Aired between 1997-1999, the then-World Wrestling Federation's program Shotgun Saturday Night is unique in likely moreso than anything WWE's Monday Night Raw ever did (in that era). The show was initially more directly influenced by Extreme Championship Wrestling than any other WWF program. Similar to ECW, the show aired anywhere between 11 PM - 3 AM on Saturday night via syndicated TV channels throughout America. Vince McMahon counter-programming against Paul Heyman is certainly bizarre, and when one contemplates what eventually became of Shotgun Saturday Night, it was ultimately an idea doomed to failure. The WWF was not able to match ECW for exciting light heavyweight action or sexually explicit (or otherwise risque) content. When the program stopped airing in 1999, the more ECW-friendly broadcast style had been absorbed by Monday Night Raw, making Shotgun, in theory, expendable. However, between wrestling legends making rare appearances on the show, or young talents getting their first taste of in-ring WWE action via Shotgun Saturday Night, the program was truly unique. Though the program still lives on in the annals of YouTube infamy, when it debuted, it was truly groundbreaking. Here's a collection of ten moments, facts and amazing figures regarding the three-year run of the forgotten WWE television offering.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
