Your first memory of Pro Wrestling

[Otto Dem Wanz]

 

My folks weren't big fans, as I'd sit and watch back hours of tapes. My mom liked that fast little Chinese bloke, which was Taka Michinoku FYI

That could be another thread of its own, reactions from parents who didn't get it. My mum fancied The Rock and Edge, and my dad liked the Hardys and "that wee green guy", aka the Hurricane.

 

 

My dad pissed himself laughing when Rikishi jumped off the steel cage onto Val Venis

[cobra_gordo]

My first memory of wrestling is from around 1990/91 when a massive group of us were sat in Lee Naylor from my class' back garden having a Royal Rumble with his Hasbros. I had no idea who some of the figures were based on at the time but these colourful, cartoonish figures with their crazy outfits and moves just totally captured my imagination. I'd got a Hulk Hogan picture on my wall before I'd even seen him wrestle a match.

 

Shortly after that I discovered there was a wrestler with my surname (Dusty Rhodes) and he was wrestling in the first match I ever watched at a friends who had Sky. After that I was hooked and despite not having Sky or loads of tapes my fandom and following of wrestling was always helped along by the merchandise and I learnt about storyline developments and new characters through the figures, the magazine, the sticker books.

 

I'm somewhat jealous of my son, he's a similar age now to when I first got in to WWF and he's experiencing wrestling in a similar manner and he's exactly the same- captivated by these hulking, musclebound characters and his minimal exposure to the product by only watching PPVs is keeping up the mystery and mystique same as it did for me when I was a kid. 

[Onyx2]

I liked World of Sport growing up when I caught it, but wasn't must-see for me. I accidentally caught Brutus Beefcake on a Sky One show when we first got Sky in 1989 and somehow I wasn't immediately turned off.

 

But it was WrestleMania V that did it for me, shown on Sky One. I was so behind Hulk Hogan. After watching the vignette I couldn't believe what Randy Savage had done and was absolutely desperate for Hulk to beat him. 

[garynysmon]

I have a very vague recollection of watching World of Sport with my grandad, although I can't have been very old at all at the time. I have a more vivid memory of watching a Demolition promo while at my aunt's house, which must have been an episode of WWF Superstars around 1990 or so.

Wrestling didn't really come into my life until 1991 or so when kids at school started bringing in the trading cards and I started asking to borrow their tapes as we didn't have Sky back home. It wasn't until 1993 that we finally had a dish installed.

[eugenespeed]

I didn't see WWF until 1989 and WCW / NWA a little while later, but I grew up with World of Sport. Every Saturday afternoon, 4pm on World of Sport and then later at around 1.05pm when it became it's own programme. 

 

The first wrestling match I ever fell in love with was in 1987 and it was when All Star had started promoting the televised wrestling. It was Rollerball Rocco vs Marty Jones. I know now that they were trying to incorporate the American style into British wrestling, but then it was nothing like I'd ever seen. 

 

Sportsmanship, Lord Mountevans rules, out of the window completely. Two men who hated each other kicking the living crap out of each other. The turnbuckle was ripped off and there was blood. All this on Saturday afternoon wrestling. 

 

The match ended in a no contest, but both men basically told the ref to get knotted and continued, with the brawl spilling out of the building. 

 

The match left that much of an impression on me, when I found a trader on the UKFF that had a copy, it was like Christmas come early. This was last year. 

 

In 2015, 28 years after it originally broadcast, it still held up. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

Great show this week. It was really fun listening to everyone's stories, and interesting to hear how much commonality there was. I wonder what will hook the next generation into wrestling. Loved the discussion amongst the four of you when you all went down Memory Lane too. Nostalgia is one of my favourite things about wrestling, I think.

[Tommy!]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

[Liam O'Rourke]

I want to thank everybody for the contributions, we got to read many of them on the show, which is now available at the following link:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/pgx7qk/SCG_Radio_86_-_First_Memories_of_Pro_Wrestling.mp3

Join us for our show looking at First Memories of Pro Wrestling! We take a trip down memory lane with you, the listeners as we talk about the moments that introduced you to the wonderful world of wrestling, the impressions it left on you, how it shaped you as fans, and much more. Taking your first memories, we talk everything from Hasbro figures, sticker books, video stores, awesome ring attire, video games and landmark shows, to iconic voices like Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura, Gene Okerlund, Howard Finkel, as well as the larger than life personalities that hooked you life, such as Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage and...Arachnaman? An absolute blast of a show to do, hope you enjoy!