Who did you love/hate as a kid and why?

[The Possum]

When it was still real to you, who were the guys you cheered with all of your heart, and the guys you wanted to see get their teeth kicked in?

My loyalties were with:
-The Undertaker: He could do no wrong in my eyes. WWF couldn't turn the guy heel for me. I figured, Stephanie McMahon deserved to be crucified, etc.
-Sting: Like The Undertaker, he had a special mystique to him. I always wanted more of him.
-The nWo Wolfpac: They were the coolest of the cool. The slick rebels sporting red and black.
-X-Pac: High energy degenerate. I got into wrestling in 1997 through out-dated Action Zone and Confirmed Hits style VHSes, so I loved guys from the New Generation. I was so excited for his return because he was the 1-2-3 Kid, and I cheered him like mad until he fizzled out in late 2000.
-Al Snow: My third-grade best friend and I had a weird thing for him. He was eccentric, funny, and hardcore. His insanity was fun to watch and imitate.

Kind of an odd collection, but those were the guys I loved the most. As for the heels, I could not stand these dudes:

-Curt Hennig: Everything about the guy got under my skin. From his facial expressions, to his stupid curly hair (and I write this as a curly haired person), to his out of place ring attire (I became familiar with him in his nWo days), everything about him screamed DOUCHE! I couldn't stand it when he'd get the upper hand on babyfaces because he seemed like such a wimp.
-Owen Hart: He was booked as the ultimate whiney little turd. Every time he was on TV I kept thinking, "Why won't he just go away?" But he wouldn't go away, and that's why I kept booing him.
-Brian Christopher: He was so convinced that he was cool, but his dumb laugh and ridiculous "Too Sexy" ring attire insisted otherwise. Plus he was kind of a jobber, how the heck did he get so full of himself. However, I did forgive him and fully embraced Too Cool.
-Chris Jericho: I became familiar with him in his WCW days, and completely hated him. His persistent complaining and self-praise mixed with his goofy top-ponytail made me abhor his one-foot pin attempts even more. Whenever he talked, I was begging for someone to come out and whoop his butt. I was so convinced that he was a joke that when his Countdown to the Millennium clock expired on Raw and the titantron lit up with "JERICHO" I felt completely ripped off and was bummed that I'd have to watch him week after week in the WWF.
-Triple H: He just completely frustrated me. I didn't understand why he kept abusing his power to get championships, why he kept screwing over The Rock, and why he was always trying to rob the fans of their joy. Did he seriously think he was the best just because he was in control of the company in the McMahon Helmsley Era and could cheat his way to championships?
-Kane: Things between me and Kane were personal. He cost the Undertaker the WWF Title and tried to burn him alive. All of my friends and I flipped off the TV screen during his entrance at WrestleMania 14. When there is a living room full of eight year olds giving you the bird, that is true heat, my friends. However, I was willing to forgive him when his face turn came around.
-Steven Richards: His RTC character annoyed the crap out of me.
-William Regal: Basically the same thing as Hennig.

[moneyman20]

Love:

Macho Man
Razor Ramon
Sting.
Steve Austin
Undertaker(even during the early ministry days.)
Rock
DDP(during his face days)


Hated:
Paul Bearer.
Hunter
Flair
DDP(during his heel days)
Vince
Steph(Although she was hot as hell)
Bischoff.

I was officially smarked by my dad (who used to work for Mid-South) in 1998 so some of these were just due to how good they were at what they did.

[baronmordo]

I really dug the Undertaker. The zombie gimmick was always really cool to me. And I really hated Bret Hart, and honestly, still do.

[Slingshot Suplay]

Loved -
1- Kerry Von Erich. To me, he was the ultimate wrestler in the ring. He had the rock star look, he had the skill and endurance, he had a submission hold and he knew how to make the fans go crazy for him. He had a power game, but was athletic enough to throw a drop kick on you. My all-time favorite.
2- Dynamite Kid - was lightning quick in the ring, very no nonsense aggressive style which no one at that time was really doing. A very athletic gymnast too. I've never seen anyone run the ropes as fast as he did.
3- Barry Windham - when he was the U.S. champ as part of the four horsemen, he was young, athletic, and brash. Tall and very strong, it seemed like he used to overpower his opponents when he hit them with his superplex and then float over effortlessly for the pin. Awesome wrestler.
4- Marty Jannetty - always liked him more than Shawn. At the time when they were teaming, Marty was the more experienced wrestler and I always felt he was better than Shawn at the time. Shawn was more flash, but Marty was more substance IMO.

Hated:
1- Jerry Lawler - Mainly for cheating Kerry Von Erich out of the WCCW title at Superclash III. Hated Lawler for YEARS because of that.
2- Tully Blanchard - the most obnoxious member of the Four Horsemen. He was just a loudmouth runt that I, as a 5 year old kid, wanted to fight!
3- Hillbilly Jim - Don't know why, but I never liked Hillbilly Jim. I think I turned him heel when I used to play with my LJN WWF figures just so he could get beaten up by the British Bulldogs.
4- Lightning Kid - I remember when they first started showing the GWF on ESPN, I hated the Lightning Kid because he'd get beat up for the majority of the match and then win by pulling the tights or feet on the ropes or other shenanagins.

[gazometer]

Love:

Hogan
Warrior
Sting
Sid
Rude
Hennig
Flair
Honky
Muta

Hate:

Dusty
Skinner
Freebirds

[TuneinTokyo]

Loved
Hogan
Rock and Roll Zumhoffe
Tito Santanna
Rick Martel
Andre
JYD
Bulldogs
Road Warriors

Hated
Any and all sheiks even sheik Ken Patera
Heenan (love him now)
Blackwell
Brother love
Mr. Wonderful

[KLRA]

Instead of putting together a long list you know who I LOVED as a young kid?

Goddamn New Jack. Before I knew anything about the business New Jack was the coolest guy ever. Appealed to the white suburban kid in me. And like Colt Cabana said, "Who cares if you can do all those moves, New Jack's jumping off a balcony!"

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Being a WCW kid, my three favorites were always Cactus Jack, Ron Simmons, and Brian Pillman. There were others, but those three always got me out of my seat.

As for who I didn't like, I was never that into Hogan once he came to town, and I never really got on the Undertaker bandwagon, either.

[Madagascar Fred]

started watching in 1992 (somewhere around Survivors 92)

LOVED Tatanka (colorful outfit/painting, sympathetic character), Bret Hart (even at 9 years, I knew he's one of the best wrestlers all around), Mr. Perfect (saw his SS91 match vs. Bret on VHS, loved seeing him as a face in 92/93) & 1-2-3 Kid (always loved underdogs, plus he was a rare highflyer)

HATED Giant Gonzalez (what was the purpose?), King Kong Bundy (95 run, didn't know anything about his 80's stuff, boring generic fat baddy) & Narcissist Lex Luger (he was protected way too much in my eyes, not one decisive loss in his heel run 92/93, always wished someone would destroy him)

[Deleted]

Hated - Hulk Hogan. He always won, I always liked the heels.

Loved - Any masked wrestler, the Road Warriors, The Four Horsemen.

[worldsstrongestman]

123 Kid
Mark Henry
D-Lo Brown
Owen Hart
Shawn Michaels
The Gangstas
The Eliminators
Sandman
The Godfather
Savio Vega
Farooq
Ahmed Johnson
2 Cold Scorpio
The Road Dogg
The Rock
Too Cool
Razor Ramon
The Rock
The Undertaker
Mankind
Goldust

There are others but I can't think of them right now.

[celticjobber]

As a young kid, my favorites were Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Big Bossman, The Bushwackers, and Bret Hart. As I got a little older I still liked Bret, but also liked Owen Hart (especially after he turned heel), 123 Kid, Razor Ramon, and Shawn Michaels (but I hated his 1996 babyface run).

I never liked Kamala, Papa Shango, Bob Backlund, Brutus Beefcake, IRS, or Bam Bam Bigelow.

[eDemento2099]

Even though I was partial to uber-heels like Vader and Steve Austin in WCW, I HATED Shawn Michaels throughout the 90s. Even though he put on incredible matches, I disliked him because he was just so damn good at being a cocky, egotistical, show-off prick (probably because that's how he was in real life at the time). Although Rick Rude played a similar character, I loved Rude as a heel. HBK's character seemed real to the point that I couldn't appreciate all the hard work he put into his matches. That changed now that I am older and can think like a smark.

[Squirrel Master]

My tag team favorites were: the Road Warriors, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, Varsity Club, Freebirds, British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, Demolition. I enjoyed watching John Studd and King Kong Bundy too, just to see them get their clocks cleaned.

On the singles tip, my favorites were (NWA, WCW) Ric Flair, heel Nikita Koloff, Terry Funk, Big Van Vader (WWF) early heel Ken Patera, George Steele, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Ted DiBiase, Jake Roberts, Rick Rude, Adrian Adonis. (WWC) Bruiser Brody, Abdullah the Butcher, Carlos Colon. (AWA) Stan Hansen, Nick Bockwinkle, Colonel DeBeers.

Looking back, the only wrestlers that were obnoxious to me, both in the ring and when I met them, were Kevin Von Erich and Scott Steiner.

...Obviously I held in the highest esteem the entire roster of the UWF circa 1986.

[Deleted]

Loved:
The British Bulldogs, probably one of the best tag-teams ever. The power of Davey Boy, the agility of Dynamite and both were quick. They were doing moves I had never seen before. (Nobody, I mean nobody, can match a Dynamite Kid superplex from the top rope.) And Davey Boy's running powerslam looked like it could crush you.

Chris Adams, even after he turned on the Von Erichs. That superkick always came out of nowhere. Hearing Bill Mercer exclaim "...the superkick!" let you know that the match was all but over.

Junkyard Dog was a fun character. I loved the variety of headbutts and where he'd stick a guy's head between his knees, jump up and land on his feet, ringing the guy's ears. (Trust me, it works. I've done that move on my brother numerous times.)

The Midnight Express; you either were a fan of the Midnights or the Rock & Roll Express. You had to pick one, and I was never a big fan of guys whose main fan base were screaming girls.

Baron Von Raschke; our whole household loved him. He'd goosestep around the ring and look for every opportunity to lock that claw on a guy.

Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff w/Freddie Blassie. Iron Sheik was a trip, he'd cut these interviews in his broken Farsi/English way, calling the interviewer "Gene Mean", and go on about how "I'm greatest in toughest, roughest wrestle-ing. Cameraman! Zoom it!" Then he'd pose while Volkoff would talk some gibberish or Freddie Blassie would go off. Freddie was the man, you pencil-necked geek!
Oh, and the loaded boot. That was funny, seeing Sheik tap his curly-toed boot three times (was always three) and boot some guy in the head, "knocking them out".

Hated:

Jimmy Garvin. Always loved seeing him get his butt whooped. He was so full of himself, and he had his valet (Sunshine, then Precious) running interference for him. "Hey, it's not MY fault those silly Von Erichs can't beat me for the belt!"

Ric Flair. Man, I would even side with Ricky Morton to see someone shut Ric Flair up.

Ricky Steamboat. Before everyone starts going crazy, I didn't like "karate kid" Ricky when he feuded with Magnificent Muraco. When he started doing more wrestling later on, I took to him fine.

Vince McMahon. Mr. "Whatamaneuver" hardly knew anything about the holds or moves. He was a stuffed suit holding a mic and never knew anything. I hated that guy.

[The Ichi]

My mark years were only from 1992 till 1996, so going by that time period...

Loved:

Bret Hart
Shawn Michaels (even as a heel, strangely)
The Undertaker
The British Bulldog
Roddy Piper
Razor Ramon
123 Kid
Lex Luger
Diesel

Hated:
Bob Backlund (no seriously, he was my most hated wrestler as a kid for taking the title off of Bret)
Owen Hart (second most hated after his heel turn)
Ric Flair
Ted Dibiase
Yokozuna
Jerry Lawler

[Clawley Race]

loved: Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers, Hart Foundation, Demolition, Kerry Von Erich, Sting, the Z-Man, Brian Pillman

hated: Hercules, the Warlord, Dino Bravo

don't be a heel JTTS around me as a kid!

[smexilloveu]

loved
dx
cena
jeff hardy

hated
undertaker
boogeyman
& edge

[Von Hooligan]

Loved:
Hogan (I was 3)
Boss-Man
Jake the Snake
Bushwhackers (earliest memory is me getting out of my buggy as a toddler and doing the Bushwhackers march with my big bro)
Ted DiBiase

Hated
HBK (Everything about him wound me up, my bro used to sing his theme to p**s me off)
Brother Love
Rick Martel

[johnnyk9]

I could not stand Shawn Michaels as a kid, he was like HHH was during his reign of terror just plain annoying