Here's a few acts I caught early on and my initial impressions...

Mike Modest - Somewhere down the line I got him and Above Average Mike Sanders confused because I was terribly disappointed when I caught Sanders wrestling. Modest is known for his participation in Beyond the Mat, but it was a random match on WCW Nitro, in the episode where The Wall signalled for a chokeslam on top of a huge building, that caught my eye. Supposedly it was only a three minute match, but I was behind Modest and thought he'd make a great underdog babyface. Never saw him again and all I know is that he had stints in Japan when business over there was dying.

Lash LeRoux - It's amazing all these years later that the one thing that sticks out about that Mayhem tournament was Lash LeRoux's push. I thought he sucked and couldn't believe he was still in the tournament while Da Man was out in the first round. Later on I remember him making this surprisingly good exchange when he was Corporal Cajun in the Misfits in Action (who were a ripping off DX, ripping off WCW, go figure) and he won me over. Before I knew it, WCW was dead and outside of a random NWA-TNA appearance, Lash was done.

David Flair - One of my first memories of WCW was seeing a promo for David Flair as US Champion and they treated it like the biggest injustice in Pro Wrestling. That always stuck with me and while they tried to make David Flair into the biggest psycho in Pro Wrestling, I found his character tedious and got sick of how much screen time him, Daphne and Crowbar took up on TV. David was so bad, it actually poisoned me on Ric, so I never saw Ric Flair as the man. He was just this old guy who was allowing his kid run amock and ruin his legacy in the Pro Wrestling scene.

The Natural Born Thrillerz - I remember them debuting around the time of the reboot and finding myself instantly hating the new direction. It was great that WCW was introducing new wrestlers, lord knows I couldn't stand seeing another Wall/Hogan program. However, I didn't care to see either Luger or Hennig beat them in matches and they were so new to the TV I didn't have an emotional connection either way. It wouldn't be until O'Haire & Jindrak turned babyface that I started to see their potential, and if they had have started off that way I would have been a fan. Instead they poisoned me on every OVW guy because they were usually in the same wheelhouse.

Vince Russo - When he started off in the Mr. Steinbrenner role, it was OK, a little dumb but an easy way to give guys storylines. It wasn't until the relaunch that he became a more prominent member at which point WCW became unbearable and he ruined every moment in the company. By that point I was only casually following the product, just waiting for the day Goldberg returned where I planned to get on board full-time. Well, within a matter of weeks they paired Goldberg up with Russo, basically killing WCW for me at that point. Goldberg eating Scott Hall's contract was the only solace I had.

Three Count - I'm pretty sure they debuted in early 2000 and they were instantly one of the better acts in WCW. It was strange to see WCW on top of the cultural zeitgeist like that and I thought it was a good rebound for Karaigias who sucked major ass when he was paired with Madusa. Eventually they went their separate ways at which point I thought Shane Helms had a real future as a performer and thought the Verterbreaker would be the most over move into the industry. It never panned out, but I had a real soft spot for the Hurricane up until 2003.

Jung Dragons - I can't remember exactly when these guys debuted, and while I wasn't a card carrying member, I appreciated their presence and was happy to see warring stables in the Cruiserweight division. It was such a huge step up from the crap I was used to like Lenny Lane, Madusa and Oklahoma being champions. They were really consistent in the ring and it was no surprise to see Jamie Noble and Jimmy Yang go onto have solid careers afterwards.

The Cruiserweight Tag Division - Elix Skipper, Kid Romeo, Air Raid etc. was one of the best things in Pro Wrestling and really WCW's last great gift. Air Styles going onto become AJ Styles is a cool moment because he was the first TNA guy I gravitated towards and I've been a huge fan since. He's virtually the reason why I have a soft spot for SmackDown, even if the production is down right unwatchable.

Maven - The best thing about Maven is that he really helped rehabilitate the Undertaker's image in the fan community after a pretty lean period. The Undertaker was quickly becoming everybody's least favourite wrestler, especially after the DDP debarcle, so his work with guys like RVD, Flair and Maven just freshened him up to the point where he reminded people he was still one of the best performers in the biz. That was cool of the Undertaker, but Maven was basically the dropkick guy and he never matured past that. I put a lot of blame into his stupid name, why would anyone want to support a guy who sounds like Melvin?

Chris Nowvinski - I never watched Tough Enough, so my first exposure to him was when he was working Bradshaw in Bradshaw's 2nd failed attempt at a singles push. It sort of put him into that 'who cares' pile but the Harvard gimmick had some cache and he did a decent job of building an emotional connection. I actually enjoyed watching him get his ass kicked and thought he'd go onto do bigger and better things before his premature retirement.

Brock Lesnar - Brock came in around Wrestlemania X-8 which was a tumultuous time in the company. Austin had walked out, they did the brand split, they messed up the nWo and it just seemed like the company was getting worse by the second. So Brock kind of got that Jeff Jarrett heat where his debut happened to coincide with all these negative changes so it altered my perception. I saw him as a roided up 12-year old who wanted to be Goldberg and decided to throw in mat-skills and a shooting star press just to make up for his lack of personality. It seemed like somebody's fantasy wrestler they came up with in a SmackDown game, and while that was cool, it ignored the key ingredient in Pro Wrestling which is personality. Some would say that was Paul's job, but Heyman at that point was an irritating colour commentator who just seemed like he was full of shit. Brock going over RVD did him no favours and I felt I was the only person in the world who thought Rock vs. Brock was a bad idea.

John Cena - Caught him on the episode of SmackDown where Rey debuted and he just seemed like one of those NBT. I felt at the time he needed more seasoning and felt the WWE had really dropped their standards to allow some of these guys to become major players on the main roster. Since then I've been up and down on Cena. I enjoyed all the moves they made with his heel turn, then I hated his babyface turn as soon as he began feuding with Rene freakin' Dupree. Thought he was pretty sweet when he had that killer I Quit match with JBL, but then he lost me when he made the WWE Championship belt into a spinner, 'retired' Jericho and started 'out-wrestling' Angle. From that point, Cena became the poster-child of everything I hated about Pro Wrestling until the 2008 Royal Rumble where I and the rest of Madison Square Garden marked out. In fairness, John had put in some begrudgingly good performances before then, but the MSG return was that undeniable moment where I was too uncool to pretend to be a Cena hater. Then Cena had this seriously good run of matches, to the point where that 'JBL is Poopy' grafitti that caused the internet to have an aneurysm was funny to me. John could write the lamest stuff ever, as long as he was busting out matches like the 2008 SummerSlam match against Batista, I was golden.

Randy Orton - Thought the playboy stuff on SmackDown was incredibly generic. That was until he came over to Raw and rescued JR's hat from the dastardly UnAmericans. Normally I'm pretty forgiving towards babyfaces, but the boy scout gimmick turned me off pronto and I thought Orton wasn't long for the WWE. Day Threeish, he started doing these RNN Updates which were among the highlights of the show and I couldn't believe the same guy had that level of timing. Day 4ish he joins up with Evolution and outside of his Day 6ish feud with Foley I wouldn't care about Orton again until Day 30ish when he punted Vince.

Three Minute Warning - I had never heard of The Public Enemy, so Three Minute Warning were the freshest thing I'd seen in Pro Wrestling all year. Loved every segment where Bischoff would find a way to do his three minute shtick and thought both performers were awesome. Had it been up to me, they would have had a one year title reign.

Garrison Cade - Debuted on Raw as Mark Jindrak's new partner and proceded to do nothing. Sort of had that 'Maven' heat with me where I instantly found myself not caring because his name was Garrison. Definitely not Day One-ish and my only other memory of Garrison was this idea where he was supposed to feud with HBK and change his name to HB Cade. I will say I became a fan of his tag team with Trevor Murdoch and seriously the change from Garrison to Lance was the key factor behind it.

John Heidenreich - Debuted around late 2002, maybe early 2003 with a bunch of backstage segments where he'd talk about his alter ego or imaginary friend called Little Johnny. It never went anywhere and buried Heidenreich off the bat. He maybe the worst 'Heyman guy' of all-time.

Rodney Mack - This was late 2002-ish right? Teddy Long made a resurgence around this time as a passionate black man pulling for more representation. It was like the Nation 2.0 but never really went anywhere. I think it's one of those gimmicks that's destined to fail because it turns what should be a babyface gimmick heel and Mack wasn't that special in the ring.

Victoria - Day One, the women's division was starting to come on and Victoria had just enough cool moves to work in that 4 minute do or die environment. Dug that lesbian russian song she'd come out to, and she was a good foil for Trish who was much better than I thought she was.

Big Pete reminded me of some of my other key Day Ones.

In rough but also no particular order:

3-Minute Warning
I was all in on this tandem from the get go, almost to the same degree that I was all in on Brock. In a lot of ways, they felt like the Samoan tag team version of Brock at the time. Show up, wreck shit, and leave. But then their booking fell off a cliff pretty quick, and I've sadly forgotten about this beloved tag team of mine from time to time over the years. As toyed with in other threads, 2002/2003 RAW's hodge podge tag team division should've been that brand's heart and soul focus. BookDust, Vitamin C, the Masked Machines, 3MW, the High Flyers, the New Dastardly Customers, the Dudleys... So much potential. Anyway... 3MW was beloved by me enough that it bought S.H.I.T. Rosey way more extended good will than he deserved, and also made me instantly all in when Jamal resurfaced as Umaga years later.

Rodney Mack
I apologize for the racism in this sentiment, but 2003 me was confused why they picked such a light-skinned black man to push with the White Boy challenge. But, skin color questions aside, Rodney Mack was perfect for the role. He was the personification of a junkyard pitbull. And him, Jazz, and Teddy Long together was one of my favorite groups. I bought in so much, so fast that I was dreaming of a feud where Mack would wreck Steiner en route to an evenly contested rivalry with Goldberg. Dude just oozed that bad ass vibe.

Jazz
Since Rodney Mack reminded me of her... I was all in when she popped up in late 2001 and wrecked the divas. It was almost too much of a stretch to buy her losing to the likes of Trish and Lita. Jazz was so fierce and so legit you almost had to have girls like Chyna, Beth Phoenix, Awesome Kong, Bull Nakano, Alundra Blayze, Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, etc. in the division to make it believably competitive. It was sad when Jazz was phased out. I love, love, LOVE that she's having a career renaissance apparently as NWA Women's Champion, and love her calling out the Men's Champion.

Victoria
Her psycho character helped compensate for whatever shortcomings she had in the ring to me, and I was instantly all in on her in 2002. He, Jazz, and Molly were my girls. I wanted the division to be built around then wrecking "Divas" and trading the title back and forth in competitive matches. Meanwhile, I wanted to see every other Diva naked in Playboy.

Trevor Murdoch
No idea why, but I was instantly all in on him too. He did the unthinkable in making me not only tolerate but actually like Lance Cade. I loved the Redneck Wrecking Crew tag team, and they rank as one of my all-time favorite tandems for god-knows-what reason (besides I guess Murdoch being awesome). I don't think Murdoch ever really got a real shot at a single push, and I would've been curious to see whether I would've still loved him as much beyond his RWC role.

Festus
Can't fucking stand Luke/Doc Gallows, but I was all in on the Festus look/gimmick. I think he had a match with Undertaker on SD! and I went from being all in to believing he should get a main event push. Then CM Punk came along and ruined things as CM Punk is wont to do.

Dec 1, 2018 18:35:02 GMT 🤯 said:

Big Pete reminded me of some of my other key Day Ones.

In rough but also no particular order:

3-Minute Warning
I was all in on this tandem from the get go, almost to the same degree that I was all in on Brock. In a lot of ways, they felt like the Samoan tag team version of Brock at the time. Show up, wreck shit, and leave. But then their booking fell off a cliff pretty quick, and I've sadly forgotten about this beloved tag team of mine from time to time over the years. As toyed with in other threads, 2002/2003 RAW's hodge podge tag team division should've been that brand's heart and soul focus. BookDust, Vitamin C, the Masked Machines, 3MW, the High Flyers, the New Dastardly Customers, the Dudleys... So much potential. Anyway... 3MW was beloved by me enough that it bought S.H.I.T. Rosey way more extended good will than he deserved, and also made me instantly all in when Jamal resurfaced as Umaga years later.

Rodney Mack
I apologize for the racism in this sentiment, but 2003 me was confused why they picked such a light-skinned black man to push with the White Boy challenge. But, skin color questions aside, Rodney Mack was perfect for the role. He was the personification of a junkyard pitbull. And him, Jazz, and Teddy Long together was one of my favorite groups. I bought in so much, so fast that I was dreaming of a feud where Mack would wreck Steiner en route to an evenly contested rivalry with Goldberg. Dude just oozed that bad ass vibe.

Jazz
Since Rodney Mack reminded me of her... I was all in when she popped up in late 2001 and wrecked the divas. It was almost too much of a stretch to buy her losing to the likes of Trish and Lita. Jazz was so fierce and so legit you almost had to have girls like Chyna, Beth Phoenix, Awesome Kong, Bull Nakano, Alundra Blayze, Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, etc. in the division to make it believably competitive. It was sad when Jazz was phased out. I love, love, LOVE that she's having a career renaissance apparently as NWA Women's Champion, and love her calling out the Men's Champion.

Victoria
Her psycho character helped compensate for whatever shortcomings she had in the ring to me, and I was instantly all in on her in 2002. He, Jazz, and Molly were my girls. I wanted the division to be built around then wrecking "Divas" and trading the title back and forth in competitive matches. Meanwhile, I wanted to see every other Diva naked in Playboy.

Trevor Murdoch
No idea why, but I was instantly all in on him too. He did the unthinkable in making me not only tolerate but actually like Lance Cade. I loved the Redneck Wrecking Crew tag team, and they rank as one of my all-time favorite tandems for god-knows-what reason (besides I guess Murdoch being awesome). I don't think Murdoch ever really got a real shot at a single push, and I would've been curious to see whether I would've still loved him as much beyond his RWC role.

Festus
Can't fucking stand Luke/Doc Gallows, but I was all in on the Festus look/gimmick. I think he had a match with Undertaker on SD! and I went from being all in to believing he should get a main event push. Then CM Punk came along and ruined things as CM Punk is wont to do.

I take it the Reign of Terror Era of Raw didn't bother you as much as the rest of us, eh? Sounds like you loved the midcard from 2003!

Dec 1, 2018 22:51:36 GMT @ness said:

Dec 1, 2018 18:35:02 GMT 🤯 said:

Big Pete reminded me of some of my other key Day Ones.

In rough but also no particular order:

3-Minute Warning
I was all in on this tandem from the get go, almost to the same degree that I was all in on Brock. In a lot of ways, they felt like the Samoan tag team version of Brock at the time. Show up, wreck shit, and leave. But then their booking fell off a cliff pretty quick, and I've sadly forgotten about this beloved tag team of mine from time to time over the years. As toyed with in other threads, 2002/2003 RAW's hodge podge tag team division should've been that brand's heart and soul focus. BookDust, Vitamin C, the Masked Machines, 3MW, the High Flyers, the New Dastardly Customers, the Dudleys... So much potential. Anyway... 3MW was beloved by me enough that it bought S.H.I.T. Rosey way more extended good will than he deserved, and also made me instantly all in when Jamal resurfaced as Umaga years later.

Rodney Mack
I apologize for the racism in this sentiment, but 2003 me was confused why they picked such a light-skinned black man to push with the White Boy challenge. But, skin color questions aside, Rodney Mack was perfect for the role. He was the personification of a junkyard pitbull. And him, Jazz, and Teddy Long together was one of my favorite groups. I bought in so much, so fast that I was dreaming of a feud where Mack would wreck Steiner en route to an evenly contested rivalry with Goldberg. Dude just oozed that bad ass vibe.

Jazz
Since Rodney Mack reminded me of her... I was all in when she popped up in late 2001 and wrecked the divas. It was almost too much of a stretch to buy her losing to the likes of Trish and Lita. Jazz was so fierce and so legit you almost had to have girls like Chyna, Beth Phoenix, Awesome Kong, Bull Nakano, Alundra Blayze, Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, etc. in the division to make it believably competitive. It was sad when Jazz was phased out. I love, love, LOVE that she's having a career renaissance apparently as NWA Women's Champion, and love her calling out the Men's Champion.

Victoria
Her psycho character helped compensate for whatever shortcomings she had in the ring to me, and I was instantly all in on her in 2002. He, Jazz, and Molly were my girls. I wanted the division to be built around then wrecking "Divas" and trading the title back and forth in competitive matches. Meanwhile, I wanted to see every other Diva naked in Playboy.

Trevor Murdoch
No idea why, but I was instantly all in on him too. He did the unthinkable in making me not only tolerate but actually like Lance Cade. I loved the Redneck Wrecking Crew tag team, and they rank as one of my all-time favorite tandems for god-knows-what reason (besides I guess Murdoch being awesome). I don't think Murdoch ever really got a real shot at a single push, and I would've been curious to see whether I would've still loved him as much beyond his RWC role.

Festus
Can't fucking stand Luke/Doc Gallows, but I was all in on the Festus look/gimmick. I think he had a match with Undertaker on SD! and I went from being all in to believing he should get a main event push. Then CM Punk came along and ruined things as CM Punk is wont to do.

I take it the Reign of Terror Era of Raw didn't bother you as much as the rest of us, eh? Sounds like you loved the midcard from 2003!

Yeah, honestly the main event was worse to me in real time. Between HHH cosplaying Greg Valentine and HBK's little Dutch boy haircut and brown tights, I didn't have a whole lot of faith or interest in RAW's main event scene.

I'm in the same boat as far as 2003 Raw goes. I was still in my Pro Wrestling infancy to really know any better and despite what the critics said, Raw still had all my guys. Goldberg, Austin, Foley, Van Dam, Jericho, HBK, Kane, Booker T, Shane Helms - it was like the show was booked deliberately for me.

Then 2004 happened and while I endured most of it, I found myself barely tuning in the next year.

Loving this thread. I echo Big Pete on Lesnar. Glad to see I wasn't the only one. Dug 🤯 's post too, even if Victoria was the only person in that batch I was a fan of. I guess 2003 WWE is to him what 95-96 WWF is to me.

Since Shootist & Kilgore covered their first ECW experience....

ECW Barely Legal Initial Reaction

Day One Guys

Eliminators- Blew my mind. Possibly the greatest Day One'rs of all time. A Midnight Express for the modern era. Busted out like a dozen moves I had never seen before. After one match I was ready to call them the second greatest tag team of all time.

Taz- The Man. Had a great hype video. Cut a great promo. Had killer suplexes. Made me believe. I truly thought Taz was the baddest man on the planet because of the way he carried himself. Taz > Sabu. It wasn't even close.

Stevie Richards- Cut a great babyface promo. Oodles of charisma. Tons of fun. Definitely a guy I could get behind.

Sandman- He drank! He smoke! He busted himself open....in a promo! *Paul Heyman Voice* This Is Extreme!

Raven- Another name. Another great Barely Legal promo. Unique look. Had an aura. Carried himself like a star. It was easy to see why this guy had been ECW champ for the better part of the previous 15 months.

All 6 guys in the Michinoku Pro tag can go here too, with Men's Teioh being my favorite of the bunch. I loved this style of wrestling at the time and these 6 guys were masters of it.
*And now for one of the weirdest Day One guys you will ever see.....

Brian Lee- Day One! Twice! First as Underfaker. To be fair, I thought he was the real Undertaker at first. But I stuck with him even after learning the truth because the concept of Undertaker having to face his evil doppelganger was right up my alley. Loved that feud.

Fast forward a few years to 1996. Now I'm following the Lee vs. Dreamer feud in the Apter Mags. Their matches seemed insane in print/photo form. To be fair, they kind of were. Lee had good Apter Mag buzz going into Barely Legal....

Where he pulled a sweet swerve along with Rick Rude on the once loved, now hated deposed Dean. Yeah, Brian Lee was definitely one of My Guys. Let's take a look at the opinions of 1997 me....

Sabu=Overrated! (more on that in a bit)
RVD=Talented, but thoroughly unlikeable.
Chainz of DOA= Ooooh yeah! That's where the money is!   It took me nearly a full year to realize Brian Lee sucked. Until then he was just "misused" by WWF.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dudleys- A joke. I should have at least given them props for being good punching bags/jobbers, but I didn't. I was so confused when they were announced as the reigning tag champs. See, because I could only follow ECW through the Apter Mags, and they were always a month or two behind. It would be like a fan today living in some remote outpost with no tv or internet, yet somehow having access to wrestling magazines (assuming they still exist). Then when this person FINALLY gets to see a WWE pay per view, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, who this person had been lead to believe were jokey jobbers, are the tag champs going up against The Shield, or somebody like that. Definitely a bit of a mind screw. Oh well. At least they went down quickly to the infinitely superior Eliminators.
*Came around on them in 1998. Either the May ppv or Heatwave with possibly a little boost from my beloved ECW tapes.

Lance Storm- Decent enough wrestler but soft as a pillow with the thing that should not be as a haircut. Not a fan.
*Grew to kinda sorta respect during his days with the Impact Players but there was never a time where I would have called myself a Lance Storm fan.

RVD- Already covered. Short version: Talented, but insufferable. A guy I loved to hate until mid 1998. Have loved him (mostly) ever since. 

Pitbull #2- The #2 in a tag team challenging for the TV Title on ECW's very first ppv seemed so bizarre to me. It would be like Headbanger Thrasher challenging The Rock for the IC Title at Wrestlemania 14. Plus his match with Douglas sucked. Definitely not a fan.
*Grew to like the Pitbulls a lot in tape form circa 1998. Popped when they showed up to wrestle the Headbangers on Shotgun. They were a fun powerhouse team and PB2 was the better of the two men imo.

Shane Douglas- Could not stand. Went from (almost) first as The Dean to worst as "The Franchise." His match sucked. He sucked. This hack wasn't fit to carry Ric Flair, or even Shawn Michaels' jock strap.
*Meh. I've mellowed out in my old age but Douglas is still a strong contender for my all time Bottom 10 list. Only time I ever liked him was as The Dean.

Sabu- Maybe the most overrated wrestler I had ever seen up to this point. Barely Legal made Sabu look like such a bitch. The Apter Mags treated him as Jesus in genie pants. He was ECW's top face and 'draw.' For 16 months I had been lead to believe ECW was Sabu's playground and the rest of those ham and eggers were just living in it. Meanwhile, some jabronie named Taz has been calling Sabu out that entire time. They finally have the big match. Wrestling logic dictates the face (of the company) would beat the heel and win the feud. Not here. Taz made Sabu, the babyface, submit clean as a sheet. This would be like Hogan going down clean to the Million Dollar Dream at WM 4. It made Taz look like The Man and Sabu look like an overhyped joke. Plus Taz's suplexes > Sabu's flying. AND Taz's promo ruled. I was Team Taz all the way after this. Jesus in genie pants? lol More like a joke in genie pants.
*Sabu continued to suck the next few times I saw him on pay per view. Up until now I had forgotten how much I really, really did not like Sabu at first. I came around on him in mid-98 due to tapes and the May ppv match with RVD. Like RVD, he's been one of my all time favorites ever since. But that first year+ was rough.

Tommy Dreamer- Mild dislike. He sucked on commentary. I mean, your only real job on commentary is to speak. Dreamer didn't even do that right! Going silent for long stretches during the main event. Then he gave Big Dick Dudley (who?) the fakest chokeslam in the history of wrestling. Yeah, I wasn't getting the Dreamer hype. At all. BUT I hadn't actually seen him wrestle yet. So I can't give him the full Sabu treatment.
*Came around on him for the most part at November To Remember '97. He looked good in highlight form and had the least terrible match of the night with RVD. I was strongly Team Tommy by mid 98.

*This is fun. Be back with some more either later tonight or tomorrow.

Big Pete I lol'ed at the H.B. Cade mention. Thanks for reminding me of that. It was definitely a rumored thing. 
Shootist Leviathan (Batista) was my Prototype. I saw a pic of him online and immediately thought he was destined for super stardom. Then I saw him in 'action' as Deacon Batista and quickly changed my mind.

*I'm ignoring first impressions before 1993 because....
1. I honestly don't remember in many cases.
2. I was very predictable. There were certain 'types' I was always going to be for/against regardless of the ability (or lack thereof) of the wrestler in question.

The Superstars

Rocky Maivia- Basically the worst. I was longing for the stylings of scrubs like Savio & Bradshaw after seeing this talentless bore win his debut match at Survivor Series 96. He was to me what the Natural Born Thrillerz, Orton & Cena were to Pete. Rocky's high spots were a freakin' leap frog and a shitty shoulder breaker. That would have been weak sauce a full decade earlier. Then WWF is making the infinitely superior Salvatore Sincere into Rocky's personal job boy. Hated it. Hated Rocky. He was basically Poochie in lame 80s babyface form.
*I came around on The Rock in late 97-early 98. Within a month or so he was my favorite wrestler. Remained among my favorites for the 2 and a half years. Went back and forth on him after that. Definitely one of the greats though.

Steve Austin- I may have seen pre-Hollywood Blondes "Stunning" Steve once or twice. If so, I do not remember it. Meaning Austin would have been literally forgettable. As for the Blondes, I was initially a fan. They were my kind of wrestlers. With that being said, I did not think they were particularly transcendent or anything. Rather they were just another cool bad guy tag team. I turned on them big time when they started beefing with my main man Slick Ric a few months later, and viewed 1994 US Champ Steve Austin as a 'just there' Randy Orton type of guy.
*Loved The Ringmaster and his ECW run (in tape form), but it took me years to come around on Stone Cold. He was the man I loved to hate. Nowadays I have a lot of respect for Austin. Definitely one of the all time greats, and one of the most complete total packages the game has ever seen.

Triple H- Terra Ryzing/Jean Paul Levesque in WCW were about as forgettable as it gets. I dug Hunter Hearst Helmsley right from the start though, even if he was a blatant Regal ripoff. Turned on him during his '96 losing streak, which also saw him downplay a lot of the "Blue Blood" aspects of his character.
*One of the most up and down guys ever. Couldn't stand him from late 96-early 00. Loved him from early 00- fall 02. Turned on him again from fall 02-03. Liked him a lot in 04-05. Hated again in '06. Have been a fan since his 2007 return from injury. I tend to be the high vote on HHH in GOAT polls/countdowns. 

Diesel- Vinnie Vegas was fun in a midcard heel going nowhere kind of way. Early Diesel was a bore. Basically a tall, white Mr. Hughes. Yawn. Even after becoming a fan of his in '94 I thought his push was ridiculous. And this was before they jumped the shark by having him beat Mr. Backlund.
*One of my least favorites from November 94-2006ish. Damn. That means he's possibly an all time Bottom 20 guy.

Randy Orton/John Cena- Same initial reactions as Pete.

The Workrate Crew

Dean Malenko (late 1995 WCW)- Day One! Historically not my kind of wrestler, but the WCW announcers putting him over as "The Man of a Thousand Holds," and then Dean actually exhibiting like half a dozen moves I had never seen before in a WCW Saturday Night squash made me an instant fan. Yet I never thought he was going anywhere. He was too small....too boring....too niche. All I really hoped for was that he might occasionally make a ppv in the role of a jobber. Then came that memorable Saturday afternoon when he beat Otani for the Cruiserweight title on Worldwide, of all places, where nothing ever happened. That's legit one of my biggest markout moments ever because it was so unexpected, so out of left field. In fact, I remember voting for it in our "Markout Moments" countdown a few years back. He was a Top 10 guy in all of wrestling for the next few months. Loved me some 1996 Deano Machino. 
*I stopped watching WCW for a few years. He was the Radical I was most excited to see when they jumped to WWF, but he never really caught on, and I quickly lost interest.

Chris Benoit (1993 WCW)- About as forgettable as they come since I literally forgot he existed for two years. Hell, I probably forgot he existed while he was still in 1993 WCW  :lol:
His second act was much better. At first I thought it was really weird that a forgotten failure from two years earlier was suddenly a Horsemen, but it at least had me paying attention to Benoit this time around, and he won me over almost immediately. 

Eddie Guerrero (late 1995 WCW)- I respected him as a new style wrestler, but his bland 80s babyface stylings weren't my cup of tea, making him my least favorite of the original Vanilla Midgets. He was basically Marcus Alexander Bagwell with cooler moves.

Chris Jericho (1996 ECW in tape form circa 1998)- See above. 

Rey Mysterio Jr. (Great American Bash 1996)- An astronaut. He was to high flying what Dean Malenko was to technical wrestling.

1-2-3 Kid- Among the first wrestlers I ever viewed as "overpushed," though I obviously didn't know that term yet. I could understand him beating Razor once on a fluke. But then to survive him again.....and again? It was a bit much. He just seemed way too small and scrawny to win as many matches as he did. Plus I still didn't really care about wrestling ability. So his flippidy doos didn't wow me, and the 'karate expert' shtick they pushed after he beat Razor the first time just seemed so forced. This isn't hindsight talking either. This is genuinely what I thought in real time even as a know nothing rube.

Hardy Boyz- Day One! Rooted for them ever since Jeff beat Razor Ramon way back in January '96. I had no idea if they were 'good' or anything. All I knew is Jeff the Jobber beat the hated Razor. That was enough for me to get behind him (and Matt by proxy once I realized they were brothers). Kept tabs on them as best I could after that. I was pumped when they got signed in 1998. By this point they even had some Apter Mag/internet buzz. Hardys vs. RVD & Sabu from a 1998 NC indie show was one of my Holy Grail matches for years. I was just happy they made it. Never in a million years did I expect they'd go onto super stardom. I'd have been satisfied with just a PPV appearance or two putting over the real stars before their inevitable release. If they were released immediately after their fluke tag title over the Acolytes I still would have been satisfied because their WWF run had already exceeded my expectations. Yet here they are some 20 years later still in the 'E. Pretty cool.

Indie Guys

Low Ki- Liked without loving. Stiffest wrestler I had ever seen up to that point. But he was always feuding with my main indie man Christopher Daniels. So I could never love Ki. Eventually turned on him for taking himself too seriously and being a major flake.

American Dragon- Good wrestler but he's never going anywhere. His style is an acquired taste. He lacks pizzazz. Plus he looks like a fresh out of high school nerd with his geeky haircut, pasty complexion, and ugly red sweat pants.

AJ Styles- Great wrestler but, again, too small and generic to ever really go places.

CM Punk- A geek in basketball shorts lacking the in ring wow factor of the 3 names above him. His matches with Chris Hero (a boring geek in a Superman shirt), which were among the first Punk matches I ever saw, were the La Villa Strangiato of wrestling in their pretentious wankery. Yep. I was anti-Punk from Day One. At least I've been consistent on this one.

Amazing Red- Rey Mysterio Jr. Jr.

SAT- Two chubbier Amazing Red's in tag team form. This is a compliment.

Jimmy Jacobs- Day One in a low key sort of way. He stood out by being fun and goofy at a time when most of his contemporaries were Serious Business real rasslers. Jacobs > Berzerker.

Alex Shelley- Was not impressed. He started out as a bland Serious Business technician. Not at all the charismatic total package he would soon become.

Samoa Joe- This would have been some boring ROH 4 Way or tag match (I forget which) that started slow and just went downhill from there. I wasn't feeling the Joe. He may have been a rare indie heavyweight, but his physique was the shits. Plus his name was "Samoa Joe." That was one of the worst ring names I had ever heard. What's next? Canada Mike? England Steve? Mexico Juan? Australia Pete?

I guess AJ Styles would be one for me. I remember seeing him in WCW back in either 2000 or 2001 when the company was about dead. I believe I had even stopped watching wrestling by the time I seen him, I was maybe just channel surfing and happened to see him on Thunder(the 12 inch TV I had in my room wouldn't go above channel 13, which was TBS) and thought he was a very interesting young guy that could have been a next gen guy in WCW. I remember booking WCW in my notebooks in detention in school and pushing AJ Styles as one of the guys on the rise in 2001-2002. I can't say I've been a fan of his since day 1 though since I stopped watching wrestling altogether around that time.

Also the Hardy Boyz. Seriously loved them starting with the Jeff Hardy vs RVD match on Raw. I would mark hard whenever they would pop up and do jobs on Sunday Night heat or something in 98. When they became major players in WWF in 1999 to me it was one of the only good things that I liked going on in the company and felt like a hipster because I liked them before anybody else did.

Also I remember Sabu in WCW in 1995 and thinking he was fucking awesome. I was OBSESSED with motherfuckers going through tables.

Dec 2, 2018 6:45:37 GMT Baker said:

1-2-3 Kid- Among the first wrestlers I ever viewed as "overpushed," though I obviously didn't know that term yet. I could understand him beating Razor once on a fluke. But then to survive him again.....and again? It was a bit much. He just seemed way too small and scrawny to win as many matches as he did. Plus I still didn't really care about wrestling ability. So his flippidy doos didn't wow me, and the 'karate expert' shtick they pushed after he beat Razor the first time just seemed so forced. This isn't hindsight talking either. This is genuinely what I thought in real time even as a know nothing rube.

For god knows what reason, Kid was a Day One guy more me. I don't know if I was wooed by the moves or the under dog story or what. But loved his feud with Razor and then becoming his buddy. Then loved his title shot against Bret and might've been the only person not upset if he'd pulled off the upset. Then even stuck with him on the heel turn, which should've seen a longer run got the Sid & The Kid pairing.

Didn't follow him in real time in WCW between being a WWF loyalist and also not having cable at the time. In retrospect, it sounds like the Syxx run was awesome though. I've never bothered to explore it.

Loved him coming home in 1998 as X-Pac and arguably legitimizing DX. Loved his Euro title run and series of matches with D'Lo. He was the underrated/underappreciated work horse of 1998 WWF. Then loved his 1999, specifically him pulling a surprise out of Shane and then his of-mice-and-men tag team with Kane.

He admittedly started having a weak year in 2000, and 2001 wouldn't be much better. But I was always a defender when it came to the bullshit X-Pac heat concept. I don't know if he had drug issues or injuries or what, but he was super underutilized both those years. In 2000, he should've been tearing it up in the ring with Benoit, Jericho, Eddie, Malenko, Saturn, Angle, Tazz, etc. His No Way Out 2001 four way proved he could hang with those other work horses. Then in 2001, he should've been a more prominent feature as the king of the CW/LHW title scene.

Indie Guys

Low Ki- Liked without loving. Stiffest wrestler I had ever seen up to that point. But he was always feuding with my main indie man Christopher Daniels. So I could never love Ki. Eventually turned on him for taking himself too seriously and being a major flake.

Daniels always struck me as moving kinda weird, so I didn't have that loyalty holding me back from my Low Ki love. His TNA match made me an instant fan of Ki, and also Red. Red faded pretty quick though, and then Ki turned out to take himself too seriously as you mentioned. It kinda turned me off Ki, not totally, but enough for me to not consider him one of my guys anymore.

CM Punk- A geek in basketball shorts lacking the in ring wow factor of the 3 names above him. His matches with Chris Hero (a boring geek in a Superman shirt), which were among the first Punk matches I ever saw, were the La Villa Strangiato of wrestling in their pretentious wankery. Yep. I was anti-Punk from Day One. At least I've been consistent on this one.

My man, my brotha! I'm with you from the unimpressed beginning to the bitter end on this stance.

Amazing Red- Rey Mysterio Jr. Jr.

The most perfect, succinct description of Amazing Red ever.

...

I just thought of another Day One guy for me... Tajiri. No idea why, but from the first time he popped up as Regal's assistant I was in love. Then I got to see him in the ring, and I was #allin sold and have been ever since.

Mondo - Unfuckingable, lightbulb shot to the stomach.

American Dragon - Cattle Mutilation in The Era of Honor Begins

Bucks - Local show, they hit more bang for your buck.

Kevin Steen - His CZW debut. He hit a wheelbarrow suplex. Never seen it done before.

Mercedes - Saito suplex on someone in CZW. Was vicious looking.

Jimmy Rave - As soon as he hit From Dusk Till Dawn.

Mondo - Unfuckingable, lightbulb shot to the stomach.

I've always been curious, but who was the poster that had Mondo as their av and sig back in 2002?

Was that you?

Because that left a huge impression on me and the perception of PW. I had been around other boards, but PW seemed like the real genuine fans hung out.

Dec 3, 2018 3:35:18 GMT 🤯 said:

Didn't follow him in real time in WCW between being a WWF loyalist and also not having cable at the time. In retrospect, it sounds like the Syxx run was awesome though. I've never bothered to explore it.

This might have only happened in the span of a couple weeks, and not as long term as I remember, but during the time where the nWo were cheating to win, or just forcing DQs, Syxx would win matches clean in the midcard developing him as "the wrestler" of the nWo, and it was a nice change of pace.

The only problem was the state of the art offense Syxx had three years prior was looking a decade old on the same card as Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko, so it didn't work quite as well as it would have even the year before.

I think my 1-2-3 Kid first impression was indifference. Like look at this dork, oh there's a cool move, he's still a dork, whatever.

I covered ECW. Now let's do some more WCW first impressions.....

Konnan- Day One! Also one of my all time greatest misfires. Konnan wowed me the first time I ever saw him* at the January '96 Clash of the Champions against Psicosis (who may have been the quasi-mythical Jushin Liger in a new gimmick according to my longtime WCW fan friend). Konnan had a cool look and the movez. I initially rated him right up there with Malenko, Benoit & Eddie as another standout New Style wrestler. It would be all downhill from here.

*How was I supposed to know he had been Max Moon?

Minotaur- Day One! Not Mantaur. Minotaur. He had a cup of coffee in early 1991 WCW. Shootist is probably the only other person here who might remember this flash in the pan. But he was big and badass and no sold a missile dropkick the first time I ever saw him. Plus I was a huge fan of Minotaur's, and Greek mythology in general. I had him pegged as WCW next great heel. Basically their version of Undertaker. Surely Minotaur vs. Sting was destined to be THE WCW feud of 1991. The two men would no doubt headline pay per views in their epic war over the WCW title. Nope. He was gone within weeks and the guy who played Minotaur never got another shot in mainstream US wrestling.

Ice Train (1993)- Day One with a catch. I was NOT a fan of Ice Train. He was actually my least favorite kind of wrestler- a no selling fan favorite muscle man. BUT I knew that's what the people liked, and that's what sold tickets. So I was convinced from day one that Ice Train was going to be their next big thing. Surely 1994 would see the undefeated, unstoppable Ice Train dethrone Vader for the WCW Championship. He would then go on to rule the promotion for years as their Hogan/Warrior. Nope. He was gone within months. Resurfaced a few years later as 1/2 of the awesome Fire & Ice tag team. But by then I had no high expectations for him. Still kind of wonder why he never made it big. He really did have the look. Plus I remember the fans being receptive to him. 

Jungle Jim Steel- Was another along the lines of Ice Train, only more obnoxious, and more Warrior-y. I'm glad this bum never made it.

Fit Finlay- A boring, greasy old man who looked like he belonged in a Bumfights video. I'd have loathed him even if he wasn't feuding with longtime WCW favorite Lord Steven Regal.

Disco Inferno- Day One! I was going through a Disco phase at the time (next music countdown?) and DI was just so much fun. Loved him for that first year or so.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Indie Guys

Austin Aries- Day One. Think the first time I ever saw was him was live at his big solo breakout show, Survival of the Fittest 2004. He came out of nowhere to make the final two with Bryan Danielson. They had a sweet little mini-match. Aries had already won me over. I was rooting for him big time. He lost that night but would more than make up for it by ending Samoa Joe's legendary reign a few months later. I marked out hard for that one. Philly (myself included) kind of adopted Aries as 'our guy' just as we had a few years earlier with.....

Paul London- Slow burn guy. I was indifferent to him at first. He was just another warm body. But he won me over with a star making performance against Michael Shane in the legendary "Please Don't Die" ladder match. That match put him on the map and made him a Philly favorite.

Jay Briscoe- Day one in a low key sort of way. Didn't have much of a hook, but he was a good young wrestler I could get behind.

Mark Briscoe- Always viewed him as the lesser Briscoe just because he debuted after Jay due to being underage when ROH began. 

Luke Harper & Young Bucks- More low key day one guys. First time I saw both of these acts was live at a Chikara show (of all things) in 2009. They were the two standout performers that night among the new (to me) talent. I'm not saying I LOVED them but I definitely had them pegged as future stars right away. Harper (I forget his indie name) had The Look and spent the night doing Baker Approved things like kicking dorky little guys wearing funny costumes in the face. I immediately had the Young Bucks pegged as the next Hardy Boyz. And that's basically what they turned out to be. So point for me there, and another point for me on future WWE star Luke Harper.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWE

World's Greatest Tag Team- Day One! Twice! Obviously Team Angle would be right up my alley, but I was even into both guys in their pre-Team Angle days...

Baltimore fans were brutal towards dark matches (and Super Astros tapings) during the Attitude Era. The "BORING" chants would start immediately. They were loud and long. We only wanted to see stars, dammit! The Haas Brothers were the only dark match act I ever saw get over in B-More. They silenced the dreaded "BORING" chants by wrestling like a pair of RVD's. So I kept tabs on them in developmental for a while before admittedly losing interest.

I saw Shelton Benjamin wrestle at an outdoor house show in Frederick, MD a good 5-6 months before he debuted on tv alongside Haas. Shelton was the standout performer in a throwaway 6 man with a bunch of low carders. I'm not saying he put on a Malenko or Rey level performance, but he had a few cool moves. Definitely came across as somebody to keep an eye on.

Bray Wyatt- Likely one of the last Day One guys I will ever have. Somebody on the old PW shared a link to his vignettes and/or NXT promos. I was blown away. This guy had "it." Definitely my kind of wrestler. I kept tabs on him for about his first year or so on the main roster before losing interest. It still boggles my mind that WWE dropped the ball with this guy. He was money.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japan

Kenta Kobashi > Mitsuharu Misawa > Toshiaki Kawada due to Kobashi being the most theatrical of the three. He was just a lot easier to get into than his stoic counterparts.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano were more like Day Two guys. I'm pretty sure I had seen them both before I watched their awesome 2011 match. That bout sold me on both men. I loved all of Yano's antics. He's a masterful sports entertainer.  I also dug the "Steamboat meets HBK, with cooler moves than both" babyface stylings of Tanahashi.

Dec 4, 2018 4:05:37 GMT Baker said:

I covered ECW. Now let's do some more WCW first impressions.....

Konnan- Day One! Also one of my all time greatest misfires. Konnan wowed me the first time I ever saw him* at the January '96 Clash of the Champions against Psicosis (who may have been the quasi-mythical Jushin Liger in a new gimmick according to my longtime WCW fan friend). Konnan had a cool look and the movez. I initially rated him right up there with Malenko, Benoit & Eddie as another standout New Style wrestler. It would be all downhill from here.

*How was I supposed to know he had been Max Moon?

Minotaur- Day One! Not Mantaur. Minotaur. He had a cup of coffee in early 1991 WCW. Shootist is probably the only other person here who might remember this flash in the pan. But he was big and badass and no sold a missile dropkick the first time I ever saw him. Plus I was a huge fan of Minotaur's, and Greek mythology in general. I had him pegged as WCW next great heel. Basically their version of Undertaker. Surely Minotaur vs. Sting was destined to be THE WCW feud of 1991. The two men would no doubt headline pay per views in their epic war over the WCW title. Nope. He was gone within weeks and the guy who played Minotaur never got another shot in mainstream US wrestling.

Ice Train (1993)- Day One with a catch. I was NOT a fan of Ice Train. He was actually my least favorite kind of wrestler- a no selling fan favorite muscle man. BUT I knew that's what the people liked, and that's what sold tickets. So I was convinced from day one that Ice Train was going to be their next big thing. Surely 1994 would see the undefeated, unstoppable Ice Train dethrone Vader for the WCW Championship. He would then go on to rule the promotion for years as their Hogan/Warrior. Nope. He was gone within months. Resurfaced a few years later as 1/2 of the awesome Fire & Ice tag team. But by then I had no high expectations for him. Still kind of wonder why he never made it big. He really did have the look. Plus I remember the fans being receptive to him. 

Jungle Jim Steel- Was another along the lines of Ice Train, only more obnoxious, and more Warrior-y. I'm glad this bum never made it.

Fit Finlay- A boring, greasy old man who looked like he belonged in a Bumfights video. I'd have loathed him even if he wasn't feuding with longtime WCW favorite Lord Steven Regal.

Disco Inferno- Day One! I was going through a Disco phase at the time (next music countdown?) and DI was just so much fun. Loved him for that first year or so.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Indie Guys

Austin Aries- Day One. Think the first time I ever saw was him was live at his big solo breakout show, Survival of the Fittest 2004. He came out of nowhere to make the final two with Bryan Danielson. They had a sweet little mini-match. Aries had already won me over. I was rooting for him big time. He lost that night but would more than make up for it by ending Samoa Joe's legendary reign a few months later. I marked out hard for that one. Philly (myself included) kind of adopted Aries as 'our guy' just as we had a few years earlier with.....

Paul London- Slow burn guy. I was indifferent to him at first. He was just another warm body. But he won me over with a star making performance against Michael Shane in the legendary "Please Don't Die" ladder match. That match put him on the map and made him a Philly favorite.

Jay Briscoe- Day one in a low key sort of way. Didn't have much of a hook, but he was a good young wrestler I could get behind.

Mark Briscoe- Always viewed him as the lesser Briscoe just because he debuted after Jay due to being underage when ROH began. 

Luke Harper & Young Bucks- More low key day one guys. First time I saw both of these acts was live at a Chikara show (of all things) in 2009. They were the two standout performers that night among the new (to me) talent. I'm not saying I LOVED them but I definitely had them pegged as future stars right away. Harper (I forget his indie name) had The Look and spent the night doing Baker Approved things like kicking dorky little guys wearing funny costumes in the face. I immediately had the Young Bucks pegged as the next Hardy Boyz. And that's basically what they turned out to be. So point for me there, and another point for me on future WWE star Luke Harper.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWE

World's Greatest Tag Team- Day One! Twice! Obviously Team Angle would be right up my alley, but I was even into both guys in their pre-Team Angle days...

Baltimore fans were brutal towards dark matches (and Super Astros tapings) during the Attitude Era. The "BORING" chants would start immediately. They were loud and long. We only wanted to see stars, dammit! The Haas Brothers were the only dark match act I ever saw get over in B-More. They silenced the dreaded "BORING" chants by wrestling like a pair of RVD's. So I kept tabs on them in developmental for a while before admittedly losing interest.

I saw Shelton Benjamin wrestle at an outdoor house show in Frederick, MD a good 5-6 months before he debuted on tv alongside Haas. Shelton was the standout performer in a throwaway 6 man with a bunch of low carders. I'm not saying he put on a Malenko or Rey level performance, but he had a few cool moves. Definitely came across as somebody to keep an eye on.

Bray Wyatt- Likely one of the last Day One guys I will ever have. Somebody on the old PW shared a link to his vignettes and/or NXT promos. I was blown away. This guy had "it." Definitely my kind of wrestler. I kept tabs on him for about his first year or so on the main roster before losing interest. It still boggles my mind that WWE dropped the ball with this guy. He was money.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japan

Kenta Kobashi > Mitsuharu Misawa > Toshiaki Kawada due to Kobashi being the most theatrical of the three. He was just a lot easier to get into than his stoic counterparts.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano were more like Day Two guys. I'm pretty sure I had seen them both before I watched their awesome 2011 match. That bout sold me on both men. I loved all of Yano's antics. He's a masterful sports entertainer.  I also dug the "Steamboat meets HBK, with cooler moves than both" babyface stylings of Tanahashi.

I remember the name Minoatur but can't remember a thing about him in ring.

Leviathan was also a day one guy as well (PWI strikes again it may have been the same 500 as Prototype) but Batista's status has improved with time. Also loving his current fuck the world (wrestling entertainment) tour he's on.

I had preconceived notions of the All Japan guys who lived up to the online hype, no brainers there I guess.

Dec 4, 2018 7:02:58 GMT Shootist said:

Dec 4, 2018 4:05:37 GMT Baker said:

Minotaur- Day One! Not Mantaur. Minotaur. He had a cup of coffee in early 1991 WCW. Shootist is probably the only other person here who might remember this flash in the pan. But he was big and badass and no sold a missile dropkick the first time I ever saw him. Plus I was a huge fan of Minotaur's, and Greek mythology in general. I had him pegged as WCW next great heel. Basically their version of Undertaker. Surely Minotaur vs. Sting was destined to be THE WCW feud of 1991. The two men would no doubt headline pay per views in their epic war over the WCW title. Nope. He was gone within weeks and the guy who played Minotaur never got another shot in mainstream US wrestling.

I remember the name Minoatur but can't remember a thing about him in ring.

You probably know him as Steve DiSalvo in Stampede. He was also big in late 80s Puerto Rico. Turns out he may have only had the one televised WCW match. If so, that would make him the all time Day One champ, right? I mean, I remembered this guy's lone match (even one particular spot!) for 27 years. What an impact!

Dec 5, 2018 1:15:09 GMT Baker said:

Dec 4, 2018 7:02:58 GMT Shootist said:

I remember the name Minoatur but can't remember a thing about him in ring.

You probably know him as Steve DiSalvo in Stampede. He was also big in late 80s Puerto Rico. Turns out he may have only had the one televised WCW match. If so, that would make him the all time Day One champ, right? I mean, I remembered this guy's lone match (even one particular spot!) for 27 years. What an impact!

I had to go to wrestlingdata.com to look him up and I vaguely remember him teaming with some other new guy, Steve Blackman once I went through his match results.

I have to second the Batista love just growing and growing over time. He got to near Brock level love with with Hollywood Dave run at the end. Then Bluetista was the blueberry on top of the sundae. And I too am loving him more and more with every movie role and simultaneous FTW(WE) world tour.

Also, learning of the ring name Jungle Jim Steel is giving me an idea for an all new Action Figure League. Stay tuned. Might be coming to fan fiction when it comes, if it comes, since it seems like the most appropriate home for it. Hoping to eventually do you proud, Baker-man.