WWE Heat
| WWE Heat | |
|---|---|
SmackDown brand (Before Smackdown PPVs) | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 513 |
| Production | |
| Running time |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | USA Network (August 2, 1998 – September 24, 2000) MTV (October 1, 2000 – March 30, 2003) TNN/Spike TV (April 6, 2003 – September 25, 2005) Webcast on WWE.com (September 30, 2005 – May 30, 2008) |
| Release | August 2, 1998 – May 30, 2008 |
| Related | |
| |
WWE Heat (formerly known as Sunday Night Heat and also known as Heat) is an American
Heat was most recently streamed on WWE.com on Friday afternoons for North American viewers from 2005 to 2008. However, the show was still televised internationally and showed in the United Kingdom on
On May 7, 2018, the first 52 episodes of WWE Heat were made available to stream on the WWE Network.[3]
History
Early format
The show was originally introduced on the USA Network on August 2, 1998 in the United States. The one-hour show would be broadcast on Sunday nights, being taped earlier in the week after Raw. It was the second primary program of the WWF's weekly television show line-up, serving as a supplement to the Monday Night Raw program. Heat would feature a format similar to that of Monday Night Raw, in that continuing feuds from the previous week would progress during the show, and the following day's Monday Night Raw would be heavily promoted. On scheduled WWF pay-per-view event nights, Heat would also serve as a preview show to the events. The show was initially signed for only 6 episodes, but proved to be very popular and was continued.
1999–2002
.jpg)
With the premiere of
Occasionally, special editions of the show aired heavily promoted. For Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999, Heat aired as Halftime Heat on the USA Network during halftime of the Super Bowl. These specials ended following the show's move to MTV in 2000. When the show started airing on MTV in late 2000, it was broadcast live from WWF New York. WWF personalities and performers would appear at the restaurant as special guests while Michael Cole and Tazz provided commentary to matches.
United Kingdom (2000–2001)
The United Kingdom's coverage Heat began in January 2000, when Channel 4 started broadcasting the show at 4pm on Sundays, as a part of T4 – which also included broadcasting four WWF PPVs a year. These one-hour shows were a magazine-type show, usually featuring three or four brief matches as well as highlights from Raw and SmackDown!. As with the North American airing, exclusive matches taped before SmackDown! were aired on this version of the show.
A separate commentary team was used on airings in the United Kingdom, with references aimed more at that specific audience. During commentary, Raw and SmackDown! were referred to as taking place on Friday and Saturday respectively, which were the days they were broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports – as opposed to the manner in which the two programs were often referred to by the North American broadcast dates of Monday and Thursday. The two-person announce team was a mix of individuals including Kevin Kelly, Michael Cole, Michael Hayes and Jonathan Coachman. During the middle of 2000, Heat started to get moved around the Channel 4 schedule, usually between the afternoon and midnight. Towards the end of 2000, the show was permanently moved to being broadcast in the early-hours of Monday mornings. The show stayed in the time-slot until December 2001 when Channel 4's deal with the WWF expired in the United Kingdom.
2002–2005
In April 2002, the show returned to its original filming schedule, again before
2005–2008
Heat and
Heat was still shown internationally to fulfill international programming commitments. When WWE went
Legacy
At the 2019 Royal Rumble it was announced that WWE would be bringing back Halftime Heat featuring superstars from NXT during the Super Bowl LIII halftime show.[5][6]
Notable championship matches
Though the majority of title changes would take place on Raw, SmackDown!, or pay-per-view events, the WWF Championship changed hands on a special Halftime Heat that aired during the half-time of Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999 when Mankind defeated The Rock in an empty arena match to win the title. This special episode received the highest rating of Sunday Night Heat with a rating of 6.6.[7]
Additionally, the Light Heavyweight Championship changed hands on Heat on three occasions.[8][9] The first took place on the February 13, 2000 airing when Essa Rios (in his first appearance under that name and with the debuting Lita) defeated Gillberg. The second change saw Crash Holly defeat Dean Malenko on the March 18, 2001 episode. In the final change, the debuting Jerry Lynn defeated Crash Holly on a live edition before the Backlash pay-per-view on April 29, 2001.
Commentators and hosts
There have been many commentators in the history of Heat. Industry veterans and Raw broadcasters Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler have done commentary on the show. The show was also the launchpad for Shane McMahon's on-camera career in WWE, originally placed in the role of a commentator for the program. In October 2000, the show was hosted by Rebecca Budig and MTV VJ/Rapper DJ Skribble when it moved from USA Network to MTV.
Often wrestlers would take the role of color commentators on the show with
Before the WWE-produced Extreme Championship Wrestling reunion pay-per-view One Night Stand 2005 took place, a special Extreme Heat episode was broadcast and hosted by Jonathan Coachman and Michael Cole.
During one episode when Jonathan Coachman was unavailable, former ECW announcer (and then-lead Raw announcer) Joey Styles took part in the show. Styles then quit in storyline, however, on the following Monday's' Raw, meaning Grisham ran the show alone.
Commentators
| Commentator | Year(s) active |
|---|---|
| Shane McMahon | 1998–1999 |
| Jim Cornette | 1998–1999 |
| Michael Cole | 1998–2002, 2003–2006 |
| Kevin Kelly | 1998–2000 |
| Terry Taylor | 1999 |
| Michael Hayes | 1999–2000 |
| Tazz | 2000–2001, 2003–2006 |
| Jonathan Coachman | 2001–2007 |
| Raven | 2001–2002 |
| Al Snow | 2001–2004 |
| Chris Leary | 2001 |
| D'Lo Brown | 2002 |
| Lita | 2002–2003 |
| Todd Grisham | 2004–2008 |
| Ivory | 2004–2005 |
| Joey Styles | 2006 |
| Steve Romero | 2006 |
| Josh Mathews | 2007–2008 |
| Jack Korpela | 2006–2007 |
See also
References
- ^ "Josh Mathews blog confirming final episode of Heat". Archived from the original on 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
- ^ "WWE.com UK television schedule". Archived from the original on 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
- ^ Potter, Jon (May 7, 2018). "WWE Network Adds More Than 50 Episodes of Sunday Night Heat; Links Included". WWE Network. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- ^ "2006". thehistoryofwwe.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ "WWE Halftime Heat to stream live during The Big Game on Sunday, Feb. 3; HBK to call the match". WWE. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ^ Decker, Kyle (27 January 2019). "WWE announces the return of Halftime Heat with an NXT 6-man tag match". Cagesideseats. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ^ "Title history details". Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
- ^ "2000 WWF results". Archived from the original on 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
- ^ "2001 WWF results". Archived from the original on 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
External links
- WWE Heat at IMDb
