WWF Shotgun (found July to December season of syndicated wrestling show; 1997)

This article has been tagged as Needing work due to its lack of references.

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The show's logo.

Status: Partially Found

On January 4, 1997 the WWF (now WWE) debuted a syndicated wrestling show called WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, with matches initially taking place in nightclubs, malls, subways, etc. By late February, due to creative decisions by Vince McMahon and then head-writer Vince Russo, they decided to make the show a midcard show, so that wrestlers unused on WWF Raw Is War could get exposure and television time.

Part of the reason why the initial theme was discontinued was because it was often a struggle booking shows every week at such venues, as well as having to constantly work and drive in the freezing cold of New York City.

The presentation was very similar in format to that of WWF Wrestling Challenge in the 1980s. It would include a variety of exclusive midcard feuds, jobber matches, house show promos and main-event storyline buildup. Shotgun Saturday Night was a great inspiration for the 1999 video game WWF Attitude, which featured many of the show's midcarders and had it as an venue in the career mode.

Debut of WWF Shotgun

On July 12, 1997, during the gradual growth of the Attitude Era, the show began branching-out into different syndicated versions across the United States, which were very different from each other in terms of content, format and commentary. These included WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, WWF New York, WWF Shotgun Challenge (in the Southern market), WWF Superstars (outside the US) and ultimately WWF Shotgun in the Midwest market, most notably in the Wisconsin area.

In Wisconsin, WWF Shotgun would air on WLUK-TV Fox 11 around midnight or later. It was initially broadcasted from the Stevens Point/Plover area to the Appleton/Green Bay area, being hosted by Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly. Some would also have Raymond Rougeau or Tom Prichard on commentary.

This version of WWF Shotgun has also been said to have aired in the New York City/Long Island area (WLNY-TV NY 55), Anglophone Canada (unknown channel), and Connecticut (WCCT-TV CT 20).

In Georgia, WWF Shotgun Challenge would air on on WFXG Fox 54 in and around the Augusta area.

Status

The July to December 1997 season of WWF Shotgun is for the most part lost to time, and it and Shotgun Challenge are the only syndicated version that were known to have the full-length matches, Dok Hendrix's "Slam Jam" center, and exclusive storyline promos.

Despite that, most of those WWF Shotgun episodes from January 1998 to August 1999 have survived and were preserved though VHS transfers, but the season from July to December 1997 is almost completely lost.

The July 12 and July 19 episodes of Shotgun Challenge have since been discovered and preserved. Also discovered has been the December 13, 1997 match of Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon vs. The Hardy Boyz, aired on Shotgun.

The 1997 season was identical in presentation and format to its 1998 and 1999 counterparts, with the only difference being the use of the New Generation "block" logo on the bottom left of the screen instead of the more widely known "scratch" logo.

Gallery

These are screenshots of the 1998 season of Shotgun, which the lost July to December 1997 also used. The only difference the 1997 season had was just the New Generation yellow-blue "block" logo on the bottom left.

Shotgun Challenge would have minor cosmetic changes, most notably a slightly different badge logo and no blue box behind the nameplates. Other than that the show versions are basically identical in terms of show content, structure and segments.

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See Also

• Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)
• Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)
• Bret Hart-Hulk Hogan photoshoot (lost professional wrestling promotional photos; 1993)
• Bret Hart vs Tom Magee (found untelevised professional wrestling match; 1986)
• Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling (lost early BBC televised professional wrestling matches; 1938-1939; 1946-1947)
• Celebrity Wrestling (partially found ITV professional wrestling reality show; 2005)
• Collision in Korea (found professional wrestling event in North Korea; 1995)
• Collision in Korea wrestler sketches (lost North Korean pencil sketch portraits of professional wrestlers; 1995)
• ECW Anarchy Rulz (lost build of cancelled Nintendo 64 port of professional wrestling game; existence unconfirmed; 2000)
• ECW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
• ECW Hardcore TV final episodes (lost episodes of Professional Wrestling Show; 2001)
• FMW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
• The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)
• GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)
• Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)
• GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)
• Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)
• Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)
• Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)
• The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)
• "Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)
• Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)
• Screwed: The Bret Hart Story (lost unfinished wrestling documentary film; 2005)
• Sex University (lost WWE webshow; 2006)
• Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Gekitou Densetsu (lost build of unreleased Virtual Boy wrestling game; 1995)
• Strange Kentucky People (lost recording of Chris Jericho "tribute"; 1994)
• TNA Impact! 2 (lost build of unfinished professional wrestling game; 2009)
• WCW 2000 (lost work on unfinished PlayStation 2 game; 2000)
• WCW All Nighter (partially lost professional wrestling compilation show; 1994-1995)
• WCW Classics (partially found professional wrestling compilation show; 2000-2001)
• WCW Internet-only Special Events and PPVs (lost audio streams; 1997-1998)
• WCW/nWo Live (lost build of cancelled PlayStation professional wrestling game; 1998)
• WWE 24x7 (lost professional wrestling compilation show; 2007)
• WWE Brawl (lost build of cancelled fighting game based on professional wrestling; 2012)
• WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)
• WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)
• WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)
• WWF Excess (partially found professional wrestling talk show; 2001-2002)
• WWF In Your House 8: Beware Of Dog (partially found untelevised professional wrestling matches; 1996)
• WWF Livewire (partially found professional wrestling recap and talk show; 1996-2001)
• WWF No Mercy (lost Game Boy Color games based on Nintendo 64 wrestling game; 2000)
• WWF Xperience (found pay-per-view event footage; 1996)

External Links

• Google Drive upload of the December 13th, 1997 match of The Hardy Boyz vs. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon.
• The July 12 and July 19 episodes of Shotgun Challenge, featuring the match linked above towards the end of the video compilation