This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
ECW Hardcore TV | |
---|---|
Created by | Tod Gordon Eddie Gilbert |
Starring | See Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni |
Narrated by | Joey Styles |
Opening theme | "Closer"/"Thunderkiss '65" mix by Nine Inch Nails & White Zombie (1994-1997) "This Is Extreme!" by Harry Slash & The Slashtones [1] (1997-2000) |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 401 [2] |
Production | |
Executive producer | Paul Heyman (September 1993 - 2000) |
Production locations | ECW Arena, [3] South Philadelphia Burt Flickinger Center, Buffalo NY |
Camera setup | Multicamera setup |
Running time | 58 minutes (with commercials) |
Original release | |
Network | Syndication [4] |
Release | April 6, 1993[5] – December 31, 2000 [6] |
Related | |
ECW on TNN |
ECW Hardcore TV is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by the Philadelphia based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) composed of footage from live shows and recorded interviews. It ran in syndication from April 6, 1993 to December 31, 2000.
Even after ECW gained a nationally-available television program on The Nashville Network (TNN), Hardcore TV was considered ECW's flagship program.[ citation needed ] The rights to the show now belong to the WWE. The show was voted as Best Weekly Television Show in the 1994, 1995 and 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.
Hardcore TV was edited from footage of ECW's live events from the ECW Arena and other house shows. It also included backstage promos and vignettes, which were not shown to the live crowd or included on home video releases of the events. A segment called Hype Central advertised upcoming events and ECW merchandise in a tongue in cheek manner.
Music videos from major musical acts were sometimes shown, interspersed with footage detailing the history of current feuds, as well as spectacular spots. Frequently, the ending of the show would feature a montage of several different promos, with Dick Dale's cover version of "Misirlou" as background music. These became known as " Pulp Fiction promos". The purpose of these promos was to maximize the show's limited airtime in order to keep the fans up to date with current wrestling storylines.
In keeping with ECW's unconventional approach, episodes were not structured with a build toward a main event as with typical professional wrestling programming. Any given week's program could feature any number of matches or match type. Owner/producer Paul Heyman's intent was to keep things fresh by providing variety for the viewers.
Hardcore TV showed graphic violence (including blood), sexual frankness, and harsh language, all of which were key elements of the ECW product itself. Due to the late night time slots, expletives and violence were not edited from early broadcasts, and this helped to get ECW noticed. After the ECW on TNN program became available, this was a major difference between the syndicated Hardcore TV and the more mainstream program on TNN. [7]
Hardcore TV aired in permanent time slots in ECW's home territories of Philadelphia and New York City, and was also syndicated. [8] Shows were broadcast on a Philadelphia local cable sports station, SportsChannel America's [9] local affiliate, SportsChannel Philadelphia, on Tuesday evenings at 6pm until January 9, 1997 when the show moved to Thursdays at 11pm. In April 1996, the ECW SportsChannel airings were upgraded to 6pm and 11pm on Tuesdays, with a late night Friday replay at 2am. After SportsChannel Philadelphia went off the air in 1997, the show moved to WPPX-TV 61 on Wednesdays at 9pm. It later moved to a former independent broadcast station, WGTW 48 in Philadelphia, on late Friday or Saturday night broadcasts.
In the Chicago and Northwest Indiana market, the show traded back and forth among WCIU 26 on Saturdays, and UPN station WPWR 50, broadcast in both Chicago and Gary, on Friday nights, a week behind. Meanwhile, KBS Chicago (a Korean station that also carried Big Japan shows at midnight) broadcast Hardcore TV on Friday nights.
WRBW in Orlando aired Hardcore TV in a very late night timeslot on Saturdays. Also, WNFM (then known as WSWF), a cable only WB affiliate in Fort Myers, aired Hardcore TV in a primetime slot on Saturday Nights. The rest of Florida got Hardcore TV on regional sports network the Sunshine Network [10] very late on Friday nights. WRBW invoked syndex, meaning ECW was blacked out in the Orlando market on Sunshine.
Beginning on January 8, 1995, ECW Hardcore TV aired on the MSG Network in New York City and the surrounding area at 1 am (late Saturday night/early Sunday morning). Empire Sports Network (western NY) and WBGT-LP (Rochester) also carried the show.
WPTT-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania aired Hardcore TV late on Saturday nights. The station, now known as WPNT and owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group (which at the time operated the station on a local marketing agreement with sidecar Glencairn, Ltd. alongside WPGH-TV, which Sinclair owned outright), now airs Ring of Honor Wrestling from Sinclair-owned Ring of Honor, which is often seen as the spiritual successor to ECW. [11]
Shows were aired on KJLA in Los Angeles on Saturday nights, WUNI in Worcester-Boston very late on Friday nights, WBVC TV-61 in Traverse City, Michigan late Friday Nights, WUCT TV-52 in Dayton, Ohio, The Cat in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio late Friday nights, WPEN in Hampton Roads, Virginia on Saturday evenings, and WGMB Fox 44 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday afternoons and late night. It also aired very late on Friday nights on KTSF TV-26 in San Francisco, California, on Fridays at 11 on KGMC 43 in Fresno, California, KCNG-TV and UPN25 in Las Vegas, Nevada at 1pm on Saturdays, and on SportsSouth in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina. [12]
Episodes were at one time available for download on the websites of some affiliate stations. [13]
All episodes are available for streaming on Peacock in the U.S. and the WWE Network internationally.
The WB Television Network was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, with the former acting as controlling partner. The network aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 35, while its children's division, Kids' WB, targeted children between the ages of 4 and 12.
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.
The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September 25, 2000, after an attempt to attract younger viewers failed, TNN's country music format was changed and the network was renamed The National Network, and eventually became Spike TV in 2003 and Paramount Network in 2018.
WPNT is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with The CW and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate WPGH-TV. The two stations share studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section, where WPNT's transmitter is also located.
WWE Heat is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and aired from August 2, 1998 to May 30, 2008. Originally produced under the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) banner, it aired on USA Network (1998–2000), MTV (2000–2003), and TNN/Spike TV (2003–2005) in the United States, CTV Sportsnet in Canada, and Channel 4, Sky1, and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. From 2002, due to the WWE brand extension, Heat served as a supplementary show to the Raw brand, focusing more exclusively on its mid-card performers and matches, and was recorded before the week's television taping of Raw.
WWE Velocity is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and ran from May 25, 2002 to June 11, 2006. It replaced two syndicated WWE shows, Jakked and Metal. Once a weekly Saturday night show on Spike TV and on Sky Sports 2 in the United Kingdom on Sunday mornings, Velocity became a webcast from 2005 to 2006. The newest episode would be uploaded to WWE.com on Saturdays and be available for the next week. Older webcast episodes were also archived. It served as a supplementary show to the SmackDown! brand, focusing more exclusively on its mid-card performers and matches, and was recorded before the week's television taping of SmackDown!. 8 episodes of Velocity are now available on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets.
In broadcast programming, dayparting is the practice of dividing the broadcast day into several parts, in which a different type of radio programming or television show appropriate for that time period is aired. Television programs are most often geared toward a particular demography, and what the target audience typically engages in at that time.
Wrestling at the Chase is a professional wrestling television series of local and national historical importance in the field of television wrestling. The show was recorded in St. Louis, Missouri, for KPLR-TV, Channel 11, and aired from May 23, 1959, to September 10, 1983. It was promoted by the St. Louis Wrestling Club, which was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance.
Joseph Carmine Bonsignore better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American former professional wrestling commentator. He is best known for his time with ECW and WWE. Before working for WWE, Styles was a full-time professional in the field of print advertising sales in New York City. He started selling digital advertising with WWE and is now selling digital advertising full-time in New York City.
Major League Wrestling (MLW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as "Hybrid Wrestling", with its roster featuring a mix of different wrestling styles.
KOCB is an independent television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate KOKH-TV. The stations' studios and transmitter facilities are co-located on East Wilshire Boulevard and 78th Street on the city's northeast side.
In American professional wrestling, the term Black Saturday refers to Saturday, July 14, 1984, the day when Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation took over the timeslot on Superstation WTBS that had been home to Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and its flagship weekly program, World Championship Wrestling, for twelve years. McMahon's purchase led to a longstanding rivalry between himself and WTBS owner Ted Turner, who later bought GCW's successor Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and formed his own company under the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) name.
Night Network, Night Time and Night Shift were names given to the overnight schedule of the ITV network in the United Kingdom. The first ITV company began 24-hour broadcasting in 1986, with all of the companies broadcasting through the night by the end of 1988. At first, individual companies created their own services; however, before too long, many of the smaller ITV stations began simulcasting or networking services from others.
ECW on TNN, also known as ECW Wrestling, is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and aired on The Nashville Network. Created by Paul Heyman, the owner of HHG Corporation, it presented original ECW matches on Friday nights and was the only national television program in ECW's history. It debuted on August 27, 1999 - five years to the date that Shane Douglas threw down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and rechristened ECW as Extreme Championship Wrestling. The final episode aired on October 6, 2000. All episodes are available on WWE Network and Peacock.
A graveyard slot is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast programming is considered far less important. Graveyard slots usually displayed in the early morning hours of each day, when most people are asleep.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling. The following year, businessman and wrestling manager Paul Heyman took over the creative end of the promotion from Eddie Gilbert. Under Heyman, the promotion was rechristened as Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Ring of Honor Wrestling is an American professional wrestling television series produced by Ring of Honor (ROH). The series features professional wrestlers competing in matches and conducting interviews. Combined, these elements create and further the storylines of the promotion.
Re-enter the Sandman was a professional wrestling live event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on October 23, 1999. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Excerpts from Re-enter the Sandman aired on episode #11 of the television show ECW on TNN on The Nashville Network on November 5, 1999, as well as on episodes #340, #331, and #343 of the syndicated television show ECW Hardcore TV on October 29, November 5, and November 19, 1999. A "fan cam" recording of the event was later released by the Highspots Network.
The following is a historical overview television coverage provided the National Wrestling Alliance's territories. The NWA began in 1948 as a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions.