The rush is indescribable - so they say. Despite being a 'fan' on some level for almost 30 years I've only been to like 5 whole wrestling shows which I think I've documented before but I think...

- Random ECW Florida houseshow not long before the end

- Smackdown house show from 2002 with no Undisputed Champion, Undertaker, in sight.

- MITB 2015

- The NXT show that they taped Neville/Cesaro from

I *almost* attended an ROH show to meet djm but I chickened out. So I don't have much experience, but honestly... I didn't really like it. Gonna get clowned on here, but I kinda think of the commentary as part of the experience. So it's always jarring not hearing that aspect of da bizness. Just the thuds of the mat. THAT does present something you don't feel on TV, but a lot of the "magic" I hate to say it for me is in the tv presentation. Plus in big multi mans I don't know where to look.

But I know that's a Nessism not shared with many. Do you like seeing it? Don't get me wrong I'll passport and punch a kangaroo if I could see me Fergus/BOBCORE but other than that if I watch anything it'll only be through a screen. Which is a shame as you can meet some great fans (and dweebs of course) but I just don't seem to enjoy seeing it in person.

Took my nephew to RAW this past summer and never again. The spacing for commercial breaks really sucked and seemed to take the life out of the crowd. House shows are way more fun.

Like you @ness I have only been to a handful of shows, not really by choice though. Opportunity to go to shows has been few and far between for me. WWE decided to hate Canada after WM18 and I moved away from Toronto in 2007 and that is the only city in the country anything good goes to.

But unlike you I love being there live. It makes it 100x better imo. The live Dynamite/Rampage taping I went to in Edmonton last year was probably a middle of the road filler episode, but being there made it the best episode ever. And we kinda lucked out because it was the 100th episode of Rampage so they went all out (main event was Dark Order beating The Elite in a trios match).

I have actually been lucky with random shows I have been to. I have seen some historic stuff despite only being to a few shows.

-First ever show was a random WWF house show in Toronto. It turned out to be the actual debut of Lance Storm, which eventually led to the WCW/ECW invasion. It was the weekend before the Raw episode where Storm turned up and attacked Chris Jericho. The spot you saw on TV happened the Saturday before in Toronto as a surprise. The place went fucking nuts.

-Next show was Wrestlemania 18. I don't think I ever mentioned this on here but I was there when Rock and Hogan fought. Best crowd ever.

-The next show I got to go to was Summerslam in 200...4? 5? Whatever year Randy Orton won the title for the first time and became the youngest champ in history.

I have been to some house shows since, also went to a high school gym to watch a co-worker wrestle in Kelowna. He was actually really good. He won the Cauliflower Alley Club Rising Star Award in 2011. There are pictures of him with Roddy Piper and others if you google him. His name is Kyle Sebastian. He also wrestled in Japan for a bit. Signed a 6-month contract with Taka Michinoku and his promotion over there.

Went to a PWA show with iron maiden and got to meet Lita and Christopher Daniels. That was a fun night. Show was great and both Lita and Daniels were classy as fuck. Very nice people. I felt bad for Lita though, given the audience was 90% incels, and I have to bet at least half of them got too handsy during pictures.

Anyway, yeah...looking forward to going to Dynamite again in May. Me and IM are gonna yell a bunch. I hope Will Ospreay is there.

Mar 7, 2024 1:07:25 GMT bodyslam said:

Took my nephew to RAW this past summer and never again. The spacing for commercial breaks really sucked and seemed to take the life out of the crowd. House shows are way more fun.

I meant to mention this in my post. I doubt I will ever go to a WWE show again, or at least Raw anyway. The horror stories I have heard about commercial breaks and such. I don't think I could take it.

Dynamite/Rampage was about 4-ish hours when you include dark matches and breaks, and it was perfect. Felt like the action never stopped. People criticize the picture in picture during shows, but it's because it is a LIVE show, and they treat it as such. You are sucked in the entire time. I wish WWE would go back to that.

Mar 7, 2024 0:00:23 GMT @ness said:

Gonna get clowned on here, but I kinda think of the commentary as part of the experience. 

I get this. Felt the same way at first. Threw me for a loop at Survivor Series 95 to discover you cannot hear the commentary. Thought it was going to be a real boring show for that very reason. But I did get used to it by the 2nd or 3rd match. Wasn't a problem for the next 60+ shows I went to. But it IS jarring at first!

Mar 7, 2024 1:07:25 GMT bodyslam said:

Took my nephew to RAW this past summer and never again. The spacing for commercial breaks really sucked and seemed to take the life out of the crowd. House shows are way more fun.

My last live Raw was in 2014 and I thought the same thing. 
But I thought house shows were boring too! Nothing happens! Last one I went to was in 2002 so maybe they've gotten better since then, but this was a B Crew in a C town just half-heartedly going through the motions in boring, nothing happening matches. Fwiw I only went to see Flair live for the first time.
========
I've been to roughly 70 shows and don't seem to have chronicled them on Nu PW. So let's do that now...
 
ROH: 17
WWE: 15 or 16
ECW: 9 (counting the Hardcore Homecoming reunion show)
MCW: 8?
ECWA: 8?
CZW: 2
Chikara: 2
JAPW: 2
PWF: 2
TNA: 1
3PW: 1
EWA: 1

Roughly 68 or 69. MCW & ECWA is where I get thrown off. So many of their shows were similar it's hard to recall which ones I saw and which ones I missed.

1987: 1
1995: 1
1996: 1 or 2
1998: 4
1999: 11?
2000: 5
2001: 3
2002: 13?
2003: 7
2004: 11
2005: 3
2006: 3
2009: 1
2014: 3
2020: 1

Maryland: 29 or 30?
Pennsylvania: 30 (due to Philly being the Wrestling Capital of the World around the turn of the century. Honestly thought PA would beat MD by even more)
Delaware: 8?
New Jersey: 1

Pay Per Views: Only 2- Survivor Series 95 & No Mercy 2003
Raw or Smackdown Tapings: 10

Mt. Rushmore of Live Shows

1. ECW Arena 10/23/99
2. ROH Midnight Express Reunion
3. Survivor Series 95
4. Raw 5/11/98

I've been to maybe 6 shows, and always had mixed feelings about the shows.

The first was The Return of The Deadman tour in 2004, and we had good seats and had a great view of the ring and being my first show I probably romanticised how good it was. It was a paint by numbers Ruthless Agression show, where the top matches bore the crowd to death. Eddie v Angle was a series of rest holds and Undertaker and JBL walked through a hardcore match.

The next wasn't until 10 years later in 2014. It was a mix bag of the main roster and NXT talent. And no one gave a shit about the NXT talent. Balor defended the NXT and no one have a hoot. The main event might have been Ambrose v Rollins in a cage. But we sat so far back in the stands, I could be mistaken.

The next we sat on the entrance ramp and it must have been just after Styles made his debut, he was super over and wrestled Cena. And it was much better being in the thick of it.

Next was the NXT Melbourne show, 3 third back on a slight angle that gave us a direct view of the ring. It was unbelievable. DIY v TMDK was like watching a clinic. And the crowd was 99% males 18-40... no kids, no bullshit, just a semi drunk crowd enjoying some wrestling.

After that, The Super Showdown in Melbourne. What a waste of money. We may have been in a different state where we sat.

Other than that, a lucha libre show in Melbourne last year. Nothing special of note. One of the girls on the show appeared on the Impact Down Under Special.

I did not really like RoH or WWE live. Shitty fans ruined both of those events. RoH someone heckled the entire show as they were only there for Corino and let every wrestler know, and WWE the signs piss me off as we were on hardcam. After doing two WWE shows stopped even taking free tickets.

I love small shows though. Like 100 to 500 people crowds are the best. Usually everyone having fun and all seats are good.

Hope to catch GCW next time they come around. May get my ass out to Sukeban sometimes too.  And Daikaiju Pro.  Still not sure what the fuck they are but Ultramantis Black is there.

I've only been to two shows, but the crowd was far from electric. The crowd was caught between treating this like a sporting event or a theatre show so the crowd was really mindful of not being too impolite or rowdy. So you're kind of just sitting there, arms folded until the wrestlers decide to conduct the crowd. I would have loved to have gone to an ECW crowd and been amongst that. The closest we have these days is AEW and even then you'd really have to pick the right show.

I'd prefer a TV/PPV event if only to say I was there! However of the two shows I attended, the SmackDown 04 show was a better experience than the Nitro 00 show. At least with SmackDown, they were there to entertain us, with Nitro we were just extras who paid for the privilege to give them some background noise and 'play along' when they had to re-shoot segments. 

Still, I'm glad I went if only to scratch that itch.

At the Smackdown I went to had a long ass reshoot as Taker's bike stalled on the way to the ring and they could not get it restarted. All I remember about the show outside of Hogan wrestling.

Modern ECW is basically GCW.  Always red hot crowds.  No TV means people tend not to focus on being the center of attention either, something that can be a problem in many other feds.

Best atmosphere goes ECW at the Arena > WWF Attitude Era tv taping > 01-02 ECWA > Everything Else and there's an exponential increase on each rung of the ladder.

The beauty of ECW & Attitude Era WWE was the party atmosphere. The wrestling was honestly secondary to THE EVENT. There was just so much energy in those buildings. ECWA was like a time capsule that captured the last of the old school "cheer the face/boo the heel" crowds while still respecting "good wrestling" in more of a "Japanese" polite clap style. I never got to see Lawler in Memphis or Von Erichs in Texas, but Cheetah Master in Delaware wasn't half bad as a late take on the beloved local hero.  

My problem with the smaller indie shows is....they often suck. Nothing worse than sitting through hours of bad wrestling. I've left shows early before. Sometimes shows I went a long way to see! Lost count of how many times I drove an hour-hour and a half to sit through two hours of half trained stumblebums and out of shape weekend warriors botching up a storm only to see that one Christopher Daniels match I made the trip for.

Yes, ROH fans could be annoying. I've made this same claim many times myself! But you got your money's worth at a Gabe era ROH show. You'd finally get a good card top to bottom. OK, there was still Special K (minus Lethal), and no single match made me question my life decisions more than the Aries/Danielson 74(?) minute snoozer, but all in all your average ROH show was still night and day compared to everything else on the indie scene.

Worst show I ever went to was a local rinky dink indie called EWA back in 2004. It was soooo bad. Like to the point you'd think it was a parody of Outlaw Mudshow wrestling. Most of the roster were scrawny kids just out of high school botching up a storm. The banners/logos by the entrance kept falling over. Something must have happened to their cd player(?) so every wrestler came out to that one Linkin Park song. You know the one. Show ended with the owner/promoter revealing himself as the big heel in Mr. McMahon ripoff #2004. Poor Nikolai Volkoff was slumming it on that show. Dibiase must not have paid him enough in '94. Only bright side were CZW guys Sonjay Dutt, Ruckus, and Derek Frazier bringing some level of professionalism to the proceedings by at least trying. Yes, this show was so bad it took CZW guys to raise the level of professionalism. Yikes.

Honestly most of non-ROH indie shows I went to were 90% garbage. I just didn't know any better yet. So I'd be happy camper as long as I got that one halfway decent York or Daniels match I made the trip for, and some fun sports entertainment from Brandi/Cheetah/Nana/Striker/Teddy.

*Next time I drop my 50(?) favorite live matches and I just might go back and chronicle every single live show I ever saw. I know I could get to the bottom of the ECWA & MCW mysteries if I really applied myself...

Dude you think they're still doing super 8?

Yes, ROH fans could be annoying. I've made this same claim many times myself! But you got your money's worth at a Gabe era ROH show. You'd finally get a good card top to bottom. OK, there was still Special K (minus Lethal), and no single match made me question my life decisions more than the Aries/Danielson 74(?) minute snoozer, but all in all your average ROH show was still night and day compared to everything else on the indie scene.

OMG you endured Testing The Limit live?  I remember people saying it was a masterpiece but man, it was painful to watch.  Weird show overall.  

My biggest problem with the larger indy shows back in the day was driving an hour to see a card, then getting to the arena and having  completely different card at the show with people no showing the event as they regularly did in the early 2000's.  Sure card is subject to change, but you expect some of it to still exist after you buy a ticket.

Mar 8, 2024 0:11:25 GMT @ness said:

Dude you think they're still doing super 8?

Hope so! They were last time I checked. Let's find out...

Yep. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECWA_Super_8_Tournament Still haven't missed a year. All is well.
============
c love how you appreciate the endurance required to sit through Dragon/Aries @ Testing The Limit. That might have been the match that put me off "long=good" once and for all.

Mar 8, 2024 0:05:42 GMT Baker said:

I just might go back and chronicle every single live show I ever saw. I know I could get to the bottom of the ECWA & MCW mysteries if I really applied myself...

1. WWF House Show 2/14/87
2. WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95
3? WWF House Show 1/25/96*
4. WWF House Show 11/2/96
5. WWF Raw 5/11/98
6. MCW 10/11/98
7. WWF Raw 11/30/98
8. MCW 12/6/98
9? MCW 2/7/99
10. ECW 3/13/99

11. MCW 4/8/99
12. MCW 5/2/99
13. ECW 5/8/99
14. ECW 6/26/99
15. MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup 7/8/99
16. ECW 7/31/99
17. ECW Re-Enter Sandman 10/23/99
18. WWF Smackdown 11/9/99
19. ECW 11/27/99
20. WWF Smackdown 1/25/00

21. ECW 3/4/00
22. WWF Raw 5/1/00
23. ECW 8/19/00
24. WWF Smackdown 10/3/00
25. WWF Smackdown 6/12/01
26. ECWA 11/3/01
27. ECWA 12/1/01
28. ECWA 1/12/02
29. PWF Wrestlebowl 2k2 2/24/02
30. ECWA Super 8 3/2/02

31. ECWA 4/6/02
32. ECWA 5/4/02
33. PWF 5/5/02
34. WWE House Show 7/6/02
35. ROH Crowning A Champion 7/27/02
36. WWE Raw 8/5/02
37? ECWA 9/14/02
38. ROH Unscripted 9/21/02
39? ECWA 11/2/02
40. ROH All Star Extravaganza 11/9/02

41. ROH Final Battle 12/28/02
42. ROH Wrestlerave 6/28/03
43. Chikara Tag World Grand Prix 7/5/03
44. MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup 7/16/03
45. ROH Tradition Continues 10/16/03
46. WWE No Mercy 10/19/03
47? ECWA 11/8/03 
48. ROH Final Battle 12/27/03
49? EWA 1/24/04
50. ROH The Last Stand 1/29/04

51. CZW Overdrive 3/6/04
52. ROH Survival of the Fittest 6/24/04
53. ROH Testing The Limit 8/7/04
54. 3PW 5 Star 4 Way 8/21/04
55. JAPW 7th Anniversary Show 9/18/04
56. ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04
57? CZW Breaking Point 10/9/04
58. WWE Raw 11/29/04
59. ROH Final Battle 12/26/04
60. JAPW Caged Fury 3/26/05

61. Hardcore Homecoming 6/10/05
62. ROH Homecoming 7/23/05
63. ROH Hell Freezes Over 1/14/06
64. TNA House Show 6/9/06
65. MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup 7/9/06
66. Chikara King of Trios 3/29/09
67. ROH TV Taping 4/19/14
68. WWE Raw 4/21/14
69. ROH TV Taping 11/22/14
70. ROH Free Enterprise 2/9/20

*Biggest mystery of them all. Not sure I was at this show or not. Definitely didn't list it last time I did this. If I was there, I forgot about it for over 20 years until a chance conversation with my brother, which dates it to sometime before November 2019. I DO remember seeing Hakushi without his tattoos and can confirm it was not Survivor Series 95. I also remember seeing a Bret/Diesel match that was like 90% move for move carbon copy of another Bret/Diesel match which had me thinking wrestling was more FAKE than ever. And I remember an awkward show where I sat with my Cousin and his biological father who had nuclear heat with basically my entire extended family. It COULD be this one, though if so, I had misremembered it as an MCW show. And if not here, I could have went with some combination of the Three Brothers and their old man. I just don't remember! Idk. I was probably here, but at the same time it's awfully fishy that this ENTIRE SHOW had been completely erased from my memory bank for over 20 years until a chance convo with my brother reminded me of the Hakushi thing and I researched from there.

? denotes unclear. Applies to a few ECWA & MCW shows as expected. But also an EWA & CZW show as unexpected. Feel like the Cagematch records are incomplete  ECWA in particular is a hot mess. Finding the right Daniels/Kruel match was troublesome enough. Then there's a Cheetah Master War Games match I can't find no matter how hard I try. There is one listed for 11/8/03, but the lineup is all wrong. Ace Darling & Matt Striker were in the one I saw. Y'know what? I'm going with 11/8/03. Though it could be 9/6/03 as well. Stupid ECWA almost caused me to cancel this project completely after putting in SO MUCH WORK. That's how annoyed I was. 

Mar 8, 2024 1:11:58 GMT Baker said:

Mar 8, 2024 0:11:25 GMT @ness said:

Dude you think they're still doing super 8?

Hope so! They were last time I checked. Let's find out...

Yep. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECWA_Super_8_Tournament Still haven't missed a year. All is well.
============
c love how you appreciate the endurance required to sit through Dragon/Aries @ Testing The Limit. That might have been the match that put me off "long=good" once and for all.

Yup that was the match that killed it for many.  First really long match RoH did that just absolutely missed.

Most Over

RVD at the ECW Arena- People chanted for him in line. Regularly. Hours before the show. And one time they chanted for his move- Van Ter-Min-A-Tor. From a per capita standpoint, RVD is the most over wrestler I ever experienced.

Austin during Attitude Era Raw's- I had been waiting 19 months to boo this man. I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass me by. Alas, it was futile. My own friend sitting next to me told me as much. He could barely hear my feeble little boos over the roar of the crowd.

Sandman at the ECW Arena- His return was the single biggest pop I ever experienced. Some say he was just an entrance. Maybe he was. But you know what? He got more POP during those entrances than most wrestlers do in their entire careers. Sandman still wins. 

Teddy Hart at JAPW and especially CZW- Taz's WWF catchphrase was "The Mood Is About To Change." Well, the mood really did change when Teddy strolled out in his oven mitt pajama pants. Some loved him. Others hated him. But EVERYBODY had an opinion. Everyone cared. Teddy just hit different. You had to be there.

Dudley Boys at the ECW Arena- Only twice did I begin to feel uncomfortable at a wrestling show. Dudleys are responsible for both. Gods. First was when they were leaving ECW for WWF. Crowd was extra hostile that night. Dudleys pushed them even further. I really thought we were getting a riot that night. So did my cousin. Justin Credible got a face pop when he confronted them. Never forget. The Dudleys got Justin Credible over as a face. Second time was at a TNA house show in The Arena. Bubba asked the crowd for a chair. He got a hundred or so. I saw chairs land on the heads of fans. Others whizzed by their faces. AMW & NAO walked out on the match. It was a wild scene.

New Jack at the ECW Arena- Basically the poor man's Sandman. Still means he’s more over than just about everyone I ever saw.

Cheetah Master in ECWA- The Hulk Hogan of Delaware. The ultimate "you had to be there" wrestler.

Paul London in ROH- I was there for the "please don't die" match when Philly adopted him as their own. He was THE babyface in the early days of ROH.

Christopher Daniels in ECWA & early ROH- This one is hard to describe. It was more utmost respect than unbridled passion (though there was definitely a bit of that as well). Like everybody in the building just recognized this man as the best on the scene. It had that "business just picked up feel" when Disposable Teens hit and our version of 80s Ric Flair came out looking resplendent in his priest outfit. He led the league in receiving bows, that's for sure.

Joe & Punk would split Daniels' old spot when the Fallen Angel became TNA exclusive

Most Over One Offs (Sandman exempt)

Goldust at Survivor Series 95- Never saw a wrestler get so much heat before. Really think that crowd would have lynched them if they could. Naturally this was THE moment I decided I wanted to become a bad guy wrestler.

Ric Flair at Raw in 2002- The babyface version of Survivor Series 95 Goldust in that the Baltimore crowd just LOVED Naitch that night. Best thing on that whole show was a Flair/HHH post-show segment that never aired. Crowd was going wild for Slick Ric. It continued on well into the night in downtown Baltimore.
==============
Cool thing worth mentioning: Seeing Paul London and Austin Aries go from nobodies to stars in one night right before my eyes. Then you have Jay Lethal being the slow burn version of this by getting a little more over every time he came out until he eventually became one of the most popular guys in the promotion.

Last one. Then I'll quit spamming this thread. Here are the 40 best matches I saw live (be glad it's only 40. I was originally shooting for 70). No cheating! These are all off the top of my head, though I did occasionally have to look up a date. Roughly in order from best to...least best.

1. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe- ROH Final Battle 12/26/04
2. Bret Hart vs. Diesel- WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95
3. Christopher Daniels vs. Low Ki- ECWA 11/3/01
4. RVD vs. Sabu- ECW Re-Enter Sandman 10/23/99
5. Danielson vs. Aries vs. Homicide vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Colt Cabana vs. Samoa Joe- ROH Survival of the Fittest 6/24/04
6. Paul London vs. Michael Shane- ROH Unscripted 9/21/02
7. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson- ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04
8. AJ Styles vs. Bryan Danielson- ROH All Star Extravaganza 11/9/02
9. Kurt Angle vs. John Cena- WWE No Mercy 10/19/03
10. Teddy Hart & Jack Evans vs. Homicide & B Boy- JAPW 3/26/05

11. Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal- ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04
12. Joey Matthews vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin- 3PW 5 Star 4 Way 8/21/04
13. Cheetah Master vs. Prince Nana- ECWA January 1/12/02
14. AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal- ROH Hell Freezes Over 1/14/06
15. Xavier vs. Paul London- Final Battle 12/28/02
16. Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe- ROH Tradition Continues 10/16/03
17. Sabu vs. Terry Funk vs. Shane Douglas- Hardcore Homecoming 6/10/05
18. Tajiri vs. Psicosis- ECW 8/19/00
19. HHH vs. Chris Benoit vs. Edge- WWE Raw 11/29/04
20. Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams vs. Spanky- ROH Crowning A Champion 7/27/02

21. AJ Styles vs. Xavier- ECWA Super 8 3/2/02
22. Low Ki & American Dragon vs. SAT vs. J Team- ECWA 1/12/02
23. Low Ki & American Dragon vs. SAT- ECWA 12/1/01
24. 1-2-3 Kid/Skip/Rad Radford/Tom Prichard vs. Marty Jannetty/Barry Horowitz/Hakushi/Bob Holly- WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95
25. Bad News Barrett vs. Sheamus- WWE Raw 4/21/14
26. Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker- No Mercy 10/19/03
27. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs. Godwinns- WWF House Show 11/2/96
28. RVD vs. Balls Mahoney- ECW 6/26/99
29. Christopher Daniels vs. Mike Kruel- ECWA 11/8/03?
30. Mike Quackenbush & Chris Hero vs. Swiss Money Holding- Chikara Tag World Grand Prix 7/5/03

31. HBK/Ahmed/Bulldog/Sid vs. Razor/Dean/Owen/Yoko- WILD CARD MATCH WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95
32. SAT vs. Low Ki & Xavier vs. J Team vs. Buck Wylde & Matt Striker- ECWA 5/4/02
33. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Cedric Alexander- ROH 11/22/14
34. Balls Mahoney & Spike Dudley vs. New Jack & Axl Rotten- ECW 7/31/99
35. Homicide vs. Jay Lethal- JAPW Caged Fury 3/26/05 
36. reDRagon vs. Cedric Alexander & Andrew Everett- ROH 4/19/14
37. Donovan Morgan vs. AJ Styles- ECWA Super 8 3/2/02
38. AJ Styles vs. Kaz Hayashi- ROH Final Battle 12/27/03
39. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley- MCW Shane Shamrock Cup 7/9/06
40. Royal Rumble- ROH Free Enterprise 2/9/20

*Actually I'm gonna have to come back for one more featuring fun matches that maybe weren't the best + memorable moments. 

Just post the whole spreadsheet. We know it exists.

Mar 9, 2024 0:06:02 GMT @ness said:

Just post the whole spreadsheet. We know it exists.

Not yet. What do you think this thread is for?

Gonna try ending the spam/burgeoning spreadsheet here. Top 2 are ranked. The rest are mostly in chronological order. Again, no cheating.
EDIT: Thought of some more today. Figured I might as well come back and push it to 50(something).

Memorable Moments

1. Sandman Returns: ECW 10/23/99- Duh.

2. Midnight Express Reunion: ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04- A real treat to see my all time favorite tag team live. Never thought I would.

Chatting With Wrestlers: Various- Christian York, Matt Striker, Prince Nana & Frankie Kazarian are the big ones. There are others.

Sign Watch: Various- "Hey Vince, Push The Quebecers." "Ludvig Borga Hit Austin." "Wheel Chair Wrestling." Shoutout to my friend's "Val Venis" Cumming Soon."

Standing In Line At The ECW Arena: Various- How could something seemingly so boring be so awesome? This was HYPE. You just have to trust me on this one.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan's WWF Debut: WWF House Show 2/14/87- Cool little fun fact in hindsight. Obviously didn't know it was his debut at the time. 

Fearing Kamala: WWF House Show 2/14/87- Thought he would destroy all 10,000+ of us if he escaped the Cage. If Hogan can't stop this monster, who could?

Mr. Perfect Returns: WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95- Surprise return of a Top 5 all time fave (at minimum) is a heck of a way to kick off a show.

Marty Top Rope Powerbombs Skip: WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95- Coolest move I had ever seen. Didn't even pop much. Took a minute to register what I just saw.

Asari's Skytwister Press: WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95- Hindsight pick, but still led to 9 months of us calling every top rope flippidy doo a Skytwister Press.

Goldust's Entrance: WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95- Best entrance in the business at the time

Goldust Gets Nuclear Heat: WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95- Made me want to become a bad guy wrestler when I grew up. 

Bret Goes Through A Table: WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95- The first of its kind. Response was more shock and concern than "This Is Awesome."

Bret Wins WWF Championship/Diesel Snaps: WWF Survivor Series 11/19/95- Shocking. Historic. Gold.

Bradshaw Tiger Suplexes Aldo: WWF House Show 11/2/96- First one I ever saw irl (think I'd seen a pic of one in a mag). This nearly made my Top 40 matchlist fwiw.

WWF Gets Me Good With A Dusty Finish: WWF House Show 11/2/96- When the Godwinns "win" the tag titles from Owen & Bulldog.

Arguing With A DDP/WCW Fan: WWF Raw 5/11/98- Tribalism is good, actually. Stop being pussies pretending you're above it all. 

Al Snow Returns: WWF Raw 5/11/98- Leif coming back to the big time made his recent ECW PPV loss to Douglas slightly more palatable. 

Seeing Terry Funk: WWF Raw 5/11/98- PWI Almanac said you weren't a real wrestling fan until you saw Terry Funk live. We believed. On this night we became real fans.

Tom Brandi Promo: MCW 10/11/98- When I realized once and for all Sal Sincere was The Truth and should have been in Shane Douglas' spot this entire time.

Duane Gill Retires Marc Mero: WWF Raw 11/30/98- A lot going on here. Beginning of Gill's push and the end Mero's WWF career.

Christian York Sabuing Himself on a Guardrail: MCW 12/6/98- Gaining a fan for life in the process

First Trip to the ECW Arena: ECW 3/13/99- More pilgrimage than wrestling event. Really hope I kissed that sacred edifice. Can't remember for sure. But it's possible!

Touching Balls or maybe it was a Dudley: ECW 5/8/99- Gayest post since the pants thread, but also my best shot of making tv on a WWF or ECW show.

Steve Corino Promo On Taz: ECW 7/31/99- "Catch me if you can. Keep the title if I let you." Crowd gasps like "Oh no he didn't." Glorious. Corino had a death wish.

Dudleys Get Nuclear Heat: ECW 7/31/99- Dudleys rile the crowd up more than ever on their way to WWF. Leads to a Justin Credible face pop. Duds are legends.

THAT Hardcore Holly Chant: ECW 10/23/99- Enough has been written about this recently in the Match Review Thread.

One Eyed Jack: ECW 10/23/99- A Baldie staples New Jack in the eye. The music stops. A clever jerk in front of us chants the title. My cousin was so annoyed.

RVD wrestles Sabu to a 30 Minute Draw: ECW 10/23/99- Genuinely believed this was the Flair/Steamboat of my generation so to see it live was *chef's kiss*

Arnold Schwarzenegger Does Smackdown: WWF Smackdown 11/9/99- Honestly couldn't have cared less, but I suppose this is a big deal to celebrity simps

The Other Regal Clapper: WWF Smackdown 10/3/00- Heard another person clapping for Regal. Looked behind me. Saw a coworker. Nodded. Became good friends.

Unexpected Sgt. Slaughter Chant: WWF Smackdown 6/12/01?- Not sure which show, but he got a big chant as an agent breaking up a fight. Next time WWF came to Baltimore they booked him in a match. Only this time he wasn't over at all. Gave me an appreciation for the booking though. Somebody was paying attention.

Christopher Daniels Is Best In The World: ECWA 11/3/01- He sold a kick that made me think he was legit knocked out and then he Speared Low Ki in mid cartwheel.

Cheetah Master vs. Prince Nana: ECWA 1/12/02- The best 80s Cage Match of the 21st Century. 

Chris Hamrick Bumps: PWF 5/5/02- Long before I knew he was a Bump God, he got over with me by being one. Only guy to try on the 2 PWF shows I attended.

Seeing Ric Flair- WWE House Show 7/6/02- Only went to see the GOAT live for the first time. He had a segment (not even a match!) with *ugh* Chris Nowinski.

Baltimore Loves Ric Flair: WWF Raw 8/5/02- Touched on this earlier. WOOOOO!

Please Don't Die: ROH 9/21/02- Paul London grows from a nobody to a star right before my eyes.

Seeing Dustin "Screech" Diamond?: ECWA 11/2/02?- Not 100% sure I was at this show. Actually leaning NO because I figure I'd have a better recollection of seeing Screech of Saved By The Bell fame than Arnold Mehzenegger of Stuff Not As Cool As Saved By The Bell fame.

Tommy Dreamer & JT Smith Cameos: ROH All Star Extravaganza 11/9/02- E-C-DUB! E-C-DUB! E-C-DUB!

Colt & Punk Beatdown Raven & Daniels: ROH Wrestlerave 6/28/03- Would have been a legendary moment in front of a better crowd.

Colt Cabana Is A Comedic Genius: ROH Tradition Continues 10/16/03- Whether botched or a planned spot, Colt's comedy chops saved a match with Whitmer.

Ring Crew Express Get The Big Pop: ROH Tradition Continues 10/16/03- My boys were arguably the most over act on the entire show. In a repeat of Slaughter from a few years earlier, Gabe gave the RCX a much bigger role on the next show and they bombed. Wrestling is so weird.

Cena Will Be WWE Champion One Day: WWE No Mercy 10/19/03- Said this to the Regal Clapper during John's match with Kurt. I came to regret my prophecy.

Seeing the Great Muta: ROH Final Battle 12/27/03- Match sucked, but it was still sweet to see a guy I never thought I'd get to see live.

Gabe Throws A Temper Tantrum A Few Feet From Me: ROH The Last Stand 1/29/04- In response to a botched finish to cap off a real dud of a show.

The Teddy Hart Experience: CZW 3/6/04- There was nothing else like it. Teddy was the real deal. Dude was everything people pretend Brian Pillman was.

A Starr Is Born: ROH Survival of the Fittest 6/24/04- When Austin Aries takes Bryan Danielson to the limit. But, like, in a good way this time.

The Matt Striker Comedy Royal Rumble: 3PW 8/21/04- Striker saved the show (long story) by impersonating various classic tag teams in a legendary performance.

Jim Cornette & Midnight Express Q&A: ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04- Who goes to a show hours early to hear people talk? This guy!

Christian Gets Over With Me: WWE Heat 11/29/04- Dude oozed star power live. He just had IT. So he won me back here for the first time in 2 1/2 years.

Seeing Flair vs. Lawler: WWE Raw 11/29/04- Yeah, it was a nothing match with both guys in their mid 50s, but I still got to see the 2 GOAT lock horns live. 

Aries Ends Joe's Legendary Reign: ROH Final Battle 12/26/04- Saw people literally crying. Gotta hand it to 'em. ROH did connect with people.

Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart Runs In: JAPW 3/26/05- To help Teddy & Jack win. Hart Foundation theme plays. Now I weep for what could/should have been.

Dudleys Chair Shower: TNA House Show 6/9/06- Bubba calls for a chair. He gets a hundred. NAO & AMW flee. Road Dogg cuts a pissy promo. Gold all around.

Alex Shelley Does Kevin Nash Spots: MCW 7/6/06- If Striker was Comedy Gold, and Cabana Comedy Silver, then Shelley takes home the Bronze here.

Got to see WWF, ECW and JAPW live. 

WWF House Shows

I went to five or six house shows between 1991-1993.

First house show I ever went to was January 1991. I was 6 and the tickets (which were great seats!) were a Christmas present from my Grandma, who had recently come into my life and was clearly trying to buy my love. Which worked. It was the most hyped I had ever been for anything and that's probably still true to this day. It was a B Squad card, but I didn't care. Remember distinctly that Dustin Rhodes was the first wrestler out, he wrestled Buddy Rose, which makes me feel 1,000 years old (how did I see Buddy Rose wrestle live?) and Dustin hit the first Enziguri I had ever seen in my life. Great memory. Hart Foundation closed the show against Power & Glory. Bret Hart wrestled every house show I would ever go to, truly the workhorse of the era.

Went to several house shows over the years after that. It'd usually be a friend and his dad had four tickets, would I and my dad want to come with, sort of deal. Which would be an immediate yes. 

Some big matches I got to see get worked out on the house show circuit:

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels: Basic 1992 house show match. Pretty sure Bret won due to Sherri interference accidentally hitting Shawn.

Savage vs. Flair: Also 1992, very little memory of the actual match, just the excitement that they were wrestling each other is all I really remember.

Andre the Giant in a Battle Royal: This was 1991, I believe (not the first house show, probably the second) and I was so excited. Couldn't believe I was seeing Andre the Giant live. He was like a mythical figure. To see him in the flesh was like seeing a dragon, or some shit. Anyway, he could barely walk, it was cruel of the WWF to make him work, and he was eliminated immediately as everyone in the ring rushed him to work in tandem to get rid of the biggest threat first (and give the poor guy an easy night).

Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake: I had gone to four or five house shows by this point, Hogan wrestled zero of them. To finally see Hogan was very exciting. We were way up in the upper deck, my best friend and his dad, but it didn't matter. Hulk Hogan! It was a basic Hogan-by-the-numbers match, but we loved it. Remember this day more for after the event, a legendary moment from my friend's dad, who was very good to me over the years, a really great man. I had just enough money for one souvenir. I chose a Hulk Hogan neon green banner. The vendor was like, "We don't have any left." I was crushed. Then my friend's dad was like, "I'm looking at one now, the one on display, just take it off the wall and sell the kid that one." And the vendor did.

Ultimate Warrior vs. Undertaker: Lots of bells and whistles, but fun. Went to a card that was supposed to be Warrior vs. Sid, but Sid was unavailable, probably for Sid reasons, and Papa Shango  took Sid's place for one of the greatest downgrades imaginable. 

Some other wrestlers I got to see on the house show circuit include: Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Kerry Von Erich, LOD, Jake Roberts, Rick Martel, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat. 

WrestleMania X

Don't mean to brag, but I was a WWF Fan Club Member. Besides the cool white cassette tape of wrestling themes you'd get every year, events would go on sale for members before the general public and I asked my dad if he'd buy us WrestleMania X tickets, which were not cheap, and he said yes. Great personal memory. My dad broke his ankle working the month before, so he brought me to WrestleMania on crutches, a heroic dad moment. Remember waiting on the train platform to go to Madison Square Garden and there was another Dad and his son waiting, who were also going to WrestleMania. My dad talks to everyone and we got their whole life story.

I remember the hushed confusion after Owen beat Bret. People really could not believe what just happened. While I knew it was a great match at the time, it wouldn't be until years later that I could appreciate it as one of the greatest matches ever. The Shawn vs. Razor ladder match was more immediately impressive, forever changing the way I looked at ladders. Just a really great night of wrestling. And the last WWF event I'd ever go to.

I remember being in the crowd before it began, my dad who talks to everyone, finding two dudes who told us they had been at WrestleMania 1 together, which was also at MSG, and were now at WrestleMania 10 together. They then said, predicting accurately, "When WrestleMania 20 is here, we'll be be here again!" My dad and I then thought, "Yeah, so will we! See you at WrestleMania 20!" We didn't end up going to WrestleMania 20 together, but I always hoped those two dudes did. 

ECW House Shows

While I got to experience the bulk of ECW in real time, I've always been a little sad that I was too young to really take advantage of that. I feel that way about most of the cooler parts of the '90s. Like, I remember when Nirvana was playing the Roseland Ballroom in 1993, but I was 9 and couldn't just hop on a train and go see them. ECW was much the same. 

Then one day, I'm walking and see a gig poster for an ECW House Show at my local rec center. This was mind blowing! It was literally within walking distance. It was a very cool poster, so I'd return after dark to steel it off the telephone pole. When I returned home with it, my dad who had no idea what ECW was, was like, I'll go to that with you. And so we did. And dad was immediately charmed by the Rated R wrestling he didn't know he wanted, but was glad was out there.

There ended up being two shows at my rec center about three months apart. We went to both of them. Front row seats. For $20 each. Got to see Sabu, Taz, RVD, Dudley Boyz, New Jack, Raven, Tommy Dreamer, Jerry Lynn, Chris Candido, Lance Storm, Justin Credible, Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten, Masato Tanaka, Taka Michinoku, Yoshohiro Tajiri, Super Crazy, Mike Whipwreck, Kronus, Spike Dudley, so most of the classic ECW names. 

Sabu, of course, was the standout. The most amazing thing about him is he wrestled THAT match no matter the audience. There was only a couple hundred people at my rec center. Didn't matter. Every show was WrestleMania to him. The purest wrestler who ever lived. He leg dropped One Man Gang, triple jump style, onto a table on the floor right in front of me. I was amazed he didn't break his tailbone, literally every time he did this, but especially on this night, in such close proximity. 

ECW Hardcore Heaven '99

I had converted my dad into an ECW fan. He fell in love at the first "Show your tits" chant directed at Dawn Marie. A simple man with simple pleasures. So when I asked him if he'd drive to Poughkeepsie, which was really far away in upstate New York, I knew I had a shot of him saying yes. And he did.

The beginning of the 1999 had ECW going out of business rumors at its strongest (until they actually went out of business). Shane Douglas wasn't getting paid and ultimately left. Living Dangerously was really bad. It really felt like things were going to fold before Hardcore Heaven. I had such angst. Fuck, they're going to go out of business right before the first ECW PPV I was supposed to go to. 

But Paul E., kept things going, somehow, and Hardcore Heaven ended up being (at least) a Top 5 ECW PPV, in my personal Top 3. 

It's my favorite RVD vs. Jerry Lynn match. And just a classic ECW show of, on paper, it's very strange, does not seem like anything special, and yet the totality of it is what made it great. Definitely a sum of its parts event. And promotion.

ECW Second First TNN Taping at the Madhouse of Extreme

For those that don't know or remember, Paul E. hated the first TNN taping so much that he pulled the plug on airing it and instead aired a clip show as the first episode (with RVD vs. Jerry Lynn Hardcore Heaven '99 closing the show, so it was probably Paul E's favorite match they had too). So then the second TNN taping became the first TNN taping to air.

This was my first and only time at The Elk's Lodge, legendary to ECW fans as the Madhouse of Extreme. Probably the second holiest ECW land after the ECW Arena. Was exciting to step foot in such holy surroundings. 

This night was ultimately remembered for Raven's ECW return, which was the loudest pop I had ever heard. Mentioned this a couple weeks back, but would be remembered as the greatest ECW return if not for Sandman's return overtaking it a few months later. 

Also memorable for being the Dudley Boyz last night where after being the biggest bastard heels in all of wrestling for YEARS, they finally broke character after the cameras went off. It was, at first, weird. Like everyone was waiting for Buh Buh to pivot into a god of hate again. Like he suckered us into thinking he had a heart and would make fools of us all. But he didn't. He was sincerely grateful to ECW, its fans, and was moved by it being over. 

I remember thinking, they'll be back. I just couldn't imagine WWF understanding what to do with The Dudley Boyz. And I felt correct for the first 4 months. Then The Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz feud began and the Dudleys found their footing in the big time.

JAPW

So, I kinda turned heel on ECW by the end of 1999. They lost their top heels and top babyface in the span of three months. I understood why it was becoming bad. But it was still bad to a point I couldn't pretend it wasn't. So I started searching for "the next ECW." I settled on JAPW, somehow. No idea how. Went to a single show in Bayonne, New Jersey in February 2000. It was at a converted supermarket with ceilings so low guys had to duck if they climbed to the top rope of the ring. It was both charming, an accidental good call on finding something with the ECW spirit, and also, a pale imitation. 

This night was memorable because I got to see Low Ki and the Haas Brothers before they really had any buzz, so it was a total revelation to see these three then unknowns as pretty much final forms.

The Haas Brothers were a perfect hybrid of the Steiner Bros and Sabu & RVD as a tag team. This was clearly the tag team of the future and it's such a shame that it never came to be with the passing of Russ. But I feel like I got to see a little portal to what could have been.

Seeing Low Ki, I was like, this must have been what it was like to see Sabu in 1991. Just this guy doing something so clearly great in a way that had never been done before. And it was an immediate and obvious reaction. This wasn't a clever observation, seeing talent in a young upstart, literally anybody that saw Low Ki during this time would think the same thing. Personality wise, it makes sense why he never really reached the heights he should have, but seeing Low Ki during this time was like seeing a supernova.

The JAPW experience as a whole was one of those, "Man, that was really fun, but I never have to do this again." And I never went back to it. And as it turned out, I never went back to any wrestling event.

By the next year, wrestling as we knew it felt over. Then I graduated high school the year after that. I stopped watching completely for the next decade (minus downloading ECW One Night Stand off, if not Limewire, a P2P like it).

I didn't get to many shows, but I got to some good ones, saw some cool things, it was a good little run of live wrestling.