WWE Main Event
WWE Main Event is a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. The hour-long program features lower card performers usually from WWE's Raw brand, and it is primarily carried in international markets. In the United States, after initially airing on Ion Television, new episodes later became exclusive to the streaming service Hulu.
| WWE Main Event | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Vince McMahon |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | "On My Own" by CFO$ |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 424 (as of November 11, 2020) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Vince McMahon |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera setup |
| Running time | 55 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
|
| Picture format | |
| Original release | October 3, 2012 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The show is taped on Monday evenings as an undercard to the live WWE Raw broadcast. Prior to November 28, 2016, the show was filmed prior to SmackDown, but was moved to Raw tapings to accommodate WWE Network's weekly cruiserweight show 205 Live, which is broadcast live following SmackDown.[1]
History
The series first aired in the United States on Ion Television, originally premiering October 3, 2012 and airing on Wednesday nights. WWE considered the show to be a spiritual replacement for WWE Superstars (which previously aired on WGN America until 2011, and transitioned to WWE's digital platforms in the U.S. afterward). Hulu acquired rights to the series as well, as part of a larger pact that included video on-demand rights for WWE's main weekly programs.[2][3]
Ion Television dropped the series in April 2014; following the cancellation, WWE streamed a live episode of Main Event from Detroit on its then-new subscription service WWE Network. It was reported to be a stress test for live events on the service in preparation for WrestleMania XXX.[4]
Main Event was initially positioned as a non-branded show, featuring performers from both the Raw and SmackDown rosters.[3] Following the 2016 WWE Draft, the program became exclusive to SmackDown. After the cancellation of WWE Superstars, Main Event became exclusive to Raw.
WWE commentators Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton are the broadcast team, while Mike Rome is the ring announcer. From October 3, 2012, to January 22, 2014, "Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)" by Shinedown served as the official theme for Main Event. Since January 29, 2014, "On My Own" by CFO$ now serves as the theme song.
Commentators
| Commentators | Date started | Date finished |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Cole and The Miz | October 3, 2012 | October 10, 2012 |
| October 24, 2012 | ||
| November 7, 2012 | November 14, 2012 | |
| December 5, 2012 | January 9, 2013 | |
| January 23, 2013 | January 30, 2013 | |
| February 20, 2013 | ||
| March 6, 2013 | March 27, 2013 | |
| May 15, 2013 | May 22, 2013 | |
| Michael Cole and JBL | October 17, 2012 | |
| October 31, 2012 | ||
| November 21, 2012 | November 28, 2012 | |
| February 6, 2013 | February 13, 2013 | |
| April 3, 2013 | May 8, 2013 | |
| November 4, 2014 | ||
| December 23, 2014 | ||
| April 14, 2015 | ||
| Michael Cole and Brad Maddox | January 16, 2013 | |
| Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler | February 27, 2013 | |
| Josh Mathews and Ricardo Rodriguez | May 29, 2013 | June 5, 2013 |
| Josh Mathews and Wade Barrett | June 12, 2013 | |
| Josh Mathews, The Miz and Cody Rhodes | June 19, 2013 | |
| Josh Mathews and The Miz | June 26, 2013 | |
| July 10, 2013 | July 24, 2013 | |
| August 7, 2013 | August 21, 2013 | |
| September 11, 2013 | ||
| October 16, 2013 | October 30, 2013 | |
| November 20, 2013 | ||
| December 4, 2013 | December 11, 2013 | |
| December 25, 2013 | ||
| Josh Mathews and Cody Rhodes | July 3, 2013 | |
| Josh Mathews and JBL | July 31, 2013 | |
| Josh Mathews and Alex Riley | August 28, 2013 | September 4, 2013 |
| September 18, 2013 | October 9, 2013 | |
| November 6, 2013 | November 13, 2013 | |
| November 27, 2013 | ||
| December 18, 2013 | ||
| Tom Phillips and The Miz | January 1, 2014 | January 8, 2014 |
| January 22, 2014 | ||
| Tom Phillips and Alex Riley | January 15, 2014 | |
| January 29, 2014 | February 5, 2014 | |
| Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton | February 12, 2014 | August 12, 2014 |
| March 31, 2015 | ||
| September 15, 2015 | ||
| November 3, 2015 | ||
| November 17, 2015 | December 1, 2015 | |
| December 15, 2015 | ||
| November 29, 2016 | December 6, 2016 | |
| March 15, 2017 | April 4, 2017 | |
| April 9, 2020 | April 16, 2020 | |
| August 7, 2020 | present | |
| Michael Cole and Byron Saxton | August 19, 2014 | October 21, 2014 |
| November 11, 2014 | December 2, 2014 | |
| December 16, 2014 | ||
| November 10, 2015 | ||
| September 16, 2020 | ||
| Michael Cole, JBL and Byron Saxton | October 28, 2014 | |
| Tom Phillips and Renee Young | December 9, 2014 | |
| July 25, 2019 | August 1, 2019 | |
| Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T | December 30, 2014 | January 6, 2015 |
| Tom Phillips and JBL | January 13, 2015 | January 20, 2015 |
| February 3, 2015 | March 24, 2015 | |
| Rich Brennan and JBL | April 7, 2015 | |
| April 21, 2015 | May 26, 2015 | |
| Rich Brennan, JBL and Jimmy Uso | June 2, 2015 | June 16, 2015 |
| Rich Brennan and Jerry Lawler | June 23, 2015 | July 14, 2015 |
| July 28, 2015 | August 18, 2015 | |
| January 5, 2016 | April 26, 2016 | |
| Michael Cole and Rich Brennan | July 21, 2015 | |
| Tom Phillips and Jimmy Uso | August 25, 2015 | |
| Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Jimmy Uso | September 1, 2015 | September 8, 2015 |
| September 22, 2015 | ||
| October 6, 2015 | October 27, 2015 | |
| Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Jimmy Uso | September 29, 2015 | |
| Kyle Edwards and Corey Graves | December 8, 2015 | |
| Rich Brennan and Byron Saxton | December 22, 2015 | December 29, 2015 |
| Tom Phillips and Jerry Lawler | January 29, 2015 | |
| May 3, 2016 | May 17, 2016 | |
| Tom Phillips, Jerry Lawler and Dolph Ziggler | May 24, 2016 | June 7, 2016 |
| Tom Phillips and David Otunga | June 14, 2016 | |
| June 28, 2016 | October 11, 2016 | |
| October 25, 2016 | November 22, 2016 | |
| Tom Phillips, Dolph Ziggler and David Otunga | June 21, 2016 | |
| Tom Phillips, David Otunga and Aiden English | October 18, 2016 | |
| Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Austin Aries | December 20, 2016 | February 8, 2017 |
| Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and R-Truth | February 15, 2017 | March 8, 2017 |
| Tom Phillips and Corey Graves | April 12, 2017 | May 17, 2017 |
| Vic Joseph and Corey Graves | May 24, 2017 | August 30, 2017 |
| September 27, 2017 | ||
| January 31, 2018 | ||
| Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness | September 6, 2017 | September 20, 2017 |
| October 4, 2017 | January 24, 2018 | |
| February 7, 2018 | April 4, 2018 | |
| Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson | April 11, 2018 | |
| April 25, 2018 | June 13, 2018 | |
| June 27, 2018 | January 18, 2019 | |
| Vic Joseph and Percy Watson | April 18, 2018 | |
| Tom Phillips and Percy Watson | June 20, 2018 | |
| Byron Saxton, Percy Watson, and Renee Young | January 25, 2019 | March 29, 2019 |
| Vic Joseph, Byron Saxton and Renee Young | April 4, 2019 | April 11, 2019 |
| Byron Saxton, Renee Young and Sam Roberts | April 18, 2019 | |
| May 23, 2019 | ||
| July 13, 2019 | July 19, 2019 | |
| Byron Saxton, Renee Young, and David Otunga | April 25, 2019 | May 2, 2019 |
| Byron Saxton and Renee Young | May 9, 2019 | |
| May 30, 2019 | July 3, 2019 | |
| August 8, 2019 | September 5, 2019 | |
| Byron Saxton, Nigel McGuinness and Aiden English | May 16, 2019 | |
| Byron Saxton, Renee Young and Dio Maddin | September 12, 2019 | September 19, 2019 |
| Vic Joseph, Mickie James and Dio Maddin | September 26, 2019 | |
| Byron Saxton, Mickie James, and Dio Maddin | October 10, 2019 | November 7, 2019 |
| Vic Joseph and Byron Saxton | November 21, 2019 | November 28, 2019 |
| Byron Saxton and Mickie James | December 5, 2019 | April 2, 2020 |
| Tom Phillips and MVP | April 23, 2020 | July 29, 2020 |
| Byron Saxton and Samoa Joe | September 9, 2020 | |
Ring announcers
| Ring announcers | Dates |
|---|---|
| Lilian Garcia | October 3, 2012 – October 24, 2012 December 5, 2012 – December 19, 2012 January 2, 2013 – February 6, 2013 May 29, 2013 October 9, 2013 November 27, 2013 January 1, 2014 March 18, 2014 April 15, 2014 May 27, 2014 March 24, 2015 November 3, 2015 |
| Tony Chimel | October 31, 2012 – November 28, 2012 December 26, 2012 February 13, 2013 – May 22, 2013 June 5, 2013 – October 2, 2013 October 16, 2013 – November 20, 2013 December 4, 2013 – December 25, 2013 January 8, 2014 – March 11, 2014 March 25, 2014 – April 8, 2014 April 22, 2014 – May 20, 2014 June 3, 2014 – June 24, 2014 |
| Eden | July 1, 2014 – March 17, 2015 March 31, 2015 June 2, 2015 – June 23, 2015 July 14, 2015 – October 6, 2015 October 20, 2015 – October 27, 2015 November 10, 2015 – February 23, 2016 April 19, 2016 |
| JoJo | April 7, 2015 – May 26, 2015 June 30, 2015 – July 7, 2015 October 13, 2015 July 19, 2016 November 29, 2016 – December 6, 2016 December 20, 2016 – January 18, 2017 March 22, 2017 – April 4, 2017 September 13, 2017 March 21, 2018 |
| Greg Hamilton | March 1, 2016 – April 12, 2016 April 26, 2016 – July 12, 2016 July 26, 2016 – November 22, 2016 |
| Mike Rome | January 25, 2017 – March 15, 2017 April 12, 2017 – September 6, 2017 September 20, 2017 – March 14, 2018 March 28, 2018 – present |
See also
Notes
References
- Davis, Brad (2014-03-05). "UPDATE ON NXT & MAIN EVENT ON THE WWE NETWORK, SUMMERSLAM TRAVEL PACKAGES". SEScoops.com. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
- Graser, Marc (2012-09-24). "Hulu Plus pacts with WWE". Variety. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
- Graser, Marc (2012-06-25). "ION pins down 'WWE Main Event'". Variety. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
- Harris, Keith (2014-03-02). "Main Event moving from ION TV to the WWE Network?". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
