''WCW Power Hour'' (originally ''NWA Power Hour'') was the original Friday-night wrestling show for
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
(WCW), airing on
TBS from June 23, 1989 to March 5, 1994.
Unlike most television (and wrestling) shows that started their program either at the top or bottom of the hour, ''WCW Power Hour'' aired 10 minutes before the bottom of the hour at 10:20 p.m. In Summer 1990 when it was moved to Saturday mornings, it adopted a more traditional television time slot. The rights to ''WCW Power Hour'' now belong to
WWE.
Jim Ross and
Jim Cornette were the original hosts and commentators of the show.
Title changes
''WCW Power Hour'' featured numerous title changes.
*
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Agent, road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. Although he ...
defeated
The Great Muta to win the NWA World Television Championship on January 12, 1990 (taped January 2, 1990)
*
The Steiner Brothers (
Rick Steiner and
Scott Steiner) defeated
The Fabulous Freebirds (
Jimmy Garvin
James Williams (born September 25, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jimmy Garvin. A member of the Fabulous Freebirds, Garvin is best known for his appearances with promotions including the America ...
and
Michael Hayes) to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 9, 1991 (taped February 18, 1991)
*
Paul Orndorff defeated
Erik Watts in a tournament final to win the vacant WCW World Television Championship on March 27, 1993 (taped March 2, 1993)
*
The Hollywood Blonds (
Steve Austin and
Brian Pillman) defeated
Ricky Steamboat and
Shane Douglas to win the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championships on March 27, 1993 (taped March 2, 1993)
"WCW Gauntlet"
It was one of three TBS wrestling shows to have WCW's "WCW Gauntlet", where a wrestler would have to win all three of his matches on ''NWA Power Hour'', ''
NWA World Championship Wrestling'', and ''
NWA Main Event'' in order to win $15,000.
Cancellation
The 300th and final episode of ''WCW Power Hour'' (previously ''NWA Power Hour'') aired on March 5, 1994.
Canadian version
A Canadian version of ''WCW Power Hour'' ran on
TSN from 1991 to 1993. That version was originally hosted by
Jim Ross and
Paul E. Dangerously, who would later be joined by Missy Hyatt. Later broadcast teams on the show would include:
*
Eric Bischoff and
Missy Hyatt
*Eric Bischoff and
Teddy Long
*Tony Gilliam and Teddy Long
*
Gordon Solie and
Larry Zbyszko (the final announcing team before the show's cancellation in 1994)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wcw Power Hour
Power Hour
TBS (American TV channel) original programming
1989 American television series debuts
1994 American television series endings