7 Short-Lived WWE Shows You Forgot Existed
5. The Main Event
You might remember The Main Event for being the most watched wrestling program in American television history, but did you know that it actually spawned a short-lived series of annual follow-ups?
A spinoff of the more-famous Saturday Night's Main Event, the monumental show was broadcast live on 5 February 1988 and featured a battle between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship, renowned for its infamous ending involving twin referees Earl and Dave Hebner. After 33 million viewers tuned in, The Main Event became an annual show for the following two years, but none of the later instalments would draw an audience close to that.
The final two episodes were taped instead of being broadcast live, with one of them randomly airing in November 1991 (as opposed to the usual February slot). As WWE's TV deal with NBC neared its end, the network began to lose interest in wrestling and the Friday night specials were dropped soon afterwards.
The Main Event is one of the few hidden gems that you actually can revisit, as all five episodes are available on the WWE Network grouped in with Saturday Night's Main Event.