Saturday Night's Main Event
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event or for short, S.N.M.E., is a professional wrestling TV show that is aired occasionally by World Wrestling Entertainment.
From 1985 to 1991, WWF Saturday Night's Main Event (as the WWE was formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation) aired on NBC in place of Saturday Night Live. At the time it was a rare example of professional wrestling being broadcast on an over-the-air commercial TV network after the 1950s. It coincided with and contributed to, the apogee of the most recent "golden era" of professional wrestling in the United States. It aired only twice the following year (1992) on Fox before dissapearing for over a decade.
Under a new deal with NBC Universal signed in 2005, Saturday Night's Main Event featuring RAW superstars as well as the SmackDown! cast, returned to NBC as a special series that will be held occasionally. The show made its returned to NBC on March 18, 2006 from the Cobo Arena in Detroit. The next edition is set to take place on July 15, 2006 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Announcing team and theme music
For much of its history, S.N.M.E. was hosted by Vince McMahon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura. In 1990, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper replaced Ventura as McMahon's broadcast partner.
The announce team for the 2006 event consisted of Jim Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Tazz.
The theme song for WWF Saturday Night's Main Event was "Obsession" by Animotion. The closing theme was "Take Me Home" by Phil Collins. In 1988, both songs were replaced by instrumental music. During the shows return to NBC in 2006 The theme song "Boom" by P.O.D. was used.
Trivia
- On February 5, 1988, NBC premiered the spin-off, The Main Event. Airing live in prime time from the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. The broadcast featured the WrestleMania III rematch of then-WWF Champion Hulk Hogan vs. André the Giant. The special drew a 15.2 in the Nielsen Ratings.
- Shawn Michaels was the only competitor at the 2006 Saturday Night's Main Event that had appeared in a previous S.N.M.E match. The Undertaker also has appeared on both the new and old versions but was not in a match on the 2006 edition.
- The March 18, 2006 edition of S.N.M.E. was the lowest rated episode in the history of the show, scoring just a 3.2 in the Nielsen Ratings.
- While the March 18 edition was held in Detroit, ironically, the event was not shown in Detroit due to the Pistons/Bobcats game had aired instead.
- On the March 18 edition of S.N.M.E., the WWE logo was at the top right corner of the TV set. The logo is usually at the lower left corner of the set.
- The March 18th edition also marked the first time that WWE has used all white ring ropes, as well as red ring posts.