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JJMc

WWF syndies

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Back in about '97-'99, there were a handful of sydicated WWF shows, all with virtually the same matches, sometimes in a different order and with different commentary. We had:

 

-Shotgun Saturday Night

-Shotgun Challenge (later just 'Shotgun')

-WWF New York

-11: Alive

 

Then when Shotgun was axed in '99, Jakked took its place. And Metal took the place of Shotgun Challenge.

 

I guess the question is why did they have so damn many versions of the same show? WWF New York and 11:Alive were just not necessary, I'm sorry. Just ramblin' on..

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On the Jakked/Metal front, I believe Jakked was the Sat night show because their "Main Event" came at the beginning of the show, similiar to SNME. However, Metal would show their "Main Event" at the end of the show.

 

I'm guessing the same was true for Shotgun Sat Night and Shotgun Challenge.

 

Why did they do this? Your guess is as good as mine.

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Guest J0bber

They should have made a separate brand for Jakked/Metal with low-carders, and on this roster they could bring back the old "low-card" championships such as the European and Hardcore title (they started off as worthy titles, but then lost their value).

 

Here would be the roster for the Jakked/Metal Brand if they had the roster split in the Attitude Era:

 

Viscera

Mideon

Funaki

Low Down (D'Lo and Chaz)

Taka

Crash Holly

Steve Blackman

The Big Bossman

Los Boricuas

Michael Hayes

Brooklyn Brawler

 

Hell, I'll even through in some current guys, who would probably be on this brand:

 

Bill DeMott

Kanyon

Paul London (I hate to say it, but the WWE is just not pushing him)

Ultimo Dragon

Lance Storm

Sean O'Haire

John Hendriech

Tommy Dreamer

Garrison Cade

Mark Jindrak

Val Venis

Al Snow

Akio

Sakoda

Shannon Moore

Orlando Jordan

 

...can't think of any more right now. The GM could be Tom Prichard!

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I'm guessing they did it because in a lot of areas, people didn't have access to all of the shows. For example, here in Philly in 97, we didn't get Shotgun Saturday Night when it first started, but a few months later, they changed our WWF Challenge show into Shotgun Challenge, so we could see the matches. Also, I don't think we got Jakked up until 2001 when ECW and WCW closed.

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Here's the deal with 11 Alive, from its most avid fan:

 

Let's flash back to January 1998. WWF signed a deal with the Bud Paxson-owned stations (formerly HSN, later PAX TV) to carry new original programming. So for a few weeks, they hyped a show called "11 Alive" which we were supposed to Check Our Local Listings for. So we all turned to our UHF station that had turned to nothing but dog racing or Ron Popeil informercials after HSN moved off, and found a hot new show called 11 Alive. Then we looked at the ring aprons and realized it was just Shotgun Saturday Night, and also realized the commentators at the desk were not the same ones we were hearing, unless Michael Hayes is a shapeshifter and he's been keeping that talent of his in the dark for all these years. Anyway, this charade lasted from January '98 until March '98. The last installment was just Dok in that one room with the TVs and t-shirts everywhere, shilling WrestleMania XIV. He told us to tune in to 11 Alive next week, and when I did, I was greeted by some infomercial for a pasta maker. Alas: 11 Alive had been cancelled by either the WWF or the Paxson people.

 

FAST FACTS

Aired on stations that are now PAX affiliates, 1/98 to 3/98

Aired at 11 a.m. (all time zones) on Saturday mornings

Was part of a Saturday morning block of wrestling D-shows that alco included Livewire on USA, and Main Event on TBS.

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Guest ToddRoyal

11: Alive is memorable to me only because of one week it aired (in my area at least) with LAST week's commentary over this week's matches. That was one fun hour of watching jobber matches, I tell you...

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Here's the deal with 11 Alive, from its most avid fan:

 

Let's flash back to January 1998. WWF signed a deal with the Bud Paxson-owned stations (formerly HSN, later PAX TV) to carry new original programming. So for a few weeks, they hyped a show called "11 Alive" which we were supposed to Check Our Local Listings for. So we all turned to our UHF station that had turned to nothing but dog racing or Ron Popeil informercials after HSN moved off, and found a hot new show called 11 Alive. Then we looked at the ring aprons and realized it was just Shotgun Saturday Night, and also realized the commentators at the desk were not the same ones we were hearing, unless Michael Hayes is a shapeshifter and he's been keeping that talent of his in the dark for all these years. Anyway, this charade lasted from January '98 until March '98. The last installment was just Dok in that one room with the TVs and t-shirts everywhere, shilling WrestleMania XIV. He told us to tune in to 11 Alive next week, and when I did, I was greeted by some infomercial for a pasta maker. Alas: 11 Alive had been cancelled by either the WWF or the Paxson people.

 

FAST FACTS

Aired on stations that are now PAX affiliates, 1/98 to 3/98

Aired at 11 a.m. (all time zones) on Saturday mornings

Was part of a Saturday morning block of wrestling D-shows that alco included Livewire on USA, and Main Event on TBS.

That was a fun read, thanks!

 

While we're at it, does anybody remember WWF Metal in spanish/know if they play any other shows in Espanol these days? That was funnier than hell. -Jim

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11: Alive is memorable to me only because of one week it aired (in my area at least) with LAST week's commentary over this week's matches. That was one fun hour of watching jobber matches, I tell you...

Yes!!! I remember that also. That was the first and only time I got it in my area. And I never remember there being one w/ Dok in the studio...

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The last installment was just Dok in that one room with the TVs and t-shirts everywhere, shilling WrestleMania XIV.

 

I'm not sure if this was the same thing across the board, but I remember for this show, there was some kind of technical error where there was no speaking whatsoever...just background music and video for the whole hour. Even on the WMXIV hype packages, the voice overs just didn't work. At the time, I remember going crazy because I managed to tape the the DX theme and the Wrestlemania theme uninterrupted by commentary or anything. Still, that was a pretty odd show.

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While we're at it, does anybody remember WWF Metal in spanish/know if they play any other shows in Espanol these days? That was funnier than hell. -Jim

I used to see Metal in Spanish on either Telemundo or Univision, I can't remember which. Funny stuff to hear the announcers get all jazzed for Funaki vs. Albert.

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Unfortunately, we never got any of those shows in central Illinois until they finally started showing Jakked on WB23 after the brand extension. I bet I missed a few good matches somewhere along the line, too, and that pisses me off.

 

On a somewhat related note, did anyone in the southwest ever get WWF SuperAstros? It was a Spanish language syndicated program featuring luchadores like Essa Rios/Mr. Aguila and I believe random guys from AAA.

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