When and What?

[Kashdinero]

I thought I'd start a thread where we can all get to know one another a little bit better and maybe understand where each of us is coming from.
To do this I have a two part question for the esteemed members of the EWN.
Firstly when was the first time you saw wrestling and secondly what have you been watching since?

I first became aware of wrestling through England's very own World of Sport on Channel 3 (ITV) in the early/mid 80's. My great nan used to watch it religiously and actually thought it was "real". I never really liked wrestling at this point but I remember thinking that Big Daddy was cool (how times change)
It wasn't until my family got Sky TV in 1990 and I first caught the WWF in the build up towards summerslam. Being a big GI JOE fan I thought it was brilliant seeing Sgt Slaughter in "real life".

Ever since then I've been hooked! At first I couldn't get enough of WWF and sought out all the tapes of previous event's. Not to long after I found WCW and I instantly fell in love with characters such as Sting ,the Stiener brothers and Flyin Brian Pillman.
Over the years my Video Tape (remember them?) and magazine collection grew to ridiculous proportions.
Reading magazines such as PWI made me aware of promotions/territories such as the USWA, WCCW, AWA and more.... Then Came ECW and everything changed (for the better). I was completely blown away by the chaos that was The Land Of Extreme and upon the death of the original I was hungry for more of the action that rarely has a place in mainstream wrestling. That action was to be found in the form of Independent wrestling.... CZW, XPW, ECWA and a whole lot more. Then came the daddy of them all ROH. If there was ever a promotion that suited my needs as a wrestling fan it was ROH.... About the same time a PPV based promotion appeared with the tongue in cheek name of TNA and it was a very mixed bag back then but I liked to see the X-div guys doing their thing. Fast forward to the present and Where TNA has failed in presenting the type of wrestling I've grown so fond of, promotions like IWA-MS, PWG, CHIKARA, dragongate and EVOLVE have kept me entertained.
I must also mention that at the time I started watching independent wrestling I also found and fell madly in love with Puroresu... The realistic style presented in japan is out of this world. Mitsuharu Misawa and the gang had my jaw on the floor. Nowadays I only really keep up with Japanese wrestling on the Internet and magazines (powerslam, FSM..)
The WWE will always be THE federation. But it's not the be all and end all for me.
I will watch wrestling wether it's good (NJPW) bad (current TNA product) and the ugly (WSX) and no-one will tell me otherwise (not even my wife!)

So tell me, when did you start watching and did you ever steer from the track and try something other than mainstream wrestling?

[Rich Cranium]

I grew up watching the old Championship Wrestling from Florida which took place not far from my parents home in Tampa, Florida at the old Armory. I was actually a boy scout and was in a parade with Dusty Rhodes circa 1983. Anyways, what drew me to wrestling was my grandma who watched it religiously every Saturday night. She loved Dusty Rhodes and would be on the verge of attacking the TV whenever he was getting beaten. When Dusty would drop the bionic elbow, Grandma would emulate him by dropping the elbow in the air after she popped out of her lazyboy.
Ever since, I have also been a religious viewer. I would watch NWA, WWF, AWA, WCCW, and the USWA. I primarily watched NWA because we didn't have cable as a kid so WWF was not an option. Options were NWA or WCCW out of Texas. The only period of my life that I took a hiatus from wrestling was a 4 year enlistment in the US Army.

[Kashdinero]

Come on guys, don't be shy lol

Let the EWN know where your coming from.... Even if it's just a few words.

[TheBeardOfZeus]

Well, I first got into wrestling when i was about 7 or 8, during the Attitude Era. All i can remember is adoring stars like The Rock, Stone Cold, The Hardyz, Edge and Christian, Kane, Undertaker, Mankind and so on, to the point where i would literally try and fake illness so i could play the first ever WWF Smackdown! game all day long.

Now, it's something i feel i'm more involved in, and something I go round to my mates and stay up till 1 just to watch it. I can never really get into TNA, so WWE is my main viewing, and I still love it as much as i did as a child. But I would personally like to thank this website and this forum for continuing this passion whilst at University, where I cannot watch RAW or Smackdown week in, week out, so this is for everyone.

Thank you.

[IrkenInvader]

I remember the first episode that made me start watching religiously, the night after Summer Slam when Orton won th WHC from Benoit.

[Kashdinero]

Well done Sirs

Anyone else?

If the most hated asstool in the EWN can do it you all can lol

[The Brown One]

The first time i heard of wrestling was when i was like 5 or 6 years old, from friends who loved the sport. I watched it once at a relatives place(we couldn't afford cable) and couldn't get enough of it. The first wrestlers i saw were Stone Cold and The Rock and I was in awe of their performances. When i moved countries we got cable and I didn't realised that WWE airs shows in the country. I was flicking through the channels one night and came across Chris Jericho in a heel run with the tights and John Cena(this was a long time ago) in the ring arguing. After watching their matches and then watching The Undertaker on Smackdown, I never missed a show after that. Even when i found out it was scripted I didn't care. My new friends knew it was too and looked down upon wrestling because of that. But I still didn't care. I appreciated the golden promos and amazing matches they put on, and so recently joined EWN to share ideas with my fellow posters. Wrestling will always be my favourite thing in the world and no ones opinion can turn me away from it.