''WWF Wrestling Challenge'' is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

that was produced by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWF, now known as WWE). It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as ''WWF Challenge'' in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match interviews, and occasionally, summarized weekly events in WWF programming. Matches primarily saw top-tier and mid-level talent vs. Jobbers. At times, there was a "feature" match between main WWF talent. As with other syndicated WWF programming, the show promoted WWF event dates and

house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

s in local

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

s. It was the 'B' show of WWF syndication, meaning it generally only aired in markets where WWF had two weekly slots, with the other taken up by ''

WWF Superstars of Wrestling ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars ''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by ...

.'' Select episodes of ''Wrestling Challenge'' are available for streaming on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...

. As of May 17, 2021, there are 23 episodes of ''Wrestling Challenge'' available for streaming on WWE Network, dating from its premiere to February 8, 1987.

History

''Wrestling Challenge'' premiered on September 6, 1986, replacing ''

All-Star Wrestling All Star Wrestling (ASW) is a British professional wrestling promotion operated by Brian Dixon and based in Birkenhead, England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star P ...

''. Following the show's debut, ''The Snake Pit'', hosted by

Jake "The Snake" Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is be ...

, debuted as a feature of the show. ''The Snake Pit'' was an in-ring interview segment modeled after

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for hi ...

's ''

Piper's Pit Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his ...

'', which aired on ''

''. ''Wrestling Challenge'' also featured the similarly formatted ''

The Brother Love Show Bruce Prichard (born March 7, 1963) is an American professional wrestling executive, booker, and producer and a former manager, commentator, and occasional professional wrestler. In addition to his corporate roles with WWE, Prichard has also ...

''. This segment, which debuted in 1988, was later moved to ''Superstars of Wrestling''. After this, the main feature was a podium interview featuring

Gene Okerlund Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019), better known by his ring name "Mean Gene" Okerlund, was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wres ...

and a random WWF superstar until 1991. Starting in 1991, ''The Barber Shop'' debuted with host

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake Edward Harrison Leslie (born April 21, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship ...

, while ''The King's Court'', hosted by

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Apr ...

debuted in 1993.

Title changes

While ''

'' held most title changes on national television, ''Wrestling Challenge'' only had one title change on November 1, 1992 (taped October 13, 1992), as

Money Inc. Money Inc. was a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from February 1992 to August 1993. The team consisted of "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster (I.R.S.). They held the WWF Tag Team Champi ...

defeated

The Natural Disasters The Natural Disasters were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Earthquake (John Tenta) and Typhoon (Fred Ottman) who worked in the World Wrestling Federation between 1991 and 1993. They won the WWF Tag Team Championship once. Formatio ...

to win the

WWF World Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

, with interference from The Headshrinkers. This title change was also aired on the October 31, 1992 ''Superstars of Wrestling'' with ''Wrestling Challenge'' commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan calling the action. The WWF treated the match as a simulcast on both programs.

Commentators

The hosts for the first three episodes were

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...

Ernie Ladd Ernest Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "The Big Cat", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball sch ...

, and Luscious Johnny V. After that, Ladd was replaced by

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation ...

while Johnny V continued to do commentary solely for matches where Heenan was managing, until Valiant would leave the WWF in late 1987. Other hosts included: *Gorilla Monsoon and

Lord Alfred Hayes Alfred George James Hayes (8 August 1928 – 21 July 2005) was an English professional wrestler, manager and commentator, best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation between 1982 and 1995 where he wa ...

, UK Challenge (1987-1988) *Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan (February 7, 1988) *Gorilla Monsoon,

Tony Schiavone Noah Anthony Schiavone (, ; born November 7, 1957) is an American sports announcer, professional wrestling commentator and podcaster currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a play-by-play commentator and senior producer. He has pre ...

, and Bobby Heenan (June 25, 1989) *Gorilla Monsoon and Tony Schiavone (July 2, 1989 - November 12, 1989, December 10, 1989 - April 1, 1990) *Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon (November 19, 26, December 3, 1989) *Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart (March 31, 1991 - August 25, 1991) *Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan (September 28, 1986 - June 18, 1989, April 22, 1990 - March 24, 1991, September 1, 1991 - April 4, 1993) *

Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career as ...

and Bobby Heenan (April 11, 1993 - December 5, 1993) *Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon (December 12, 1993 - February 13, 1994) *Gorilla Monsoon and Stan Lane (February 13, 1994 - March 20, 1994) *

Stan Lane Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane (born August 5, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler and color commentator. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and World Champi ...

and

Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE working in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship ...

(March 27, 1994 - July 3, 1994, July 10, 1994 - August 7, 1994, February 26, 1995) *Jim Ross and Ted DiBiase (August 14, 1994 - August 28, 1994) *Gorilla Monsoon and Ted DiBiase (July 10, 1994, September 4, 1994 - February 19, 1995, March 5, 1995 - April 23, 1995) *Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon (April 30, 1995 - June 11, 1995, June 25, 1995 - July 30, 1995) *Stan Lane and Gorilla Monsoon (June 18, 1995) *Jim Ross and

Dok Hendrix Michael Seitz (born March 29, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler and former musician. Seitz is best known for leading The Fabulous Freebirds under the ring name Michael "P.S." ("Purely Sexy") Hayes and for his role as an announ ...

(August 6, 1995 - August 27, 1995)

International transmission

In some parts of Canada, ''Wrestling Challenge'' was repackaged as ''WWF Cavalcade'', with the only difference apart from the title being Canadian-produced interview segments. This repackaging allowed the program to count as

Canadian content Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...

. In the United Kingdom, the show aired on

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

and a repackaged version was aired occasionally from 1987 until 1988 on ITV as a part of the final two years of

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's Saturday lunchtime Wrestling coverage. Certain ITV areas also screened a batch of 10 months' worth of episodes (covering the period August 1987-June 1988) in an early morning graveyard timeslot, erroneously announced in TV listings as '' Superstars Of Wrestling''. The late night ITV slot would be replaced in 1990 by tapes of

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

. The Sky transmission continued to air in the UK until 1997, when it was repackaged as '' WWF Shotgun Challenge''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wwf Wrestling Challenge 1986 American television series debuts 1995 American television series endings First-run syndicated television programs in the United States

Wrestling Challenge ''WWF Wrestling Challenge'' is a professional wrestling television show that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as ''WWF Cha ...