When It Comes Crashing Down and It Hurts Inside...

[EmergencyIan]

When I was a kid, my favorite professional wrestler was Hulk Hogan. I remember him before he was even part of the WWF.

Honorable mention goes to: Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Tito Santana, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and The Fabulous Ones.

Who was your favorite wrestler when you were a kid?


- Ian

[The Toyroom]

The Magnificent Muraco

[megomania]

"Playboy" Buddy Rose

He used to say "I DO NOT weight 271 pounds. I weigh a slim, trim 217 pounds"

[kerowack]

As a kid it was Texas tornado, mr. Perfect, ultimate warrior and of course, hogan. I was a huge wcw fan too and Marcus Alexander bagwell and 2 cold Scorpio were favorites....as well as lord Steven regal. As I got older I grew to,love dusty Rhodes nwa stuff, Chris Jericho.

I just read that Marcus bagwell is about to start doing porn. Fun!

[jimsmegos]

Mr. Wrestling II, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Junkyard Dog and theRock N Roll Express - Mid South style. baby!

[EmergencyIan]

Mr. Wrestling II, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Junkyard Dog and theRock N Roll Express - Mid South style. baby!

...with Lance Russell and Dave Brown. That's where I first saw Hogan (and the Junkyard Dog). And, where I was a fan of The Fabulous Ones. Midsouth wrestling used to come to Evansville every week.

- Ian

[torgospizza]

My first stuffed animal as an infant was given to me by Ray Eckert. He'd retired at that point and owned the local Western Auto. Nice guy, but I never got to see him wrestle. We watched All-Star Wrestling which was NWA Central States on Saturday nights. "Bulldog" Bob Brown was my favorite heel. There were always these old ladies on the front row that would just give them the what-for, and one time Bulldog hocked up a loogie and spit it on this grannie. People came unglued. My favorite face was Rufus R. Jones, and I was lucky enough to meet him when I was like five or six. He seemed like a giant, but was actually just an inch or two taller than my Dad. I was also into Omar Atlas. He seemed like a superhero come to life, and was also a luchador in Mexico under the name Super Steele. Later on, when TBS started dominating television wrestling, I started to like Dusty Rhodes a lot, although I'll admit there was a lot of irony there. It was always entertaining listening to him talk.

[Random Axe]

I think my first exposure to wrestling was when we first got cable, maybe 1979? One of our stations was TBS, and they broadcast some rasslin shows, I'm guessing the precursor to WCW. My favorites there was a tag team of Tommy Wildfire Rich and Ted Dibiase. When WWF turned the corner on the market with the rise of Hogan, my favorite guys were Ricky Steamboat, Tony Atlas and of course the Hulkster.

[Mikey]

Superstar Billy Graham !!!

m

[Starroid Raiders Dagon]

My favourite as a kid was Gene Kiniski and Roddy Piper. I remember one stand-out traumatizing time when Piper came out with a bagpipe and was playing for his mom, and Playboy Buddy Rose came and attacked him and busted his bagpipes. I met his mom in the late 90s (Eileen Toomes spl?), and she was telling me about how he was going to become a lawyer but quit school to wrestle. I really got the impression that she didnt know how big a star her son was. I guess it didnt occur to me that she wouldnt be fan of wrestling. I was very excited to tell her my Piper stories, and she seemed happy to hear them.

[johnnystorm]

Bruno Sammartino was the guy when I was little. Never was a big WWF fan, but I did like Rowdy Roddy Piper. My Dad was the wrestling fan big time, he liked Jimmy Snuka and the two hillbilly brothers whose name I cant recall just now.

[4NDR01D]

I was around 8 when the "Rock n Wrestling" era began so I was a fan of Hogan and the WWF wrestlers of the time, although I really liked Rick Martel in AWA too. A few years later I pretty much only cheered for heels. King Kong Bundy was one of my big favs.

[Brown Bear]

Hulkster was my fav as a kid, but when Bret Hart re-formed the Hart Foundation in the 90's it was the best.

[Drzsmith]

I really liked Roddy Piper when he was in the NWA.Then the Legion of Doom when it was paul Ellering,the Road Warriors,Jake the Snake,the Spoiler,Buzz Sawyer,King Kong Bundy and Bob Roop.Also like The Midnight Express with Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane and Jim Cornette.

[madmarva]

I grew up around Memphis, so Jerry "The King" Lawler.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dBfUQ_7-Wog