The professional wrestling world has historically been filled with programs that have become synonymous with the era that they were broadcast in. For years, WCW Monday Nitro and WWF (WWE) Monday Night Raw battled for ratings, with the winner each week usually declared the best wrestling organization on the planet.
With those two shows dominating the Nielsen ratings, others like Smackdown and Thunder would spawn to add extra hours of wrestling to the already jam-packed programs of wrestling fans. Those programs will forever have a place in the hearts of wrestling fans, both new and old, but there are other shows that may have been forgotten as the years continue to fly by.
10 Shotgun Saturday Night
As the WWF moved toward a new era, Vince McMahon attempted to change the landscape of Saturday Night television by creating “Shotgun” Saturday night. Initially taking place in night clubs and train stations throughout the NY metropolitan area, Shotgun was edgy and made for the enjoyment of adult audiences.
Before Raw became the flagship show of the attitude era, the launching pad took place on Saturday night, with the show serving as a trial run for edgier WWF programming in the late 1990s.
9 Confidential
WWE confidential was a show hosted by the late, great “Mene” Gene Okerlund and featured some behind the scenes stories. The show lasted for several years, and was known to walk the line between storylines and real-life events and issues of the superstars on the roster at the time.
Though it had a short shelf life, it was the influence for shows that were produced by the company later on, and gave fans a sneak peek behind the curtain before most fans started getting their information from the internet.
8 Livewire
Livewire was a Saturday morning staple for many WWF fans and was initially hosted by the infamous Todd Pettengill. Livewire was “interactive,” and allowed fans to call in questions about the current storylines at the time.
The show lasted for nearly half a decade, although it drifted away from its initial format and became a weekly recap show in the later years. At one point, Shane McMahon's wife, Marissa Mazzola, also took up co-hosting duties.
7 Prime Time Wrestling
Before Monday Night Raw was a thing, Prime Time Wrestling ruled the airwaves for many, many years. While the show went through many incarnations and format changes, it will forever be associated with the iconic duo of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon serving as hosts.
The show mostly featured replays of recent matches, with Heenan providing the heel perspective and Monsoon serving as the face. Sadly, the show ended in the early part of 1993 but would forever leave a lasting impression on some of the older fans, even though many fans forgot that it existed.
6 Jakked
For those who didn’t have plans or social life on Saturday nights in the late 1990s, Jakked was available to provide an hour of excitement. While many of the main event stars of the time didn’t routinely make appearances, it did showcase some of the performers who weren’t able to get screen time on Monday nights.
Looking back, some will also realize that many current stars, such as A.J. Styles, The Hardy Boyz, Samoa Joe, and more were first introduced to WWE fans on this show.
5 Wrestling Challenge
Wrestling Challenge was the highlight of many children’s mornings on the weekend.
An abundant amount of bowls of cereal were had during the program, and although the bigger names like Hulk Hogan or Randy Savage were rarely featured outside of recap segments, fans around the world were still treated to matches that featured such iconic superstars as “Iron” Mike Sharpe, Barry Horowitz, and the Brooklyn Brawler.
4 Hardcore TV
ECW wasn’t as well-known and didn’t become a quasi-household name until the promotion had some of its wrestlers appear on WWF programming in addition to reaching a deal to have its programming broadcast on TNN. Before then, ECW Hardcore TV was found on different stations, mainly in the Northeast.
It also wasn’t out of the question for viewers to find ECW at the most inconvenient time, such as 3 am one week, and 1 am the next, making it virtually impossible for those yearning to hear the voice of Joey Styles to sync a VCR plus. Tragically, Paul Heyman and TNN had a falling out, especially when Vince McMahon and the WWF reached an agreement with Viacom to have its programming make the move from the USA Network.
3 Worldwide
While WCW Worldwide went through many transformations throughout the years, it is known by most fans for its "studio" days when the show resonated from Disney before making its final move to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Even though some fans were naive enough to believe that they could catch a glimpse of high-profile members of the New World Order and World Championship Wrestling, most were left disappointed, especially since lower-tiered wrestlers like Vincent, Jerry Flynn, and Villano IV were routinely in action on the program.
Although fans may not have appreciated what they had during the shows lengthy tenure, there is likely a large number who would love one more hour of Worldwide, or any other WCW program, for that matter.
2 Main Event
When WWE fans hear the term "main event," they generally think of the Saturday night show that took place on NBC in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With many kids receiving special permission from their parents to stay up that late, matches featuring the Junkyard Dog, Randy Savage, and Ricky Steamboat took place.
However, after the promotion resurrected the franchise over a decade ago, Main Event eventually transformed into a watered-down weekly show. After a few botched attempts on several television stations, the show can still be "enjoyed" on Hulu, which is a surprise to those who thought that the series had been canceled.
1 Saturday Night
Although many older fans fondly remember WCW Saturday Night, many younger and casual fans may not have quite remembered. While the show originally was WCW's most important program on the Turner networks, it quickly lost its luster upon the creating of Monday Nitro and, subsequently, Thunder.
Nonetheless, the program may have had one of the coolest sets in wrestling history in addition to an opening theme and video package reminiscent of the Terminator movies.