WWF Livewire (partially found professional wrestling recap and talk show; 1996-2001)

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WWF Livewire logo.

Status: Partially Found

WWF Livewire (sometimes referred to as WWF LiveWire) is a professional wrestling recap and talk show. Produced by the World Wresting Federation (WWF, now WWE), it aired from 1996 to 2001 on USA Network and later TNN. Primarily a weekly summary show by February 1997, the original format of the show is famous for its interactivity, and is considered the most uncensored show in WWE's history.

Background

WWF Livewire was a unique show for professional wrestling when it debuted on 5th October, 1996 on Saturday mornings. In an attempt to transition away from the outlandish-based New Generation era to a more reality-based format, the show became a platform where the WWF's audience could interact with its wrestling personalities. Fans were able to call the show and ask questions, send faxes regarding their thoughts concerning WWF programming at the time, and even join a chat room to discuss WWF with other fans.[1]

Hosted primarily by Todd Pettengill and with the support of wrestlers and other personalities including Sunny and Jim Cornette, the first few months of the show brought about various hard-hitting questions from fans and notable incidents. The show's interactions were seldom screened, resulting in the show being surprisingly uncensored for a WWF program, especially back in the 1990s. This allowed open discussion about the wrestling industry, to the extent that WWE itself has labelled WWF Livewire "The most uncensored show in WWE history".[2] By February 1997, Livewire reverted to a typical wrestling recap show, and remained as such before it was discontinued on 18th August 2001.[3]

Notable Highlights

One highlight concerned a fan directly asking WWF owner Vince McMahon regarding WCW and Ted Turner in an October 1996 edition of the show. Back then, the WWF rarely referenced other wrestling shows, and McMahon's status as WWF chairman was still not widely known, as he primarily was a commentator and had yet to transition into a heel boss persona during his famous feud with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.[4] McMahon nevertheless candidly answered the question, discussing how the Black Saturday incident, where the WWF's attempt to take over Georgia Championship Wrestling's time slot on Turner's Superstation WTBS in 1984 ended in disaster, led to his long-standing feud with Turner.[5]

McMahon also received a call from an individual referred to as "Bruce from Connecticut", who accused the WWF of stealing ideas from Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was not long before most realised that "Bruce" was actually ECW owner Paul Heyman, who used Livewire to not only berate the WWF, but also to promote his company. "Bruce" would be cut off after verbal tirade was deemed too vulgar for Saturday morning television.[6]

The show also marked the on-screen debut of Vince Russo, most notable for being the head writer for the WWF in the late-1990s, and later WCW from 1999-2000. Given the persona of "Vic Venom", Venom would make himself infamous in a single Livewire show. In it, he confronted WWF broadcaster Dok Hendrix, before in a breaking of Kayfabe, revealed that Hendrix was Michael Hayes of the Fabulous Freebirds. Additionally, Venom would turn his attentions to Cornette, with the two ending up bickering.[7] This is the only known instance of Russo and Cornette together on-screen, with Cornette famously being known for expressing his hatred of Russo in various shoot interviews over the years.[8]

Availability

WWF Livewire has yet to be fully included on the WWE Network, which when combined with the show's lower viewership due to the lack of professional wrestling matches, has resulted in much of the show becoming lost media. Nevertheless, the WWE Network does contain nine highlights from the show.[9]

In February 2021, eight 1996 episodes of WWF Livewire would be uploaded to YouTube by Lee Gareth. A further seven were known to have been uploaded based on a WWF Livewire playlist, but have since become unavailable. The 1997-2001 recap version of WWF Livewire is mostly missing, although the full 19th December 1998 episode, as well as a few segments, have since publicly resurfaced.

Gallery

21st September 1996.

5th October 1996.

19th October 1996.

26th October 1996.

2nd November 1996.

9th November 1996.

30th November 1996.

28th December 1996.

German dub of 11th April 1998.

19th December 1998.

11th January 1997 segment.

8th November 1997 segment.

15th November 1997 segment.

7th March 1998 segment.

28th March 1998 segment.

04th April 1998 segment.

25th April 1998 segment.

9th May 1998 segment.

5th September 1998 segment.

12th September 1998 segment.

19th September 1998 segment.

12th December 1998 segment.

26th December 1998 segment.

See Also

External Links

References