WWE Superstars

WWE Superstars, or simply Superstars, is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by WWE that originally aired on WGN America in the United States and later broadcast on the WWE Network. It debuted on April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16) and ended its domestic broadcasting on April 7, 2011 (2011-04-07). After the final domestic TV broadcast, the show moved to an Internet broadcast format while maintaining a traditional television broadcast in international markets. The show featured mid-to-low card WWE Superstars in a format similar to the former shows Heat and Velocity which served the same purpose. "Enhancement talent" bouts also happened often. Big names such as John Cena, Randy Orton, The Undertaker, and Triple H appeared on the show at its beginning.

WWE Superstars
Genre
Created byVince McMahon
StarringRaw roster
Opening theme"New Day Coming" by CFO$ feat. Pilot Speed[1]
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes398[2]
Production
Camera setupMulticamera setup
Running time60 minutes (inc. commercials)
Release
Original network
  • WGN America (2009 (2009)–2011 (2011))
  • WWE.com (2011 (2011)–2012 (2012))
  • Hulu Plus (2012 (2012)–2016 (2016))
  • WWE Network (2014 (2014)–2016 (2016))
Picture format
Original releaseApril 16, 2009 (2009-04-16) 
November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
External links
Website

On December 19, 2008 (2008-12-19), WWE and WGN America announced an agreement to create a new weekly, one-hour prime time series entitled WWE Superstars that was to debut in April 2009 (2009-04). Sunday on WGN America. Until early 2010, the replay also aired on WGN-TV. However, it was removed, hence eliminating distribution of the show from the Canadian fanbase.[3] Superstars had its debut show on April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16).[4]

On March 17, 2011 (2011-03-17), WGN America announced that they would not renew their domestic broadcasts rights to WWE Superstars, and the last episode they would air would be shown on April 7, 2011 (2011-04-07). Online reports stated that the network did not renew the series because it didn't live up to its expectations. WWE.com aired the show from April 14 to September 22, 2011 (2011-09-22) and again from October 6, 2011 (2011-10-06) to September 13, 2012 (2012-09-13). The show continued to be produced for international broadcasting until November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25).

On November 28, 2016, it was announced that Superstars had been canceled by WWE and would be replaced on the WWE Network by 205 Live. WWE Main Event would serve as the complementary show featuring Raw and SmackDown talents (and would later replace WWE Superstars for international markets).[2]

Select episodes are viewable on the WWE Network, and episodes from September 17, 2009, until September 20, 2012 are available to watch on WWE's official YouTube channel.

Production

WWE Superstars' version of the universal WWE HD set used from April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16)July 19, 2012 (2012-07-19)

The last theme song for WWE Superstars was "New Day Coming" by CFO$ featuring Todd Clark, which replaced "Invincible" by Adelitas Way on May 17, 2013.[1] The final commentators were Tom Phillips and Corey Graves, and JoJo was the last ring announcer.

Matches featured on Superstars were taped earlier in the week, during the Raw events on Monday nights.[5] The program aired on Thursdays until January 2015 when SmackDown moved to same night. Superstars was then moved to Fridays on WWE Network, with its first Friday night airing on January 16.

Commentators

CommentatorsDates
Raw brand
Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16)October 26, 2010 (2010-10-26)
Scott Stanford and Jerry Lawler October 7, 2010 (2010-10-07)
October 28, 2010 (2010-10-28)November 11, 2010 (2010-11-11)
November 25, 2010 (2010-11-25)
December 23, 2010 (2010-12-23)
Michael Cole and Josh Mathews November 11, 2010 (2010-11-11)
Scott Stanford and CM Punk November 18, 2010 (2010-11-18)
December 2, 2010 (2010-12-02)December 16, 2010 (2010-12-16)
Scott Stanford and Josh Mathews December 30, 2010 (2010-12-30)October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25)
Josh Mathews and Matt Striker November 10, 2011 (2011-11-10)
Scott Stanford and Matt Striker March 29, 2012 (2012-03-29)
April 26, 2012 (2012-04-26)May 3, 2012 (2012-05-03)
Tom Phillips and Corey Graves July 29, 2016 (2016-07-29)November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton September 2, 2016 (2016-09-02)
SmackDown brand
Todd Grisham and Jim Ross April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16)October 29, 2009 (2009-10-29)
Todd Grisham and Matt Striker November 5, 2009 (2009-11-05)December 2, 2010 (2010-12-02)
Jack Korpela and Matt Striker December 9, 2010 (2010-12-09)May 26, 2011 (2011-05-26)
June 9, 2011 (2011-06-09)November 3, 2011 (2011-11-03)
Jack Korpela and Booker T June 2, 2011 (2011-06-02)
Josh Mathews and Matt Striker November 10, 2011 (2011-11-10)October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25)
Michael Cole and Matt Striker April 26, 2012 (2012-04-26)
ECW brand
Josh Mathews and Matt Striker April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16)October 22, 2009 (2009-10-22)
Josh Mathews and Byron Saxton October 27, 2009 (2009-10-27)February 11, 2010 (2010-02-11)
Full roster
Scott Stanford and Matt Striker August 23, 2012 (2012-08-23)
November 2, 2012 (2012-11-02)January 11, 2013 (2013-01-11)
Tony Dawson and Matt Striker January 18, 2013 (2013-01-18)June 21, 2013 (2013-06-21)
Tony Dawson and Alex Riley June 28, 2013 (2013-06-28)September 20, 2013 (2013-09-20)
Josh Mathews and Tom Phillips September 27, 2013 (2013-09-27)
Josh Mathews and Alex Riley November 15, 2013 (2013-11-15)
Tom Phillips and Alex Riley October 4, 2013 (2013-10-04)January 24, 2014 (2014-01-24)
Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton January 31, 2014 (2014-01-31)June 26, 2014 (2014-06-26)
January 16, 2015 (2015-01-16)January 23, 2015 (2015-01-23)
May 6, 2016 (2016-05-06)June 10, 2016 (2016-06-10)
Tom Phillips and Renee Young July 3, 2014 (2014-07-03)January 9, 2015 (2015-01-09)
Tom Phillips January 30, 2015 (2015-01-30)
Rich Brennan and Byron Saxton February 6, 2015 (2015-02-06)March 27, 2015 (2015-03-27)
April 24, 2015 (2015-04-24)May 29, 2015 (2015-05-29)
October 23, 2015 (2015-10-23)April 29, 2016 (2016-04-29)
Rich Brennan and Tom Phillips April 3, 2015 (2015-04-03)April 10, 2015 (2015-04-10)
Michael Cole and Byron Saxton April 17, 2015 (2015-04-17)
Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, and Jimmy Uso June 5, 2015 (2015-06-05)August 21, 2015 (2015-08-21)
Rich Brennan and Xavier Woods August 28, 2015 (2015-08-28)October 16, 2015 (2015-10-16)
Kyle Edwards December 25, 2015 (2015-12-25)
Rich Brennan and The Miz January 8, 2016 (2016-01-08)
Tom Phillips, Dolph Ziggler, and David Otunga June 17, 2016 (2016-06-17)
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)
July 22, 2016 (2016-07-22)
Tom Phillips and David Otunga June 24, 2016 (2016-06-24)July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

Ring announcers

Ring announcersDates
Raw brand
Lilian Garcia April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16)September 24, 2009 (2009-09-24)
Justin Roberts October 1, 2009 (2009-10-01)May 5, 2011 (2011-05-05)
July 14, 2011 (2011-07-14)July 21, 2011 (2011-07-21)
November 10, 2011 (2011-11-10)
December 29, 2011 (2011-12-29)October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25)
JoJo July 29, 2016 (2016-07-29)November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
SmackDown brand
Justin Roberts April 16, 2009 (2009-04-16)September 24, 2009 (2009-09-24)
Tony Chimel October 1, 2009 (2009-10-01)May 5, 2011 (2011-05-05)
July 21, 2011 (2011-07-21)
December 29, 2011 (2011-12-29)October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25)
Savannah May 6, 2010 (2010-05-06)June 17, 2010 (2010-06-17)
Jamie Keyes August 12, 2010 (2010-08-12)August 31, 2010 (2010-08-31)
Eden Stiles July 14, 2011 (2011-07-14)
November 10, 2011 (2011-11-10)
ECW brand
Tony Chimel April 30, 2009 (2009-04-30)
Lauren Mayhew October 8, 2009 (2009-10-08)November 19, 2009 (2009-11-19)
Savannah December 17, 2009 (2009-12-17)February 11, 2010 (2010-02-11)
Full roster
Ashley Valence November 25, 2010 (2010-11-25)December 9, 2010 (2010-12-09)
Justin Roberts March 10, 2011 (2011-03-10)
2014
Eden Stiles May 12, 2011 (2011-05-12)December 22, 2011 (2011-12-22)
January 9, 2015 (2015-01-09)
April 17, 2015 (2015-04-17)May 29, 2015 (2015-05-29)
October 16, 2015 (2015-10-16)
November 6, 2015 (2015-11-06)
Tony Chimel November 2, 2012 (2012-11-02) – 2014
January 1, 2016 (2016-01-01)
Lilian Garcia October 23, 2014 (2014-10-23)February 26, 2016 (2016-02-26)
Greg Hamilton March 4, 2016 (2016-03-04)July 22, 2016 (2016-07-22)

International broadcasters

In addition to being broadcast in the United States on WWE Network, WWE Superstars was also broadcast internationally.

CountryNetworkRef
Arab World AD Sport 6 HD, MBC Action and OSN [6]
Australia WWE Network
Bulgaria bTV Sports [7][8]
Canada WWE Network
Dominican Republic Antena Latina
France RTL9 [9][10]
India TEN Sports
TEN HD
[11][12]
Italy Sky Sport 2 [13][14]
Japan J SPORTS [15]
Malaysia Astro Super Sport
TV9
[16]
Mexico MVS (52MX y MC) [17]
Pakistan TEN Sports [18]
Panama RPC Canal 4 [19]
Philippines Fox Sports Asia [20]
Puerto Rico Telemundo [21]
Peru Frecuencia Latina [22]
Romania Sport.ro [23]
Singapore SuperSports Arena [24][25]
United Kingdom WWE Network

See also

  • List of former WWE television programming

References

  1. "WWE: New Day Coming (WWE Superstars Official Theme Song) [feat. Todd Clark] - Single". iTunes. May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  2. Johnson, Mike (November 28, 2016). "WWE Superstars is no more". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  3. "WGN America enters WWE ring with "WWE Superstars"". WWE. January 5, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  4. Mackinder, Matt. "WWE Superstars: Debut show a dud". SLAM! Sports - Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
  5. Caldwell, James (April 16, 2009). "Caldwell's WWE Superstars Report 4/16: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of debut edition on WGN". PW Torch. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  6. "The Official Site of the WWE Universe". WWE.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  7. "Bulgarian TV Guide" (in Bulgarian). TV Guide. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  8. "WWE's Bulgaria Schedule". WWE. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  9. "WWE's France Schedule". WWE. Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  10. "WWE Superstars on the RTL9 Website". RTL9. Archived from the original on 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  11. "WWE's India Schedule". WWE. Archived from the original on 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  12. "Ten Sports India Schedule". Ten Sports. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  13. "WWE's Italy Schedule". WWE. Archived from the original on 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  14. "WWE Superstars SKY Italia schedule" (in Italian). Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  15. "WWE Corporate - WWE and J Sports Sign Five Year Renewal". Corporate.wwe.com. 2011-02-02. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  16. "WWE's Malaysia Schedule". WWE. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  17. "WWE Superstars en Mexico". Superluchas. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  18. "WWE Pakistan". Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  19. "Canal 4 - Rpctv.com - Panamá". Rpctv.com. 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  20. "Studio 23 Ibakabarkada!". Studio23.tv. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  21. "Telemundo de Puerto Rico canal líder en telenovelas, noticias y entretenimiento". Telemundopr.com. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  22. "WWE's Poland Schedule". WWE. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  23. "WWE's Romania Schedule". WWE. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  24. "WWE's South Africa Schedule". WWE. Archived from the original on 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  25. "WWE Superstars on e.tv". e.tv. Archived from the original on 2009-10-19. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
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