bobholly138 Posted March 1 Posted March 1 First wrestling event I went to was tail end of 74. I was 5 months old. Parent's dropped me off at my paternal grandparents place. It was Saturday which meant grandparents were going to the Gulfport Armory for a GCCW show. First one I remember was that first time Mid South ran Biloxi. So 81? Been to 1 WM. 2 WCW PPVs,Beach Blast 92 and 93. All I really want to do now is a trip to Mexico for a lucha event. 8
cwoy2j Posted March 2 Posted March 2 This was the first show I ever went to. I remember being in awe of seeing The Road Warriors live. JCP @ Richmond, VA – Coliseum – July 3, 1987 (8,500) Misty Blue pinned Kat Laroux The Italian Stallion pinned Mark Fleming The Barbarian pinned Todd Champion; the Barbarian was cheered in the match UWF TV Champion Eddie Gilbert pinned Kendall Windham by grabbing the tights for leverage Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, & Buddy Roberts defeated Ivan Koloff, Manny Fernandez, & Vladimir Pietrov when Gordy pinned Pietrov Steve Williams pinned Dick Murdoch after hitting him with his arm cast; after the bout, UWF TV Champion Eddie Gilbert and Murdoch double teamed Williams until Terry Gordy made the save Barry Windham defeated Big Bubba via count-out in a Louisville Streetfight NWA Tag Team Champions Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson defeated NWA US Tag Team Champions Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match; fall #1: Morton & Gibson won at the 30-second mark; fall #2: Eaton & Lane won after Big Bubba interfered; fall #3: Morton & Gibson won via disqualification after Bubba dropped Morton with the sidewalk slam NWA US Champion Nikita Koloff pinned Arn Anderson The Road Warriors defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair & Lex Luger via disqualification when Flair hit Road Warrior Hawk with JJ Dillon’s shoe Dusty Rhodes defeated NWA TV Champion Tully Blanchard in a non-title I Quit steel cage match after taking JJ Dillon’s shoe and grinding it into Blanchard’s face 3
cwoy2j Posted March 2 Posted March 2 (edited) I went to this card and it had a pretty wild Abdullah vs. Cactus Jack match. The 1500 attendance figure is quite generous and I remember Cactus taking some insane bumps on concrete. I was in the lower section near the wooden barricades and Abdullah hiptossed Cactus through the barricade. I remember the whole thing broke and he just splatted onto the concrete like 5 feet away from me. Then they brawled to the back afterwards and apparently the UVa basketball team was having a team meeting or something and Cactus and Abdullah brawled into the locker room where they were. My dad was tight with the ushers and arena staff so I got to go backstage for a few minutes before the show and I met Todd Champion and Firebreaker Chip. They were the only guys milling around at the time so they were the only guys I got to meet. Super nice guys and I remember those guys being massive. I got to go inside the ring for a minute and I jumped off the second rope. I just remember it hurting like a mofo when I hit the mat. I'm sure that when you guys were kids, you all heard the "yeah it's just a bunch of springs and soft mats under the canvas and it doesn't hurt when they fall" bullshit people said back then. I was able to dispel that myth for all of my 7th grade friends after that. WCW @ Charlottesville, VA – University Hall – February 1, 1992 (1,500) Firebreaker Chip fought Marcus Alexander Bagwell (sub. for Diamond Dallas Page) to a time-limit draw Todd Champion pinned Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker at 7:37 with the flying back elbow Big Josh pinned Joey Maggs with the sit-down splash at 6:15 Johnny B. Badd pinned Ricky Morton at 9:56 with a sunset flip into the ring Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Tracy Smothers & Vinnie Vegas (sub. for Steve Armstrong) at 11:30 when Smothers was pinned following the bulldog double team off the top Abdullah the Butcher pinned Cactus Jack at 7:42 with an elbow drop WCW US Champion Rick Rude defeated Ricky Steamboat via disqualification Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, & Ron Simmons defeated Larry Zbyzsko, WCW Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton in a steel cage match at 18:00 when Windham pinned Zbyszko; the cage stipulation was not previously advertised for the match Edited March 2 by cwoy2j 1
SirSmUgly Posted March 2 Posted March 2 What's the most successful "losing streak to get someone over" angle? What is the most entertaining one of those angles? They can be the same answer. I feel that the first of those questions will get a near-unanimous answer from this crowd, but the second one probably won't.
mystman Posted March 2 Posted March 2 29 minutes ago, SirSmUgly said: What's the most successful "losing streak to get someone over" angle? What is the most entertaining one of those angles? They can be the same answer. I feel that the first of those questions will get a near-unanimous answer from this crowd, but the second one probably won't. Would DDP losing everything then heroically standing up to the NWO count? I don't remember if he had an actual losing streak, but it's one of the best redemption stories in wrestling. 2
Technico Support Posted March 2 Posted March 2 (edited) 1 hour ago, cwoy2j said: This was the first show I ever went to. I remember being in awe of seeing The Road Warriors live. JCP @ Richmond, VA – Coliseum – July 3, 1987 (8,500) Misty Blue pinned Kat Laroux The Italian Stallion pinned Mark Fleming The Barbarian pinned Todd Champion; the Barbarian was cheered in the match UWF TV Champion Eddie Gilbert pinned Kendall Windham by grabbing the tights for leverage Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, & Buddy Roberts defeated Ivan Koloff, Manny Fernandez, & Vladimir Pietrov when Gordy pinned Pietrov Steve Williams pinned Dick Murdoch after hitting him with his arm cast; after the bout, UWF TV Champion Eddie Gilbert and Murdoch double teamed Williams until Terry Gordy made the save Barry Windham defeated Big Bubba via count-out in a Louisville Streetfight NWA Tag Team Champions Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson defeated NWA US Tag Team Champions Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match; fall #1: Morton & Gibson won at the 30-second mark; fall #2: Eaton & Lane won after Big Bubba interfered; fall #3: Morton & Gibson won via disqualification after Bubba dropped Morton with the sidewalk slam NWA US Champion Nikita Koloff pinned Arn Anderson The Road Warriors defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair & Lex Luger via disqualification when Flair hit Road Warrior Hawk with JJ Dillon’s shoe Dusty Rhodes defeated NWA TV Champion Tully Blanchard in a non-title I Quit steel cage match after taking JJ Dillon’s shoe and grinding it into Blanchard’s face This was the tour where Flair worked tags (six man and regular) because he was hurt. I was at the Baltimore show on this tour a few nights later, which featured some of the most carny bullshit you've ever seen. Dusty was wrestling Tully in the main, a barbed wire match. The show went long and we were approaching curfew. Fans were getting antsy. Would we miss the main event and ask for refunds? Capetta got on the mic and announced that we had no need to worry, as the city had EXTENDED THE CURFEW! We would get our main event in its entirety! Well Dusty and Tully got in the ring, Tully tried to hit Dusty with the something (belt? chair?), Dusty ducked and hit, I think, the big elbow, and pinned Tully. The match went maybe 20 seconds. So quite obviously, there was really no curfew extension and the arena management told them, "get your shit done and get out. We're not getting fined for you." Tremendous. Edited March 2 by Technico Support 1 1
twiztor Posted March 2 Posted March 2 1 hour ago, SirSmUgly said: What's the most successful "losing streak to get someone over" angle? What is the most entertaining one of those angles? They can be the same answer. I feel that the first of those questions will get a near-unanimous answer from this crowd, but the second one probably won't. i feel like #1 has to be Mikey Whipwreck, right? that poor kid took a seemingly unending series of beatings and the crowd was 100% behind him after that. It even led him to a world title run. for most entertaining, my mind turns to Gillberg, although it may not have strictly been a "losing streak to get someone over" 2
Web Conn Posted March 2 Posted March 2 First show I ever went to was Monday Night Raw July 2, 2001. The infamous Booker T vs Buff Bagwell. My brother and myself were WCW fans so we were pumped for it. In retrospect 1. They should have went with a clean finish and 2. waited a week until they were in Atlanta. That’s really all I remember besides the opening in ring segment with Kurt and Austin having a hug off with Vince and my dad yelling they were kiss asses and flipping both men off and I remember the end of the show when Linda catches Vince with his pants down. 3
Sublime Posted March 2 Posted March 2 The first event I went to was a house show with this line up Singles Match Jim Brunzell vs. The Mountie Tag Team Match The Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly & Blake Beverly) vs. The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) Singles Match The Undertaker vs. Jim Duggan Singles Match Animal vs. Typhoon Singles Match El Matador vs. The Warlord Singles Match The Big Boss Man vs. Irwin R. Schyster Singles Match Jake Roberts vs. Randy Savage i have no recollection of the warlord//Tito or Bossman/IRS matches and the Animal/ Typhoon match was suppose to be a LOD/Natural Diaasters match and I was very disappointed because Hawk and Earthquake were my favs of each team and I got the other two (guessing hawk was suspended or in no condition to perform). The Mountie was advertised as facing Texas Tornado but instead we got Brunzell having to be cattle prodded. Jake and Macho was awesome. 1
Marcel Posted March 2 Posted March 2 My first show was at the Michigan State Fair in the summer of '85. Detroit took to WWF's national expansion in a big way - Sheik's territory had been dead for ages by 1985 so I think any sustained effort by a solid crew would have taken hold. I got into them at age 10 because I happened to stumble across Tito Santana regaining the IC belt from Greg Valentine one Saturday morning when I was flipping channels. Hooked immediately. My folks took my brothers to go see Sheik, Bobo Brazil, Pampero Firpo, etc. 10 years before that so they pretty much shrugged and said, "Okay, it's his turn now." WWF @ Ferndale, MI – State Fairgrounds – August 28, 1985 (around 30,000) King Kong Bundy defeated Tony Garea Adrian Adonis defeated George Wells Ivan Putski defeated the Missing Link Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid defeated the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff George Steele defeated Steve Lombardi The Junkyard Dog defeated Bob Orton Jr. via disqualification WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated WWF Tag Team Champion Greg Valentine at 11:30 3
zendragon Posted March 2 Posted March 2 4 hours ago, SirSmUgly said: What's the most successful "losing streak to get someone over" angle? What is the most entertaining one of those angles? They can be the same answer. I feel that the first of those questions will get a near-unanimous answer from this crowd, but the second one probably won't. Jericho moving up to heavyweight and then turning heel in frustration is most entertaining. Bob Backlund in WWF in the 90's might be most successful it lead to him winning the title 1
Kevin Wilson Posted March 2 Posted March 2 I've talked about it before but one of my greater life annoyances (I have a simple life) is I can't find the card for one of the first wrestling shows I went to. I did find my literal first, a WCW House Show in 1989, but sometime in 1990ish I saw a wrestling show outdoors at Langley Speedway in Hampton, VA. The only things I remember is that the Nasty Boys and Ricky Steamboat were there, and it rained really hard and the wrestlers were just trying to do their spots as safely as possible. By the end they just brawled outside the ring the whole match since the ring was too slippery. Very low attendance from my memory, mostly just chairs at ringside. It was not a WCW/NWA event, my thought from research is that it was a South Atlantic Pro Wrestling show as both Steamboat and the Nasty Boys wrestled for them in 1990. But can't find the card. Just remember it being a wild experience. 2
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 2 Posted March 2 First wrestling show I attended as a little kid WWF House Show Date: 04.03.1989 Promotion: World Wrestling Federation Type: House Show Location: Providence, Rhode Island, USA Arena: Providence Civic Center Attendance: ca. 6.700 Singles Match Tito Santana vs. King Haku Singles Match The Brooklyn Brawler vs. The Red Rooster Singles Match The Honky Tonk Man vs. Bret Hart Tag Team Match The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) vs. The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau) Singles Match Mr. Perfect vs. Hercules Singles Match Koko B. Ware vs. Nikolai Volkoff Tag Team Match Jake Roberts & The Ultimate Warrior vs. The Heenan Family (Andre The Giant & Rick Rude)
Mister TV Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Here's my first card, I was a few weeks shy of my 7th birthday and deemed old enough to go! WWF @ Pittsburgh, PA – Civic Arena – June 18, 1982 The Hangman pinned Pedro Torres at 4:50 with a knee to the mid-section as Torres charged the corner Baron Mikel Scicluna pinned Miguel Feliciano at 7:40 with a knee drop after catching him coming off the top and hitting a knee to the chest Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito fought Chief Jay & Jules Strongbow to a draw in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match at 15:45; fall #1: Fuji pinned Jules at the 45 second mark after throwing salt in his face while Saito distracted the referee; fall #2: Jules defeated Saito with a sleeper at 10:05; fall #3: the two teams fought to a double disqualification when all four men began brawling in the ring and referee Rich Szczypinski was hit several times WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Blackjack Mulligan in a Bunkhouse Match at 12:50 when guest referee Gorilla Monsoon stopped the match due to blood after Backlund busted Mulligan open and repeatedly hit it with the title belt; both men were permitted to bring one weapon to the ring for the bout, which would be placed in their corner for future use; Backlund chose his title belt while Mulligan brought a spiked-ball hammer Jimmy Snuka pinned SD Jones at 17:50 with an inside cradle after avoiding a third consecutive tackle Tony Atlas pinned Adrian Adonis at 14:20 with a splash after Adonis hit the corner Ivan Putski pinned Greg Valentine at 14:00 when Valentine failed a powerslam, with Putski falling on top for the win Yes Blackjack Mulligan basically brought a mace to the ring! Looking back it's weird that Snuka who was challenging Backlund in July won this night in a fluky kind of way. 1
Web Conn Posted March 2 Posted March 2 The 2nd show I went to was Mania 19. Now how many shows have I been to? Id have to write it out. 1
SovietShooter Posted March 2 Posted March 2 The first live wrestling show that I attended; September 6th, 1987 at Riverfront Coliseum: Attendance: ca. 4.000 ::::Sika defeats Jerry Allen ::::Ron Bass defeats SD Jones ::::The One Man Gang defeats The Junkyard Dog ::::WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Hulk Hogan (c) defeats Killer Khan ::::Brutus Beefcake defeats Hercules ::::Paul Orndorff defeats King Kong Bundy ::::Strikeforce (Rick Martel & Tito Santana) defeat The Islanders (Haku & Tama)
Elsalvajeloco Posted March 2 Posted March 2 4,000 in Riverfront Coliseum (the present day Heritage Bank Center) and Hogan is on the bill? That seems way down from what you would expect.
zendragon Posted March 2 Posted March 2 First wrestling Event I ever went to HHH and Rock where alternating main events against Austin. I believe Austin and HHH where on broken skull radio talking about how they could event hear each other in the ring
Swift Posted March 3 Posted March 3 WWF @ Dublin, Ireland – Point Depot – April 21, 1993 (4,000) Virgil defeated Terry Taylor Doink the Clown (Keirn) (sub. for Razor Ramon) defeated Tito Santana Rick & Scott Steiner defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Ted Dibiase & IRS via disqualification The Bushwhackers defeated the Beverly Brothers Tatanka defeated Papa Shango The Undertaker defeated Yokozuna via disqualification Bret Hart defeated Bam Bam Bigelow I was 12 and really only remember seeing Undertaker and Bret Hart to be honest. We were sitting fairly well back in the stands but for every wrestler entrance and exit we'd see hordes of kids run to the aisle to try to get a handslap from a wrestler. We were begging my dad to let us do it but he was (rightfully) not having any of it. Anyway, after Bret's match, excitement got the better of me and I made a run down to ringside, my dad shouting at me in the distance. I make it to ringside as Bret is doing his rounds. I'm jostling with others, arm outstretched and... my fingers just missed Bret's. So disappointed and I got in trouble for it too. Fast forward years later and I live in Calgary so I've stumbled across Bret randomly a couple of times. Once was at a Chapters. As we were walking in we were wondering why the parking lot was so busy only to get inside and see a long lineup of people getting their copies of his autobiography signed by him. I'm not one for chatting to strangers and at this point I was out of wrestling fandom so I didn't bother buying the book and joining the queue. Last time was a couple years ago picking up someone at the airport on a quiet evening. Suddenly I noticed he was just wandering around where I was sitting in arrivals. It was a bit of a sad sight unfortunately. He looked really worn down, physically and mentally. Maybe he'd just gotten off a long flight but he looked very tired and a little bit lost. Noticeable wear and tear on his body by the way he was walking/hobbling. It was really sad seeing a childhood hero appear so beaten down 3
twiztor Posted March 3 Posted March 3 (edited) 6 hours ago, Kevin Wilson said: I've talked about it before but one of my greater life annoyances (I have a simple life) is I can't find the card for one of the first wrestling shows I went to. I did find my literal first, a WCW House Show in 1989, but sometime in 1990ish I saw a wrestling show outdoors at Langley Speedway in Hampton, VA. The only things I remember is that the Nasty Boys and Ricky Steamboat were there, and it rained really hard and the wrestlers were just trying to do their spots as safely as possible. By the end they just brawled outside the ring the whole match since the ring was too slippery. Very low attendance from my memory, mostly just chairs at ringside. It was not a WCW/NWA event, my thought from research is that it was a South Atlantic Pro Wrestling show as both Steamboat and the Nasty Boys wrestled for them in 1990. But can't find the card. Just remember it being a wild experience. i did find this show from summer '90 at the Langley Speedway. This site shows that there were thunderstorms that day. https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&show=356637 Edited March 3 by twiztor 1
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted March 3 Posted March 3 6 minutes ago, twiztor said: i did find this show from summer '90 at the Langley Speedway. This site shows that there were thunderstorms that day. https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&show=356637 Oh jeez, memory unlocked - my brother went to that show after guilt-tripping my uncles because he wanted to see Ricky Steamboat. I'll have to ask him what he remembers the next time I talk to him. 1
JLowe Posted March 3 Posted March 3 My first live show was the June 16, 1998 WWF Raw is War taping in Austin, Texas. Biggest thing is this was Edge’s debut match, and it was cut short when he hurt Jose Estrada on a flipping rope dive where he jammed Estrada’s neck (we thought he might be paralyzed at the time). The card: Ken Shamrock defeated Mark Henry in the King of the Ring 1998 First Round Match (4:37) X-Pac (w/Chyna) defeated Dustin Runnels (5:31) Jeff Jarrett (w/Tennessee Lee) defeated Marc Mero (w/Jackie) in the King of the Ring 1998 First Round Match (4:31) Kane defeated The Road Dogg (w/Billy Gunn) (4:02) Edge defeated Jose Estrada by Count Out (1:07) Dan Severn defeated Owen Hart in the King of the Ring 1998 First Round Match (2:56) The Rock defeated Triple H (w/Chyna) in the King of the Ring 1998 First Round Match(8:06) Mankind defeated Billy Gunn (w/Chyna) (5:40) Dark Match: Steve Austin (c) defeated Mankind to retain the WWF Championship Since then, I’ve been to two lucha shows in Mexico (including Arena Mexico), 3 AEW shows (2 in Austin, one in Philly but not at 2300), one Austin indie show (free Inspire Pro show), and the DEAN~! show in New Jersey. 3
Casey Posted March 3 Posted March 3 (edited) Quote WWF Sunday Night Heat 6/20/1999 Attendance: 12, 651 Dark: Kurt Angle def. Terry Hoit (Cagematch says Teddy Hart) Dark: Vic Grimes def. Tracy Smothers Shotgun Saturday Night taping: Val Venis def. Meat Matt & Jeff Hardy def. D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry Edge & Christian def. Droz & Albert WWF IC Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Al Snow Sunday Night Heat LIVE Mr. Ass def. Kane, Ken Shamrock & The Big Show Chyna def. Road Dogg, X-Pac & Hardcore Holly Chyna def. Mr. Ass I believe this was an early birthday present for me, I'd be turning 11 a few weeks after this. We had nosebleed seats for this. I got grounded for chanting "Give Him Head" at Debra when she took away Head from Al Snow. It's wild to me that they sold 12k tickets for a fucking Sunday Night Heat show. Edited March 3 by Casey 2 1
odessasteps Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Kurt Angle vs Teddy Hart sounds like something for the Vault to post.
Bustronaut Posted March 3 Posted March 3 (edited) 1 hour ago, Stefanie Sparkleface said: Oh jeez, memory unlocked - my brother went to that show after guilt-tripping my uncles because he wanted to see Ricky Steamboat. I'll have to ask him what he remembers the next time I talk to him. This is always the best thing. I got my sister to talk about AWA wrestling for a couple hours because I knew she'd gone to a couple shows at the high school a couple blocks away since she had a teenage crush on Tito Santana (and apparently Brad Rheingans?!) eta: I don't think my sister has seen any kind of wrestling since 1983 Edited March 3 by Bustronaut 1
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