In the U.S during the 90s there were always Saturday wrestling shows. Since Monday night was the hot night for wrestling, Saturday wasn’t going to be that exciting. Sure, you still got the unexpected match that actually stood out but you were watching the B-show stuff. It was either veterans taking on jobbers and youngsters or up-and-comers taking on jobbers.
As you’d expect, there was no jobber vs. jobber action. Who would want to see that? You’d be surprised at what some of those jobbers could do—just not in WWE or WCW in the 90s. We’re going to get into five of the best Saturday wrestling shows of the 90s. Since this is a list of national shows, USWA TV is excluded.
5. WWF LiveWire (1996-2001)
Originally, LiveWire was a call-in show then it became a talk show about the week’s action. If you caught RAW earlier in the week then there wasn’t much to hear. A show like this would totally work now when WWE has a lot more content on TV and streaming.
4. WOW Women of Wrestling (2000-2001)
Another creation from the guy behind GLOW. David McLane had a thing for just getting something on television. It was like having Jeff Jarrett in executive power within your promotion. If there was a project, TV networks would entertain it from McLane. As for the show itself, WOW Women of Wrestling leaned heavily on the sports entertainment style.
There were plenty of wild gimmicks, brief matches, and lots of promos and angles. Just think GLOW in the 90s. That said, this was a really fun show to watch. It came on around 11 PM on the local CW—then WB—affiliate. Since the show was the main vehicle for the promotion, it actually featured storylines. My favorite was Selina Major vs. Peggy Lee Leather—plus those two were pretty much the best in-ring in WOW.
3. WCW WorldWide (1992-2001)
Growing out of a much older NWA show, WorldWide was a recap/sports desk show in the latter part of the 1990s but you also got some matches with guys from the Power Plant and lower-rung veterans. There was a lot of High Voltage on WorldWide and it wasn’t unusual to see some regular jobbers appear. Then again, that’s expected on B-shows. WWE had matches with Larry Santo all the time on its 80s shows and he stayed looking up at the arena lights!
WorldWide was a daytime Saturday wrestling show and came on at 11 AM before college football.
2. WWF Shotgun Saturday Night/WWFJakked/Metal (1997-2002)
This was a B-show with a really good debut. WWE was really involved in presenting Shotgun Saturday Night in its first few months. At the time, it even had a few running stories and continued some stories from Raw. It didn’t really settle into its B-show role until the end of 1997.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcM24O0iBBM
Even so, I always liked the vibe of Shotgun. It always seemed like it could be rawer than Raw since it was Saturday night and Saturday night’s alright for fighting. I remember the show coming on at 10 PM before WOW Women of Wrestling when the show became WWF Jakked.
My most significant memory of Shotgun was Edge’s in-ring national debut for WWE where he dove out the ring and broke a member of Los Boricuas’ neck.
1. World Championship Wrestling/WCW Saturday Night (1982-2000)
Rebranding as WCW Saturday Night in 1992, this show was WCW’s A-show up until Nitro aired. In the months afterward, it was treated as a B+ show before truly becoming a B-show around 1996. WCW still delivered some solid matches on Saturday Night since the roster was stacked with talent. It wasn’t unusual to see the luchadores on the show, The Giant come out and destroy someone, or Harlem Heat roll through some fools.
Saturday Night came on at 6:05 PM—exact time—every Saturday after the Atlanta Braves games. It was also host to the Mike Tenay-hosted Lucha Libre and the Mexican Luchadores segments.
Your Favorite Saturday Wrestling Shows
What were your favorite Saturday wrestling shows! What were some of your memories from them? Let us know in the comments!
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