WWF LiveWire

Premiering on September 21, 1996, in its initial format, LiveWire was broadcast live, and took fans' phone calls, letters, and faxes and respond to them on the air. This was the first WWF program to feature such an "interactive" element. The show was used to summarize the past week in the WWF and/or conduct interviews with current WWF stars, and allowed the fans to give their own opinions on what they saw, or ask questions of the in-studio guests.

Notable callers

Vince Russo made his WWF television debut on LiveWire, under the alias "Vic Venom" (the pseudonym under which he wrote articles for WWF Magazine). On another occasion, during a short-lived cross-promotional angle involving ECW-contracted talent "invading" WWF shows, Paul Heyman, using the alias "Bruce from Connecticut," called in to LiveWire to deliver a (worked) shoot promo on the state of the WWF at the time. Faarooq also debuted the concept of the Nation of Domination on LiveWire.

Change in format

Eventually, due to various factors (including an apparent inability by the WWF to decide whether they wanted the audience-participation elements to break kayfabe or not), LiveWire reverted to becoming a standard "week-in-review" recap show, similar to what Mania had been before it. After Pettengill left the WWF, Michael Cole began hosting LiveWire until July 2000 when he was succeeded by Jonathan Coachman. Coachman continued to host (with Cole filling in) up until its cancellation on August 18, 2001.

A similar show, AM Raw, debuted on USA Network on Saturday mornings in 2006. It is limited to recaps of the week's RAW-branded events.

United Kingdom

Livewire also replaced Mania in the United Kingdom, in 1997. The UK Version aired Saturdays at 1.00PM on Sky One, recapping RAW is WAR. In 1999, Livewire continued recapping RAW IS WAR, and also began recapping Smackdown!, as well as Livewire's sister show, Superstars were the only two places where UK Viewers could watch the matches from Smackdown!, until January 2000. Although Livewire and Superstars merged together to create WWF Excess, which was also shown in the UK, Livewire continued to air in the UK until being replaced by a new RAW Highlight show, The Bottom Line.

Legacy

In some ways, the original LiveWire format was carried on by the WWE's webcast, Byte This! (currently on hiatus), which included live call-in segments during in-studio interviews.