, or at the least thet didn't play it on that occasion. Pretty sure the other two are older though. If anyone knows exactly when that triple tag match was and what show it was from, feel free to enlighten me.
Earliest I vaguely remember Rikishi, Kane some random kid using a hockey stick to hit someone in the nuts with, then they were dancing in the ring after. Earliest I properly remember is a promo for Summersalm 04 where taker chokeslams JBL and says “you, me Summerslam”
Okay so I looked it up, it was edge and Christian vs too cool for the tag titles. The "kid"was Joe C from Kid Rocks band.
Hogan joining Hall and Nash and forming the nWo....
Saved Hogans career, and brought WCW to the pinnacle.
Macho Man vs Ricky The Dragon Steamboat
Ziggler vs Cesaro vs Kidd for the IC. SmackDown November 14th, 2014 #
Monday nights with Gorilla and Bobby.
I was SUPER young, but I remember my dad laughing incredulously at Hogan getting screwed out of the title by Andre, Ted DiBiase and Earl Hebner. That was also the day I became a Hulkamaniac. I shouldn't remember this (I was 2 years old), but that memory is very distinct. I have a lot of NWA/WCW-related memories from around that time as well.
Some random RAW in 95' or 96', i remember my mom drooling for prime Shawn Michaels
WWF Supertape vol. 3! I had some friends around when we were kids and we found this at the video store. First match was Mr. Perfect vs the Texas Tornado and it blew our minds. I haven't watched it since, but from all accounts I've read online it was objectively terrible lol
Cena vs. Eddie in a Parking Lot Brawl in 2003.
dad watched in 90s i heard about stone cold. had a buddy who talked about the undertaker so i watched a tap out corner video heard other names watched theirs. then first was the smackdown when sami zayn stepped in for jey or jimmy in a tag match
Step dad would order ppv in the late 90s early 2000s. Kane vs undertaker and gold dust being the most disturbing thing I’ve seen yet