WCW Saturday Night
Encyclopedia
WCW Saturday Night was a weekly Saturday night TV show
on TBS produced by World Championship Wrestling
. The program existed through various incarnations under different names before becoming WCW Saturday Night in 1992. Although initially the anchor show of the Ted Turner-backed wrestling company, the September 1995 premiere of WCW Monday Nitro
airing on sister station Turner Network Television
usurped the show's once preeminent position in the company, as the primary source of storyline
development and Pay-Per-View
buildup. The show's place in the company was further devalued by the advent of WCW Thunder
in 1998, airing on TBS and providing the secondary wrestling and storyline development that WCW Saturday Night had produced in the wake of Nitro burgeoning three-hour long format. Once the cornerstone of the WCW wrestling empire, WCW Saturday Night ended its run in 2000 as the company struggled creatively to meet the demands of producing over six hours of new broadcast material on a weekly basis. The rights to WCW Saturday Night now belong to World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE) as a result of that company's 2001 takeover of WCW.
, which began on the station (then known as WTCG-TV) in January 1972
and ran under that name until August 1982
, when it became World Championship Wrestling. In addition, there was also a Sunday edition of World Championship Wrestling; however, in later years, Sunday editions became infrequent. In spring of 1988
, TBS replaced the Sunday edition with a new Sunday wrestling show called NWA Main Event
.
In all of its iterations, WCW Saturday Night would normally air for two hours. During baseball
season, however, it would typically air for one hour, to be immediately followed by an Atlanta Braves
game.
, Georgia Championship Wrestling
aired its first show, which was considered a Christmas special, since the rest of the programming didn't air until late January 1972
. Beginning in 1972, the promotion switched its Atlanta television outlet from its longtime home, WQXI-TV (now WXIA-TV
) to upstart UHF independent station WTCG, owned by Ted Turner
. Later in the decade WTCG became a national superstation
, and in 1979 it was renamed WTBS. (The station in now called WPCH-TV after being spun off from the national TBS cable channel in 2007.)
When WTCG went on satellite in 1976
, making the station available to cable systems all across the United States, the renamed Georgia Championship Wrestling became the first NWA promotion to be broadcast nationally. Many of the NWA's regional promoters were unhappy, but promoter Jim Barnett
claimed since he was only using Georgia-based wrestlers, that there was no harm. Whether or not Barnett was in fact taking the promotion national is a matter of dispute, some wrestlers, such as Roddy Piper
, say that he was in fact doing so, but prevented by fears of crossing organized crime
figures involved with the sport. Throughout the 1970s, Georgia Championship Wrestling was one of the main shows that kept the Superstation alive.
The Georgia Championship Wrestling TV series, hosted by Gordon Solie
, was taped before a small (yet enthusiastic), live in-studio audience, as were most pro wrestling TV shows of that era. The show featured wrestling matches, plus melodramatic monologues and inter-character confrontations—similar to the programming offered by other territories, including the Northeast
-based World Wrestling Federation
(WWF).
, Georgia Championship Wrestling changed its main programming name to World Championship Wrestling. Ted Turner had requested the name change in hopes of giving the wrestling programming on the Superstation a less regional scope. Also, by this point, GCW had been running shows in "neutral" territories like Ohio
and Michigan
. Much like Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling was taped in Atlanta, Georgia
, at WTBS' studios at 1050 Techwood Drive until 1989
, when the taping location was moved to the Center Stage Theater, in Atlanta.
-based World Wrestling Federation (renamed World Wrestling Entertainment
in 2002), bought the Georgia territory for $
750,000, retaining the World Championship Wrestling moniker. Freddie Miller
, an announcer, was the only member of the original Georgia Championship Wrestling on-air cast who did not quit in protest or was immediately replaced by the new owner.
McMahon had underestimated two major factors, however. The first was the differences in tastes between fanbases of different geographical regions. The WWF's soap opera
ish, "sports entertainment
" style of wrestling sharply differed from that of GCW's more athletic, "rasslin'" style. Whereas the Georgia promotion featured an emphasis on in-ring action with talented workers, the WWF show featured a bunch of one-sided "squash" matches. WWF World Championship Wrestling was mainly used as a recap show, featuring matches which had previously aired on the WWF's main programming venues such as WWF Championship Wrestling
and WWF All-Star Wrestling. This was despite the fact that McMahon had originally promised WTBS owner Ted Turner to produce original programming for the TBS timeslot in Atlanta
. Eventually, the WWF would have in-studio squash matches on the show on an infrequent basis. During this time, the show was co-hosted by Freddie Miller and Gorilla Monsoon
, with Monsoon serving as the play-by-play announcer and Miller serving as the ring announcer.
In hopes of appeasing the over 1,000 fans who complained to the Superstation over "Black Saturday", Turner gave Ole Anderson
a 7:00 a.m. timeslot so that he could open up Championship Wrestling from Georgia, Inc. The following year, Turner gave Bill Watts
' Mid-South Wrestling a one hour timeslot on Sundays. This upset Vince McMahon, who thought that his purchase of Georgia Championship Wrestling would give him an exclusive on WTBS. Ted Turner disagreed because he felt that McMahon reneged on the aforementioned stipulation in the contract that required him to produce a separate weekly program from an Atlanta studio.
for the Saturday evening show, and the fans clamoring for GCW, began to make the WWF's move one that lost the federation money. Also around this time, it is rumored that Ted Turner attempted to purchase the WWF, though Vince McMahon refused to sell. This chain of events and McMahon's refusal to sell to Turner were critical in Turner's later decision to purchase Jim Crockett Promotions and form WCW in its wake. Eventually, McMahon cut his losses and sold the ex-GCW timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions
(JCP) for $
1 million in March 1985
. Jim Crockett Promotions was a Charlotte, North Carolina
-based promotion run by Jim Crockett, Jr.
JCP ran National Wrestling Alliance
-branded shows in the Mid-Atlantic states
.
Crockett's first order of business was to merge his promotion with Championship Wrestling from Georgia. This would bring talent from the Mid-Atlantic promotion to CWG's Saturday morning WTBS program and vice versa.
The deal (in which former Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Jim Barnett helped broker), however, forced the elimination of the Mid-South Wrestling program from the TBS schedule. Mid-South Wrestling quickly became the highest-rated program on TBS. Bill Watts had positioned himself to take over the two-hour Saturday block occupied by the WWF. But ultimately JCP became the exclusive wrestling promotion for TBS.
JCP retained the World Championship Wrestling name. Crockett filled the timeslot with two hours of original programming filmed in Ted Turner's Atlanta studios. The program name would also become the promotion's name following the purchase of JCP by Ted Turner in 1988. In addition, the Championship Wrestling from Georgia program would become Championship Wrestling and use the same set as the Crockett-era World Championship Wrestling Saturday evening program.
The February 7, 1987 edition of NWA World Championship Wrestling was a special called Superstars in Supertowns. It promoted the return of Magnum T.A.
(who was forced to retire due to a near fatal car accident in October 1986) and opened up with a first-person view of a car driving on the road. Tony Schiavone
and David Crockett
, dressed in tuxedos, hosted the show which showed different matches from cities like Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and St. Louis. The opening contest was Barry Windham
vs. Arn Anderson
from the Philadelphia Civic Center
.
The November 5, 1988 edition of NWA World Championship Wrestling began with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
cutting a promo and pointing out a large group of Turner executives in the crowd. This was a subtle nod to Ted Turner purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions. This program launced the WCW brand under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance, initially designed as a mutually beneficial arrangement, but ultimately one that proved divisive. On this first program, the infamous Jim Cornette
-Paul E. Dangerously
feud took center stage as their dueling versions of the well-known tag team Midnight Express commenced an intense feud that would last until the following February.
, although months later, they would be held in either the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta or in Columbus, GA. The show was presented in a very '90s
-esque "neon" style, with a blue and pink color scheme. Neon signs displayed the show's logo, and the wrestlers entered through a silver confetti curtain. The show was given a new look again in 1994
, with a hi-tech, futuristic design with a unique entry way of slide-open doors and billowing smoke as the performers made their way to the ring.
When the show originally premiered, it was hosted by Jim Ross
and Jesse Ventura
. In later years, Tony Schiavone
, Bobby Heenan
, Larry Zbyszko
, Dusty Rhodes
(who affectionately referred to Saturday Night as "The Mothership"), Gene Okerlund
, Scott Hudson
, Mike Tenay
, and Lee Marshall handled the show's announcing duties and backstage interviews.
In the summer of 1996
, WCW Saturday Night was taped at WCW Pro
s Disney-MGM Studios
set in Orlando, Florida
due to all of Turner's mobile production units being used by other broadcasters for the 1996 Summer Olympics
in Atlanta
.
The nWo
(New World Order) did their own version of WCW Saturday Night in late 1996
called nWo Saturday Night.
WCW Saturday Night aired three live shows in its history. The first one aired July 9, 1994. Sting wrestled Ric Flair
as voted on by fans. Hulk Hogan
made his first in-studio appearance, and he and Sting were attacked by Sherri Martel
in drag.
The second aired from downtown Charlotte, North Carolina
, on May 27, 1995. It started raining halfway through the show, causing the ring mat to become slippery at times.
The third live airing took place on August 10, 1996, from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
in Sturgis, South Dakota
. The show took place right before the Hog Wild pay-per-view
event, which was held on a Saturday night instead of the usual Sunday night slot for WCW pay-per-views. Hence, WCW Saturday Night was used as a lead-in to the pay-per-view show, much like WCW Main Event
was used as a lead-in for Sunday pay-per-views until 1996.
programs Monday Nitro
and Thunder
, Saturday Night became WCW's "C-show" (like WWE's Sunday Night Heat
after SmackDown!'s introduction and currently WWE's Superstars). The majority of airtime would be used to display up-and-comers and recent graduates of the WCW Power Plant
(with the occasional squash match) as well recapping the major events of the other shows. The main event would often feature mid-card performers such as the current Cruiserweight Champion, World Television Champion
, or U.S. Heavyweight Champion in a non-title match. Hudson, Tenay, and Marshall manned commentating and locker room interviewing duties throughout this period. Backstage, "Mean Gene" Okerlund
would regularly promote his WCW Hotline for "just a buck sixty-nine a minute," which provided fans with insider information on recent events in the company.
On June 24, 2000, WCW Saturday Night aired for the last time. In July
2000
, the name of the show was changed to WCW Saturday Morning,with a change to an earlier timeslot and a new format: rather than feature new matches, Saturday Morning simply recapped the past week's Monday Nitro and Thunder. The last episode of Saturday Morning aired on August 19, 2000.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
on TBS produced by World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
. The program existed through various incarnations under different names before becoming WCW Saturday Night in 1992. Although initially the anchor show of the Ted Turner-backed wrestling company, the September 1995 premiere of WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
airing on sister station Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
usurped the show's once preeminent position in the company, as the primary source of storyline
Storyline
Storyline may refer to:* The plot or subplot of a story;* The narrative of a work, whether of fictional or nonfictional basis;* The narrative threads experienced by different but specific characters or sets of characters that together form a plot element or subplot in the work of fiction...
development and Pay-Per-View
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
buildup. The show's place in the company was further devalued by the advent of WCW Thunder
WCW Thunder
WCW Thunder was a professional wrestling show produced by World Championship Wrestling which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001...
in 1998, airing on TBS and providing the secondary wrestling and storyline development that WCW Saturday Night had produced in the wake of Nitro burgeoning three-hour long format. Once the cornerstone of the WCW wrestling empire, WCW Saturday Night ended its run in 2000 as the company struggled creatively to meet the demands of producing over six hours of new broadcast material on a weekly basis. The rights to WCW Saturday Night now belong to World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE) as a result of that company's 2001 takeover of WCW.
History
WCW Saturday Night premiered on April 4, 1992 as the showcase for the company's top talent. It grew out of two previous wrestling programs on TBS - Georgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
, which began on the station (then known as WTCG-TV) in January 1972
1972 in television
The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
and ran under that name until August 1982
1982 in television
The year 1982 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1982.For the American TV schedule, see: 1982-83 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, when it became World Championship Wrestling. In addition, there was also a Sunday edition of World Championship Wrestling; however, in later years, Sunday editions became infrequent. In spring of 1988
1988 in television
The year 1988 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1988.For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...
, TBS replaced the Sunday edition with a new Sunday wrestling show called NWA Main Event
WCW Main Event
WCW Main Event is a televised wrestling program of World Championship Wrestling that aired from 1988 to 1998. For most of its run, it was the promotion's secondary show and aired on Sunday evenings on TBS. The show originally aired in 1988 as NWA Main Event...
.
In all of its iterations, WCW Saturday Night would normally air for two hours. During baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
season, however, it would typically air for one hour, to be immediately followed by an Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
game.
Georgia Championship Wrestling
On December 25, 19711971 in television
The year 1971 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1971.For the American TV schedule, see: 1971-72 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
aired its first show, which was considered a Christmas special, since the rest of the programming didn't air until late January 1972
1972 in television
The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
. Beginning in 1972, the promotion switched its Atlanta television outlet from its longtime home, WQXI-TV (now WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV, virtual channel 11.1 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Atlanta, Georgia. Popularly known by its 11 Alive moniker, WXIA is owned by the Gannett Company in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL...
) to upstart UHF independent station WTCG, owned by Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
. Later in the decade WTCG became a national superstation
Superstation
Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
, and in 1979 it was renamed WTBS. (The station in now called WPCH-TV after being spun off from the national TBS cable channel in 2007.)
When WTCG went on satellite in 1976
1976 in television
The year 1976 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1976.-Global television events:*The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, Canada, draw an estimated one billion viewers worldwide....
, making the station available to cable systems all across the United States, the renamed Georgia Championship Wrestling became the first NWA promotion to be broadcast nationally. Many of the NWA's regional promoters were unhappy, but promoter Jim Barnett
Jim Barnett (wrestling)
James E. Barnett was an American professional wrestling promoter, and owner of Georgia Championship Wrestling and Australia's World Championship Wrestling.-Professional wrestling career:...
claimed since he was only using Georgia-based wrestlers, that there was no harm. Whether or not Barnett was in fact taking the promotion national is a matter of dispute, some wrestlers, such as Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, say that he was in fact doing so, but prevented by fears of crossing organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
figures involved with the sport. Throughout the 1970s, Georgia Championship Wrestling was one of the main shows that kept the Superstation alive.
The Georgia Championship Wrestling TV series, hosted by Gordon Solie
Gordon Solie
Jonard Frank Labiak , better known as Gordon Solie, was a Florida-based professional wrestling play-by-play announcer working for World Championship Wrestling...
, was taped before a small (yet enthusiastic), live in-studio audience, as were most pro wrestling TV shows of that era. The show featured wrestling matches, plus melodramatic monologues and inter-character confrontations—similar to the programming offered by other territories, including the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
-based World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF).
World Championship Wrestling TV series
In 19821982 in television
The year 1982 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1982.For the American TV schedule, see: 1982-83 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, Georgia Championship Wrestling changed its main programming name to World Championship Wrestling. Ted Turner had requested the name change in hopes of giving the wrestling programming on the Superstation a less regional scope. Also, by this point, GCW had been running shows in "neutral" territories like Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Much like Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling was taped in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, at WTBS' studios at 1050 Techwood Drive until 1989
1989 in television
For the American TV schedule, see: 1989–90 United States network television schedule.The year 1989 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1989.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
, when the taping location was moved to the Center Stage Theater, in Atlanta.
Black Saturday
On July 14, 1984, Vince McMahon, hoping to expand the national reach of his Stamford, ConnecticutStamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
-based World Wrestling Federation (renamed World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
in 2002), bought the Georgia territory for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
750,000, retaining the World Championship Wrestling moniker. Freddie Miller
Freddie Miller
Freddie G. Miller was a broadcaster and television personality in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Miller worked for Atlanta television station WXIA-TV from the 1950s to the 1970s...
, an announcer, was the only member of the original Georgia Championship Wrestling on-air cast who did not quit in protest or was immediately replaced by the new owner.
McMahon had underestimated two major factors, however. The first was the differences in tastes between fanbases of different geographical regions. The WWF's soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
ish, "sports entertainment
Sports entertainment
Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competitive event using a high level of theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertaining an audience...
" style of wrestling sharply differed from that of GCW's more athletic, "rasslin'" style. Whereas the Georgia promotion featured an emphasis on in-ring action with talented workers, the WWF show featured a bunch of one-sided "squash" matches. WWF World Championship Wrestling was mainly used as a recap show, featuring matches which had previously aired on the WWF's main programming venues such as WWF Championship Wrestling
WWWF Championship Wrestling
WWF Championship Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It aired from 1978 to 1986 and was the original television show of the WWF...
and WWF All-Star Wrestling. This was despite the fact that McMahon had originally promised WTBS owner Ted Turner to produce original programming for the TBS timeslot in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Eventually, the WWF would have in-studio squash matches on the show on an infrequent basis. During this time, the show was co-hosted by Freddie Miller and Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
, with Monsoon serving as the play-by-play announcer and Miller serving as the ring announcer.
In hopes of appeasing the over 1,000 fans who complained to the Superstation over "Black Saturday", Turner gave Ole Anderson
Ole Anderson
Alan Robert Rogowski , better known by his ring name of Ole Anderson, is a retired professional wrestler and a promoter. He held numerous NWA World Tag Team Championships with Gene Anderson, who was portrayed as his brother...
a 7:00 a.m. timeslot so that he could open up Championship Wrestling from Georgia, Inc. The following year, Turner gave Bill Watts
Bill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
' Mid-South Wrestling a one hour timeslot on Sundays. This upset Vince McMahon, who thought that his purchase of Georgia Championship Wrestling would give him an exclusive on WTBS. Ted Turner disagreed because he felt that McMahon reneged on the aforementioned stipulation in the contract that required him to produce a separate weekly program from an Atlanta studio.
Under Jim Crockett Promotions
The decline in ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
for the Saturday evening show, and the fans clamoring for GCW, began to make the WWF's move one that lost the federation money. Also around this time, it is rumored that Ted Turner attempted to purchase the WWF, though Vince McMahon refused to sell. This chain of events and McMahon's refusal to sell to Turner were critical in Turner's later decision to purchase Jim Crockett Promotions and form WCW in its wake. Eventually, McMahon cut his losses and sold the ex-GCW timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
(JCP) for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 million in March 1985
1985 in television
The year 1985 involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1985.For the American TV schedule, see: 1985-86 United States network television schedule.-Events:*January 1 – VH1 launches in the United States....
. Jim Crockett Promotions was a Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
-based promotion run by Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr. is a former professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1988, he owned Jim Crockett Promotions , a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance...
JCP ran National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
-branded shows in the Mid-Atlantic states
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
.
Crockett's first order of business was to merge his promotion with Championship Wrestling from Georgia. This would bring talent from the Mid-Atlantic promotion to CWG's Saturday morning WTBS program and vice versa.
The deal (in which former Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Jim Barnett helped broker), however, forced the elimination of the Mid-South Wrestling program from the TBS schedule. Mid-South Wrestling quickly became the highest-rated program on TBS. Bill Watts had positioned himself to take over the two-hour Saturday block occupied by the WWF. But ultimately JCP became the exclusive wrestling promotion for TBS.
JCP retained the World Championship Wrestling name. Crockett filled the timeslot with two hours of original programming filmed in Ted Turner's Atlanta studios. The program name would also become the promotion's name following the purchase of JCP by Ted Turner in 1988. In addition, the Championship Wrestling from Georgia program would become Championship Wrestling and use the same set as the Crockett-era World Championship Wrestling Saturday evening program.
Superstars in Supertowns
The February 7, 1987 edition of NWA World Championship Wrestling was a special called Superstars in Supertowns. It promoted the return of Magnum T.A.
Magnum T.A.
Terry Wayne Allen is a retired American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Magnum T.A..-Early years:...
(who was forced to retire due to a near fatal car accident in October 1986) and opened up with a first-person view of a car driving on the road. Tony Schiavone
Tony Schiavone
Noah Anthony "Tony" Schiavone is an American sports broadcaster. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Gwinnett Braves of the International League...
and David Crockett
David Crockett (wrestling)
David F. Crockett is a former professional wrestling announcer and executive from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the son of Jim Crockett and brother to Jim Crockett, Jr. He was usually paired in announcing duties with Tony Schiavone, with Crockett providing color commentary and Schiavone...
, dressed in tuxedos, hosted the show which showed different matches from cities like Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and St. Louis. The opening contest was Barry Windham
Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling ....
vs. Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
from the Philadelphia Civic Center
Philadelphia Civic Center
The Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center, more commonly known as the Philadelphia Civic Center and the Philadelphia Convention Center, was a complex of five or more buildings developed out of a series of buildings dedicated to expanding trade which began with the National Export Exhibition...
.
November 5, 1988 - World Championship Wrestling
The November 5, 1988 edition of NWA World Championship Wrestling began with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
cutting a promo and pointing out a large group of Turner executives in the crowd. This was a subtle nod to Ted Turner purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions. This program launced the WCW brand under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance, initially designed as a mutually beneficial arrangement, but ultimately one that proved divisive. On this first program, the infamous Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...
-Paul E. Dangerously
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....
feud took center stage as their dueling versions of the well-known tag team Midnight Express commenced an intense feud that would last until the following February.
WCW Saturday Night
World Championship Wrestling would be renamed WCW Saturday Night on April 4, 1992. This reflected an overhauled look and a new home studio-arena at the CNN CenterCNN Center
The CNN Center is the world headquarters of the Cable News Network . The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels are located in the building...
, although months later, they would be held in either the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta or in Columbus, GA. The show was presented in a very '90s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
-esque "neon" style, with a blue and pink color scheme. Neon signs displayed the show's logo, and the wrestlers entered through a silver confetti curtain. The show was given a new look again in 1994
1994 in television
The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
, with a hi-tech, futuristic design with a unique entry way of slide-open doors and billowing smoke as the performers made their way to the ring.
When the show originally premiered, it was hosted by Jim Ross
Jim Ross
James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand...
and Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
. In later years, Tony Schiavone
Tony Schiavone
Noah Anthony "Tony" Schiavone is an American sports broadcaster. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Gwinnett Braves of the International League...
, Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
, Larry Zbyszko
Larry Zbyszko
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
, Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
(who affectionately referred to Saturday Night as "The Mothership"), Gene Okerlund
Gene Okerlund
Eugene "Mean Gene" Okerlund is a semi-retired American professional wrestling interviewer and announcer. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan...
, Scott Hudson
Scott Hudson
Raymond Scott Hudson is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Washington State University. Hudson was educated at Caltech, where he received his bachelor's degree in engineering and applied science in 1985, his master's degree in electrical engineering in 1986, and his PhD...
, Mike Tenay
Mike Tenay
Michael William "Mike" Tenay is a professional wrestling play-by-play announcer currently employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Prior to signing with TNA in 2002, he had a notable tenure with World Championship Wrestling from 1994-2001...
, and Lee Marshall handled the show's announcing duties and backstage interviews.
In the summer of 1996
1996 in television
The year 1996 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1996.For the American TV schedule, see: 1996-97 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
, WCW Saturday Night was taped at WCW Pro
WCW Pro
WCW Pro was a televised wrestling show presented by World Championship Wrestling. Along with WCW WorldWide, it was part of the WCW Disney tapings...
s Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
set in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
due to all of Turner's mobile production units being used by other broadcasters for the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
.
The nWo
New World Order (professional wrestling)
The New World Order was a professional wrestling stable that originally wrestled for World Championship Wrestling . The group later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation after the purchase of WCW by the WWF...
(New World Order) did their own version of WCW Saturday Night in late 1996
1996 in television
The year 1996 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1996.For the American TV schedule, see: 1996-97 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
called nWo Saturday Night.
Live episodes
Episodes of WCW Saturday Night were usually filmed well in advance, with the exception of three live editions.WCW Saturday Night aired three live shows in its history. The first one aired July 9, 1994. Sting wrestled Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
as voted on by fans. Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
made his first in-studio appearance, and he and Sting were attacked by Sherri Martel
Sherri Martel
Sherri Schrull was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by her ring names, Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri....
in drag.
The second aired from downtown Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, on May 27, 1995. It started raining halfway through the show, causing the ring mat to become slippery at times.
The third live airing took place on August 10, 1996, from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an American motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, usually the first full week of August.-History:...
in Sturgis, South Dakota
Sturgis, South Dakota
Sturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,627 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Meade County. Sturgis is famous for being the location of one of the largest annual motorcycle events in the world, which is held annually on the first full week...
. The show took place right before the Hog Wild pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event, which was held on a Saturday night instead of the usual Sunday night slot for WCW pay-per-views. Hence, WCW Saturday Night was used as a lead-in to the pay-per-view show, much like WCW Main Event
WCW Main Event
WCW Main Event is a televised wrestling program of World Championship Wrestling that aired from 1988 to 1998. For most of its run, it was the promotion's secondary show and aired on Sunday evenings on TBS. The show originally aired in 1988 as NWA Main Event...
was used as a lead-in for Sunday pay-per-views until 1996.
Decline and end
When WCW introduced liveLive television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
programs Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
and Thunder
WCW Thunder
WCW Thunder was a professional wrestling show produced by World Championship Wrestling which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001...
, Saturday Night became WCW's "C-show" (like WWE's Sunday Night Heat
WWE HEAT
WWE Heat was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
after SmackDown!'s introduction and currently WWE's Superstars). The majority of airtime would be used to display up-and-comers and recent graduates of the WCW Power Plant
WCW Power Plant
The WCW Power Plant was a professional wrestling school located in Atlanta, Georgia and owned and operated by World Championship Wrestling. The Power Plant, which was developed from a school operated by Jody Hamilton, was in operation throughout the 1990s...
(with the occasional squash match) as well recapping the major events of the other shows. The main event would often feature mid-card performers such as the current Cruiserweight Champion, World Television Champion
WCW World Television Championship
The World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
, or U.S. Heavyweight Champion in a non-title match. Hudson, Tenay, and Marshall manned commentating and locker room interviewing duties throughout this period. Backstage, "Mean Gene" Okerlund
Gene Okerlund
Eugene "Mean Gene" Okerlund is a semi-retired American professional wrestling interviewer and announcer. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan...
would regularly promote his WCW Hotline for "just a buck sixty-nine a minute," which provided fans with insider information on recent events in the company.
On June 24, 2000, WCW Saturday Night aired for the last time. In July
July 2000
July 2000 was the seventh month of 2000. It began on a Saturday and ended after 31 days on a Monday.-Portal:Current events:This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from July 2000....
2000
2000 in television
The year 2000 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2000.For the American TV schedule, see: 2000-01 United States network television schedule.-Event:-Debuts:-1940s:...
, the name of the show was changed to WCW Saturday Morning,with a change to an earlier timeslot and a new format: rather than feature new matches, Saturday Morning simply recapped the past week's Monday Nitro and Thunder. The last episode of Saturday Morning aired on August 19, 2000.