Before Smackdown became a fixture of the weekly schedule, Sunday Night Heat was the secondary show backing up Monday Night Raw each week. First airing in August, 1998, the show was initially treated like a big deal by the company. Much like Raw, there were big matches and storyline developments on Heat, making it very worthwhile for fans to tune into. When Smackdown did come along, Heat was downgraded remarkably. Suddenly, the show had lesser importance for the WWF. It was removed from the USA Network in late-2000, moving to MTV with immediate effect that October. Notably, there was a unique version of the show produced for international markets, coinciding with the WWF's deal to appeal on Channel 4 in the UK. Eventually, Heat would drop further and further down the ladder of importance to the promotion's management. In 2005, the USA Network were airing WWE shows once again, after an extended period away from the station. Bigwigs at the network chose not to pick up Heat, consigning it to WWE.com. In 2008, the show was cancelled, after almost a decade of existence.
