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Okay, the first time you saw WWWF, WWF, or WWE programming?

2K views 25 replies 26 participants last post by  tbm98 
#1 · (Edited)
So when did you see the WWWF, WWF, WWE, product for the first time?

So I was a fan of the old school territory scene, and as an avid Apter mag follower I knew about the WWWF. so I went on vacation in 84 (I was a teenager) and back then there was this thing called the MSG network that would show stuff on cable (which was relatively new itself) including the WWF house shows from there.

So I was in a condo in Daytona and I see this house show where Sgt Slaughter is in the main event against the Iron Shiek. I had read that they were feuding and knew both but seeing it live, it was a game changer.

Suddenly I understood the WWF was taking over. The very next week WWF Superstars debuts on a Sunday, on the local UHF station in Nashville. I faked a sickness to skip church and see Andre the Giant. By the end of that very month the WWF is in Nashville running house shows,

it was just crazy how fast it happened.
 
#5 ·
IIRC, sometime in 1993.

Can't remember the name of the show but it aired in syndication on Saturday nights at 12:30, right after SMW on my (then) local ABC affiliate.

Only thing I vividly remember from that first viewing was some angle with Kamala turning face and aligning with Slick and something about the Natural Disasters splitting up.

Later that year, my brother's friend began loaning him VHS tapes of WWF PPV from the past, such as Summerslam '89 and '90, Wrestlemania 6, 7 and 8 and Royal Rumble '91 and '92.

That's when I became a fan of WWF and since I didn't have USA and the syndicated show was preempted after a few months, I relied on tape trading for the next 5 years until my cable provider made USA available.
 
#10 ·
The first match I watched on a weekly show was Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Spark Plugg. The first I ever saw of WWF was a tape of Survivor Series 1994. Yokozuna made Taker look like God or the Devil himself but I was impressed with Chuck Norris when he held back the entire gang of Yoko. The other guy that impressed me was Owen with his duplicity when he made their mom throw in the towel. I found HBK/Diesel segment funny. The Lawler/Doink family match was hilarious at that time.

Then I devoured all I could get in both directions of time (old tapes as well as weekly shows) and space (other promotions/tapes).
 
#11 ·
I was given a tape of Wrestlemania VII, I don't even know why I was specifically given this but I watched it and I loved it, the first ever match I saw was The Rockers Vs Haku and The Barbarian and I loved it, I guess it was that match that hooked me as if it had have been shit, who knows if I'd have hooked onto the product.

I was then given the Royal Rumble 91 from that year too, which is where Rick Martel held the record and I remember loving the whole concept of the match and still to this day it's my favourite PPV of the year.

The rest they say, is history :)
 
#12 ·
Around 92/93ish I think but I only remember vague bits and pieces now - Seeing Bigelow, Razor Ramon, IRS, Yokozuna, collecting WWF cards, buying an annual, seeing Luger on the cover of WWF magazine etc. I get flashes of seeing Vader and Sting in WCW and that sky blue ring around the same time. The earliest point I can vividly rememer week to week tv is like 97/98 when I became fanatical though.
 
#18 ·
Was at a friends place and they had rented Royal Rumble 1993, so many characters got me hooked. Had never seen anybody look as impressive like Lex Luger, scary like the Undertaker, cool like the bad guy Razor Ramon, who would become my favorite superstar growing up and of course the Royal Rumble match itself was just an awesome sight to see for any 5 yr old.
 
#19 ·
For me it was the May 26th, 1990 Episode of Superstars of wrestling. . I was a ten year old flipping the channels in between my Saturday morning cartoons and I happen to stumble upon Hulk Hogan being interveiw by brother love and I had remembered this man in yellow from the sat morninG cartoons just three years before, and I remember in between the commercials of those cartoons, the real, life wrestlers would come out and do a real quick live skit ... I remembered Hogan from there, and who didnt know hogan back in the 80's even if u wernt a wrestling fan... All of a sudden "earthquake" comes from behind, and destroys hogan !!! I was in awe, I had never in my life seen such a thing, such "real life" drama.. the way the people came to his aid.. the way the tv announcer (vince) was like "oh my god, oh my god"... It blew my freakin mind away as a ten year old. After that I just had to tune in to see what was gonna happen next week.. Ive been hooked ever since. For me wwf/wwe grew up along side me. As I became a teen, it to became a new generation. As I was 18, wwf attitude era 1998 was right along with me. Im still here till this day.
 
#21 ·
#24 · (Edited)
1963​

Willie Gilzenberg, President of the newly formed World Wide Wrestling Federation, announces that the first World Heavyweight Champion of the WWWF is Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, and presents him with the championship belt on Thursday night Capitol Wrestling TV.

I believe that this was the first telecast of the WWWF even though it was shown on the regular Capitol Wrestling TV show. In fact, this was the telecast where we found out that there was a new company. Gilzenberg didn't come right out and say anything about the NWA, but made it clear that the WWWF was an independent company that did not recognize the Toronto screwjob where Rogers was forced to put over Lou Thesz in a one fall match.

- Mike
 
#26 · (Edited)
It was 1998. I believe I stopped watching around 2007-2008, and then off and on, and currently seems like weekly but now off and on again. I remember the drive of the VHS tapes, toys and appearel being sold, still was and probably is and maybe moreso with social media today ("WWE Universe/Network). I also watched WCW at the time and ECW. Played video games of course. I remember each early game I played from WWF in Your House, a WCW game and from Smackdown Here Comes the Pain. Every VHS. Those were good times. Of course what's interesting to think is that each of us remember a time when we started watching how better and maybe worse it has become, or remember our first times watching it and became fans. Some say WWE today is trying to appeal more family friendly to what it was in the early 90s and won't go back to Attitude Era/Ruthless Aggression while some say they like seeing the wrestlers that were once in Attitude/Ruthless Aggression, and again some say they like how it is today with the "new" wrestlers and/or wrestling matches without so much blood and "weapons." (guess it's saved for the PPVs!).
 
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