List of WWE television programming
The following is a list of former WWE television programming. It includes programming produced under the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) banners.
1950s
Heavyweight Wrestling (1950s–1971)
The very first programming in what was then the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (the WWWF's immediate predecessor) was Heavyweight Wrestling. The show featured wrestlers of low card to main event status. Following an episode's final match, the ring announcers would announce the matches for next week's broadcast. Most of the events were held in District of Columbia's National Arena. Ray Morgan did the commentary for the show and "Friendly" Bob Freed and "Smiling" Sam Morgan served as ring announcers. Usually the main events featured WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino retaining his title. The show ended In September 1971 and was replaced by All Star Wrestling.
1970s
All-Star Wrestling (1971–1986)
All-Star Wrestling consisted of top-tier or mid-card talent defeating enhancement talent (jobbers), jobbers vs. jobber matches, and at times a "feature" match between main WWF talent. The show was taped at the Hamburg Fieldhouse in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. The show replaced Heavyweight Wrestling from Washington DC. All-Star Wrestling ran from October 2, 1971 through August 30, 1986, when it was replaced by the new program Wrestling Challenge. Challenge was the "B" show of the WWF's syndicated programming, behind Superstars. Typically, the show featured matches narrated by The son of The Chairman and Founder of both the CWC and WWWF and who would later take over the franchise as Chairman in the mid-80s, Vince McMahon with occasional assistance from Lord Alfred Hayes and Pat Patterson; it was later hosted by Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura. From 1984 to 1986, the theme of All-Star Wrestling was David Bowie's "Modern Love".
Championship Wrestling (1969–1986)
Championship Wrestling was one of the original TV shows of the World Wrestling Federation. It featured all the stars of the WWF, interviews and championship matches. The show lasted from 1969 until August 1986 and was the flagship of the WWF's programming until it was replaced by Superstars of Wrestling. In 1984, the show used "Thriller" by Michael Jackson as its opening theme. The host, commentator and announcer for this show through the 1970s was current WWE-owner Vince McMahon.
1980s
All American Wrestling (1983–1994)
WWF All American Wrestling is a cable television program that was a predecessor to Tuesday Night Titans and Saturday Night's Main Event, originally filling the 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time slot on Sundays vacated by the cancellation of Southwest Championship Wrestling. The show ran from September 4, 1983 to October 16, 1994 on the USA Network. After it was canceled in 1994, it was replaced by Action Zone.
Tuesday Night Titans (1984–1986)
Tuesday Night Titans (abbreviated TNT[1]) aired on the USA Network from 1984 to 1986 and was promoted as a variety show.
Wrestling Spotlight (1986–1995)
WWF Wrestling Spotlight was syndicated from 1986 to 1995.[2] The show was hosted by various personalities generally from a studio or control room and consisted primarily of matches from other WWF programming.[2]
Prime Time Wrestling (1985–1993)
WWF Prime Time Wrestling aired on the USA Network from 1985 to 1993. A precursor to Monday Night Raw, Prime Time Wrestling was a two-hour-long, weekly program that featured stars of the World Wrestling Federation. The program featured wrestling matches (most of which were compiled from the WWF's syndicated programs of the era, combined with "house show" matches from venues such as Madison Square Garden), interviews, promos featuring WWF wrestlers, updates of current feuds and announcements of upcoming local and pay-per-view events.
Saturday Night's Main Event (1985–1992; 2006–2008)
Saturday Night's Main Event aired occasionally from 1985 to 1992, under the World Wrestling Federation banner on NBC in place of Saturday Night Live. The show was relaunched in 2006 and continued to air until 2008. During its second run, it was also broadcast on ESPN Radio. At the time of the original airing it was a rare example of professional wrestling being broadcast on an over-the-air commercial Free television network after the 1950s. It coincided with and contributed to the apogee of the "second golden age" of professional wrestling in the United States. In a time when weekly programming consisted primarily of established stars dominating enhancement talent, Saturday Night's Main Event was made up entirely of star vs. star bouts. After leaving NBC in 1991, it aired twice on Fox in 1992 before disappearing. Saturday Night's Main Event was revived in 2006 as a "special series" to air on occasion on NBC as part of a deal between WWE and NBCUniversal.
Superstars of Wrestling (1986–2001)
WWF Superstars of Wrestling is a professional wrestling program that debuted on September 6, 1986 in syndication aired until 2001, by that time having moved to cable. Superstars, as it would later be known, was the flagship of the WWF's programming from its inception until being eclipsed by Monday Night Raw in 1993.
Wrestling Challenge (1986–1995)
WWF Wrestling Challenge aired from 1986 to July 1995 and was syndicated weekly.[2] The show premiered as WWF Wrestling Challenge and became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match interviews, enhancement talent matches, and occasionally, summarized weekly events in WWF programming. As with other syndicated WWF programming, the show promoted WWF event dates and house shows in local media markets.
The Main Event (1988–1991)
WWF The Main Event was a spin-off of the show WWF Saturday Night's Main Event and occasionally aired on NBC on Friday nights. Only the first three The Main Event episodes were shown live on NBC. The final two were taped and then shown on NBC at a later date. Alongside SNME, it usually featured "talent. vs. talent" matches, which were uncommon for the time as most WWF programming aired "talent. vs. jobber" matches.
1990s
Mania (1993–1996)
WWF Mania aired on Saturday morning on the USA Network from January 9, 1993 through September 14, 1996. It recapped events that happened during the week in the WWF at the time,[2] and in its earlier years, it usually featured an exclusive match.
Action Zone (1994–1996)
WWF Action Zone is a program that featured the World Wrestling Federation stars in action. The main event of the debut show saw Bret "The Hitman" Hart defeat Owen Hart to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[2] The second week's main event had Shawn Michaels and Diesel defend the WWF Tag Team Championship against Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid. Action Zone lasted from October 23, 1994 until September 15, 1996. Vince McMahon and Todd Pettengill called the first three episodes; after that, Jim Ross replaced McMahon, with Gorilla Monsoon filling in for Ross on occasion. By the end of 1995, Action Zone became a highlights show[2] that aired Sunday mornings for both Monday Night Raw and Superstars. It was hosted by Todd Pettengill and Dok Hendrix.[2] In 1996, Action Zone was canceled and replaced by WWF Superstars, which had just been removed from syndication.
Sunday Night Slam (1994–1995)
WWF Sunday Night Slam aired three times on the USA Network between August 21, 1994 and March 26, 1995. The program was created to replace the specials run on the USA Network prior to major pay-per-views. The shows were called "SummerSlam Spectacular", "March To WrestleMania", "Survivor Series Showdown", and "Countdown to the Crowning". The WWF revived the show on June 25, 1995 as a 30-minute live countdown show on the PPV channel before that night's King of the Ring. Sunday Night Slam would air before every PPV throughout the remainder of 1995 with the final Sunday Night Slam airing just prior to WWF In Your House on December 17, 1995. Beginning in 1996, Sunday Night Slam was replaced with WWF Free for All.
LiveWire (1996–2001)
WWF LiveWire aired on Saturday mornings on the USA Network from 1996 to 2000 and on TNN from 2000 to 2001. It was a revamp of the WWF's previous Saturday morning show, WWF Mania, and was hosted by Todd Pettengill, who had previously been the host of Mania. Sunny was Pettengill's co-host for its first few months.[2] It started out as an interactive show where viewers were allowed to participate with featured guests. Sometimes other wrestlers would call in to the show to further a storyline.
Friday Night's Main Event (1997)
WWF Friday Night's Main Event aired on the USA Network when Monday Night Raw was preempted on the weeks of August 29 and September 5 in 1997, due to USA's coverage of the US Open.
Shotgun Saturday Night (1997–1999)
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night aired between 1997 and 1999 and was a syndicated show that featured matches with lower card wrestlers. Shotgun Saturday Night was replaced by WWF Jakked in 1999. As a notation, there were various versions of this show that floated around in different markets such as WWF Shotgun and WWF Shotgun Challenge, which were basically the same content just rearranged with different commentary (Shotgun Challenge being specific to the New York market). There were also three other shows with basically the same content, although camera angles, commentary, and local promos were different. Those being Canadian Superstars (hosted By Tom Prichard, Ray Rougeau and - briefly - Gorilla Monsoon), WWF New York (hosted by Vince Russo among others), and WWF 11:Alive.
Heat (1998–2008)
Heat (formerly known as Sunday Night Heat) aired on USA Network, MTV and Spike TV in the United States, Channel 4 and Sky1 in the United Kingdom and CTV Sportsnet in Canada. It was most recently streamed on WWE.com on Friday afternoons for North American viewers. However, the show was still televised internationally and showed in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports 3, Australia on Fox8, India on TEN Sports, Germany on Premiere Sport Portal, France on Action, Spain on Sportmania and C+ Deportes -both channels from Digital +, the Middle East on ShowSports4, the Philippines on Jack TV, and Japan on J SPORTS. The final episode was uploaded to WWE.com on May 30, 2008.[3] The show was replaced internationally with WWE Vintage Collection, a program featuring classic WWE matches.[4]
Super Astros (1998–1999)
WWF Super Astros (English: WWF Superstars) was a program that showed mostly wrestlers of foreign descent wrestle in the WWF that aired from 1998 to 1999 and was mainly used as a way to promote the WWF in Latin American countries. It was hosted by Carlos Cabrera and Hugo Savinovich, who were the Spanish announce team. Interviews were handled by Maria Felipe. The program had a stable of Mexican wrestlers such as El Hijo del Santo and Negro Casas that competed in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, or other promotions around the world. Storylines were created within the program only with the Mexican stars. They competed against the stable in cruiserweight style matches and in AAA and CMLL style matches (mostly tag team and six-man tag). The program lasted a year and a half with its final show airing on September 5, 1999.
Jakked and Metal (1999–2002)
Jakked and Metal both aired syndicated weekly from 1999 to 2002 and replaced the long running WWF Shotgun Saturday Night program. They were replaced by WWE Bottom Line and WWE After Burn in syndication, with the live matches moving to WWE Velocity.
2000s
Excess (2001–2002)
Excess is a wrestling talk (originally call-in) show that featured WWF guest superstars and Divas.[5] It ran from August 25, 2001 through May 18, 2002. It was originally hosted by Jonathan Coachman and Trish Stratus. Stratus, however, was replaced in late 2001 by Terri Runnels.[6] The program showed classic matches from the WWF's archives, many of which were often taken from viewer suggestions. Starting on the April 6, 2002 episode, the first hour of the show stayed under the Excess name, and was hosted by Michael Cole and Marc Lloyd, who presented an hour of SmackDown highlights and news. The second hour was renamed Late Night Excess and was presented by The Coach and Raven. That show featured Raw highlights, though it lasted only over a month as it was replaced by WWE Velocity and WWE Confidential later in 2002.
Confidential (2002–2004)
WWE Confidential was a program that focused more on various behind-the-scenes things in the company. The program aired on TNN late Saturday nights, following Velocity, from 2002 to 2004 and was hosted by Gene Okerlund.[5]
Velocity (2002–2006)
Premiering in 2002, Velocity became to the SmackDown brand what Heat was to the Raw brand. Velocity aired Saturday nights on Spike TV until 2005 and continued (like Heat) as a webcast on WWE.com and continued airing on international broadcasters. Velocity ended its run in 2006.
ECW (2006–2010)
ECW is a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment, based on the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion that lasted from 1992 to 2001. The show's name also referred to the ECW brand, in which WWE employees were assigned to work and perform, complementary to WWE's other brands, Raw and SmackDown. It debuted on June 13, 2006 on Sci Fi Channel in the United States and ran for close to four years until it aired its final episode on February 16, 2010 on the rebranded Syfy.
MSG Classics (2006–2009)
WWE Madison Square Garden Classics is a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment that aired on the MSG Network featuring most WWE matches from house shows, pay-per-views, and WWE Raw broadcasts that took place at Madison Square Garden.[5] It debuted on July 12, 2006 and ran for three seasons until the last new episode aired on September 17, 2008. The MSG Network showed reruns of eight episodes from season three in 2009.
FCW (2008–2012)
FCW was a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment and the flagship show of WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling. The program debuted on October 5, 2008[7] on the Bright House Sports Network and ran for nearly four years before airing it final episode on July 15, 2012.[8]
2010s
Saturday Morning Slam (2012–2013)
WWE Saturday Morning Slam is a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment that was catered to the children's demographic. Saturday Morning Slam aired on The CW Vortexx programming block on Saturday mornings, and was rated TV-G. As a result, moves that targeted the head or neck were banned. It was cancelled in 2013, airing its final episode on May 11, 2013.
WWE Superstars (2009–2016)
WWE Superstars is a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that originally aired on WGN America in the United States and later broadcast on the WWE Network. It debuted on April 16, 2009 and ended its domestic broadcasting after 398 episodes on November 25, 2016.
See also
References
- ^ TNT Show: Tuesday Night Titans (TNT) was the WWF's answer to the Sonny & Cher variety hour, as superstars danced, told jokes, and basically made asses of themselves.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ Josh Mathews blog confirming final episode of Heat
- ^ WWE.com UK television schedule
- ^ a b c Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ Mooneyham, Mike (2008-11-30). "Wrestling diva a woman for all seasons". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ^ "FCW TV #1". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
- ^ "FCW TV #197". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2012-11-14.