WCW Main Event
WCW Main Event | |
---|---|
Multicamera setup | |
Running time | 60 minutes per episode |
Original release | |
Network | TBS |
Release | April 3, 1988 January 3, 1998 | –
WCW Main Event, originally NWA Main Event, is an American televised wrestling program of
History
Jim Crockett Promotions's NWA World Championship Wrestling, along with its predecessor (Georgia Championship Wrestling), were Saturday night mainstays on TBS for almost 30 years. Throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, these two Saturday night wrestling programs were also complemented with a Sunday night wrestling program titled Best of World Championship Wrestling. The Sunday editions were mostly presented as a magazine format, featuring sit-down interviews with wrestlers and footage from other GCW and JCP television programming. In later years, airings of the Sunday edition became infrequent, as these airings were frequently pre-empted by TBS' coverage of the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks.
In early 1988,
The format for WCW Main Event kept one match that was regarded as "main event caliber" and would almost always feature one of WCW's top stars. Often, two or more matches would be featured, but by 1995 the format for the program slightly changed. Main Event would feature, in addition to its one featured match at the end of the program, matches that had aired on WCW Pro, WCW Saturday Night, and WCW WorldWide earlier in the weekend. When WCW Monday Nitro premiered later in 1995, matches from that program would also be featured.
On pay-per-view nights, Main Event would always air live from the venue where the pay-per-view was taking place and would feature multiple matches involving mid-carders and up-and-coming stars.
Title changes
Throughout the years, WCW Main Event has had numerous title changes.
- The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers) defeated The Patriots (Todd Champion and Firebreaker Chip) to win the WCW United States Tag Team Championship on December 15, 1991 (taped November 5, 1991)
- Ron Simmons and Big Josh defeated The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers) to win the WCW United States Tag Team Championship on February 16, 1992 (taped January 14, 1992)
- The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) to win the WCW United States Tag Team Championship on July 12, 1992 (taped June 25, 1992)
- Ron Simmons defeated Big Van Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on August 16, 1992 (taped August 2, 1992)[3]
- ) to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship on September 25, 1994 (live show)
- Arn Anderson defeated Johnny B. Badd to win the WCW World Television Championship on January 8, 1995 (live show)
- Konnan defeated One Man Gang to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship on February 4, 1996 (taped January 29, 1996)
The WCW gauntlet
In 1989, Turner also added a Friday night (later moved to Saturday mornings) wrestling show called
PPV pre-shows
In the mid-1990s, WCW Main Event would be used as a live pre-show that aired before most WCW pay-per-view events. These special episodes would be used not only to promote the pay-per-view, but also to have special matches - which at any other time would be considered
One episode of WCW Main Event originated live in an outdoor environment: the episode prior to the
Later years and the end
Starting August 24, 1996, the show moved from its established Sunday evening time slot to Saturday mornings. Starting around 1997, WCW Main Event was re-tooled as a recap show with some "exclusive" matches. On January 3, 1998, the show was cancelled and was replaced by WCW Thunder which was launched 5 days later.
References
- ^ "NWA/WCW The Main Event 1988". thehistoryofwwe.com.
- ^ "NWA/WCW The Main Event 1997". thehistoryofwwe.com.
- ^ The Main Event – 8/16/92: Ron Simmons (sub. for Sting) pinned WCW World Champion Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race) to win the title with a powerslam at 9:42 after avoiding the powerbomb -History of WWE: WCW 1992, retrieved October 24, 2023
External links
- WCW Main Event at IMDb