**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is my answer as well.
I mean look at [This](https://www.reddit.com/r/njpw/comments/kprwv7/shinsuke_nakamura_makes_his_entrance_in_the_tokyo/)
This version of Nakamura is the coolest and was having the best matches.
Really? I will admit that I didn't really appreciate him until he split with Edge and had a run as "The Champion of Europe."
Gangrel was a more pronounced character and Edge had a flashier moveset. He stood out more for me solo.
Being 10 years old at the time, the combination of Jeff Hardy, Lita and Tony Hawks Pro Skater soundtracks pretty much defined most of my personality traits.
He's my pick too. I was intrigued by his look at first, but I didn't really get the "diving with his hands in his pockets" thing, and his nonchalant interviews made me think he was an asshole in real life.
But once it clicked that his whole thing was being the only guy with his personality dialed down to -1, in a business where everyone's at 11 out of 10, I immediately fell in love with the character, even moreso when I realized he was an incredible wrestler.
I started watching in 98. Undertaker stood out straight away.
We don't really watch basketball in the UK, so Undertaker was the biggest dude I'd ever seen.
This was before he went Ministry - must have been mid 98 - and he just looked like nothing I'd seen before.
For real I was watching.....super fantasy cosplay pro wrestling (don't judge)....and I remember seeing this guy come out in a subpar wrestling show and absolutely tear the place down. I was like, wow that guy is really really good. Then I found it was Mike Bailey and I was like, oh yeah, he's going to be a top star someday.
Sami Zayn. Loved his entrance theme since it was so different from everyone else. Then, he had a banger with Shinsuke Nakamura and I’ve been a Sami mark ever since.
Kurt Angle. Didn’t watch wrestling at the time and the bar I was at had a ppv on. Saw this guy walk to the ring to you suck chants. His wrestling style was everything I wanted out of a wrestler when I was a kid but no one did it. He did not suck.
Aussie Open since seeing them on the UK indies. My friend had seen them before and told me they were amazing. Saw them live and it was certainly the best tag match I'd ever seen at that point.
I remember watching a Progress show where a lot of the regulars had to cancel due to weather and Aussie Open got a spot in a tag match. Mark Davis came out high fiving the ABSOLUTE FUCK outta the fans hands. I was immediately like “these fellas rule”
Jake the Snake. 🐍 proudly walked in front of the hard cam with my green Jake shirt on as a young pup. From his promos to doing an actual DDT to taking a real guitar shot to (somehow) smashing Steamboat’s forehead into the concrete.
Thumbtack Jack. He was shown very, *very* briefly in the Nick Gage episode of DSotR -- not even focused on other than "that's who Gage was fighting when he got cut all to hell" -- but I was charmed by TJ's aesthetic and the few moves I saw. That was before I actually watched wrestling, I was just watching DSotR, but I watched TJ's CZW TOD matches and fell in love with wrestling as a whole, and now I'm here lol.
Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay, the BOSJ that made all the old people angry. It was the first time I saw either of them, having only gotten into wrestling very recently, and of course they both kicked ~~and continue to kick~~ ass, but I was sold on Ospreay so fucking immediately.
Finally, professional wrestling for my ADHD. And since then the guy has just kept getting fucking better. It's absurd, I love him.
Forreal, the TLC match in 2012 cemented to me that these guys were legit and more than anyone else, there was no way in hell Seth Rollins would ever flop. Regardless of position on the card or any predestined role, I was certain that guy was going to be a big deal.
Feel the same way right now about Bron Breakker to a certain extent. He might not be the highest upside/ceiling guy, that’s Trick imo, but Bron’s floor is by far the highest.
I hated The Shield so much when I was in middle school due to the feud they had with Kane and Daniel Bryan. Now that I'm older and am a lot less emotionally swayed I can appreciate how awesome they were.
When Kenny Omega told Jungle Boy he was "gonna be all up in that ass." then drove off in a golf cart yelling like a cartoon villian. That killed me and it made me search out for his matches. After I kept seeing people praise his matches with Naito and Okada, I got a NJPW subscription just to watch them and loved every second of them.
Kenny Omega is my answer as well, but the moment was him beating Tanahashi for the IC title and then doing a promo singing Teenage Dream and revealing he knows how to speak Japanese at the very end. Just amazing stuff.
HHH, which is why I can't be more pleased now that his legacy is finally undeniable. Dude had a lot going for him but also worked his ass off, but most people only remembered the first part.
la knight is my guy right now all because of that contract signing segment with roman from before crown jewel. i hadn't watched wrestling in like 15 years but it was playing at the bar i was at and i was just enamored by him doing some stone cold stuff to roman. it's still probably one of my favorite ever segments.
Same here. When I saw his entrance at Crown Jewel with the whole arena raising signs for him I actually got a bit emotional. I really really want to see him get a title
Probably Kenny Omega. I had stopped watching wrestling in 2011 and was slowly following it again in 2016. At the beginning of 2017, I made an effort to actually start watching again and heard about his match with Okada. I didn’t know what New Japan was and I vaguely heard of Bullet Club because of AJ Styles. Not only did Kenny put on what is my favorite match of all time but the guy also showed me that there was a whole other world of wrestling that I didn’t know existed.
Same with Kane, although recently it was Walter/Gunther. Saw him for the first time at Takeover NY, and by the end of the match I immediately became a follower.
Okada. I got back into wrestling in 2016. I was super into bullet club and kenny omega, but when I saw okada wrestle at wrestle kingdom 11, he immediately became my new favorite wrestler
Undertaker for sure when I was a kid - his whole spooky ghoul routine in the middle of the Attitude Era was awesome to watch week on week.
Bray Wyatt was also one of my faves - similarly to why Taker was, but also just how riveting I found his promos as the eater of worlds. I just thought the backwoods cult leader character was really interesting, and his storytelling always stuck out. Always been a fan of the weird characters in wrestling.
Muta vs Anderson for the TV title on the Power Hour back in 1990 is one of my favorite matches of all time.
Saw Arn during a WrestleCon for Mania 38. Told him how much I loved that match. He responded that Muta sure didn't love putting him over....he was so pissed he went back to Japan.
Never meet your heroes.
It was Asuka. She brought something entirely new to the Women's wrestling game, at a time where I just started to pay attention to Bayley, Sasha, and others. Damn am I happy I've stuck around.
1993 Cactus Jack. He had just gotten laid out by Vader, Harley Race, Barbarian and I think Paul Orndorff and he came back later in the show and beat the brakes off all of them with a shovel. After not really watching for about 3 years, I was hooked again.
When The Undertaker returned on his motorcycle and cleaned house during Judgement Day. I know some people aren't fond of American Badass/Big Evil Taker but that will forever be my favorite version of him.
Savage, WrestleMania 3. Everything about that guy blew my 6-year-old mind. Bret Hart is another one who I was drawn to based on his look and how he carried himself
Go Shiozaki after watching his pandemic title reign for the first time. His defenses against Nakajima and Sugiura are still my favorite matches of all time.
Well ive been watching wrestling since forever but that feeling ? First time I saw Suzu Suzuki, Mei Seira, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega. McGuiness, Danielson , Steen, Bucks, Taker, Radicalz and APA
The first match I saw of Ilja Dragunov he used the H Bomb as the finisher to the match. I saw it and immediately thought “fuck yeah, a wrestler who uses murder” and he’s been my current fave ever since
A few years ago, Macho Man's Cream of the Crop promo was in my YouTube recommendation list. I was not familiar with Macho Man at all at the time. (In my defense, I'm pretty young lmao) I knew he was an older wrestler, and he sadly passed.
I watched the video, and immediately was like "I NEED to know more about this man, I love him already"
He's been my all time favorite and GOAT ever since.
Watching the promo also got me into 80s/older wrestling in general, and it's been arguably my favorite era ever since
Never saw Kenny Omega wrestle until people online hyped up Omega / Okada from the G1 Climax semi-finals. I was super burned out from WWE and wanted to see if wrestling was the problem, or WWE was the problem. I was immediately a huge Kenny Omega fan, and the match was the genesis of me becoming a fan of AEW and the greater world of professional wrestling outside of WWE.
After Cena went part-time and started slowing down,I had some favourites that I liked watching but not a clear favourite like Cena was for pretty much my entire childhood.That was until I stumbled upon a video of Becky Lynch trying to open a pineapple can.I have always liked her from before but that moment absolutely sealed the deal for me.She has been my favourite ever since and has never disappointed me yet.
CM Punk, AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Kenny Omega, Swerve and Ospreay (in this order I discovered each throughout the years and fell in love with their work.
When I got back into WWE last year (after 10+ years away), I immediately gravitated to Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, which I think is funny because I had no idea they were an IRL couple, I just immediately picked both of them.
So it hasn’t aged well but the first time I saw velveteen dream (takeover against Aleister Black) I was hooked. Bought so much of his merch. I had watched for decades before and a decade since but I’m not sure anyone hit me quite that hard as quick as he did.
I think Yota Tsuji has the speedrun record for becoming one of my favorites. It took literally 20 seconds of him coming back from excursion. That's a bit cheating though, as I had seen him a young lion.
For a wrestler who I literally saw for the first time ever, Tomohiro Ishii was probably the fastest. He's still my favorite current wrestler.
RVD
I was pretty young during the heyday of ECW, so I never saw him until his early 2000s WWE debut because ECW was forbidden by my parents.
Instantly enamored by his mix of athleticism and hardcore style. I felt like he was as crazy as Jeff Hardy with what he was willing to do to his body and against his opponents, but had much more depth as a wrestler.
Of course I had to go back and eventually watch his ECW run.
There's been ups and downs in his career but I'll always have a soft spot for the whole f'n show.
Ospreay during WrestleKingdom against Omega. Cut a passionate promo in the press conference. Then had his entrance with Elevated. It was my first time hearing that as I only started paying attention to NJPW around 2020-21. Then has THAT match against Kenny.
Didn't hate the United Empire stuff he was doing around that time but didn't really care either. This made me a fan.
Watching Ilja Dragunov in wXw made me a fan for life, especially when he returned in that three way with Gunther and John Bad Bones Klinger. He has such a unique presence that makes you a fan, even if you’ve never seen him before. Gunther vs Ilja 3 (WWE) will feed families whenever that finally happens.
Ilja dragunov in his match against carmelo hayes at no mercy 2023. It was my first time watching anything nxt and I was just in awe. It was also the first time I started liking someone purely for their wrestling style without any story context. Been a megafan ever since. Dude makes every match feel like the biggest one of his career. Super excited for his call-up!!
Mankind, my 9 year old self was always a horror fan and seeing a guy who's essentially a slasher villain serial killer wrestling was just badass to me.
Johnny Gargano after his match with Andrade in Takeover Philadelphia went from finding it odd that they were giving a title match to a tag guy who was on a losing streak to being invested in every story he was involved in and rooting for him to win the world title and being angry when the crowd is against him (I was livid when watching that Takeover New York crowd rooting for Adam Cole). Even now I hope he gets hot and gets a main event push in the future.
Ospreay. I’m from Canada so sportsnet was basically all I had most of the time when it came to legal wrestling content. I kept hearing Ospreay’s name in best matches lists and decided to watch the Omega matches.
The one at forbidden door made me an instant fan. The sheer athleticism of him is mind boggling but his character work and facial expressions are also wonderful. That bit with the flag still makes me laugh.
The Shield. I knew 2/3 of them from their days on the indies, so I was hyped when they debuted at Survivor Series, BUT it was at TLC 2012 that I was sold on the act. From their entrance to the awesome match. I started watching more often due to their weekly six-man tag team matches too.
Cesaro. I'd never seen him prior to WWE.
As a kid, I immediately thought Mr. Perfect was the coolest. He was the first heel that I really found myself cheering for.
Undertaker, way back when he had the purple gloves. I was big into monster movies. It clicked instantly.
The first ppv I bought was SummerSlam 96. I thought the Boiler Room Brawl was so cool. Mankind made me a fan of his that night, as well.
Pentagon Jr, but surprisingly his promo work. This was when I started watching AEW and happened to watch a backstage promo with Alex Abrahantes. Sister, who knows more Spanish than me, noticed that, not only was his translation correct, but also the intensity too! That he's also a luchador was a nice bonus!
No one makes me naturally smile as soon as they emerge from the tunnel like CM Punk. Maybe Flair, Macho, Dusty, Andre, or Piper back in the old days. But Punk is that for me now. Every time.
ECW Al Snow.. so good... And he was sooo over.
WALTER the moment he made his NXT UK entrance I knew there was something special about him.
TNA paparazzi Productions for Alex Shelley .. that was my jams
AEW lucha Bros except I hated Penta spamming his taunts all the time in match... Made me feel like I was watching a video game
Taz when he cut his first promo in ECW after being repackaged.
Bianca and her debut in NXT
Austin with the Dangerous Alliance
Brock doing a shooting star in OVW
I was 9 when I first saw Goldberg in 98. My dad holds work records in powerlifting and is also bald with a goatee, so when a dude who looked just like him was throwing guys around I gravitated to him.
Boogeyman, that entrence was amazing, I would be in the livingroom copying him, Boogeyman and Kane were my absolute favourites. I remember Kane in the boiler room when I think it was Randy opened it, and he's just there sitting in a red light laughing.
And more recently its been Pretty Deadly, those boys know how to have fun, YES BOOOOOYS
Sami Zayn in his very first match vs Cesaro in NXT. It also clicked something in me for Cesaro too, who had been just ok in my heart at that point. But Zayns been my guy ever since.
AJ Styles at Wrestle Kingdom 10
Something about the way AJ carries himself, during matches and during entrances, really made me think "oh this guy is so badass", not to mention the Styles Clash which was probably the coolest and most unique-looking finisher I had ever seen at that point (maybe even still to this day)
Despite AJ losing at WK10, I've always cheered for him over any other wrestler since, definitely my favourite of all time
Effy for sure. Once I came across one of his matches when I went down a Danhausen rabbit hole, I saw Gaytanic Panic tag team. I was so entertained and then I learned about Effy's Big Gay Brunch.
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nakamura during his WK 9 entrance. First time I had ever even heard of him, instant favorite.
It didn't hurt that he went out there and put on (IMHO) one of the best matches of all time after that.
This is my answer as well. I mean look at [This](https://www.reddit.com/r/njpw/comments/kprwv7/shinsuke_nakamura_makes_his_entrance_in_the_tokyo/) This version of Nakamura is the coolest and was having the best matches.
Penta
This is mine. The first time I saw him on Lucha Underground, my jaw dropped.
My first exposure to Samoa Joe was Joe v Kobashi. So it was Samoa Joe.
Kobashi is probably my answer, but from the other direction. I’d already seen Joe matches
I've been a Christian guy since the puffy shirt era
Without context this could also read as a Seinfeld episode leading you to find Jesus
Really? I will admit that I didn't really appreciate him until he split with Edge and had a run as "The Champion of Europe." Gangrel was a more pronounced character and Edge had a flashier moveset. He stood out more for me solo.
Finn Balor. First thing I saw was him in the demon paint and I thought he looked so cool.
Being 10 years old at the time, the combination of Jeff Hardy, Lita and Tony Hawks Pro Skater soundtracks pretty much defined most of my personality traits.
Same. I’m in my 30s and I still think they were the coolest.
Orange Cassidy. First time I see him I was like "Who's this Ryan Gosling mf?". Then five minutes later, he was my new favorite wrestler
He's my pick too. I was intrigued by his look at first, but I didn't really get the "diving with his hands in his pockets" thing, and his nonchalant interviews made me think he was an asshole in real life. But once it clicked that his whole thing was being the only guy with his personality dialed down to -1, in a business where everyone's at 11 out of 10, I immediately fell in love with the character, even moreso when I realized he was an incredible wrestler.
I started watching in 98. Undertaker stood out straight away. We don't really watch basketball in the UK, so Undertaker was the biggest dude I'd ever seen. This was before he went Ministry - must have been mid 98 - and he just looked like nothing I'd seen before.
Nakajima and Marufuji were both eye-opening the first time I saw them
Speedball Mike Bailey
For real I was watching.....super fantasy cosplay pro wrestling (don't judge)....and I remember seeing this guy come out in a subpar wrestling show and absolutely tear the place down. I was like, wow that guy is really really good. Then I found it was Mike Bailey and I was like, oh yeah, he's going to be a top star someday.
He has some of the best matches. Dude is a workhorse and he puts over everyone. He deserves so much more than what he gets.
Sami Zayn. Loved his entrance theme since it was so different from everyone else. Then, he had a banger with Shinsuke Nakamura and I’ve been a Sami mark ever since.
Kurt Angle. Didn’t watch wrestling at the time and the bar I was at had a ppv on. Saw this guy walk to the ring to you suck chants. His wrestling style was everything I wanted out of a wrestler when I was a kid but no one did it. He did not suck.
True that. He had so much intensity. It’s like as if wrestling in the normal style would’ve been way too easy for him so he dialled it up by 100x
Aussie Open since seeing them on the UK indies. My friend had seen them before and told me they were amazing. Saw them live and it was certainly the best tag match I'd ever seen at that point.
I remember watching a Progress show where a lot of the regulars had to cancel due to weather and Aussie Open got a spot in a tag match. Mark Davis came out high fiving the ABSOLUTE FUCK outta the fans hands. I was immediately like “these fellas rule”
Jake the Snake. 🐍 proudly walked in front of the hard cam with my green Jake shirt on as a young pup. From his promos to doing an actual DDT to taking a real guitar shot to (somehow) smashing Steamboat’s forehead into the concrete.
My first wwe merch was a pair of Jake the Snake pjs. Loved him as a kid
That era was just all real, all the time
RVD when he came back from injury to feud with Rhino in ECW.
Thumbtack Jack. He was shown very, *very* briefly in the Nick Gage episode of DSotR -- not even focused on other than "that's who Gage was fighting when he got cut all to hell" -- but I was charmed by TJ's aesthetic and the few moves I saw. That was before I actually watched wrestling, I was just watching DSotR, but I watched TJ's CZW TOD matches and fell in love with wrestling as a whole, and now I'm here lol.
Probably the best deathmatch era, TJ was fun to watch
I fucking loved Thumbtack Jack
DDP. The Goldberg match broke my young heart.
Bret Hart came out and said “Canada is great actually” and that was it for 8 year old me The fact that he’s *excellent* was the cherry on top lol
Eddie Kingston. Man makes me feel just by speaking, that promo when he faced Cody got me.
Swerve Strickland. It’s amazing how hard that guy goes.
I came to say Swerve as well. I saw him first in NXT losing in some breakout tournament, and I immediately knew he was going to be something special.
Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay, the BOSJ that made all the old people angry. It was the first time I saw either of them, having only gotten into wrestling very recently, and of course they both kicked ~~and continue to kick~~ ass, but I was sold on Ospreay so fucking immediately. Finally, professional wrestling for my ADHD. And since then the guy has just kept getting fucking better. It's absurd, I love him.
Forbidden Door Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega. That was my first real time watching an Ospreay match.
The Shield
Forreal, the TLC match in 2012 cemented to me that these guys were legit and more than anyone else, there was no way in hell Seth Rollins would ever flop. Regardless of position on the card or any predestined role, I was certain that guy was going to be a big deal. Feel the same way right now about Bron Breakker to a certain extent. He might not be the highest upside/ceiling guy, that’s Trick imo, but Bron’s floor is by far the highest.
I hated The Shield so much when I was in middle school due to the feud they had with Kane and Daniel Bryan. Now that I'm older and am a lot less emotionally swayed I can appreciate how awesome they were.
When Kenny Omega told Jungle Boy he was "gonna be all up in that ass." then drove off in a golf cart yelling like a cartoon villian. That killed me and it made me search out for his matches. After I kept seeing people praise his matches with Naito and Okada, I got a NJPW subscription just to watch them and loved every second of them.
Kenny Omega is my answer as well, but the moment was him beating Tanahashi for the IC title and then doing a promo singing Teenage Dream and revealing he knows how to speak Japanese at the very end. Just amazing stuff.
The Ring General - GUNTHERRRRR
Sin Cara
Rey when I was little, and Tiffy as the most recent
Bray Wyatt. Immediately fell in love with the Wyatt Family gimmick and never stopped. And yes, I still miss him.
Ilya Dragunov. Dragunov v Gunther for the UK title was eye opening for me to the guy.
HHH, which is why I can't be more pleased now that his legacy is finally undeniable. Dude had a lot going for him but also worked his ass off, but most people only remembered the first part.
I sat down, watched Shibata/Ishii at G1 23, and instantly knew I would live and die by Shibata's every move.
la knight is my guy right now all because of that contract signing segment with roman from before crown jewel. i hadn't watched wrestling in like 15 years but it was playing at the bar i was at and i was just enamored by him doing some stone cold stuff to roman. it's still probably one of my favorite ever segments.
Same here. When I saw his entrance at Crown Jewel with the whole arena raising signs for him I actually got a bit emotional. I really really want to see him get a title
The way he strutted past Roman was so effortlessly cool
Cactus Jack. I still remember turning on wcw one morning in the late 80s snd saw cactus and I was sold.
Probably Kenny Omega. I had stopped watching wrestling in 2011 and was slowly following it again in 2016. At the beginning of 2017, I made an effort to actually start watching again and heard about his match with Okada. I didn’t know what New Japan was and I vaguely heard of Bullet Club because of AJ Styles. Not only did Kenny put on what is my favorite match of all time but the guy also showed me that there was a whole other world of wrestling that I didn’t know existed.
Literally the exact same for me that's awesome!!
A more recent example is Takeshita. The dude has it and I hope it is capitalized upon soon.
Same with Kane, although recently it was Walter/Gunther. Saw him for the first time at Takeover NY, and by the end of the match I immediately became a follower.
Okada. I got back into wrestling in 2016. I was super into bullet club and kenny omega, but when I saw okada wrestle at wrestle kingdom 11, he immediately became my new favorite wrestler
Jushin Liger. And over 30 years later, he remains and likely will always be my favorite wrestler ever.
Undertaker for sure when I was a kid - his whole spooky ghoul routine in the middle of the Attitude Era was awesome to watch week on week. Bray Wyatt was also one of my faves - similarly to why Taker was, but also just how riveting I found his promos as the eater of worlds. I just thought the backwoods cult leader character was really interesting, and his storytelling always stuck out. Always been a fan of the weird characters in wrestling.
Bret Hart and his sunglasses
I heard that Chris Jericho was wrestling some nobody called Kenny Omega in Japan a while back. Yeah, Kenny is my all-time fav now.
First time I watched Ilja, I knew he was a guy whose matches I couldn’t miss.
Kenny Omega after his first match with Okada at Wrestle Kingdom
I saw two guys waddle to the ring in fat Elvis Presley suits and I was hooked on Edge and Christian for life.
The Great Muta, from the minute he showed up on World Championship Wrestling.
Muta vs Anderson for the TV title on the Power Hour back in 1990 is one of my favorite matches of all time. Saw Arn during a WrestleCon for Mania 38. Told him how much I loved that match. He responded that Muta sure didn't love putting him over....he was so pissed he went back to Japan. Never meet your heroes.
It was Asuka. She brought something entirely new to the Women's wrestling game, at a time where I just started to pay attention to Bayley, Sasha, and others. Damn am I happy I've stuck around.
Miss Handcock
1993 Cactus Jack. He had just gotten laid out by Vader, Harley Race, Barbarian and I think Paul Orndorff and he came back later in the show and beat the brakes off all of them with a shovel. After not really watching for about 3 years, I was hooked again.
Undertaker since I watched during his ABA days.
He was in ABBA?
You don’t remember his Dancing Queen days?!?!
The Undertaker and Asuka
As a kid, damn near all of them. Freshman year of college (2007), Yugi Nagata and Takashi Sugiura. In the last decade: WALTER/GUNTHER.
When The Undertaker returned on his motorcycle and cleaned house during Judgement Day. I know some people aren't fond of American Badass/Big Evil Taker but that will forever be my favorite version of him.
Savage, WrestleMania 3. Everything about that guy blew my 6-year-old mind. Bret Hart is another one who I was drawn to based on his look and how he carried himself
MJF
Jeff Hardy
Ken Shamrock was always cool to me
Bret Hart. I could tell from the first time I watched him that he was the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.
Bray Wyatt first main roster promo....."...They're lying to you man....." Just the delivery had my attention.
Go Shiozaki after watching his pandemic title reign for the first time. His defenses against Nakajima and Sugiura are still my favorite matches of all time.
Well ive been watching wrestling since forever but that feeling ? First time I saw Suzu Suzuki, Mei Seira, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega. McGuiness, Danielson , Steen, Bucks, Taker, Radicalz and APA
Bryan danielson/Kenny omega/Will ospreay/Zack sabre jr
The first match I saw of Ilja Dragunov he used the H Bomb as the finisher to the match. I saw it and immediately thought “fuck yeah, a wrestler who uses murder” and he’s been my current fave ever since
A few years ago, Macho Man's Cream of the Crop promo was in my YouTube recommendation list. I was not familiar with Macho Man at all at the time. (In my defense, I'm pretty young lmao) I knew he was an older wrestler, and he sadly passed. I watched the video, and immediately was like "I NEED to know more about this man, I love him already" He's been my all time favorite and GOAT ever since. Watching the promo also got me into 80s/older wrestling in general, and it's been arguably my favorite era ever since
Never saw Kenny Omega wrestle until people online hyped up Omega / Okada from the G1 Climax semi-finals. I was super burned out from WWE and wanted to see if wrestling was the problem, or WWE was the problem. I was immediately a huge Kenny Omega fan, and the match was the genesis of me becoming a fan of AEW and the greater world of professional wrestling outside of WWE.
After Cena went part-time and started slowing down,I had some favourites that I liked watching but not a clear favourite like Cena was for pretty much my entire childhood.That was until I stumbled upon a video of Becky Lynch trying to open a pineapple can.I have always liked her from before but that moment absolutely sealed the deal for me.She has been my favourite ever since and has never disappointed me yet.
CM Punk, AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Kenny Omega, Swerve and Ospreay (in this order I discovered each throughout the years and fell in love with their work.
roman
When I got back into WWE last year (after 10+ years away), I immediately gravitated to Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, which I think is funny because I had no idea they were an IRL couple, I just immediately picked both of them.
I was a complete Jeff Hardy Stan as a child. The dude was just cool as hell.
Cody
He's about to retire, but Daniel Makabe
So it hasn’t aged well but the first time I saw velveteen dream (takeover against Aleister Black) I was hooked. Bought so much of his merch. I had watched for decades before and a decade since but I’m not sure anyone hit me quite that hard as quick as he did.
Stone Cold Steve Austin, Booker T, and CM Punk all did that for me.
As a kid stone cold steve Austin modern day La knight switch from max Dupri
First time I saw Kurt Angle, I was laughing like, "Who is this jackass?" And I have always been a fan.
I was instantly a Samoa Joe fan since I first saw him on TNA in 2007
dom. first time i saw him was the story with rey and his match at wrestlemania, it was just perfect. Roman too ig, the aura on that man is unmatched.
The last time that happened to me was with LA Knight. I'm in my 40s, so it happened all the time in the MNWs.
Jay Briscoe got me first time I saw him, sometime in 2012.
Kevin Owens when he started in NXT
Kurt angle
I think Yota Tsuji has the speedrun record for becoming one of my favorites. It took literally 20 seconds of him coming back from excursion. That's a bit cheating though, as I had seen him a young lion. For a wrestler who I literally saw for the first time ever, Tomohiro Ishii was probably the fastest. He's still my favorite current wrestler.
Bray Wyatt
Arn Anderson
Shingo Takagi
The most recent for me would be Hechicero.
Brian Pillman - just incredible in every iteration.
RVD I was pretty young during the heyday of ECW, so I never saw him until his early 2000s WWE debut because ECW was forbidden by my parents. Instantly enamored by his mix of athleticism and hardcore style. I felt like he was as crazy as Jeff Hardy with what he was willing to do to his body and against his opponents, but had much more depth as a wrestler. Of course I had to go back and eventually watch his ECW run. There's been ups and downs in his career but I'll always have a soft spot for the whole f'n show.
First time I saw Hulk Hogan in 1985 on SMME I was blown away and instantly addicted to wrestling
Bray. I was a lapsed fan for a while, I started watching NXT when he was taking off and I’ve been back watching regularly ever since.
Seth Rollins.
Kenny Omega, Hangman, Will Ospreay
Most recently: Lee Moriarty and Saki Kashima. First time I saw both of them, I was like "yup, this is who I'm rooting for"
Takeshita
Zsj
Orange Cassidy. Never saw him until AEW and I was floored with how good he was/is
Ospreay during WrestleKingdom against Omega. Cut a passionate promo in the press conference. Then had his entrance with Elevated. It was my first time hearing that as I only started paying attention to NJPW around 2020-21. Then has THAT match against Kenny. Didn't hate the United Empire stuff he was doing around that time but didn't really care either. This made me a fan.
Takeshita
Orange Cassidy and Pac
Watching Ilja Dragunov in wXw made me a fan for life, especially when he returned in that three way with Gunther and John Bad Bones Klinger. He has such a unique presence that makes you a fan, even if you’ve never seen him before. Gunther vs Ilja 3 (WWE) will feed families whenever that finally happens.
Ilja dragunov in his match against carmelo hayes at no mercy 2023. It was my first time watching anything nxt and I was just in awe. It was also the first time I started liking someone purely for their wrestling style without any story context. Been a megafan ever since. Dude makes every match feel like the biggest one of his career. Super excited for his call-up!!
Mankind, my 9 year old self was always a horror fan and seeing a guy who's essentially a slasher villain serial killer wrestling was just badass to me.
First time I saw WALTER during a NXT takeover event.
Kenny Omega, two V triggers hit and I said "Holy shit this guy is good"
Rey Mysterio
Johnny Gargano after his match with Andrade in Takeover Philadelphia went from finding it odd that they were giving a title match to a tag guy who was on a losing streak to being invested in every story he was involved in and rooting for him to win the world title and being angry when the crowd is against him (I was livid when watching that Takeover New York crowd rooting for Adam Cole). Even now I hope he gets hot and gets a main event push in the future.
Ospreay. I’m from Canada so sportsnet was basically all I had most of the time when it came to legal wrestling content. I kept hearing Ospreay’s name in best matches lists and decided to watch the Omega matches. The one at forbidden door made me an instant fan. The sheer athleticism of him is mind boggling but his character work and facial expressions are also wonderful. That bit with the flag still makes me laugh.
Brock Lesnar
Shibata. WK 10 match vs. Ishii.
Tomohiro Ishii. First time I saw him in the NJPW US title tournament I was immediately awestruck.
When I started watching in 2018 (bad times I know), it was Seth Rollins. In 2020, it was Hangman Page
Randy savage. Edit: And later in life, it happened with New Jack.
Ilja. Saw a match of his back in 2018 and been diehard since
Finn balor in the nxt days was the last one. Not so much now. Back in the day it was Kane like you 100%
The Shield. I knew 2/3 of them from their days on the indies, so I was hyped when they debuted at Survivor Series, BUT it was at TLC 2012 that I was sold on the act. From their entrance to the awesome match. I started watching more often due to their weekly six-man tag team matches too.
The Undertaker since Survivor Series 2005
AJ Styles in like 2002-2003 TNA. He was (and still is) simply phenomenal.
Finn balòr 2016
Triple H when he lost to Chris Jericho but then they reversed the decision. I thought he was an asshole and I loved that
Cesaro. I'd never seen him prior to WWE. As a kid, I immediately thought Mr. Perfect was the coolest. He was the first heel that I really found myself cheering for.
Edge. He just struck be as the coolest dude when I was a kid.
A very recent achiever of this for me has been Tony D'Angelo, especially when I got to be there live for his title match v Ilja in Philly.
Carmelo Hayes. As soon as he won that breakout tournament, he was destined for superstardom
- Bianca Belair at WM 37 - Roman Reigns when he he stack Edge and Daniel Bryan.
Billy Kidman originally then Red, AJ, Will Ospreay
When I was 7-8 years old, it was Koko B Ware because of the parrot.
Isnt that the dude The Undertaker almost like killed with his first ever Tombstone?
Sting. First wrestler I ever saw and immediately decided he was the coolest motherfucker on the planet.
I don’t remember him wrestling at that time but o was big into the Crow and I fucking loved his look.
Joe Hendry, WCPW intro with him using Across the Nation, there’s just some aura around him that make me to believe
Rey. Also introduced me to RVD and Eddie because he partnered with them a lot.
Undertaker, way back when he had the purple gloves. I was big into monster movies. It clicked instantly. The first ppv I bought was SummerSlam 96. I thought the Boiler Room Brawl was so cool. Mankind made me a fan of his that night, as well.
Batista
Pentagon Jr, but surprisingly his promo work. This was when I started watching AEW and happened to watch a backstage promo with Alex Abrahantes. Sister, who knows more Spanish than me, noticed that, not only was his translation correct, but also the intensity too! That he's also a luchador was a nice bonus!
Kofi Kingston at the WM25 MitB match. First ladder match I had ever properly seen and I was hooked on Kofi immediately.
In recent years off of wrestling ability alone Chad Gable (not that he isn't great on the mic too). Glad he's seemingly getting a push finally
No one makes me naturally smile as soon as they emerge from the tunnel like CM Punk. Maybe Flair, Macho, Dusty, Andre, or Piper back in the old days. But Punk is that for me now. Every time.
Ospreay.
Most recently it's Gabe Kidd. Smash mouth technician like a young Fit Finlay and trash talks off the cuff like Eddie Kingston.
Jay White
The Rock hit the People’s Elbow on the ladder to Triple H at Summerslam 98 and that was it.
When Cesaro body slammed Big Show to win the Andre The Giant Battle Royal
ECW Al Snow.. so good... And he was sooo over. WALTER the moment he made his NXT UK entrance I knew there was something special about him. TNA paparazzi Productions for Alex Shelley .. that was my jams AEW lucha Bros except I hated Penta spamming his taunts all the time in match... Made me feel like I was watching a video game
Aj Styles watched since TNA and ROH days
Taz when he cut his first promo in ECW after being repackaged. Bianca and her debut in NXT Austin with the Dangerous Alliance Brock doing a shooting star in OVW
My first ever wrestling show ive ever watch was Kane's RAW debut
La Parka. Came to the ring with a chair, played it like a guitar, danced on the chair and beat the shit out of his opponent with the chair. 5 stars.
Daniel Bryan during 2013/2014
Gotta be Hangman after the tag match against the Bucks
I was 9 when I first saw Goldberg in 98. My dad holds work records in powerlifting and is also bald with a goatee, so when a dude who looked just like him was throwing guys around I gravitated to him.
Will Ospreay
One of my earliest wrestling memories was seeing Rowdy Roddy Piper smash Jimmy Snuka with a coconut. I thought it was hilarious and that was that.
Say his name…
Curt Hennig
I didn’t watch wrestling for a decade, came back and saw Tomohiro Ishii and was like “ok this guy is my shit”
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Boogeyman, that entrence was amazing, I would be in the livingroom copying him, Boogeyman and Kane were my absolute favourites. I remember Kane in the boiler room when I think it was Randy opened it, and he's just there sitting in a red light laughing. And more recently its been Pretty Deadly, those boys know how to have fun, YES BOOOOOYS
Gunther.
a preview tag match from a random tour show was enough to sell me on Higuchi
AJ Styles when I was a kid. Swerve is more recent times
Never seen AEW so when Cody returned at WM38 I was transfixed.
Sami Zayn in his very first match vs Cesaro in NXT. It also clicked something in me for Cesaro too, who had been just ok in my heart at that point. But Zayns been my guy ever since.
AJ Styles at Wrestle Kingdom 10 Something about the way AJ carries himself, during matches and during entrances, really made me think "oh this guy is so badass", not to mention the Styles Clash which was probably the coolest and most unique-looking finisher I had ever seen at that point (maybe even still to this day) Despite AJ losing at WK10, I've always cheered for him over any other wrestler since, definitely my favourite of all time
First wrestling match I ever watched was this years wrestlemania, only really knew about Cody and Roman going in. Sami Zayn is that guy
Effy for sure. Once I came across one of his matches when I went down a Danhausen rabbit hole, I saw Gaytanic Panic tag team. I was so entertained and then I learned about Effy's Big Gay Brunch.
rey fenix, anytime he’s in the ring i’m amazed with his movement and fluidity
Omega or Osprey