USA Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports cable television channels, before being relaunched under its current name on April 9, 1980. Since then, USA steadily gained popularity through its original programming, a long-established partnership with WWF/WWE and, for many years, limited sports programming that increased significantly in 2022 after the shutdown of NBCSN.
Matthew Jason Bloom is an American retired professional wrestler and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE SmackDown, also known as Friday Night SmackDown or simply SmackDown, is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Fox. Fox Deportes simulcasts the program with Spanish-language commentary. The show features characters from the SmackDown brand, to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform. The show is considered to be one of two flagship shows, along with Monday Night Raw.
WWE Raw, also known as Monday Night Raw or simply Raw, is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network. The show features characters from the Raw brand, to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform. The show debuted on January 11, 1993 and is considered to be one of two flagship shows, along with Friday Night SmackDown. In September 2000, Raw moved from the USA Network to TNN, which rebranded to Spike TV in August 2003. On October 3, 2005, Raw returned to the USA Network, where it remains to this day. The WWE Network has ceased operations in the United States as of April 5, 2021, with all content being moved to Peacock, which currently has most Raw episodes, excluding content that was censored or removed by Peacock's standards and practices department. Recent episodes are still available for on-demand viewing 30 days after the original air date.
WWE No Mercy, also known as NXT No Mercy beginning in 2023, is a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The first No Mercy was held on May 16, 1999, in Manchester, England, and was the only No Mercy event produced in the United Kingdom. A second No Mercy was then held in October that year in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Beginning with this second event, No Mercy became the annual October pay-per-view (PPV) until 2008. The event was then discontinued and replaced by Hell in a Cell in 2009. After eight years, No Mercy was reinstated in October 2016. However, No Mercy was again discontinued after the September 2017 event, as WWE reduced the amount of yearly PPVs held after they had ended the production of brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 34 in 2018. In 2023, WWE again revived the event, this time for its developmental brand, NXT, in September.
WWF Jakked and WWF Metal are American professional wrestling television programs that were produced by the World Wrestling Federation. Both programs aired in broadcast syndication weekly from August 28, 1999 until May 19, 2002 and replaced WWF Shotgun Saturday Night. Originally produced under the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) banner, they were replaced by the similarly formatted WWE Bottom Line and WWE Afterburn in syndication.
WWF Superstars of Wrestling, also referred to as Maple Leaf Wrestling in Canada was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It debuted on September 6, 1986, as the flagship program of the WWF's syndicated programming.
WWE Rebellion was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an American professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1999, the events were held and broadcast exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first three events were held when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Rebellion was also shown on the Viewers Choice service in Canada, but was never televised in the United States. Rebellion had its own theme song titled "Rebellion".
WWE Insurrextion was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an American professional wrestling promotion. Established in 2000, the events were held and broadcast exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first three events were held when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) with the 2002 event being the promotion's very last PPV held under the WWF name. Insurrextion also aired on Viewers Choice pay-per-view in Canada, while the 2002 and 2003 editions also aired in the United States on tape delay as part of the WWE Fanatic Series, a pay-per-view "best of" program.
In broadcast programming, counterprogramming is the practice of offering television programs to attract an audience from another television station airing a major event. It is also referred when programmers offer something different from the rival's program as an alternative to increase the audience size.
The 1999 Over the Edge was the second annual and final Over the Edge professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It was held on May 23, 1999, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The first Over the Edge event was held under the In Your House series in May 1998, but following the discontinuation of the In Your House shows, a second Over the Edge event was scheduled as its own PPV, thus being the first former In Your House event to do so.
The 2000 King of the Ring was the eighth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWE) that featured the 14th annual King of the Ring tournament. It took place on June 25, 2000, at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The main event was a six-man tag team match between the McMahon-Helmsley Faction and the team of The Rock and The Brothers of Destruction. Triple H's WWF Championship was defended in the match. Rock pinned Vince to win the title. The undercard featured the 2000 King of the Ring tournament, which was won by Kurt Angle. The 2000 edition was the largest King of the Ring tournament, with 32 competitors taking part.
The 1999 No Mercy held in the United Kingdom was the inaugural No Mercy professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion, World Wrestling Federation. It took place on May 16, 1999, at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England and was broadcast exclusively for the United Kingdom. It was the only No Mercy held in the United Kingdom, as beginning with the October 1999 event, all further No Mercy events were held in the United States.
WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and documentary series, and a 24-hour linear channel produced by the eponymous professional wrestling promotion, alongside acquired programming from other wrestling promotions.
The history of WWE Raw began as WWF's Monday Night Raw on January 11, 1993. Over the next two decades, Raw would become the promotion's flagship show, achieving numerous milestones along the way.
The history of WWE SmackDown, began with the shows debut on August 26, 1999, in Kansas City, Missouri. The show was originally broadcast on Thursday nights but moved to Friday on September 9, 2005, before returning to Thursdays on January 15, 2015. On July 19, 2016, it was moved to a live broadcast on Tuesday night. SmackDown! debuted in the United States on the UPN television network on April 29, 1999, but after the merger of UPN and the WB, SmackDown! began airing on The CW in September 2006. The show was moved to MyNetworkTV in October 2008, to Syfy on October 1, 2010 and to USA Network on January 7, 2016.
WWE, an American professional wrestling promotion based in Stamford, Connecticut in the United States owned by the McMahon family, has been promoting events in the United Kingdom (UK) since 1989. From 1989 to 2001 WWE was promoted under concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith and his brother Martin Goldsmith for UK and European shows.
Raw Homecoming was a television special that was broadcast live on October 3, 2005 on the USA Network. It was named as such because it was the first edition of WWE's flagship show Monday Night Raw to air on the USA Network since 2000, after airing on Spike TV for the previous five years.
