I've been on a 1987 kick the past few days watching '87 WWF, NWA & Watts/Crockett UWF. 

All that 1987 viewing lead to a fun little project I created for myself. See, the first WWF match I can remember watching is the famous Hogan/Orndorff 'tie' cage match from Saturday Night's Main Event in January 1987.

WWF: Saturday Night's Main Event 1/3/87 (Hogan vs. Orndorff- Cage Match)

Now I became curious to see if I could find out when I started watching all those other promotions.

The first NWA match I remember seeing was a Flair/Windham match where Windham threw a missile dropkick. Now I "remembered" a lame "We're outta time! See ya next week!" finish as Windham was covering following a missile dropkick but could find no record of such a match existing. BUT Windham does throw a missile dropkick in their April 1987 Crockett Cup match followed by controversy and NWA had a habit of airing clips of big matches. So that's probably it. Another thing in its favor is Lane replaced Condrey in the Midnight Express at the Crockett Cup that April and I don't remember ever seeing Condrey team with Eaton back in the day.

NWA/WCW: April 1987 (Flair vs. Windham- Crockett Cup clips)

For UWF, I distinctly remember One Man Gang (who was champion), Ted Dibiase & Iceman Parsons being around, along with Dr. Death getting his arm broken. Doc got his arm broken May 30th. Dibiase & Iceman's last appearance was the previous week, while Gang finished up the first week in May. So I had to have been watching at least as early as April. Maybe I caught my first UWF show the same day I watched my first NWA show? That would make sense as wrestling tv usually came on in a block back then.

UWF Start Date: April 1987 or earlier (Gang is champ. Iceman & Dibiase are around)

*The NWA/UWF merger is what lead to my odd belief that all non-WWF promotions were all loosely affiliated because here you had NWA guys regularly appearing on UWF tv and vice versa. So until late 1995 I believed all wrestling promotions were divided into two camps- WWF & loosely affiliated non-WWF promotions who shared talent.

Oh, and don't even get me started on 'trades.'   My friend Vogel introduced this concept to me at some point (he also once convinced me that Undertaker had renounced his evil ways to become a while-clad good guy known as "Heaven Above" ). It might have been Sid for Rude. Or Flair for Narcissist. Don't remember for sure. But it resurfaced a few times over the years and was a commonly held belief among wrestling fans in my area. As late as 1995 I believed in this concept (Vader for Luger!) and even in 1996 a future NWO fanatic in my College Algebra class named Jeremy used to prattle on about the blockbuster Mero & Pillman for Outsiders deal. I knew better by this point but never could convince young Jeremy that this wasn't how wrestling worked.

And then there was the confusion over UWF good guy Ted Dibiase suddenly becoming arrogant rich guy "The Million Dollar Man" in WWF. After the initial confusion, I assumed Dibiase had downplayed his wealth in UWF because he was a good guy and good guys wouldn't brag about being filthy rich. Or perhaps he won the lottery in between his UWF & WWF stints and that made him rich & arrogant? Yeah, that was probably it.

For AWA, I remembered Orton, Adonis & Ron Garvin showing up. Always thought this took place some time in 1989, or at least '88. Wrong! Adonis & Orton were there together as early as late 1987! Adonis left early in '88. So I had to have seen AWA at least once way back in late 87-early 88. Garvin showed up in the fall of '88 so I must have caught at least one episode then as well. 

AWA Start Date: Between 12/87-2/88 but didn't watch regularly until 1989 when Zbyszko ruled the world and "Timekeeper" Mike George(!) was a thing. 

ECW- Learned of its existence in late 1995. First viewing was Barely Legal. Unless you count their Raw invasion in February 1997

ROH- Knew about it from the start. First show was, well, the first show- Era of Honor Begins on tape.

TNA- Knew it existed from the start. First show was 1/22/03- Raven debuts.

The first Pro Wrestling related memory I have is watching Mr Nanny as the relatives. It was a joke rental and we all got into the spirit of it, but it did taint my perception of Pro Wrestling. Here was Hulk Hogan, the best 'wrestler' and he didn't amount to anything more than a B-List celebrity.

Over time, I learned my old man was into Pro Wrestling. He used to travel a lot and whenever he had business in Thailand he'd often watch Pro Wrestling since it was readily available on television. So every now and then whenever the grandparents were staying over and I had to give up my room and sleep on the fold-out, he'd have on some random episode of WWF Superstars. I have the foggiest memory of watching The Rock work a tag team match against D-Generation X circa 1998. My best guess is that it was 13/7 Raw because I remember it led into a Rock v X-Pac which supposedly happened the week after but my memory is that foggy I can't be sure. Never the less, I remember the People's Elbow and instantly hating the move but then being won over by The Rock's promo and the People's Eyebrow.

My first WCW related memory was during the Hogan/Warrior feud and the whole 9/21 mirror deal. My dad just flicked it on while we were vacationing at my grandparents place at the Sunshine Coast and my Pop thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

Those were brief snippets, my first real memory of the WWF was the August 2nd 1999 episode. The main event saw Austin take on The Undertaker, but before the match took place HHH interfered and then the entire lockeroom poured out and had a wild all in brawl. This was also the show where D'Lo Brown won both the Intercontinental and European Championships, Edge reunited with Christian and the Acolytes were trying to get at the Unholy Alliance all night.

The first episode of Nitro would have been the 6/21 1999 show, which was the return of Eddie Guerrero. Even back then, I was amazed at how lackluster the show was. WCW was right in the middle of the No Limit Soldiers, one of the biggest flops in Pro Wrestling history and it just died a death on the show. You also had the old guys vs. the new guys feud with Flair/Piper taking on Bagwell/Malenko and the Savage/Sid vs Nash/Sting feud and it sucked. That show turned me off Nitro for a few weeks and it wasn't until Goldberg and Hogan returned that Saturdays became a weekly tradition.

First TNA show was the 3/28 2008 show. Matt Morgan was the authority figure of the show and they were hyping up a Team Christian (Babyface) vs Team Tomko (Heel) Lethal Lockdown match where Morgan swerved everyone by turning face. Semi main saw Christian Cage & Rhyno take on AJ Styles & Tyson Tomko in a solid match that ended in a DQ after Team 3D interfered. While the main event saw Sting face off against James Storm in a Street Fight. Morgan was the special guest referee and he turned on Storm and aligned himself with Sting and the rest of Team Cage.

First ROH show was the 1/3/11 HD Net show which saw Eddie Edwards def. Mark Briscoe and Homicide def. Claudio. The HD Net shows had a terrible presentation about them and the lead announcer was lousy. His name was Mike Hogewood and he just seemed so disconnected with the product. Thankfully ROH didn't last much longer on the network and eventually found themselves working with Sinclair.

I also caught the 2011 Tokyo Dome show, but largely just watched the TNA cross-over matches. Beer Money took on Bad Intentions (Albert & Karl Anderson) and Muscle Orchestra (Nakanishi & Strong Man), Rob Van Dam faced off against Toru Yano & Jeff Hardy fought Tetsuya Naito. It was at that point in time I realised cross-overs sucked and none of those matches did anything for me. The one match I really enjoyed was the Yuji Nagata & Minoru Suzuki match. It was my first time really watching either guy perform and both have gone onto have really good matches. 2011 was an interesting era for NJPW, if I was to make a comparison it would be like WWF circa 1996. The company was headed in a new direction, pushing guys like Kojima & Nagata to the side and giving guys like Naito & Suzuki a push. It wasn't quite there yet, but when they brought back Okada & Shibata the company went to the next level.

I wish my memory was as vivid as yours on this topic.

WWF: 1988/1989

My memories of WWF is I always watched it as a kid. I can't remember a first time, or a specific match, but I know I saw certain matches at certain places, which gives a good estimate of the time frame. 

I know I lived at an Uncle's house in 1988/1989, and I remember going to his video store and stocking up on some Coliseum Home Videos. I was already a fan because this was my idea. I was four or five-years-old, so my memory is sketchy at best, but I do remember watching a bunch of Andre the Giant matches there (vs Studd, Gorilla Monsoon, and a Battle Royal win), so I must have rented the Andre Coliseum Home Video. I also remember seeing the Madness taking the guitar shot in that house. 

Also, 1988/1989 because it was pre-kindergarten at my dad's first post-divorce pad (:lol:), I remember watching the same Hogan vs. Orndorff match, but on VHS. I think because the finish was so memorable, it left an impression in both of our minds. I didn't see it again until I first started posting on PW in 2012, and I remembered Jesse the Body breaking down the tape and making a case for Orndorff landing perfectly in 2012, having last seen it as a four/five-year-old in 1988/1989.

Also, summer of '88, or summer of '89 (probably '88 because we rented Robocop too where the dude's melting hands horrified me), I remember watching Wrestlemania 3 at my grandma's house. She moved to North Carolina, so we would go down there in the summer, and it was rare I got to see her.  Anyway, Wrestlemania 3 was a double VHS. We did not know this. We only rented one tape. The tape ends, and there's no Hogan vs. Andre. We went back to the video store, and my dad started yelling at this middle aged balding video store manager. "If it's two goddamned tapes, tell somebody!" We got Tape 2, and I saw Hogan slam the Giant, brother. 

First PPV I remember watching live was WM6. I was not pleased.

AWA: 1988/1989

I remember seeing Ronnie Garvin on an AWA episode at the same sad bachelor Dad apartment I saw Hogan-Orndorff. 

WCW: 1990 (Capitol Combat)

This is the earliest WCW tape I remember renting. I was now in first grade, and prepared to broaden my horizons. I just remember it being aggressively not WWF. Lariats, not clotheslines, Jim Ross's southern commentary, not one, but two different "Express" tag teams, but I mostly remembered the Ric Flair-Lex Luger Cage Match. When Hell in a Cell finally came around, I immediately thought of this match I had seen seven years earlier because the cage went out to the floor, and not just the apron. I incorrectly remembered it as a chain link fence, though, and not the square rods that it actually was. 

First PPV I remember watching live was WrestleWar 1991. I wasn't going to miss something called "War Games."

USWA: 1992

USWA aired on Channel 3 in 1992. I watched a couple of episodes, but hated it. The only thing I remember vividly is see Koko B. Ware walk to the ring as USWA champ, and despite never having a problem Koko, immediately dismissing USWA in some WWF fan snobbery, like if Koko B. Ware can be the champion here, there can't be a lot going for it. 

ECW: 1995 (Harcore TV: October 3, 1995)

I incorrectly remembered this as "Summer of 1995," figuring the TV was stuck on the MSG Network from a west coast Yankee game, and this came on soon after at 2 a.m., but I found out the real date when I started posting at PW. As far as I remember, this was a complete fluke. I did not know ECW existed. I was watching the least amount of wrestling I ever had been at that point (watch WWF or WCW TV in 1995 for a reminder of why an 11-year-old wasn't digging it anymore), but somehow, someway I stumbled upon this insane show at 2:00 in the morning on a Friday Night. The things I remember vividly (I still haven't seen this episode since the night it aired, as October was missing from my huge ECW TV download five years ago), was Sandman vs The Public Enemy in a tag team cagematch, my old Hollywood Blond favorite Steve Austin cutting a promo in the ECW ring, which seemed like the most chaotic thing I had ever seen at that point, and a Cactus Jack backstage promo that blew my mind (although I incorrectly remembered it as "the rats promo," which was actually a Mankind promo a few months later). Sandman vs. Public Enemy was actually the six man tag from Gangstas Paradise, but I didn't remember Mikey Whipwreck, Scorpio or New Jack at all. I remembered Sandman and Public Enemy because these were three motherfuckers I had never seen on a wrestling show before. Anytime you stumbled onto a "lesser" lower budget wrestling show, you'd often seen has beens as the champion (see: Koko B. Ware as USWA champion). I had never seen these three before anywhere, and they were all a really big deal, and it just immediately transformed ECW into a different universe. There's a guy on top of a steel cage drinking and smoking. What the fuck is this?

I didn't see a lot of ECW in 1995 after this. I started catching it more and more in 1996 (saw the Pillman Cyberslam episode the night it aired. That was cool). and didn't miss any episodes from 1997 to 2000. 

First PPV I watched was Wrestlepalooza 1998, as ECW PPV's were banned in New York before that, a casualty of the UFC ban from from three years earlier.

TNA: 2013

I watched a James Storm vs. Chris Harris match in the old match review thread. I had never seen a second of TNA before that.

ROH: 2013

Watched the Cage Warfare match that same year, and a bunch of other ROH standouts. 

I knew of wrestling, had seen images of the likes of Hulk, Warrior, Bossman, Roddy, etc. thanks to toys, video games, etc. 

WCW
The earliest memory was the summer of 1995/1996 ( Australia ) seeing reruns of older shows from around 1994 maybe. I remember the debut of Alex Wright. I've got a feeling, maybe they were Clash of the Champions shows, I also remember Ron Simmons v Ice Train. 

I actually followed WCW closer, during the Attitude era as WCW was shown on Network television, late at night. Subscription television/cable wasn't and still isn't a 'thing' like in the US. 

WWF
This is a tough one. As I played the Attitude Era games more so than actually saw the product. I have this very vague memory of Mankind coming out onto the soundstage, and confronting Undertaker and Big Show, who were in the ring. I remember thinking, man this guy is big. I knew Undertaker, I knew Kane.. and I'm thinking, Big Show is huge. I also have a very vague memory of Triple H doing something devious, the facts aren't there, but I remember thinking, fuck this guy is cool. I'm a heel guy. The memory I have the most clarity of, was Jericho's debut in the WWF. I begun watching wrestling full time shortly after. 

ECW
I knew of ECW from about 1999 - Maybe seeing the Guilty as Charged 2000 PPV around mid 2001'ish. 

TNA
I followed TNA from the start. I was a day 1 guy. So when I get emotional and roast TNA and Jeff Jarrett, it's because they've disappointment me greatly. 

ROH
Again, like TNA from the start. I sourced all the DVDs of their first shows from some nerd-shop in Melbourne, Australia. The greatest thing that stands out, was the Red v Low Ki Matrix Minute. 

NJPW
I knew of NJPW from about 2001/02, but I doubt I really saw anything until I saw the Chris Benoit DVD, or something similar from WWE with early matches on it. 

Oct 31, 2017 4:06:03 GMT Kilgore said:

AWA: 1988/1989

I remember seeing Ronnie Garvin on an AWA episode at the same sad bachelor Dad apartment I saw Hogan-Orndorff. 

How weird is it that we both remember a Ronnie Garvin AWA match? He didn't have many. And it's not like Ronnie Garvin is all that memorable. Especially not to kids. It had probably been 29 years since I last thought about that time I saw Ron Garvin in AWA.

Since New Japan & USWA were mentioned....

Japanese Wrestling- March 1998- Miscellaneous Stuff

Growing up, I wasn't 100% convinced Japanese wrestling was a real thing. Like I may have been 90-95% sure, but I was not completely convinced. I thought it might have just been another work perpetrated mainly by WCW (as my beloved WWF tended to ignore the Land of the Rising Sun entirely, which probably contributed to my doubt. And to be fair, I did miss Liger's 91-92 WCW run entirely, and Muta & Chono as NWA champions). Anyway, by late 1995 the doubt was gone. From then on I kept tabs on the stars of Japan via the Apter Mags, but for the most part was more intrigued by ECW & USWA. I got on the internet in February 1998. A month later I was ready to dip my toes into Japanese wrestling. I just remembered it was a discussion about Furnas/Tanaka from the March ECW pay per view with a zealous Puro "expert" that lead to this purchase. My first tape was a compilation put together by that "expert" titled Intro To Puroresu. It was mainly New Japan (mostly Juniors) & All Japan (lots of Misawa & Kobashi) matches with one (awesome) Michinoku Pro 10 man tag and the famous Funk/Cactus death match from IWA Japan. I got the 1994 J Cup a week or two later. 

USWA/GWF- Some time in the early 90s- Gilbert, Gaylord & The Gang

This is another confusing situation as there were actually two USWA territories in the early 90s- one in Texas & one in Tennessee. I got the Texas USWA first. I did not watch often. Come to think of it, I'm not sure the more famous Tennessee USWA ever came on tv here in MD. I vaguely remember a Texas vs. Tennessee feud being big. I also remember Eddie Gilbert & Jeff Gaylord being there. Or was that Global? Keeping all those early 90s indies/dying territories straight still confuse me. I "remembered" the One Man Gang in a Battle Royal. I thought this was another one of those false memories. But lo and behold it does exist! wrestlingsmarks.com/threads/gfw-best-of-uswa.75094/

As for GWF, I remember Patriot, Gilbert & Gaylord but I'm getting bored with this and don't feel like combing through dates to find that one moment I remember from the handful of episodes I watched.

Nov 1, 2017 2:27:35 GMT Baker said:

Oct 31, 2017 4:06:03 GMT Kilgore said:

AWA: 1988/1989

I remember seeing Ronnie Garvin on an AWA episode at the same sad bachelor Dad apartment I saw Hogan-Orndorff. 

How weird is it that we both remember a Ronnie Garvin AWA match? He didn't have many. And it's not like Ronnie Garvin is all that memorable. Especially not to kids. It had probably been 29 years since I last thought about that time I saw Ron Garvin in AWA.

It's bizarre. I'm pretty sure I remember Garvin because I thought he was Hulk Hogan for a split second. The yellow trunks, blonde hair, a small ass TV, "Is that the Hulkster? No. It's wrestling, at least." Embedded in my mind now. 

Japanese Wrestling: January '99 (ECW/FMW Supershow)

My Japanese wrestling (It was never called Puroresu, I don't know when that shit started) consumption prior was a Japanese dude (or gal) in WWF/WCW/ECW, mostly WCW. The ECW/FMW Supershow was the first real Japanese promoted thing I had ever seen. It was also where I experienced Hayabusa for the first time, and when I joined Ebay a few months later, my first purchases were Hayabusa, Onita and "Best of FMW" compilations. It was as homemade as it gets, just a dude dubbing his favorite matches of each. I was Hardcore Wrestling crazy that year, and I got a "Cactus Jack in Japan" one next, and the 1994 Super J soon after that too. It was the most hyped thing on the internet in those days, so I think everybody that bought bootleg tapes had that one. I also got another homemade Sabu comp that had some Japanese stuff on it. I didn't watch a second of AJPW. We were only a few years removed from its peak, and I was like, "Regular wrestling. Who the fuck wants to watch that?"

YouTube truly amazes me. I can't tell you how many VHS tapes I bought on Ebay, some like 60 bucks (Nirvana Live at Reading with the timecode on the bottom!), that are free there now. Every once in a while, I'll read a comment, "Paid 40 bucks for this on Ebay in '98" and I chuckle in solidarity. 

Nov 1, 2017 3:14:01 GMT Kilgore said:

Nov 1, 2017 2:27:35 GMT Baker said:

How weird is it that we both remember a Ronnie Garvin AWA match? He didn't have many. And it's not like Ronnie Garvin is all that memorable. Especially not to kids. It had probably been 29 years since I last thought about that time I saw Ron Garvin in AWA.

YouTube truly amazes me. I can't tell you how many VHS tapes I bought on Ebay, some like 60 bucks (Nirvana Live at Reading with the timecode on the bottom!), that are free there now. Every once in a while, I'll read a comment, "Paid 40 bucks for this on Ebay in '98" and I chuckle in solidarity. 

I know the feeling.

AWF: Where We Wrestle In Rounds!
Featuring The Saga of Bob Boone Junior

It had to be done.

I missed the first AWF show. I know this for a fact because my intro to AWF came the next day courtesy of a conversation with my friend Matt (the IRS fanatic) on the way to school that Monday morning. It started out as a dull Monday morning conversation about our boring weekends, or perhaps about the boring school week ahead. As usual, I was still half asleep, and only half paying attention until Matt woke me up with this one simple question....

Matt: Dood, did you watch the new wrestling federation over the weekend?

New wrestling federation?!? YES! I was now fully awake. Here is a reenactment of the conversation that followed....

Me: (desperately trying, and failing, to conceal excitement) No! W...what new wrestling federation?
Matt: It's called AWF.
Me (practically bursting with excitement): You mean AWA?!?
Matt: Nah. Definitely AWF.
Me (a little disappointed): Any good?
Matt: Oh god no. It's terrible. Worse than WCW, even. The whole roster is filled with dudes even too old for WCW. And, get this, they wrestle in rounds.
Me (perking back up again and totally no selling the weird rounds thing): Like who? (desperately hoping he'd say Jacques Rougeau, Mr. Perfect or *fingers crossed* LUDVIG BORGA.
Matt: Well, there's Tito Santana. He's their champion. And....blah, blah, old dude, boring, who?, old dude, more blah (barely paying attention now), and Bob Boone Jr. He's Chico Santana's rival.
Me: "Bob Boone Jr?" I echoed in the form of a question as my interest finally perked back up after a minute of boredom.
Matt: Yeah. He's a cowboy.

*And then the conversation became boring again as it drifted to something non-wrestling related.....Likely our beloved New York Knicks.

But those three magic words lingered in my head all week long...

Bob. Boone. Junior. Who was this mystery man? I could get nothing out of Matt beyond "He's Tito Santana's rival. And a cowboy." But my imagination ran wild. Could he be related to the famous Boone baseball family? Nah. Before six days were up, Bob Boone Jr. was already a HUGE star in my action figure league, which at this point I only did alone....in the dark....when nobody else was home. And because that was rare, it existed more in notebook form than in reality. I'd often write up three cards or more and then go back and 'play them out' with my LJN WWF figures when my parents and brother were away. Bob Boone Jr. was Bob Orton's figure, by the way.

BBJ ended up becoming an action figure wrestling league god. Maybe the 2nd biggest all time star behind only Jerry Lawler. He had the most elaborate backstory of any of our created characters. See, BBJ was the son of the legendary Bob Boone Sr., a multiple time NWA Champion who had been blackballed by the Big Two. More than blackballed, he was unpersoned- WWF for being staunchly anti-Vince, anti-"cartoon wrestling" from the start. And NWA/WCW due to a real life feud with Ric Flair. So he spent years in Japan, where he was considered a Wrestling God. He also trained his son from birth to be the greatest pro wrestler who ever lived. Through his son, the "perfect wrestler," Boone Sr. would get his revenge on the Big Two that wronged him. Boone Sr.'s character was basically "Underground Lou Thesz." He was tough, old, no-nonsense shooter. While BBJ was the true wrestling Total Package who could do it all- fly, brawl, technical, everything. At 6'4 246 pounds, the pride of Houston, Texas was raised from birth to be the perfect wrestler. And he was. With moves like the Boonebreaker*, Boonesault (moonsault), Booneplex (superlex w/ floatover cover), Boone-knife elbows (bionic elbows), Boonekick (360 spinkick), he was practically unbeatable and carved his way through our various leagues like a hot knife through butter.

*The Boonebreaker was a simple backbreaker (think the start of the Demolition Decapitation) held onto to create a submission hold. For any other wrestler, it would have been just another move. But due to his BBJ's height, and arm length, it was literally the perfect hold for him. BB Sr. taught him a million holds but this one move was the perfect fit. Why he even made JERRY LAWLER submit to it clean as a sheet in the middle of the ring at a Lawlermania to win his first USWA Title!

Back on topic, so who was this already-mythical Bob Boone Jr? This great man, the Wrestler's Wrestler, was none other than.....

"Cowboy" Bob Orton 

In other words, just a run of the mill guy who already seemed old even when I was young. Matt simply got his name wrong. Biggest. Disappointment. Ever. But the myth of Bob Boone Jr. and the creation of his surly father, Bob Boone Sr. lived on in action figure league lore for years to follow. So there's that.

Matt was right. AWF did suck. It really was even worse than WCW, something I would have thought impossible had I not seen it with my own eyes. I only watched half the time if that during its first run. Pretty soon the weird rounds thing took over the Bob Boone Jr. hysteria as the first thing I thought of when AWF drifted into my mind. It's first syndicated tv run only lasted a few months in early '95. Which is to say a few months before wrestling got good. Then it disappeared for a year (which felt more like at least two given how much wrestling changed in 95-96). My favorite wrestler, and the only guy I really enjoyed watching in AWF 1.0, was 2 Cold Scorpio, who I felt sorry for. He was much too good, and far too young, to be slumming away in this bush league seniors circuit. Oh, and now I suddenly hated Bob Orton: Killer of Dreams  :lol:  But I had never cared for Tito either, so I had about as much interest in AWF's big feud as I would in Johnny B. Badd vs. DDP fighting over the WCW TV Title later in the year.

I was much more receptive to AWF the second time around. I'm almost positive I watched (and recorded!) the 1st episode of the 2nd "season" and all subsequent episodes. Oh, it still sucked, but now I was able to find amusement in the audacity of its suck. And plus it WAS wrestling. In 1996. When I was more obsessed than ever. And there were a few gems like the Texas Hangmen & "Gentleman" Chris Adams. Plus the sports entertainment of Honkytonk Man's elaborate (by AWF standards) entrance. And the hokey sincerity of Sgt. Slaughter: hand-shaking 80s babyface. And the round thing was good for mocking in an MST3K kind of way. So, yeah, I enjoyed AWF's second run just fine. It was bad wrestling but, bah gawd, it was OUR bad wrestling.

AWF: March 1995 

*Damn. All that writing and I didn't even mention "AMBASSADOR" Steve Casey. Shame on me.

But that'll have to be a story for another day.

WWF Summerslam 2001:
My cousin taped it, and brought it over to watch it. I was instantly hooked and didn’t shut up about in the car, I had so many questions.
Be curious how my work would have worked out had that moment never happened.

TNA Weekly PPV 2002:

I just found this skimming through channels (my grandparents had dodgy cable :lol:) I just remember the girls dancing in cages and Jeff Jarrett.

WWF
My earliest memory of WWF is a Sunday night Heat episode. Raven was on it, but I don't remember if he was wrestling or not. I would guess around 2000. I don't think that show was the start of my wrestling fandom, but in 2001/2 I was buying wrestling PPVs on VHS so it was around that time.

The first wrestling match I remember loving was Rob Van Dam vs Jeff Hardy at Invasion 2001 in a Hardcore championship match. At the time I loved the Hardy Boyz, though I couldn't tell you when or how I had seen them before. Before this match there was a backstage segment where RVD, who was completely new to me, beat up Matt Hardy with a steel chair. My first impression of RVD was that he looked pretty cool, but his vicious act on one of my favourites instantly turned me against him. Then it was match time, and before long I had flipped flopped once again, because RVD was way better at cool innovative athletic moves than Jeff Hardy was. RVD won, and I cheered. That isn't to say I turned on Jeff Hardy. I just liked RVD more. So did the crowd. He's a shit heel.

In the mid 2000s there was a cable channel in the UK called The Fight Network (TFN). It aired all kinds of pro-wrestling from around the world. World of Sport was on there quite a lot. As was ROH, TNA, and NOAH. This channel had a huge influence on my pro-wrestling tastes. Until discovering that channel, all I watched was WWE.

TNA
TFN frequently aired the early TNA shows. I didn't have much interest in watching WWF guys I didn't like all that much such as Ron Killings, Road Dogg, and Jeff Jarrett, but the X Division blew my mind. The early battles featuring AJ Styles, Low Ki, Jerry Lynn and Amazing Red kept me glued to the screen. Plus there were the awesome tag team matches between the SAT and the Flying Elvises. Sonny Siaki in particular stands out in my mind. It wasn't long before he left the Flying Elvises, turning on his partners (Jimmy Yang and someone else). That was cool.

ROH
I know I also saw my first ROH matches on TFN, but I can't remember which match or even which year.

NOAH
It is this promotion to which I owe TFN my biggest debt. The first time I saw NOAH on that channel, and the first time I saw Japanese wrestling, I didn't get it. It was obviously pro-wrestling, but it was somehow different, and the ring was green, and the crowd was quiet, and I couldn't understand the commentary. However, the more I flicked onto TFN and NOAH was on, and the more minutes I spent watching, the more I grew to like it. For some reason they only aired undercard matches. I never saw the likes of Kobashi, Misawa and Akiyama at that point in time. Instead there were guys like Marufuji, Yone, Morishima, Mushiking Terry, and many other random names I've since forgotten.

However, there was one wrestler who stood out among the pack. Some of you reading this will know who I'm talking about. If it weren't for this man, there's a good chance I wouldn't have stuck with NOAH and branched out into other Japanese wrestling promotions. This man is KENTA. A lot of his contemporaries were fast, athletic wrestlers who hit each other hard. KENTA did this too, and he wasn't any better at it than the rest. The difference was he had some personality. It isn't the kind of Western personality designated by some flashy gimmick or taunts. I struggle to put into words what KENTA's personality is besides describing some of his signature spots. I watched many of his tag matches with Marufuji, and KENTA would often bounce off the ropes to attack his dazed opponents, only to change angle and charge at the guy off the apron with a big boot. He would go for a hilo or some other springboard move, only to land on his feet and paintbrush the guy's head. A lot of KENTA's spots are him going ridiculously out of his way to cheapshot or taunt his opponents. I guess it is showmanship. The most showmanship you'll get in Japan anyway. It wasn't just those spots that endeared me to KENTA, it was his whole badass take-no-shit aura, and his awesome offense. KENTA is the best.

NJPW
The first time I saw NJPW, at least in its modern form, was the 2015 Tokyo Dome show. This was the first time they had American commentary, with JR and Matt Striker calling the action. I decided it was a good opportunity to check out some modern puro. Needless to say, I was very impressed, and I've been following the company ever since.

AJPW
My all-time favourite wrestling promotion, and I have no recollection on how I discovered it. I'll wager that PW had something to do with it. One of the older puro posters like Stan_Hansen bigged it up, or bigged up a particular match, and I watched it and fell in love. That's my best guess. I really have no idea.

Oct 31, 2017 3:40:19 GMT Big Pete said:

I also caught the 2011 Tokyo Dome show, but largely just watched the TNA cross-over matches. Beer Money took on Bad Intentions (Albert & Karl Anderson) and Muscle Orchestra (Nakanishi & Strong Man), Rob Van Dam faced off against Toru Yano & Jeff Hardy fought Tetsuya Naito.

I want to watch this show. Although I have no idea if Toru Yano in 2011 is the same as 2017 Toru Yano. I know for a while he was a proper wrestler.

Stampede Wrestling circa 1982-83?- Obviously I only have snippets of memories of the odd Ed Whalen "malfunction at the junction" and "it's going to be a ring-a-ding-dong-dandy" signature calls. I also remember names like manager JR Foley, the Cuban Assassins, Dynamite Kid, Bret Hart, Abdullah The Butcher and Bad News Allen floating about in my household.

WWF- It was the debut of Maple Leaf wrestling in September 1984 with Cowboy Bob Orton, Freddie Blassie and Adrian Adonis leaving the biggest impression due to the combination of funny names and in your face characters. My dad hated it at first and thought wrestling was starting to turn into a cartoon.

Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW- I would guess it would be around the summer of 1985 since the Koloffs featured prominently being the target of both Ric Flair and the Road Warriors. Nikita and the LOD were  scary as hell to this youngster. However the pudgy and charismatic form of Dusty Rhodes softened the initial blow TBS wrasslin' hit me with.  I was actually at an aunt's house who got TBS on satellite, between her and my grandparents this is how I would view the Turner promotion until the late 80's when our area got Worldwide and the Power Hour. 

ECW- Hardcore Heaven 1996 was the first show I watched in the fall of that year after a few months of hype from the Apter mags. Raven, The Gangstas, The Eliminators, Axl Rotten and RVD didn't disappoint both in the ring and as new and intriguing characters. What put it over the top was the Dreamer/Brian Lee weapons match.

Japanese Wrestling- Unofficially it was some brief snippets while visiting some friends in Kelowna British Columbia in the early 90's (probably New Japan since I found the ring a stunning shade of blue) who got some Japanese channels but properly it would be the best of Jushin Liger tape that I got in 1996. I was of course familiar with Liger from WCW but this was my first time seeing matches from Sumo Hall, The Budokan, the Tokyo Dome etc.

TNA- I don't think I watched a TNA show until late 2006 (after following it on the dirt sheets from the beginning) when Sting returned full time. Don West's play by play still ruined it for me and I didn't become a more ardent follower until around 2009.

ROH- I guess it would have to be once I got the YouTube bug in mid 2007 when I finally got to see guys like Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson in the flesh in various highlight videos.

Nov 2, 2017 17:01:09 GMT Emperor said:

Oct 31, 2017 3:40:19 GMT Big Pete said:

I also caught the 2011 Tokyo Dome show, but largely just watched the TNA cross-over matches. Beer Money took on Bad Intentions (Albert & Karl Anderson) and Muscle Orchestra (Nakanishi & Strong Man), Rob Van Dam faced off against Toru Yano & Jeff Hardy fought Tetsuya Naito.

I want to watch this show. Although I have no idea if Toru Yano in 2011 is the same as 2017 Toru Yano. I know for a while he was a proper wrestler.

Yano was already the Yano we know and love by 2011. In fact, the first Yano match I ever saw was an awesome bout with Tanahashi (complete with all your favorite Yano tricks) for the IWGP Title in 2011. 

Although...I have a vague memory of that RVD/Yano match sucking so you might not want to watch it after all.

NOAH: 2013 or 2014- KENTA vs. Ricky Marvin

A poster on another forum called this the best under 5 minute match he ever saw. I am not going to pass that up. Seeing this action-packed 2 minute match made it hard to argue with that poster on another forum. Watched a bunch of other KENTA matches from NOAH after this. But I never did branch out away from KENTA to NOAH Misawa, Kobashi, Akiyama, Morishima, etc.

WWE:
My earliest memory was cruising the video store in the 80's with my mom and I'm mostly looking at cartoons and shit but then it happened, I see the video case for Wrestlemania 1 and i'm just drawn to this damn thing. This is what Hogan will forever have over any other talent, the guy had a look that simply couldn't be ignored. I didn't really know what pro wrestling was at this time as I was super young, like maybe 6 or so, but I just knew based on the cover that I had to see what this mountain of muscles was all about. I've been hooked ever since. I remember watching that tape like 3 times over the weekend I had it. It was just the coolest damn thing I had ever seen.

WCW:
Yet again cruising the video store as a youngster, I had plowed through all the WWE releases and saw the video cover for War Games 1989 I believe it was. I wasn't as into WCW during this time frame compared to WWE but I remember keeping up with it and being really into Sting.

ECW:
I forgot how I got into ECW. I just remember Rob Van Damn being the hook for me. His match at Hardcore Heaven 99 I think with Jerry Lynn was the first ECW match I ever saw.

ROH:
I found out about it on a message board and thought I'd give something new a try and I loved it. From 2004-2008 I bought nearly every damn ROH dvd that came out.

PWG:
Same thing as ROH although I never got as invested with PWG. It's a fun show though.

WWF-WWE

1994 HBK/Razor Ramon ladder match. First wrestling match I ever saw. As a child I thought it was cool Shawn jumped off the ladder. Been my favorite ever since.

WCW
1996 I was a WWF guy when I was a wee youngster from 94-98 and didn't follow wcw much I did flip it over there one night when I heard Razor and Diesel were there. I watched a nitro in the summer of 96 and saw them beat up a bunch of people. Can't remember which specific nWo beatdown this but that's my memory...sorry for the lame memory.

ECW
Never watched ECW till it got on TNN. First memory of it was watching Raven return which popped me because I remembered Raven from WCW and win the tag titles with Dreamer. A week or so later I see the Dudleyz on WWF. I liked ECW but not seeing any of it until after the attitude era had began made think it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

TNA
I remember seeing some videos people would upload of the AJ Styles and Low-Ki matches on the original boards back in 02-03. Memories of watching the actual promotion came in 2005 I remember seeing DDP calling out Jarrett before a TNA Ppv.

ROH.
First memory is of their best of CM Punk volume 1 dvd. At the time I was a huge Punk fan and heard everyone on the boards say his ROH work was where it was at so I went out and bought those dvds and it hooked me on ROH.