The match that hooked you to this crazy world of wrestling

This will have been done on the old boards before at some point I'm sure but it's always a good idea to re-visit some areas and get the old creative discussions going. So...

What match first got you hooked on wrestling and why?

For me it was The Rumble match 1990. I'd saw some wrestling before then and can remember supporting Strike Force and Hulk Hogan in some match or other but The Rumble was the first one I can remember that really caught my imagination and it came down to three simple factors - the story they told of Ted Dibiase being forced to be number one for cheating the year before (then proving how good he was by lasting the longest ever in the Rumble at that point - like 27 minutes or something!) , everybody ganging up on Earthquake to dump him over the top - a great spot that they've repeated umpteen times since and the showdown between The Warrior and Hogan. I'm not sure what wrestling I had actually saw before then but I KNOW that it wasn't face vs face - it was the complete tease of a showdown that got me. Hogan handled the crowd fantastically well and The Warrior played his part too.

A great moment and the one that hooked me to a near twenty year addiction I've not been able to shake off completely since.

Cactus v HHH at Rumble 2000 for me. The rest of the card was entertaining, but that match hooked me completely.

I think it might have been Hulk Hogan Vs. Sid Justice at WM 8 for me. Bare in mind I was but a wee nipper back then, but I had never seen anything like that before.

I think it was probably Royal Rumble 1990 for me and all.

Bradshaw101 wrote:Cactus v HHH at Rumble 2000 for me. The rest of the card was entertaining, but that match hooked me completely.

Same here, I'll never forget where I was watching that match.

Some cage match at King of the ring '98.

Was flicking through the sky sports channels (this was a replay of the even a couple of days afterwards) and saw Foley lying bloodied in the ring with JR going mad. Myself and my brother stop flicking through the channels with a collective 'hold up, what's happened here?' We then saw a replay of undertaker choke slamming him through the roof of the cage, cue a holy shit type moment and we watch the rest of the ppv including Foley getting through of the roof and through a table, which impressed us even more. We thought there most of been a mistake until we saw that, then the thumb tacs! BAW GAWD!

I hate to give JR any credit, but I think his 'Some idiots at home will be claiming he knows how to land' comment is what changed my opinion of wrestling, as after we realised it was part of the match (although it turns out it wasn't!) and not a massive accident we were trying to justify how it wouldn't of hurt, like a smart arse kid at a magic show. The tacs is what made us realise that this hurts and the wrestlers were willing to suffer pain in order to entertain the crowd, something that earnt our respect and and ended the whole this is fake homoerotic kids entertainment.

After that I occasionally watched livewire and superstars but it was a while until I realised they did a proper show on a Friday night called Raw is War which I didn't watch properly until the whole higher power story line with Vince and Austin.

The Summerslam '98 ladder match was a similar experience, flicking through the channels and seeing HHH bloodied after a ladder shot, that made me realise that it wasn't just a few fat wrestlers who got hurt.

Also before Summer 98 I found Nitro, which was completely different to anything I had ever seen before! To start with the ring was on a swimming pool and they had masked wrestlers who could fly! (It was spring break '98) I found the show a lot more entertaining than WWF and completely different to the crap i used to watch on ITV about 5 years earlier. The first time I watched Nitro properly was when hulkamania came back which was probably 2 months after the higher power story on Raw. Before that I used to find the first hour of nitro to be very boring and not grab my attention.

HHH v The Rock at Backlash 2000

I just loved this match, I still do its the main reason i bought the Rocks DVD a month or so ago

I can't remember any individual matches but it was watching the Wrestling on ITV's World of Sport ( now being repeated on the Fight Channel )..

I can remember the likes of Giant Haystacks, Big Daddy, Fit Finlay and the other fan favourites and I must have seen the likes of Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, William Regal when they were all new to the wrestling business..

IOV wrote:HHH v The Rock at Backlash 2000

I just loved this match, I still do its the main reason i bought the Rocks DVD a month or so ago

This was mine too.

Just an awesome match with so much drama. Might watch it tonight.

Way back for me, it was the AWA with a match between SuperStar Billy Graham and Baron Von Raschke. I thought the Claw was the coolest thing at the time, my grandpa didn't and then I picked myself up off the floor. lol

Royal Rumble 2000 for me. It was the combination of the Dudleyz vs. Hardyz match (especially the Jeff swanton off the balcony which is still one of my favourite ever high spots!), the build to the HHH vs. Cactus Jack match and the Rumble itself. Great, great show and the main reason why the Rumble is always my favourite show every year!!

First time when a kid, it wasn't a match but a confrontation on Superstars or something. Bad News Brown confronting Jake Roberts and I was astounded by this confrontation taking place in a large public place. That interest lasted up until May 1995.

Second time was when I tuned in to watch Wrestlemania X-Seven for the heck of it. Naturally such an awesome PPV got me back into wrestling and Rock v Austin remains my favourite match of all time. That interest lasted on and off until Wrestlemania 23.

Don't watch the product anymore.

Bad Blood '97, Micheals vs. Taker Hell In A Cell and also the debut of the character Kane was awesome.

Screwjob97 wrote:Bad Blood '97, Micheals vs. Taker Hell In A Cell and also the debut of the character Kane was awesome.

When you were 3?

Things called "video cassettes" and "DVDs", sir. I know you're a Charlton fan so progress is lost on you, but try and keep up

ShowStealer wrote:

Screwjob97 wrote:Bad Blood '97, Micheals vs. Taker Hell In A Cell and also the debut of the character Kane was awesome.

When you were 3?

Yeah I was three. But I have watched the event again and that was just something that stuck in my head. Just something that I always remember and probably is the thing that got me hooked onto wrestling.

P.S.

This robably just a longer way to say what the user Inno said

ShowStealer wrote:

Screwjob97 wrote:Bad Blood '97, Micheals vs. Taker Hell In A Cell and also the debut of the character Kane was awesome.

When you were 3?

Yeah, he watched the tape on the Monday afternoon following the show with me.

Sweatsock wrote:

ShowStealer wrote:

Screwjob97 wrote:Bad Blood '97, Micheals vs. Taker Hell In A Cell and also the debut of the character Kane was awesome.

When you were 3?

Yeah, he watched the tape on the Monday afternoon following the show with me.

Gotcha!

ShowStealer wrote:

Screwjob97 wrote:Bad Blood '97, Micheals vs. Taker Hell In A Cell and also the debut of the character Kane was awesome.

When you were 3?

In fairness... if I was three and watched an undead man beating seven shades of shit out of a rentboy, then being attacked by his burnt, scarred brother dressed in an all in one red suit while wearing a gimp mask - I'd have fucking remembered it too!