| Saturday Night's Main Event | |
|---|---|
 Logo for 2024 revival | |
| Genre | Professional wrestling |
| Created by | Vince McMahon |
| Presented by |
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| Starring | Raw roster SmackDown roster |
| Opening theme | |
| Ending theme |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 36 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Dick Ebersol Paul Levesque Lee Fitting |
| Producer | Vince McMahon |
| Running time | 60 minutes (original run and first revived run) 120 minutes (second revived run) |
| Production companies | Titan Sports Inc. (1985–1992) Once a Month Productions, Inc. (1985–1991) WWE (2006–2008, 2024–present) |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | May 11, 1985 – April 27, 1991 |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | February 8 – November 14, 1992 |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | March 18, 2006 – August 2, 2008 |
| Network | NBC Peacock |
| Related | |
| WWE Raw WWE NXT WWE SmackDown The Main Event | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Saturday Night's Main Event is an American series of professional wrestling television specials that are produced by WWE (known at the time of launch as the World Wrestling Federation). Premiering in 1985, it originally aired on NBC in the United States in place of Saturday Night Live for weeks when that show did not have new episodes until 1991. Two additional episodes aired on Fox in 1992. It was revived in 2006 for five NBC episodes before ending in 2008, with a further revival planned for 2024. In Canada, it also aired on Citytv and Global Television Network in order to meet simultaneous substitution rights. The show features characters from the Raw and SmackDown brands, to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform.
At the time of the original airing, it was a rare example of professional wrestling being broadcast on an over-the-air commercial television network after the 1950s. It coincided with and contributed to the apogee of the "second golden age" of professional wrestling in the United States. In a time when weekly programming consisted primarily of established stars dominating enhancement talent, Saturday Night's Main Event was made up almost entirely of star vs. star bouts, including title matches and specialty matches such as steel cage matches, handicap matches, etc. With the exception of “Big Four” pay-per-view events, ‘’Saturday Night’s Main Event’’ served as the equivalent to today’s monthly pay-per-view events. Because it aired in a late night time slot, ‘’Saturday Night’s Main Event’’ always held its main event match in the first hour of the show.
All episodes of Saturday Night's Main Event are available for streaming on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network elsewhere, with some episodes slightly altered from their original broadcasts. On these platforms, the May 1985 to January 1988 episodes do not have the original opening and closing theme songs. Additionally, sponsored segments that aired as part of the original broadcasts, such as the "Mountain Dew Slam of the Night", have been removed.
In April 2022, WWE revived the Saturday Night's Main Event title for house shows held on Saturday nights.[2] The title will return in 2024 as a series of quarterly specials on NBC and will also stream live on Peacock.
- ^ "Greg Gagne Thinks WWE Will Use Jesse Ventura For NBC Saturday Night Shows". 411MANIA. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ "WWE REBRANDING MORE LIVE EVENTS | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022.