3 Superstars who didn't watch WWE growing up, and 3 that were hardcore fans

For many fans who watch WWE, they will have at some point dreamed of becoming a Superstar. It's a dream that almost all of us have had at some point, and though most of us will never enter the ring, there will be some that will.

Many of today's Superstars will have grown up watching WWE during their childhoods and will have been inspired by the Superstars they idolized growing up, helping shape them into the champions they are today.

With that said though, there are some Superstars who didn't grow up watching WWE (either by choice or by the actions of others), but still found a place in the Sports Entertainment juggernaut.

Here are three Superstars who didn't watch WWE growing up, and 3 that were hardcore fans.

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#3 Didn't watch: Kurt Angle

Angle competed in his farewell match against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35.

When Kurt Angle joined WWF in late 1999, fans weren't sure what to think about it. The Olympic hero had won a gold medal at Amateur Wrestling in the 1996 games in Atlanta, and many were worried that the real athlete wouldn't be able to mesh with the Superstars of WWF.

Of course, Angle did mesh well and has since become one of WWE's most beloved stars, despite not being that bothered about the product before signing. Angle came from a family of wrestlers and he saw professional wrestling almost as a sideshow act that wasn't worthy of his respect. But he soon found out it wasn't as easy as he expected during his WWE tryouts, as Angle has admitted in a WWE Network special that he nearly quit during his tryout, but soldiered on, and was eventually signed.

#3 Hardcore fan: Finn Balor

Balor as the first-ever WWE Universal Champion in 2016.

It shouldn't take a genius to figure out that even before Finn Balor joined WWE, the Irishman loved wrestling. On the indies, Balor made a huge name for himself as Prince Devitt, competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling and loved wrestling from an early age in his native Ireland.

As a child, Balor originally didn't watch WWE, but only because the only wrestling available to him at the time was World of Sport:

"That was kind of the British wrestling that was still on TV back home in Ireland at the time," he told SLAM! Sports in 2015. "It wasn't until I was about eight or nine that Sky (TV) came to Ireland and we got WWE."

Hooked, Balor would spend the rest of his life working to become a wrestler and gain a legion of fans in the process.

#2 Didn't watch: Alexa Bliss

Bliss is the first Superstar to win the RAW and SmackDown Women's titles.

A five-time WWE Women's Champion, Alexa Bliss has been one of the company's most prominently featured stars since her call up to the main roster in July 2016. Entering her first two WrestleManias as champion, the Petite Powerhouse was the host of this year's event, despite not being allowed too much WWE growing up.

To be fair to Little Miss Bliss, this was because of her parents, who didn't take kindly to their daughter showing some attitude during the appropriately named Attitude Era.

"I wasn’t allowed to watch the Attitude Era because my mom told me to clean my room once and I was like, I have two words for you."

Despite being banned from watching, Bliss' love for wrestling would never wain, as she has gone on to become one of WWE's biggest stars in 2019.

#2 Hardcore fan: Sasha Banks

The Boss wore an Eddie Guerrero-themed attire for WrestleMania 32.

Though she hasn't been seen in WWE in quite a while, Sasha Banks remains a loyal fan of the company and wrestling as a whole. This love for the industry has been a large part of the Boss' life for many years, as the former RAW Women's Champion grew up loving WWE, even saying on an episode of Talk is Jericho that she wanted to be "the female Eddie Guerrero."

This admiration for Latino Heat is well-known and has been incorporated in her ring-work, as Banks often uses the Frog Splash during matches. At the 2018 Royal Rumble, Banks met with Eddie's widow Vickie Guerrero, and spoke about her childhood idolizing the former WWE Champion:

"Wrestling is the only thing I've ever loved. I really feel like wrestling saved my life. But Eddie was the first person I ever saw on TV and I was instantly hooked and I knew right when I saw him, that I wanted to do exactly what he did."

#1 Didn't watch: Batista

The Animal had a great career in WWE but didn't watch the product growing up.

From 2002 until his recent retirement at WrestleMania 35, Batista had an incredible career. Joining the company as the deacon of Reverand D-Von, the Animal would later join Evolution, splitting from the group to win his first of six World Championships at WrestleMania 21, and having a truly Hall of Fame-worthy career.

But before joining the industry, Batista didn't care about wrestling when he was younger. Speaking recently with Ryan and Kelly, the Animal said:

"I actually wasn’t [into wrestling] at first. I actually got into it because I was broke and I was looking for a way to make money."

This plan clearly paid off for the Animal, as Batista would become one of WWE's biggest stars of the 2000s, and his time in the ring would give him the exposure to launch his successful acting career.

#1 Hardcore fan: Kevin Owens

A young Owens posing in his Y2J shirt, years before the two would work together in WWE.

One of the hottest things in wrestling today, Kevin Owens' rise to Superstardom has been a long time coming. Before the Prizefighter joined WWE in December 2014, Owens had already made a huge splash on the independent scene and had grown up watching wrestling in his childhood.

Growing up, Owens watched as much WWE content as possible, and reportedly learned English from listening to Jim Ross, as Owens' first language is French, being a citizen of the province of Quebec. Whilst Good Ol' J.R. may not have been the best English teacher (unless your word of the day is Slobberknocker), Owens' persistence paid off, as the former Universal Champion is now considered one of the company's best talkers, as evident in his recent unscripted promos against Shane McMahon on SmackDown Live.