Introduction to the Board as a wrestling fan

[Troyvang]

Hi everyone, Troy here. I've been on here for a couple weeks but will now officially introduce myself. I'm 26 years old, but my 27th is next week. I'm from Minnesota, small town born and raised and even though I spent a couple years in the suburbs I moved to a different little town where I teach middle school social studies.

 

My wrestling fandom comes from my parents, and my first memories of wrestling were of really late days AWA (trooper, destruction crew, Greg Gagne), but my parents regaled me with stories of Bock, Mad Dog and the Crusher. From then on, wrestling was a big part growing up for me, with my Hulk Hogan wrestling buddy still holding a place as my best Christmas present. After AWA finally keeled over I started watching a lot more WCW and that was my main promotion growing up because we didn't have cable and Worldwide was always on channel 9 and it seemed like WWF came and went.

 

During the mid 90s I fell off a little bit, but when we got a Dish in 98, my fandom really picked up as I was finally able to watch Raw and Nitro. That held pretty strong up until the time I graduated high school.

 

As time has passed since then, I haven't watched a ton of current product, but usually keep current by reading reports and message boards and over the past 3 or 4 years I've become very interested in older wrestling and that's really what brought me here.

 

As for what I'm into, I've always been most interested in big personalities and guys that are good on interviews. So Flair, Michaels and others have always been up there for me. Additionally though, I've also always liked the wrestlecrap side of things as well and if I can have a good laugh at something I'll most likely enjoy it.

 

I look forward to further exploring the site and also more awesome old wrestling!

[garretta]

I'd already made my first post here before I knew that an introductory post is customary, but here goes.

 

My name is Garrett Garlits. I got into wrestling full-time in the summer of 1986 at the age of 11. I was mostly into the WWF, although I saw some other promotions here and there. My "real-time" fandom ended right after WrestleMania VII, mostly because Vince started pricing his pay-per-views beyond my parents' willingness to pay. I saw a little here and there over the next several years, not liking a whole lot of it.

 

I began to collect old footage when I found some reasonably priced WWE "old-school" DVDs about five or six years ago, then discovered comps by Will and others, which were much more my cup of tea. Through the DVDVR 80s sets, I've learned a great deal about places like Memphis, Mid-South, World Class, and the AWA. I've also dabbled in Japanese and lucha, with mixed results. (I got into All-Japan and New Japan, but lucha and I just don't get along even though I respect the wrestlers as athletes, and shoot-style flat out bores me.) I'm not into the modern product at all, though I do enjoy reading about the odd backstage trainwreck here and there.

 

I've enjoyed the variety of different viewpoints on this board as a lurker, and I hope to contribute to the discussions as a member, particularly when the subject is the 70s and 80s. I might also dabble in the armchair booking thread from time to time; I've done some stuff in that vein over at Kayfabe Memories, using the WrestleCrap "Rewriting the Book" scenarios as my starting point for my own original ideas. There are a few of those that I'd like another crack at now that I'm more experienced at doing that kind of thing, and this board seems like it would be ideal for that.

 

Happy to be here!

[Downend2005]

Hey guys, my name is Ricky, I'm 29 and I live in Bristol, England.

 

I've been a fan since 1991, I heard some kids at school talking about wrestling and one of them lent me Summerslam 1991 that they had taped. The show has always been one of my personal favourites. From then I watched religiously up until the early 2000s.

 

I've never stopped watching completely, but I don't tend to watch the current scene as much, although I do try and keep myself up to speed with what's going on. I'll seek out a match if it's been pimped or if it involves people I find interesting. At the moment, I enjoy watching Antonio Cesaro, William regal, Sami zayn, the shield and the Rhodes brothers. My all time favourite wrestler is Bret Hart.

 

I've been a long time lurker of the board and I've enjoyed reading the discussion, and I've found a lot of recommendations to watch and broadened my horizons, so thank you! I look forward to being able to continue to read, learn and getting involved!

 

Cheers

Ricky

[brianfnpillman]

Hi guys!

 

My name is D.C., I am 40+ and have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area my entire life.

 

My earliest wrestling memories are of watching Big Time Wrestling out of San Francisco. I was able to watch some future stars early in their careers like Muraco, Piper, Snuka & Kevin Sullivan. My favorite as a kid was Moondog Mayne.

I spent my teenage years as a NWA fan, I watched WWF, and AWA but wanted no part of Hulkamania.

I discovered the Observer in 1990 and it really did change my life. I thought I was a huge wrestling fan before that, but the Observer took me to a whole different level by introducing me to the behind the scenes info along with Japanese wrestling and tape trading.

 

As far as todays product is concerned, well, I think as fans we need to make the best out of what is available to us. There is still good stuff that we can all enjoy, there just isn't as much of it right now. Hopefully that will change sooner than later.

[909]

I'm 26, grew up watching the WWF. First show I watched was Royal Rumble 1994. For some reason, that awful Taker/Yoko casket match hooked me in. After that, I rented a few Coliseum Videos from the movie store, and it stuck. I ran their copy of Invasion 92 into the ground. Despite that, I still go on and off in terms of watching the current product, which it seems like a lot of people do.

 

Perhaps oddly enough, I prefer Southern style wrestling.

[goodhelmet]

Nothing odd about enjoying southern pro wrestling.

[909]

Nothing odd about enjoying southern pro wrestling.

No, not at all, but after starting with that cartoony 94-95 WWF product, the two are quite contrasting. I guess it's part of growing up.

[909]

Double post

[slackermillionaire]

Hello everyone, I'm Chris, 24 years old, Brisbane Australia. I have been a WWE since 1999. Because of my age and location I grew up watching very little wrestling outside of the WWE but I have been lurking around message boards since I was 13, found DVDVR in 2005 and while I am not a big poster (it is one of my goals of 2014 to post more at boards I lurk at, hence this introduction), I have found growing up reading message boards has given me a very strange education into the world of pro wrestling. I have seen very little Crockett for example (only what the WWE has put out on DVD) but I can recall matches and angles I have read about but never seen.

 

My wrestling fandom waned heavily between 2005 -2010 due to multiple reasons: growing up, started going to parties, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit's passing and moving to College where it was hard to view wrestling week in week out, but I always remained update by reading the boards and watching shows when I could. I got back to watching current WWE in 2010 where I had access again to it. I find I tend to be more positive about the current product than most, I think enduring RAW 2002/3 at a young age (my home didn't get the channel Smackdown was on until late 2003) has conditioned me for much worse things than watching 10+ minute Daniel Bryan matches and awesome Goldust tags every week (funnily Goldust tags are one of the few fond memories I have Raw 2002/3).

 

I stumbled across this board after listening to the Wrestling Culture podcast (but I am certain I lurked around NMB a couple of times). I think after listening to Dylan talk about how great Mark Henry is and how John Cena is perhaps the big match wrestler in WWE, I was certain this would be a great place to find stimulating and intelligent discussion. I came to this board knowing full well that most on here have seen more wrestling than I will in my entire lifetime but that is why this place has became one of my favorite pro wrestling destinations on the web.

 

When I do watch stuff outside of the current WWE it is mainly just a few ROH and PWG shows a year just to get some sense of the faces on the indie scene. But this year I plan to expand my viewing habits, I am really excited for the WWE Network so I can check out WCW 1989 and 1992 for the first time and in top quality picture too boot.

[JAC]

I'm James, 34 years old, from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I've been lurking for a few years, and figured that I ought to finally contribute something. I started watching wrestling on a regular basis around the beginning of 1989, after my dad received "press passes" (i.e., standing room only passes) to a WWF house show headlined by Randy Savage v. The Ultimate Warrior. I got into wrestling in a big way, watching WWF religiously for a few years, and watching WCW whenever I could find it on TV (it was not on as consistently as the WWF). I even got some exposure to Japan through some VHS rentals (The World Pro Wrestling from Japan tape with commentary by Gordon Solie, and the two poorly done AJW dubs, Riot of the Rising Sun and the dubiously named Slant Eyed Slaughter).

 

After my interest waned by 1993, bounced back from 1996-1999, then waned again when I began to realize that the matches had become unsatisfying to watch. It was then that, having recalled that the little bit of Japanese wrestling that I had seen had been decent, I decide to buy some tapes and see what it was all about. I ended up enjoying some Joshi and becoming a big fan of All Japan. In particular, I've really enjoyed the mid-70's stuff I've seen and the late 80's to mid 90's All Japan. I've also dabbled in a bit of shootstyle from the UWF/UWFI and some 90's New Japan--moreso the heavies than the juniors.

 

School and work limited my time for wrestling during much of the past decade, and I didn't care much for the WWE during the aughts, but I've been enjoying a decent amount of WWE (with the aid of a DVR to fast-forward through the mountains of crap) for the last two years or so. I've also been revisiting the old puroresu and enjoying that tremendously.

[JazeUSA]

I'm James, 34 years old, from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I've been lurking for a few years, and figured that I ought to finally contribute something. I started watching wrestling on a regular basis around the beginning of 1989, after my dad received "press passes" (i.e., standing room only passes) to a WWF house show headlined by Randy Savage v. The Ultimate Warrior. I got into wrestling in a big way, watching WWF religiously for a few years, and watching WCW whenever I could find it on TV (it was not on as consistently as the WWF). I even got some exposure to Japan through some VHS rentals (The World Pro Wrestling from Japan tape with commentary by Gordon Solie, and the two poorly done AJW dubs, Riot of the Rising Sun and the dubiously named Slant Eyed Slaughter).

 

After my interest waned by 1993, bounced back from 1996-1999, then waned again when I began to realize that the matches had become unsatisfying to watch. It was then that, having recalled that the little bit of Japanese wrestling that I had seen had been decent, I decide to buy some tapes and see what it was all about. I ended up enjoying some Joshi and becoming a big fan of All Japan. In particular, I've really enjoyed the mid-70's stuff I've seen and the late 80's to mid 90's All Japan. I've also dabbled in a bit of shootstyle from the UWF/UWFI and some 90's New Japan--moreso the heavies than the juniors.

 

School and work limited my time for wrestling during much of the past decade, and I didn't care much for the WWE during the aughts, but I've been enjoying a decent amount of WWE (with the aid of a DVR to fast-forward through the mountains of crap) for the last two years or so. I've also been revisiting the old puroresu and enjoying that tremendously.

welcome aboard

[drokk]

Hey all-

 

Been lurking for a while and finally wrote down my thoughts on a match. I found that I liked it better and remembered more about the match than when I just watch, so I created an account.

 

I think I've read more about wrestling than I've watched. Between here, the old DVDVRs, and reading a bunch of old WONs, I've built a very anecdotal knowledge of wrestling that I've seen very little of.

 

I hope to change this. I like pretty much all styles of wrestling and will try to snag either the lucha set or a yearbook in the next few weeks.

 

Cheers.

[North South]

Hi there,

 

 

I've been a lurker on this board for the last couple of years, and I've decided to join up. Like mostly everybody here I grew up watching WWE. That was until I discovered other wrestling in 2003. Since then I've been watching wrestling from the U.S., Japan, Mexico and elsewhere in all the decades past.

 

Some of my all time favourite guys are Bret, Kobashi, Kawada, Flair and El Dandy.

 

 

I hope to post regularly and enjoy my time here. Thanks.

[JourneybyTrain]

Hey, I'm Casey 20 years old from Burgaw, North Carolina, and I like (heavyweight) puro and modern WWE. Sans the All Japan guys (four corners, Tenryu, Jumbo and Hansen) I really like Hashimoto, Fujinami and Aja. I figured I'd sign up to learn the prices of the yearbook which sound amazing.

[dawho5]

My name is Mike, I live in North Dakota and I am 36 years old. I got into wrestling watching WCW in late 1996 until somewhere near the end of '98. My favorites at the time were Benoit, Eddie, Dean Malenko and the cruiserweight division. This, naturally, led me to the NJ Juniors. Watching that got me hooked on wrestling, but then I stumbled upon my first Misawa vs. Kawada match. Honestly, I don't think I've ever looked back as a wrestling fan. '90s AJPW (anything I have seen involving the 4 Pillars, Akiyama or Stan Hansen anyway) is my favorite wrestling style and has been since I saw that match. After about the 2005-6 time frame I stopped watching wrestling altogether until late 2013. During that downtime, I also threw away an entire box of wrestling tapes. Can't say I don't curse myself for that one daily at this point.

 

I got back into wrestling after playing enough TEW 2013 to kill my brain off by early Sunday one weekend, just started looking up matches on youtube and immediately rekindled my love of '90s AJPW. Then I started to explore some of the old territories wrestling in the States. That to me is something I really have to get into. The way they used such a small amount of wrestling moves to create such emotionally involving matches that could go 20, 30, or in some cases 60 minutes is absolutely incredible. Then I went back to my beloved NJ Juniors and saw (I think) in a new light all the things that drove me away from watching a lot of that stuff back in 2005-6. I could get away with watching a few matches, but by the 3rd or 4th, depending on who it was, I really struggled to not see the pattern that every match seemed to follow, the obvious setups for transitions and (worst of all because I know I hated this back then) the way every match degenerated into going to the top turnbuckle at the very least every third move if not more in most of those matches. In a quick return to obvious transition setups, I am a Koji Kanemoto fan, but I have a hard time not hating how 90% of the time he needs a late match turnaround, the other guy will start rope-running and smacking him around, then comes the miraculous belly-to-belly (that is incredibly nice). It's such a disappointment for me to see that too often now. Also, early Marufuji got a lot of heat from fans for the flash kick turnarounds, but I gotta say that Koji wasn't too far from that kind of abusiveness with the belly-to-belly and was experienced enough to know better.

 

And so (after a bit of rambling) now I am working on beefing up my 90s AJPW stuff from the 4 Pillars and Stan Hansen. Starting a bit on some of the more American stuff from the 80s, but Rudoreels is not exactly a prime source for that. Their 90s AJPW stuff is excellent though, and I am hoping to one day get started on some lucha libre as well. Any suggestions on where to pick up some good Lawler, Terry Funk, Horsemen in NWA, Dusty, Steamboat, Freebirds, etc., just anything from around that time would be welcome. Once I build up my All Japan gonna look into investing into some chronological compilations involving the big feuds, matches and promos from that era.

[RocketCrypt]

My name is Tom and I live in Wales. Wrestling has been an integral part of my life from a very young age and despite a few dips in interest throughout the years, it has always remained a constant presence. I am still relatively young in comparison to the majority of the board, having not quite finished my teen years. My introduction to pro wrestling was a tape of Wrestlemania 14, where I bizarrely found myself enthralled by the dumpster match between the New Age Outlaws and Foley/Funk. My dad then taped Summerslam 1999, which was airing that Sunday night, and the rest is history. I have since gone back and watched the majority of WWF, WCW and ECW (at least every PPV or big show the promotions have done), whilst also watching a significant amount of AJPW, NJPW, NWA, SMW as well as other random stuff.

 

I have watched WWE from 1999 to the present day, although I did take a couple of breaks during this period (a brief run in 2003 and also parts of 2006-2007). I also watched TNA from 2005-2010, often against my better judgement, as well as ROH from 2005-present, and NJPW for the past couple of years. My interest in contemporary wrestling is at its lowest ebb since I first starting watching the product. Luckily, I can't get enough of seeking out as much older footage as I possibly can, and look forward to discussing it on this board. I feel I'll learn a lot from participating in discussions here.

 

Recently I've developed an obsession with wrestling podcasts with my favorite being Where the Big Boys Play. The Place to be Podcast is enjoyable too.

 

That's pretty much everything. Oh, I'm a little confused by the whole Yearbook thing. If anyone could shed any light on them, that'd be great.

[soup23]

Welcome aboard Tom and thanks for listening to the podcast. I always enjoy younger fans' opinions too since I more often times than not, feel like the youngest person in any intelligent wrestling conversations I encounter.

[Steenalized]

I'm Cullen and I'm from Chicago. I've lived in the city or the suburbs my whole life and started watching wrestling when I was about 5. As I'm now 24, that means I started watching the WWF in about 94 the first time, but really anything before 1996 is very spotty. I was never a WCW fan/watcher, though I remember flipping over to Nitro during the Monday night wars if WWF was on a commercial break. I knew who guys like Sting and Ric Flair were, but Bret Hart and Undertaker were the superstars for me. I don't have a story about liking so-and-so because they were so cool, even though they were a heel. I hated heels. I loved Shawn Michaels around '95, but when he went back to being a heel? Absolutely hated him. I was afraid of Vader, that guy was nasty. I remember watching ECW during this time, presumably on syndication. For whatever reason, 2 Cold Scorpio's string of loser-leaves-town matches at November to Remember 96 stands out to me more than anything I saw of ECW at the time.

 

Around '99-'00 I stopped watching and picked up again in very late '03/early '04. I was a huge fan again, fan ROH and TNA, and started following the indies. I saw a bit of Japanese wrestling but barely any. For a few years I was a huge ROH fan and went to all their Chicago (Ridge) shows, with Punk as my favorite guy. I stopped following regularly around late 2007, but kept tabs on what was going on. Punk's rise to prominence through the "pipe bomb" and MITB '11 brought me back in. I've always been a wrestling fan and even during those times when I wasn't following I'd still watch on occasion or never thought poorly of it, I just focused on other things. I started lurking this board back in about June and now signed up. My favorites include Kevin Steen (thus the name), Minoru Suzuki, Bret Hart, Steve Austin, CM Punk, and Terry Funk.

[Guest stanley]

Hey everyone. I have been watching wrestling since '87. Pretty much all u.s. wrestling. I read about overseas wrestling,but that's about the extent of it. Am 41 and live in Wisconsin.Packers rule. Have about 500 DVDs and am still waiting on a Demolition DVD. I mean what the hell.....

[dexstar]

Hi folks.

 

I'm 29 and have been a wrestling fan since ... forever? I guess? One of the first clear memories I have growing up is buying the WWF Magazine with WrestleMania VII results in it. And I remember my dad bringing home a VHS of SummerSlam '91 that his buddy at work taped. I watched it about 3000 times in the next couple years. I've been watching WWE, specifically, more or less continuously since then with just a few breaks.

 

Over the years I've always been interested in other areas and styles but mostly just read about them through (at first) PWI and later watching what I could find online. It hasn't been until the past couple years I started going back and watching a lot of the "canon" of AJPW and lucha and other areas, so I'm still a neophyte when it comes to that stuff.

 

I stumbled upon this place a while ago but never posted anything, but I've been reading it a lot lately as I go back and watch and since there's so much valuable insight and commentary here I wanted to at least introduce myself instead of being the creeper in the corner just listening to everyone talk. I don't have a ton to add to the discussion since everyone seems to be much smarter than I when it comes to wrestling but I look forward to jumping in occasionally.

 

Anyway ... carry on with your lives again.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Hey everyone. I have been watching wrestling since '87. Pretty much all u.s. wrestling. I read about overseas wrestling,but that's about the extent of it. Am 41 and live in Wisconsin.Packers rule. Have about 500 DVDs and am still waiting on a Demolition DVD. I mean what the hell.....

 

Always good to have another Packers fan on the board.

[Guest stanley]

Green and gold brutha

[goodhelmet]

Well Chicken Wing, looks like you will be stuck with me as your fellow board Packer fan.

[tigerpride]

What did he do?

[Loss]

He was responding to three year old posts and making sarcastic one-liners, but not really debating a point or anything. When I told him that could be perceived as trolling and asked that he not do it, he blew me off and said he didn't feel the need to explain himself, even after I asked him to do so a few times. So he's gone.