WWF Prime Time Wrestling

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WWF Prime Time Wrestling
GenreProfessional wrestling
Created byVince McMahon
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes401
Production
Camera setupMulti-camera setup
Running time120 minutes (inc. commercials)
Original release
NetworkUSA Network
ReleaseJanuary 1, 1985 (1985-01-01) –
January 4, 1993 (1993-01-04)
Related

WWF Prime Time Wrestling was a

television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It aired on the USA Network from January 1, 1985, to January 4, 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.[1] The program featured wrestling matches (most of which were compiled from WWF "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. In addition, Prime Time Wrestling would also air wrestling matches and interviews from other WWF programming such as Superstars of Wrestling and Wrestling Challenge. Select episodes of Prime Time Wrestling are available for streaming on the WWE Network
.

Main focus

See also:
Home Team Sports

Despite the format changes in its last years, the main focus of Prime Time Wrestling remained unchanged—recapping the highlights of the WWF's flagship

syndicated programs and presenting exclusive matches taped from the house show circuit. Many of these were main event caliber and mid-card matches seldom seen on the syndicated programs, which tended to show primarily squash matches. Many wrestlers’ first WWF television appearances were also on this show. Selected matches from the past and present from WWF's flagship arenas of the time — Madison Square Garden in New York City, the Spectrum in Philadelphia the Boston Garden in Boston, and the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland
— that had aired on various regional sports networks were also aired on Prime Time Wrestling.

History

Early years

Premiering on January 1, 1985, the original hosts of Prime Time Wrestling were Jesse Ventura and Jack Reynolds. Reynolds would co-host his final edition of Prime Time on July 9, 1985, with Gorilla Monsoon replacing him as Ventura's co-host the week after.[2]

Bobby Heenan made his first appearance as Monsoon's co-host on April 28, 1986, and officially replaced Ventura on June 30 of that same year.[3]

The best-remembered Prime Time format featured Heenan and Monsoon introducing

The Heenan Family
. The chemistry between Monsoon and Heenan made this show popular with fans for many years, despite the fact it was not considered one of the WWF's "primary" shows for most of its history. Many other wrestling programs—both produced by the WWF and by other companies—would attempt to copy this formula, with varying degrees of success.

Although primarily a studio-based program, Prime Time would occasionally go on the road and tape its segments from various outside locations. Examples included Busch Gardens, Trump Plaza, the CN Tower, and Churchill Downs, among others. These segments rarely had much to do with the actual wrestling content of the program, and were played primarily for the comic interaction between Monsoon and Heenan.

Heenan and Monsoon co-hosted Prime Time from 1986–1991. Roddy Piper replaced Heenan briefly in the summer of 1989, during the period Heenan "took over" the last half-hour of the Prime Time program for his own talk show; after Heenan returned to the main program, Piper was retained for the remainder of 1989 as a second co-host. Piper's final episode was the Christmas 1989 episode, where he attacked Heenan for dressing like Santa and badmouthing the Christmas season and insulting kids. The Rosati Sisters, a group of overweight sisters who were fans of the WWF, were frequent guests on the show from 1989 to 1990, also serving as assistants to Heenan on his show.

At times, guests have appeared on the studio set for cameo appearances or to sub-host for someone.

Demolition, Lord Alfred Hayes[4] and Harley Race
also stopped in the studio as guests during the run of the series.

Format changes

February 18, 1991–November 4, 1991

On February 18, 1991, Prime Time changed formats to something vaguely resembling a talk/variety show, with an in-studio audience.

Tuesday Night Titans program. McMahon's last appearance as a co-host was the June 10, 1991, episode. In the weeks that followed, Gene Okerlund, Sean Mooney
, and Gorilla Monsoon all filled in for McMahon as co-hosts. On the July 15, 1991, episode, Mooney became the official co-host of Prime Time alongside Heenan. The duo would remain the show's co-hosts until this format was discontinued after the November 4, 1991, episode.

November 11, 1991–January 4, 1993

Due to poor ratings with the audience format, Prime Time's final format debuted on November 11, 1991, and featured a panel of WWF personalities (including, at various points, Bobby Heenan, Gorilla Monsoon,

PBS series The McLaughlin Group
, which was growing in popularity at this time.

The final episode of Prime Time Wrestling aired on January 4, 1993. Monday Night Raw replaced the show in its timeslot the following week.

Hosts

Regular main hosts

Guest hosts

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0
    .
  2. ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved November 28, 2017.[dead YouTube link]
  3. ^ "WELCOME TO COREY'S WRESTLING VIDEO ARCHIVES". www.coreystapes.com. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Figure Four Weekly #528: Lord Alfred Hayes Passes Away - August 8, 2005
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