Making someone a wrestling fan.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I dunno, but I'd start with a match that had decent commentary on it. The commentary makes all the difference between a stinker and a classic.

[boomhauer20055]

Don't try to make someone like something they don't. They will resent it just like I do the friends of mine who try to convert me to Nascar

[Blindkarevik]

If somebody came up to me and said, "Hey, I've been thinking of checking out some wrestling, can you show me some?"

Right off the bat, I'd definitely show them WWE. It's the most easily accessible on TV and DVD for them if they take an interest in it. I don't own a lot of WWE DVDs.... but I'd probably show them a few event DVDs just to see if they can get into the style and theme of wrestling.

I'd definitely want to convert them over to ROH as quickly as possible, so I'd probably wait for them to claps onto WWE first. If they get to a point where they want to watch RAW every week, they have definite favorites, and they seem to want to know more about wrestling... that's when I'd start digging out the ROH, CHIKARA, etc,.... at that point, I'd show them the Ladder War between The Briscoes and Steenerico, Danielson vs. KENTA, Low Ki/Homicide vs. Joe/Lethal, Tyler Black vs. Nigel McGuinness, etc,....

It'd definitely be a gradual thing, and they may not get into the ROH stuff so much.... but hell, at least I'd have someone else to watch wrestling with.

[Jake, The Jake, Jake]

Show them the Undertaker/Jeff Hardy ladder match. There is nothing that is more likely to hook someone in than the awesome storytelling that match had.

[Rocky Van Heineken]

I started off one of my ex girlfriends with Bret/Bulldog from SummerSlam 92 and Hogan/Savage from WrestleMania 5. It worked, but her favorite wrestler is Jim Duggan.

[bubbles]

Hold a gun to their head.

[B'Cup x]

spot filled matches. TLC 2, undertaker/mankind hell in a cell, awesome/tanaka. Those sort of matches. the ones that give you the holy shit type spots are the ones, ive found that capture non fans attention the most, especially when they can see some of the shit that cant be faked

[El Pollo Guerrera]

If you want to convert an MMA fan to wrestling, show then Drye vs. Takayama and tell them "that Japanese guy it a pro wrestler, y'know..." Then you can steer them towards a 'strong style' wrestling promotion, then maybe towards ROH.

[justinqx]

Show them Royal Rumbles. Fast-paced, looks more realistic than most other wrestling environments, and allows them to see a wide variety of wrestlers (different shapes, sizes, styles, etc.) in a short time.

[Tea & Crumpets]

I showed my cousin soem Chikara DVDs. he didn't particularly care for Hero/Claudio cause it was slow starting, so I changed matches and showed him FIST vs Cheech & CLoudy, then PAC vs Richochet vs Chuck Taylor vs Retail Dragon.

He now loves Up In Smoke, thinking they're one of the msot fun to watch and tough teams baout, and also loves Chuck Taylor for being such a jerk. He knows full well about kayfabe, but can enjoy Chikara matches without thinking about it being "staged".


I look forward to showing him some more stuff, particularly involving The Colony, Los Ice Creams and Delirous.

EDIT: Oh yes. I also showed him some other high speed matches, like MITB 3 and Awesome/Tanaka from ONS. He loved them too. I hope I can eventually get him to appreciate technical wrestling too.

[Ultimo Chocula]

Sept 8, 2008 17:07:05 GMT -5 Rocky Van Heineken said:

I started off one of my ex girlfriends with Bret/Bulldog from SummerSlam 92 and Hogan/Savage from WrestleMania 5. It worked, but her favorite wrestler is Jim Duggan.

So it didn't work.

[xlusciousxjohnnyx]

this works with everyone: show'em old Flair promos.

[Max]

For those that said ROH...if someone would've tried to introduce me to wrestling with ROH I would fall asleep. Show them some crazy shit like a tight ladder match but seriously shit like ROH isn't gonna make me want to watch wrestling if I'm not into it

[Nacho STAYS Hyped]

Show them some classic Mysterio matches.

[Real Folk Bruce]

I have not once "converted" anyone into a wrestling fan. Show someone a technical match and they call it boring, show them a brawl and they call it fake. Either you like it or have liked it at one point or you never will like it. Simple as that.

[invaderdave]

I had a room-full of people, most of them non-fans, hanging on every minute of The Briscoes/Steenerico Ladder War. Honestly, your best bet is probably going to be the stuff with a lot of kewl moovz in it.

Then again, my friend's girlfriend really liked Team DDT vs. Yago/Miyawaki from Night 1 of TWGP 06. So hey.

[The OP]

Sept 7, 2008 0:08:11 GMT -5 Bobby Womack said:

honestly, as much as i love noah, and appreciate what roh does, theres no way in hell you should try to convert a non fan by introducing them to anything like that, you have to be a mark before you can be a smark just like all of us were, theres a reason why wwe is watched by millions and roh is watched by thousands and its because it appeals to a niche audience, its better to introduce a non-fan to a more mainstreamised product that shows a little of everything, figure out what they like about it, and then give them stuff that appeals to that niche, if they happen to like stiff looking, puro-lite matches then by all means give them some roh, but if thats not their cup of tea then watching long matches of that will probably put them off wrestling more, i know it would be nice if everyone liked what we personally like but it doesnt always work out that way

You and I completely agree for a change. Wrestling, being neither a regular sport, nor theatre, nor anything else conventional, occupies it's own special niche in the entertainment world. There's no telling why someone might or might not like it.

I recently had a conversation with a co-worker who told me that he stopped watching wrestling once Ken Shamrock came in, because that's when it stopped being about huge steroid freaks. He told me explicity that that's what he liked to see, in his own words "roid monsters". It just goes to show that everyone has their own perspective on it.

[George Harrison]

My missus got into it during the Ric Flair, HBK match at Wrestlemania and the following Raw... She's a big softy so I think it was the perfect place for her to watch, and she loves it now.

[Nacho STAYS Hyped]

Don't try to show them a 60 Minute Ironman match or great techinical battle from Japan at first. Odds are, they will think it is boring as hell.

Show them matches that feature guys who are good high-fliers or hardcore wrestlers, but try to keep it a little mainstream.

The TLC matches (Dudleyz, Hardys, E + C), Mankind vs. Taker Hell in a Cell, any of the classic Mysterio vs. Psicosis matches, a few short Evan Bourne matches from ECW, and maybe even a few hoss vs. jobber squashes can be fun for new fans.