When Did You Start Watching Wrestling?

Young kid, before I was 5. I remember knowing when cartoons were on but not wrestling.
 
I was only 5 or 6 y/o. My family and I went to visit a relative, and they were watching a battle royal on cable TV (I didn't have cable until I was an adult). I was immediately hooked! Been a fan ever since! I worked at the airport for a while, a few years back, so I would routinely see WWF/WWE wrestlers coming through!
 
It was probably 1982 and I caught a viewing on a Saturday afternoon I believe. The first thing I saw was a big dude being interviewed in front of a boxing ring telling the camera all of the nasty things he was going to do to his opponent. It might have been Big John Studd but I can't remember. I was in Southern California and I think it was WWF. The first actual wrestler I remember was George "The Animal" Steele because of his turnbuckle gimmick.

In 1984, I went to the LA Sports Arena to watch Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper. When Hogan came out, it was so loud that my ears warbled like I was hearing from underwater. Of course I was 9 or 10 at the time so I hadn't probably ever heard anything like that before. The only other match I remember was Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine in a lumberjack match.

Years watching:
1982-1991
1999-2004
2014-current
 
It was probably 1982 and I caught a viewing on a Saturday afternoon I believe. The first thing I saw was a big dude being interviewed in front of a boxing ring telling the camera all of the nasty things he was going to do to his opponent. It might have been Big John Studd but I can't remember. I was in Southern California and I think it was WWF. The first actual wrestler I remember was George "The Animal" Steele because of his turnbuckle gimmick.

In 1984, I went to the LA Sports Arena to watch Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper. When Hogan came out, it was so loud that my ears warbled like I was hearing from underwater. Of course I was 9 or 10 at the time so I hadn't probably ever heard anything like that before. The only other match I remember was Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine in a lumberjack match.

Years watching:
1982-1991
1999-2004
2014-current
WWF didnt move into Los Angeles til 1983 so you may be off by a few months unless you were actually watching something from the last days of the Lebells LA territory
 
Royal Rumble 2000 was the first "live" PPV I saw (Channel 4 in the UK, while it was live, they also put ads in it, similar to how the live UFC PPVs have ads in them on BT Sport) and, that was when I started watching properly.

I think I had seen some stuff the year prior through my step-brother's video tapes, '96 era stuff if I recall, he was a big HBK mark.
 
WWF didnt move into Los Angeles til 1983 so you may be off by a few months unless you were actually watching something from the last days of the Lebells LA territory

It was probably '83 then. You know your stuff!

And I just found the card. The internet is an amazing place...

Los Angeles, CA - Sports Arena - April 13, 1985
George Wells over Rene Goulet
Don Muraco over Ivan Putski
The Junkyard Dog fought Paul Orndorff to a draw
Ricky Steamboat over Jack Armstrong
WWF IC Champion Greg Valentine over Tito Santana in a lumberjack match
The British Bulldogs over Barry O & Matt Borne
King Kong Bundy over Swede Hanson
WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan over Roddy Piper via disqualification
 
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1989, my dad had a friend that gave him a copy of WM 5 on VHS and we watched the hell out of it. Then around September of that year, I watched my first NWA/WCW Clash of the Champions, which was CotC 8: Fall Brawl '89.
 
97 I thunk. Crow sting was my shit. I was at a nitro when he joined the wolf pack, then I learned the broadcast had ended and he had joined off the air. Think he officially joined at the next ppv
 
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I was 6 or 7. Some friends rented Summerslam '93 and I was instantly hooked.

My experience was almost entirely old video tapes from Blockbuster and an independent rental. We did however, get Nitro on TV at that time. My fondest memories are the mid to late 90s WCW.
 
Age10 Back when the 4 horsemen were kicking ass!!
 
I started watching in the mid 90s.
 
1979ish (yes I'm an old man)

I was lucky to grow up in Knoxville, TN as a wrestling fan. I went to a few local shows at the local armory and fairgrounds.

The first show I CLEARLY remember going to in Knoxville had this card.:

Knoxville, TN Civic Coliseum, Thursday, November 22, 1979
Harley Race (NWA champion) was DQed against Dick Slater
Ron Fuller vs. Sterling the Hulk Golden BROTHER!!!
Heartthrob Dennis Condrey & Dr. D David Shultz (Southeastern tag champions) over Jerry Roberts & Pierre Lefebvre
The Angel over Carl Fergie
The Masked Grappler over Terry Orndorff

The first "big one" I went to was the one below. Hard to say that as the one above had some huge names or at least some names that would be huge. But the card below was a damn whos who. My grand dad had always wanted to see Andre in person, so when he came to the Omni in Atlanta(just a 3 hour drive for us), he jumped at the chance so he, my dad and I went:

AUGUST 15, 1982 (SUNDAY) – ATLANTA, GA – OMNI AUDITORIUM
(Paul Jones – Promoter / Georgia Championship Wrestling)
> Buzz Sawyer d. Terry Gibbs
> The Iron Sheik d. Johnny Rich
> Kamala d. Tom Prichard
> The Wild Samoans d. Tito Santana & Andre the Giant
> Paul Orndorff d. the Super Destroyer
> The Junkyard Dog d. the Masked Superstar by DQ
> Tommy Rich versus Don Muraco ended in a DCO
> Battle Royal: Andre the Giant (Winner)
> Cage Match: the Freebirds d. Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen

I mostly remember the cage match, obviously, as a young kid that was spectacular. I also got to see Andre, and even as far away as we sat, he looked like an elephant. I mean literally, it was like going to the circus, here comes the clowns, the acrobats, and HOLY SH!T look at that thing!
 
I was 6 or 7. Some friends rented Summerslam '93 and I was instantly hooked.

My experience was almost entirely old video tapes from Blockbuster and an independent rental. We did however, get Nitro on TV at that time. My fondest memories are the mid to late 90s WCW.
Oh man I rented so many Survivor Series and Rumbles cause as a kid I tried to get as much value for my VHS. Better get the events that had almost every wrestler lol But I do remember getting SS94 one time just to see Taker vs Taker.

Man I miss video rental places, just ain't the same feeling to scroll through titles on your couch.
 
Oh man I rented so many Survivor Series and Rumbles cause as a kid I tried to get as much value for my VHS. Better get the events that had almost every wrestler lol But I do remember getting SS94 one time just to see Taker vs Taker.

Man I miss video rental places, just ain't the same feeling to scroll through titles on your couch.
I was much the same. Not much for the perceived value, but the gimmick matches like Survivor Series and Royal Rumble were just much more enticing to me.

Everyone seems to have Wrestlemania memories - not me. As a kid, they were just some show with boring, old, regular matches. I think I only ever saw 1 and 15.

As for SS94, I haven't seen it. I'm waiting for The Lapsed Fan to cover it on their show, as my friend sent them a marathon-type email in anticipation. That's when I'll watch it.
 
8 years old. Had an uncle who got me into it.

I had seen it before, and knew who Hogan and Sting were. But I specifically remember the first show I watched with acknowledgement - the Nitro before Great American Bash 96, when the Giant chokeslammed Sting through a table leading up to his match with Luger. I ended up renting every VHS i could find, and got my fill of WWF and WCW history.
 
I watched Earthquake tie up Jake Roberts in the ropes and crush his snake.
Hooked ever since!
 
I watched as a kid in the early 90's until early high school (like 04-05) then got back into it around 2012 or so.
 
Before I was young enough to remember.

Pretty crazy.

I think I got really into it around age 5, 1996.
 
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