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| WWF Wrestling Challenge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Professional wrestling |
| Created by | Vince McMahon |
| Starring | World Wrestling Federation |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes(inc. commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndicated |
| Release | September 6, 1986 (1986-09-06) – August 27, 1995 (1995-08-27) |
| Related | |
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WWF Wrestling Challenge is aprofessional wrestlingtelevision show that was produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). It wassyndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995.[1] The show became simply known asWWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match interviews, and occasionally, summarized weekly events in WWF programming. Matches primarily saw top-tier and mid-level talent vs.Jobbers. At times, there was a "feature" match between main WWF talent. As with other syndicated WWF programming, the show promoted WWF event dates andhouse shows in localmedia markets. It was the 'B' show of WWF syndication, meaning it generally only aired in markets where WWF had two weekly slots, with the other taken up byWWF Superstars of Wrestling. Select episodes ofWrestling Challenge are available for streaming on theWWE Network.[2] As of May 17, 2021, there were 23 episodes ofWrestling Challenge available for streaming on WWE Network, dating from its premiere to February 8, 1987.
Wrestling Challenge premiered on September 6, 1986, replacingAll-Star Wrestling.
Following the show's debut,The Snake Pit,hosted byJake "The Snake" Roberts, debuted as a feature of the show.The Snake Pit was an in-ring interview segment modeled afterRoddy Piper'sPiper's Pit, which aired onWWF Superstars of Wrestling.Wrestling Challenge also featured the similarly formattedThe Brother Love Show. This segment, which debuted in 1988, was later moved toSuperstars of Wrestling. After this, the main feature was a podium interview featuringGene Okerlund and a random WWF superstar until 1991. Starting in 1991,The Barber Shop debuted with hostBrutus "The Barber" Beefcake, whileThe King's Court, hosted byJerry Lawler debuted in 1993.
WhileWWF Superstars of Wrestling held most title changes on national television,Wrestling Challenge only had one title change on November 1, 1992 (taped October 13, 1992), asMoney Inc. defeatedThe Natural Disasters to win theWWF World Tag Team Championship, with interference fromThe Headshrinkers. This title change was also aired on the October 31, 1992Superstars of Wrestling withWrestling Challenge commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan calling the action. The WWF treated the match as a simulcast on both programs.
The hosts for the first three episodes wereGorilla Monsoon,Ernie Ladd, andLuscious Johnny V. After that, Ladd was replaced byBobby "The Brain" Heenan while Johnny V continued to do commentary solely for matches where Heenan was managing, until Valiant would leave the WWF in late 1987.
Other hosts included:
In some parts of Canada,Wrestling Challenge was repackaged asWWF Cavalcade, with the only difference apart from the title being Canadian-produced interview segments. This repackaging allowed the program to count asCanadian content.
In the United Kingdom, the show aired onSky 1 and a repackaged version was aired occasionally from 1987 until 1988 on ITV as a part of the final two years ofITV's Saturday lunchtime Wrestling coverage. Certain ITV areas also screened a batch of 10 months' worth of episodes (covering the period August 1987-June 1988) in an early morninggraveyard timeslot, erroneously announced in TV listings asSuperstars Of Wrestling. The late night ITV slot would be replaced in 1990 by tapes ofWCW. The Sky transmission continued to air in the UK until 1997, when it was repackaged asWWF Shotgun Challenge.