10 Archived Wrestling Websites You Need To Visit
Dust off your 56k modem and read up on Kevin Nash's big sexy chat room!
What you put online stays there forever. The wrestling world is no different, provided you know where to look.
Despite the sale of WCW and ECW, fans yearning for the wrestling boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s can still visit these promotions' defunct websites in all their glory. That's right, reports of their death have been greatly exaggerated. And they're not the only blast from the sports entertainment past available for your amusement.
Even active websites like those for Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, and Scott Steiner allow us a glimpse through the sands of time. But how, you ask? Through the miracle of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (https://archive.org/web), which captured a slew of wrestling websites in their early prime, and fans can now work themselves into a nostalgic shoot.
To say they don't look pretty is putting it mildly, yet these websites harken back to the simpler days before Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Back then, all we needed was a dial-up modem and a poster of Sunny on our bedroom wall. Everything else was gravy. Take us back, if only for a moment!
It's time to strap yourself in, and put your helmet on. Mom, don't you dare pick up that phone.
We're surfing the web at a snail's pace, bay bay!
10. WWF.com (Date Of First Capture: June 2, 1997)
Where else would we start? Every legend has a beginning, after all. This one kicks off after America Online named WWE's Sunny the most downloaded woman on the internet.
The original WWE website is an incredible relic of life before Vince McMahon and co. got the F out. Straddling the New Generation and Attitude Eras, WWE's initial forays onto the internet captured the company as it was losing its stranglehold on the industry to WCW. One look at this website, and you'll know why.
Much like staring at the sun, the WWE website's orange background and yellow font will forever sear your brain and probably scar your retina. Avoid looking directly at this one, if at all possible.
It's not a complete disaster, though. There's still fun to be had. In its earliest form, you can even register to become one of the site's beta testers. Don't all apply at once, everyone!
There's also plenty of Raw previews and articles building up to WrestleMania XIV, which cemented the Attitude Era and began WWE's march back to ratings dominance. We can't overstate the importance of this moment in WWE history, that's for sure.
It's just a shame it had to look this terrible on our monitors.