15 Years of Being a Wrestling Fan

[kittylimits]

One of my earliest memories of being a wrestling fan come from watching the first Monday Night Raw. Honestly, I think I occasionally watched it prior to, but when WWE got their Monday Night Show, as an 8 year old girl with parents who never gave a sleeping curfew, I was hooked.

So who else has been watching since the first Raw? And what are some experiences that being a fan of Raw given you?

I've been to quite a few Raws....like the one where Shane turned on his father, yelling "RESPECT THIS!" and slapping him.

Or the famous Austin riding the Zamboni ... figures ... Hockeytown.

I also got to see a main event of the nWo, Hall, Hogan, and Nash vs. The Rock and Austin. My first taste of beer came from that one, actually, with the Rock and Austin sharing a beer, and the Rock spitting into the crowd...and into my mouth. Yummy.

So Raw has given my quite a few experiences over the past 15 years...from being on the kiss cam with a fellow female friend (who is quite bold might I add) to almost shoving a biatch down the flight of stairs who made fun of me for liking Chris Benoit (how 'bout that).

*sigh* With 15 more years to come, no doubt.

[machinegun]

The thing I remember most is Santino

Raw IS SANTINO

[@TenaciousBe]

I've been watching for years upon years... Raw has only been part of my wrestling experience. But it's weird sometimes to think about 15 years of "Monday night = wrestling." It's so engrained into my head that I never ever forget to record Raw when I go to work on Mondays, even though I generally like Smackdown better and almost never get it recorded. Monday night is just... wrasslin night.

And I hope it never changes.

[Desi]

I've been watching since I was 6, but my first *vivid* memory was the Raw they did on the Roof (I think it was in 1995.)

[MiLB Fan]

I became a wrestling fan in August '92, so I did see the first RAW. In fact, I'm proud to say I missed watching very few shows since then--maybe 10 or so. I was at the RAW where The Patriot beat Bret Hart.

Remember RAW's original tagline of "uncooked, uncut uncensored"? And the RAW girls?

The skit where Undertaker kidnapped Austin and tried to embalm him alive; that was disturbing.

I wish USA would add to the nostalgia factor by bookending tonight's show with Murder, She Wrote and Silk Stalkings.

[THE REDNECK BADASS]

Well congratulations goes out to the ones who is having their 15 year anniversary of following Sports Entertainment anyways for me next year during WM24 will be my 21 anniversary of following this great business

[Tyfo]

I started watching wrestling in the Summer of 1991 (WWF only, I didnt find WCW until early in 1992 after researching were exactly that belt Flair had came from) after one of my friends kept showing me tapes when I was over at his house.

I'll never forget hearing about Raw and then watching the first one. I thought it was awesome.

Actually through all 700 and whatever episodes, I dont believe I have EVER missed a Raw. Sure Ive been unable to see a few live, but I would always tape them and watch them ASAP. And there would be times where I watched Nitro more then Raw in a night, but I was always there.

Its been a fun ride and I look forward to more.

My favorite memory is the Bret Hart vs. 123 Kid match from 1994. I wanted the Kid to win the title so bad that I cried when he lost. Especially since he got so close several times.

I also loved the heel Hart Foundation of 1997 and all the angles around them. Those Raw's in Canada at that time were unreal. They did such a good job with the difference of the shows being in the US or Canada, and the opposite crowd reactions were awesome.

Then theres the Attitude era, and what can you really say that hasnt been said a thousand times before. It was a great time to be a fan.

[Tyfo]

milbfan said:

I became a wrestling fan in August '92, so I did see the first RAW. In fact, I'm proud to say I missed watching very few shows since then--maybe 10 or so. I was at the RAW where The Patriot beat Bret Hart.

Remember RAW's original tagline of "uncooked, uncut uncensored"? And the RAW girls?

The skit where Undertaker kidnapped Austin and tried to embalm him alive; that was disturbing.

I wish USA would add to the nostalgia factor by bookending tonight's show with Murder, She Wrote and Silk Stalkings.

And the Vince McMahon cut in during the Murder She Wrote credits telling us that MONDAY NIGHT RAW IS NEXT!

[Push R Truth]

My first very vivid RAW Memory was the JR interviews with Mankind, "They threw worms at me, and I ate them!"



Before that, it was just time to time seeing it. After that, I was hooked. I always was a big fan, but it was much more casual. But once I saw those JR interviews, I think I've missed like 4 RAWs total.

[krazysane]

My earliest raw memory i have is Hogan coming out and I think saying hes gunna be beefcakes partner or something i dont know. to face money inc at wrestlemania 9

[Miz-Wannabe]

I remember before I had cable and later the internet, I only had a tv that got local channels on it. Smackdown on UPN was my first memory back when they used "The Beautiful People" intro.

[gimmieabreakbrain]

I miss Prime Time Wrestling. No matter if it was with Jack Reynolds and Jesse Ventura to Gorilla and Jesse and to, of course, the greatest duo of Gorilla and Heenan. Untill they started with the live audience and then that lame ass round table shit. But then they started Raw and I liked the Manhatten Center but give me Prime Time over all this anyday.

[Jock Ass]

gimmieabreakbrain said:

I miss Prime Time Wrestling. No matter if it was with Jack Reynolds and Jesse Ventura to Gorilla and Jesse and to, of course, the greatest duo of Gorilla and Heenan. Untill they started with the live audience and then that lame ass round table crap. But then they started Raw and I liked the Manhatten Center but give me Prime Time over all this anyday.

QFT.

[britishbulldog]

I too perfer Prime Time. Even if half of their matches started alread in progress

[Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone]

I actually started watching wrestling in like 1984, but I took a few years off between 1990 and 1993 (I decided to pass on the Max Moon years, I'm sure you all understand). So I actually did not see the first few episodes of Raw.

The first Raw I remember was where "The Kid" upset Razor Ramon. I remember seeing it and being like "This Razor guy seems pretty cool, this should be a fun squash match". Then when Razor lost (and keep in mind, X-Pac was WAY scrawnier back when this happened) I was shocked. So I had to watch the next week, and it all kinda snowballed from there.

[Lancers]

My heart will always be more for Prime Time Wrestling than for RAW. Even though if you tried to pull off a show like that in 2007, I doubt wrestling fans these days would accept a show that hardly ever had main event caliber matches. But Heenan and Monsoon's chemistry is unparalleled. They somehow kept you entertained even if you were stuck having to sit through a Lanny Poffo squash match.

[Kenny Brockelstein]

krazysane said:

My earliest raw memory i have is Hogan coming out and I think saying hes gunna be beefcakes partner or something i dont know. to face money inc at wrestlemania 9

I remember watching that whole angle unfold as a 10 year old kid who was completely enchanted by wrestlng. I was so in to the thing that I think I actually cried when Money Inc destroyed Beefcake's reconstructed face with that briefcase. If somebody did that to Beefcake now, I'd probably mark the hell out. Honestly, crying over a loser like Beefcake...I was a very weird kid.

[Branimal]

My first experience was watching Wrestlemania VI. My Dad rented it one night and he was sitting in the living room watching it as I walked in.

The first match I ever saw was Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Looking back on it, the match wasn't all that great..I'm kind of amazed that it got me hooked on wrestling at all.

That being said, I was 6 years old..so it probably wouldn't have taken much.

[Kevin Hamilton]

This thread makes me feel old.

[phenomphan]

It's been 10 years for me, summer of 1997 to be exact when I was 11 years old. I remember bits and pieces from the early 90's, but it wasn't until 97' that I started watching religiously. Don't remember the first Raw I actually saw, but some of my earliest memories are things like the Pillman/Goldust/Terri Runnels storyline, USA vs. Canada, Bret vs. Stone Cold, Bret vs. Taker, Bret vs. HBK. Since then it's been nothing but great memories. Here's to 15 more years of Raw.